The Gospel reading for today was John 11 – the raising of Lazarus, a passage I referred to in a post a couple of days ago. This is a passage I’ve prayed with on any number of occasions. Yet something new almost always strikes me. Although often my focus is on the exchange between Jesus and Martha (and Martha’s affirmation of her belief in the resurrection), sometimes I never get to that point. One morning, my whole prayer revolved around the second sentence: “…Lazarus who was ill.”
This morning one of the things that struck me with extreme force was Thomas’ statement to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go to die with him.” Thomas, the one we call Doubting, because of his statement that he would not believe until he stuck his finger in Christ’s wounds. Thomas has the faith, and the love, to say – perhaps with some resignation – “if he is going to die, let’s go off and die with him.”
I think we’d all like to think we would have been first in line pushing toward Judea, despite the fear that death would be waiting there. But would we? Would I?
Creo en Dios! 
I often focus on the exchange between Martha and Jesus – but get stuck at the beginning of it =”If you had been here, this wouldn’t have happened.” While Martha seems to get the short end of the stick in the other gospel story (where’s she’s fussing about Mary not helping – and I’m tend more to toward being a Mary), I find great hope in this scene in the Lazarus story. Martha dares to show her grief, dares to question, dares to attempt to call Jesus to task about this. And His response is not to put her down, but to step into her pain and help her through it. He weeps as well.
What an awesome God – what an awesome concept.
Wow.
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