This amazing story kicks off the last 40 days of the life of Jesus, that whole Passion of Jesus. Let’s focus on the story of the resurrection of Lazarus, as told in John 11. We can learn so much more about the Crucifixion and the Resurrection from reading other Bible stories, such as the stories of Lazarus and Barabbas. Bad Newsĭoug Greenwold: As we prepare for the celebration of Resurrection Sunday, let’s look at some contextual insights from the last days of Jesus’ ministry. Doug uncovers often missed insights into dramatic biblical stories by digging deep into the overall biblical context that provide poignant spiritual applications to the reader today. We tend to overlook the cultural context, the historical context, and the geographical context, among other forms.įor a fascinating teaching which reveals the deeper insights concerning the resurrection story of Lazarus, we invited Doug Greenwold, a Bible scholar who serves as the senior teaching fellow for a ministry called Preserving Bible Times, to our television program Christ in Prophecy. But, often this results only in attention being given to the grammatical context. We are promised somehow, that we will be reunited with our earthly bodies by miracle and through Jesus Christ we will be resurrected into life eternal, at the end of time.One of the most important principles of biblical interpretation is to keep in mind the context of what you’re trying to interpret. That is a prospect that fills me with fear and trepidation but also curiosity, thinking of the unknown nature of dying and what it is to see God our Father. And by miracle, we should be able to see without eyes, have some sort of existence with no body. This great promise is that when we die our immortal souls will somehow detach from our physical bodies. Even when that person dies, he will live again (cf. The hope that Christ offers is resurrection for the friend who believes in him. Lazarus would have died again, and returned to earth as bone and dust. Perhaps you detect a dour Scot reflecting on death? That may be so, but the point is, Lazarus was just as we are, an immortal soul in a mortal body made of flesh and blood. But, being a mortal body, Lazarus would have died (again) later in his life. At least, I feel uncomfortable reflecting on it! Yes, Lazarus was raised from the dead and returned to life. However, there is still something that sits uncomfortably with the Lazarus story.
The hope that we have from reading all of the Gospels is that Jesus loves his friends. But it does not lessen the pain of the afflicted parties in the present time. The honesty of this part of the Gospel goes with a paraphrased dictum of James Baldwin from his book The Fire Next Time, “The Lord never seems to get there when you want him, but when he arrives he’s always right on time”. This is more or less what we can take from the dialogue with Mary and Martha who are grieving a deceased Lazarus. The timing of Jesus is strange: who hears of a friend’s family emergency and stays where he is? We must admit with honesty that the Lord’s timing is not always obviously good. But the puzzling delay remains mysterious. We see this not just in the story of Lazarus, but elsewhere in John’s Gospel. Perhaps by the time the messengers reached Jesus, he already knew that Lazarus had died? Frederick Bruner, in his book on the Gospel of John, makes the point that the timing of Jesus is determined exclusively by the Father. The reaction of Jesus, to remain for two days in the place he was, is peculiar.
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