Do you remember Mary, the woman who washed the feet of Jesus with her hair? Well, her brother Lazarus became ill. So, she and her sister, Martha, sent a message to Jesus asking for a miracle.
The disciples warned against the journey, as Jesus has recently been threatened by Jewish leaders in the area. Instead of rushing off to help his friend, Jesus stayed where he was for several days before traveling to him. He told the disciples, “Lazarus is dead. And for your sake, I am glad I wasn't there, for this will give you another opportunity to believe in me. Come, let’s go to him.”
Upon arriving in Bethany, they were told that Lazarus had been in his tomb for four days. Mary, surrounded by Jewish leaders, stayed grieving at the house. But Martha went to meet Jesus and said, “Sir, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died. And even now it’s not too late, for I know that God will bring my brother back to life again.”
Jesus told her, “I am the one who raises the dead and gives them life again. Anyone who believes in me, even though he dies like anyone else, shall live again."
Lazarus' tomb was nothing more than a cave with a heavy stone rolled across the entrance. Jesus, the sisters and the Jewish leaders, along with the disciples all went to the tomb and rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, of course, but I said it because of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me." Then he shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”And Lazarus came out—bound in grave clothes. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!” And when the Jewish leaders saw this, they finally believed.
In his sermon, Cody talked about past trips to Peru for mission work. There's a monastery there, in the city of Lima, that's a "must-see" called the Convento de San Francisco. Beneath the church lie ancient catacombs, Lima's first graveyard. It is estimated to contain 70,000 burials. Bones line up along narrow hallways underneath the church, and one area contains several large and deep holes, filled with bones and skulls arranged above each other in circular patterns.
When you visit, you can tour the catacombs—which Cody admits is a bit of an eerie adventure. It's dark, musty, and cramped as you wind your way through the tunnels... but every so often, you come across a grate in the ceiling that opens up to the cathedral above. And you can see all the way up to the Spanish Baroque lattice dome—a grand sight, especially from the catacombs.
Perhaps the tomb of Lazarus and the catacombs of Convento de San Francisco are a metaphor for our difficult, everyday lives. It's dank and dark, and oppressive and hard. It's like living in a basement graveyard or a hole in a wall—with a limited and depressing view of what life is. In this scripture, Jesus calls Lazarus by name to "come out!" from the tomb.
Maybe we all need to come out—from under oppression, from a negative mindset, from our self-imposed tombs. Come out and be alive. Be unbound. Be set free! Maybe we need to think above death, outside the box of our coffins. The view upward is limitless.
Go. Be. Do.
Written by Kay Weiss, guest blogger
