30 Now Jesus had not yet come to the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”33 When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Meditation

Imagine Martha and Mary preparing Lazarus’  body for burial. The washing, the anointing, the wrapping, the laying in the tomb. The ever-flowing tears, the grief that is beyond comfort but can only be sympathized with. Like all priests, I have dealt with death many times in my ministry: the deaths of the elderly whose time had come and was anticipated, but also the deaths of children, of young people who died in accidents, of people who had been murdered.

Imagine the uncontrollable wailing of mothers, the haggard and grim faces of fathers. In this lesson we have the verse, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Often cited as the shortest verse in the Bible, it also summarizes Jesus’ identification with us as mortals. Lazarus “has been in the tomb for four days.” Bodily decay has begun with its revolting, gagging stench. 

Here, arguably, is the greatest of Jesus’ miracles. The raising of the dead is not only a world-changing miracle; it is marked by a compelling command. The command is not given to Death, but to the dead. The command is shouted with undeniable authority: “Lazarus, come forth!” (John 11:43). 

Compare the translations; most have “Lazarus, come out,” as if he is revealing himself at the end of a game of hide and seek, but “Come forth!” is a command to present yourself before the Master, a command to which even death must submit. 

In Zeffirelli’s miniseries, “Jesus of Nazareth,” at this point there is a scudding away of a shadow from the stone field before the tomb as if blown away by the wind, and the land is left bright and sunbathed. The closing verse, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go” (John 11:44) is a summary of the entire meaning of the Gospel: the rescue of the beloved from the supreme grasping clutches of death and the grave.

David Baumann is a published writer of nonfiction, science fiction, and short stories. In his ministry as an Episcopal priest, he served congregations in Illinois and California.

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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:

The Diocese of Indianapolis – The Episcopal Church
The Episcopal Diocese of Springfield

17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

28 When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him.

Meditation

Everyone knows that death can never be overcome. There are several times when people sought from Jesus healing for someone they loved who was very sick, but slumped with despair when they were told that the person had died. In each case Jesus tells them, even then, not to give up. 

That situation is movingly addressed in today’s lesson. Jesus’ delay in responding to the message Martha and Mary had sent him troubles them. The timing was such that had he come immediately, Lazarus would still have been dead. The brother had been in the tomb four days, but Jesus delayed only two days. The delay was surely deliberate — to show unquestioningly Jesus’ authority even over death. 

Mary and Martha’s traditional roles in Luke are here reversed. It is Martha who is with Jesus while Mary is absent, surely out of complicated anger. The sisters’ anger is palpable, though not specifically described. Mary comes when called; but when she does, she confronts Jesus with the same words that Martha had used. “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 

The implication is clear: “You let my brother die.” Martha’s faith is strong but unfocused: “Even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” In addressing Martha’s grief and questioning, Jesus does not begin by saying, “I will raise him up”; he probes her belief. She answers with a creedal statement — true but not sufficient.

 On that foundation, he continues: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord. I believe that you are…” Only then does he proceed: “Show me where…” There is a subtle but startling, wild perception that things are not over yet.

David Baumann is a published writer of nonfiction, science fiction, and short stories. In his ministry as an Episcopal priest, he served congregations in Illinois and California.

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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:

The Diocese of Northern Indiana – The Episcopal Church
All Saints’, Beverly Hills, California

1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather, it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6 after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble because they see the light of this world. 10 But those who walk at night stumble because the light is not in them.” 11 After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” 13 Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Meditation

In the next four days, we will look at the gripping, terrifying, and world-ripping episode of the raising of Lazarus. In today’s reading, the news that Lazarus is sick is delivered Jesus, who had just left the area of Jerusalem to avoid those who wanted him dead. 

He had been threatened more than once with being stoned for blasphemy, having taught, “I and the Father are one,” and confirming that he is the Son of God (John 10:30, 36). 

