The scripture verse above is often quoted as “the shortest verse in the Bible;” it is in reference to the story of Lazarus, the dear friend of Jesus. Lazarus, along with his two sisters, Mary and Martha, lived in the town of Bethany. Like family, Jesus would spend time in their home for fellowship, rest, and relaxation. Besides His twelve chosen disciples, Lazarus was Jesus’ closest friend. As John writes the story, by the time Jesus arrives in Bethany, Lazarus is dead and has been in the tomb for four days. Mary and Martha, in deep grief confront Jesus asking why He did not come sooner, believing He could have saved their brother. Weeping, Jesus asked to be taken to the tomb, where the story goes on to reveal the miraculous raising of Lazarus back to life. So, all’s well that ends well, right?
How is it that death, so predictable and absolute to the human experience, feels like a gut-punch when it happens? For anyone who has stood at the grave sight of a loved one the answer is obvious…loss, visceral pain so deep in the soul, that taking a single breath in the moment is the most difficult thing to do. I speak from personal experience. When I said goodbye to my husband, my life partner of almost fifty years, I thought I might die too. Richard was my first love at the tender age of sixteen years old. Now, soon to be eleven years since his passing, that “gut-punch” revisits me from time to time as though his death just happened.
Much has been speculated about why Jesus wept upon His arrival in Bethany at the death of Lazarus. Jesus was sad knowing His friend had died. Jesus cried at the sadness of Mary, Martha, and the others grieving. Jesus wept because of the lack of faith that He could raise up Lazarus from the grave. For another perspective, let us return to the beautiful Garden of Eden at the beginning of the creation story. In the middle of the garden were two trees that produced fruit for eating; the “Tree of Life,” and the “Tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” “God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may eat; but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” (Gen. 2:16-17).
At any time, the humans in the garden could have eaten the fruit from the Tree of Life and never experienced death, but they chose to rebel. While death is “predictable and absolute,” death was never God’s desire in His design of creation. The first actual death came by the hand of God when He killed the first animal and “made tunics of skin, and clothed [Adam and his wife]” (Gen. 3:21). The “final death” also by the hand of God was when He clothed Himself in flesh and died on the cross, so that through Jesus Christ and His resurrection, humanity might live.
In the Book of Deuteronomy 30:19, God said, “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live” (NLT, emphasis mine). Jesus is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” This day, will you make the decision to choose Jesus? To choose life (John 14:6)?
