2 April 2017 - from the tomb

[ Today's Readings ]

O my people, I will open your graves 
and have you rise from them, 
and bring you back to the land of Israel.

Death seems like such an unsolvable problem, such an insurmountable obstacle, that it takes away all hope. What else can have meaning when seen in light of the inevitable end we all face? Ancient peoples found the idea of bodies coming back to life impossible, just as modern secular people do. They could accept more spiritual alternatives, ghosts, spirits, and reincarnation. But they did not imagine that the very bodies laid in tombs would one day rise from them.

The Jewish people were gradually taught to hope in the resurrection of the body. They could find hope not just in distant spiritual realities but in the ultimate restoration of all things that God promised. The fulfillment of that hope and that promise come in the person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus told her,
"I am the resurrection and the life; 
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, 
and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.

This seems even more unlikely than a generic resurrection on the last day. Jesus appears to be one subject to death just like the rest of us. How can the solution be found in him? We must have faith.

Yes, Lord.
I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
the one who is coming into the world.

Death may seem insurmountable. It's just so real, so physical, so undeniable. Yet here is Jesus before us claiming that he is greater even than death. In fact he weeps at death, because it was never his intention for us. God does not delight in the death of the sinner. Yet he allows death so that he can so that we can see his power over it and believe in him.

He cried out in a loud voice, 
"Lazarus, come out!"It is the very same power that raises Jesus from the tomb.

All of us experience little deaths in our lives. There is sin and suffering that paralyzes us and prevents us from moving and growing. It steals our peace and our joy. The same power that raised Lazarus is available to give us new life. It is more than just some nice idea. It is the very same power that raises Jesus from the tomb. It has power over even the very physical reality of death itself. It has the power to give us life even in our own little deaths.

If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, 
the one who raised Christ from the dead 
will give life to your mortal bodies also, 
through his Spirit dwelling in you.

We're afraid to open these areas to God, thinking that there will be a stench. And there certainly would were it not for the divine power that gives us life again. But we we believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. We can open ourselves to him.

For with the LORD is kindness
and with him is plenteous redemption;