(John 11.1-45)

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick." When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." "But Rabbi," they said, "a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?" Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light." After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up." His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. "The Teacher is here," she said, "and is asking for you." When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. "Take away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."

Emotions are running high in this story - there is evidence of tension in the days leading up towards Easter. If Jesus wanted to see Lazarus he would need to go back to Judea where people had previously wanted to stone him. When Jesus heard the news about Lazarus he did not feel straight away ready to go down to see him but instead waited for two days. Thomas who was later on to be Jesus' biggest critic and questioner, here proves to be his greatest ally. He agreed to follow Jesus expecting to die with him. When Jesus finally met with Mary and Martha he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. He wept as he called to Lazarus to come out from the grave What intrigues me about this story is the fact that Jesus waits two days before traveling. As it happens Lazarus was already dead when Jesus was told the news that he was sick. He had waited for two days and on his arrival had found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem. How would you have felt if you were Martha and Mary and you heard that Jesus had waited two days before coming down - it would not have done any good because Lazarus was already dead when he got the news but wouldn't you have wanted this preacher man friend of yours to come down and comfort you? What Jesus did was not so strange.

The closest parallel that I have had to this situation was with a lady called Hilda who lived in Luton where I served my curacy. Hilda was married to Bill. They had married during the Second World War and had had a honeymoon of three hours before he went off to the front to fight. After the war he came back and drove the buses and they had a very happy fifty years of marriage together. She said - when my time comes will you bury me. Fourteen years later her husband rang up to redeem the pledge. I waited two days before going to her. We prayed in the hospital. She told me that she could see angels and she died the next day.

There are very good reasons for waiting before getting involved in a situation. Jesus' waiting avoids a pathological definition of a situation. If someone says that I have not been visiting them and I drop everything to go and see them then I am validating what they are saying. If someone sends an angry or a bullying email and I hit back straight away then I am validating their first action. If Jesus had gone straight away the issue would have been simply making Mary and Martha feeling better about themselves. It is because he waited that Martha is able to greet him with the words - 'I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask' (in other words it is not about me!) Jesus' waiting keeps the responsibility of response with Martha and Mary. When Jesus gets there Martha is in a position to hear what Jesus has to say. Jesus isn't the proverbial 'fireman' coming to save Lazarus from death. He is there as the Son of God working with and responding to the faith of the two sisters.

There is a story where Jesus sees a man who is crippled lying beside a pool in Bethsaida. The pool has special healing powers and the man has been there for a long time. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." (John 5:6-8) Jesus waiting must have been infuriating for those around him. Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the moneychangers and the chairs of those selling doves.then he returned to Bethany, where he stayed overnight (Matthew 21:12 & 17). I would have been driven wild with frustration because I would have wanted him to press home his advantage and to enter into dialogue with the temple authorities. Instead of this he withdrew to the villages. I spoke at two different conferences. On one the people organizing the conference held their nerve and on the other one they did not but jumped in asked if I would like to divide them into groups. It broke the relationship of trust between us. What this does not mean is God helps those who help themselves.

In the Gospel passage for this week, Jesus is told that Lazarus is ill. Instead of going straight to him, Jesus waits for two days before traveling (John 11:6). It would have taken a strong nerve to do as Jesus did. We all need to be needed and like to be liked and so the temptation would be to rush straight down and to see what we could do to help. There two different words used in the Bible, both of which are translated as 'time', which make it easier to understand why Jesus acted as he did. 'Chronos' is the measurable passage of time reckoned in a linear fashion: minutes, hours, days, weeks etc. 'Kairos' is the opportune moment in the day when something needs to be done, or, a decision needs to be taken. When we feel busy, it the 'chronos-time' that is being squeezed, and the 'kairos-moments' that need nurturing. Jesus knew that he would be best able to help once the first panic of grief had passed. For us to recognize the right moment to act or to know the best thing to say can be an opportunity for growth transformation or joy, both for ourselves and for others. We wouldn't want to miss those kairos-moments because we are too stressed! We use a language of speed - could I have a quick word / I won't be long