He urged his hearers to believe his works even if they didn’t believe him — that is, the works themselves are obvious. With the crowd’s persistent refusal to accept the meaning of his work and determination to stone him, Jesus withdrew to the area where John the Baptist had been baptizing. 

Going to this site is significant, since it was where he himself had been proclaimed by John as the one whom the people were seeking, thereby beginning his public ministry. In today’s lesson, it is made clear that Jesus knows that Lazarus will die and that he will raise him. The disciples don’t pick up on that; they only remember that they left the area to save Jesus’ life.

Along with the manifold implications in the details, there are two great lessons in today’s reading: Jesus delays to come to Bethany for the sake of the greater miracle — which will therefore build greater faith in the witnesses; and the apostles, unaware of that but mindful of the threat back where they came from, determine to follow him regardless.

David Baumann is a published writer of nonfiction, science fiction, and short stories. In his ministry as an Episcopal priest, he served congregations in Illinois and California.

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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:

The Diocese of North East India – The Church of North India (United)
Trinity Episcopal Church, Red Bank, New Jersey

1 Job again took up his discourse and said:

2 “O that I were as in the months of old,
    as in the days when God watched over me,

3 when his lamp shone over my head,
    and by his light I walked through darkness,

4 when I was in my prime,
    when the friendship of God was upon my tent,

5 when the Almighty was still with me,
    when my children were around me,

6 when my steps were washed with milk
    and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!

7 When I went out to the gate of the city,
    when I took my seat in the square,

8 the young men saw me and withdrew,
    and the aged rose up and stood;

9 the nobles refrained from talking
    and laid their hands on their mouths;

10 the voices of princes were hushed,
    and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.

11 When the ear heard, it commended me,
    and when the eye saw, it approved,

12 because I delivered the poor who cried
    and the orphan who had no helper.

13 The blessing of the wretched came upon me,
    and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.

14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
    my justice was like a robe and a turban.

15 I was eyes to the blind
    and feet to the lame.

16 I was a father to the needy,
    and I championed the cause of the stranger.

17 I broke the fangs of the unrighteous
    and made them drop their prey from their teeth.

18 Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest,
    and I shall multiply my days like the phoenix;

19 my roots spread out to the waters,
    with the dew all night on my branches;

20 my glory was fresh with me
    and my bow ever new in my hand.’

Meditation

Someone wrote on a Facebook group I frequent that the 1970s were her favorite time. My forehead wrinkled in puzzlement; personally, I think the seventies were pretty flat. But I myself have written that the 1950s were the best time in America to be a kid, and the 1960s the best time to be a teenager. And at her 100th birthday celebration, my grandmother (1899-2000) described how wonderful it was growing up as a kid in a time before radio. 

Just about everyone can look back to “good ol’ days,” and they are almost always the days of one’s childhood and youth. Such looking back is especially poignant if one is in a time of tragedy, bereavement, or even just growing older. Job looks back to some “good ol’ days” in today’s lesson.

The passage is beautifully written, its images marked by longing delight expressed in skillfully-composed poetry: “ my roots spread out to the waters … with the dew all night on my branches” Job sees those days as “the days when God watched over me” and “when the Almighty was still with me” — apparently, he thinks, unlike the days he is living now. 

It is common to believe that God has abandoned you if things are going really badly; there are many Old Testament passages that protest such abandonment with hand-wringing anguish. But Job is going to find that God has not abandoned him at all. 

Until the time of Jesus, it was a great mystery to believe and then discern how God is present in a time of severe grief or suffering. Such times can be indescribably agonizing, but Jesus, whose love saved the world through suffering, said, “Whoever would follow me must take up his cross,” (Luke 9:23) and “I will be with you until the end of time,” (Matthew 28:20) and “No one can take away your joy” (John 16:22).

David Baumann has been a priest for more than 50 years. He served in the Dioceses of Los Angeles and Springfield, and has been fully retired for three years. He is a published writer of nonfiction, science fiction, and short stories.

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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:

The Diocese of Ilesa South West – The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Auburn, California