“I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So, there will be One flock, One shepherd.” Amen. – John 10.16

Today we continue with the themes of Easter Resurrection, Hope, and Eternal life. As a priest it has been my honor to officiate at multitudes of funeral and memorial services. One of the readings that consistently gets more airtime, hands down is John chapter 14. 1-6. When people are at their lowest grieving the loss of a loved one it is then we look for Easter hope, and this reading does not disappoint.

To fully appreciate the meaning, it’s important to understand the context. To get a proper context we read what precedes a particular passage, and what follows it. John 14 comes on the heels of Maundy Thursday in Holy Week where Jesus washed his disciples’ feet (all 12 of them including Judas) and then instituted the Eucharist with the bread and wine, to contain His real presence. The teachings that follow this bring out who Jesus is through his “I Am” statements: “I am the Good Shepherd, I am the gate, I am the Vine, and you are the branches.” Then comes the passage we have heard today (put a book mark there we’ll come back to it). But what follows this passage is Jesus’s betrayal, arrest, trial, and crucifixion. So, these are his last teachings and sermons before he dies – he is preparing for his own death but gives words of hope, resurrection, and preparation for his disciples’ own deaths, all of whom would die martyrs’ deaths. So how fitting it is for families throughout the centuries to desire to hear the reading from John 14 that begins:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.”

It’s truly a comfort to think of Christ bringing eternal life as the Savior of the world. Some folks get a bit crossway and a bit troubled by something else Jesus says in the same breath – but it’s truly the best news of all! “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father, except through me.” That may sound too exclusive for some not inclusive enough, so attempts are made to discredit the authorship or that it wasn’t in the original manuscripts and so on. Folks are generally coming from a good place on this wanting to see Jesus as more inclusive – but he is the way for the whole world – that is the gift He brought to us on the cross of good Friday. God had already made a covenant with Israel as the chosen people of God but what about the rest of us? As St. Peter wrote the following to all including the Gentiles (the non-Jewish people):
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy.”

Earlier in John’s gospel the mission is made clear:
“I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So, there will be One flock, One shepherd.”¹
Out of many tribes and nations God wanted to have the reconciliation of all people. We certainly can see in our world the need for this oneness to see each other as siblings of the same family. You may have seen the disturbing image on the news this week where an East Jerusalem settler shoved a French Nun to the cobblestone pavement causing her to land on her face and then began to kick her as others looked on. Every time a synagogue is firebombed or a mosque vandalized, we see the need of the Savior who is the Way – the way of love, the way into the Father, the way into fellowship with the Holy Trinity. The disciples still didn’t get this. Phillip asks Jesus to “Show us the father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus flies off the handle and says, “Have I been with you all of this time Phillip and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father.” This is the Big truth that has been millennia in the making – God wanted all of us!

As we read through the Old Testament, we see images of God that are frightful, flooding the earth, sending plagues, sending earthquakes to split the earth open and swallow up thousands of disobedient people. As the story progresses in the days of the high prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah, we start hearing of a God that has a more merciful side, but there was still only one group of folks who were the Chosen people. The story had some more installments to come. I always like to ask the question as God became more merciful towards humanity was God learning something, or was humanity? Finally in Jesus we have the clearest picture of who God is what God is really like.

Unfortunately, some of our religious teaching and training has presented us with a God that is too small. The Author JB Phillips in his book, Your God is Too Small, identified some of these smaller gods:
The Resident Policeman: A God who primarily exists to catch wrongdoers and enforce rules.
The Grand Old Man in the Sky: A humanized, archaic figure of authority.
The Pale Galilean: A domesticated, “meek and mild” Jesus that ignores the dynamic, challenging aspects of Christ.
The Perennial Grievance: A God who seems to exist only to cause pain or thwart human happiness.
God-in-a-Box: A narrow, predictable, and finite concept of God that fits into human doctrine, allowing Him to be brought out only when needed.
Second-Hand God: A God worshipped through the experiences of others rather than personal, current experience.

In Jesus the true image of God is revealed a God who is self-emptying and self-giving love. He ate and drank with people that no respectable religious person would dare to. He believed that an unclean Samaritan woman was closer to God than a Levitical priest, that an adulterer was just the perfect person to give a second chance to. He did not seek vengeance, and on the night of his arrest when Peter cut off the ear of one of the policemen, Jesus healed the ear and told him to put his sword away. He talked about and demonstrated this love by forgiving his very executioners and tormenters at his crucifixion. Jesus was here to show us what God thought about all kinds of people and how God treated all kinds of people with Truth, Justice, and all motivated by Love. He was not here to take over the government, or to try and legislate morality, His desire was and is to change people from the inside out, so that none should perish but all come to eternal life.

Priest and Poet, and a distant cousin, The Rev. Samuel J. Stone put it well in his great hymn, “The Church’s One Foundation:”
Elect from every nation, yet one o’er all the earth,
her charter of salvation, one Lord, one faith, one birth,
one holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food,
and to one hope she presses, with every grace endued.²

As God’s chosen, we are called to take and to share this message of God’s saving and loving deeds, who has called us out of darkness into God’s marvelous light! Amen.

1 John 10.16 NRSV
2 Stone, Samuel, J., “The Church’s One Foundation” The Hymnal 1982 (Church Publishing: New York) p.525

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Amen. – John 10.10

There’s a joke about a Catholic priest and one of his female parishioners who had a six-month old son. She asked the priest, “Father I am worrying about the future, is there any way for me to know what my son will do for a living when he grows up?” The priest instructed her to “set three objects in front of the boy; a bottle of whisky, a dollar bill, and a Bible; if he picks the bottle of whisky, he’ll be a bartender, if he picks the dollar bill, he’ll be a business man, and if he picks the Bible, he’ll be a priest like me!” The mother goes home and follows the priest’s advice. The next week she comes back and the priest asks her, “Well which one did he pick? The whisky, the dollar bill, or the bible?” She said “He picked all three!” and the Catholic priest replied, “I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for you, he’s going to be an Episcopal Priest!” (revised from a joke told by James Martin, SJ)

We’ve all seen in one form or the other someone who is struggling to make the right decision and is represented by a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other, each whispering in the ear of do this – no don’t do that and so it goes. This classic struggle between good and evil is familiar territory for us humans and the bible is full of stories where the two are pitted against each other. If we are honest all of us hear voices in our heads – no – don’t tell me I’m the only one! Seriously, these voices aren’t audible but occur in our brains, these voices can include the voice of the Holy Spirit, the voice of the evil spirit, the voice of our own conscience; and sometimes can even be the voice from the memories of childhood authority figures.

Starting in the first century Christians made use of a manual of Christian teaching called The Didache that served as the first guide and catechism on how to conduct worship, and how to navigate life in the world. One famous line describes “the Two Ways” that confront us in life:
“There are two ways, one of life and one of death; but a great difference between the two ways” (1:1).

These “two ways” are made crystal clear at every service of baptism where the baptismal candidates or in the case of infants and children by making three renunciations and by making three promises. “Do you renounce Satan, do you renounce the evil powers of this world, and do you renounce all sinful desires?” And we answer, “I renounce them.” Then, by three promises: “Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior? Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love? Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord? And we answer, “I do.”

In today’s gospel reading this truth is brought home by Jesus who puts it this way:
“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep… The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
So, there are two paths, one that leads to life and the other that leads to death. Although we do not hear that Jesus is the Good Shepherd in the passage we heard read today, it is mentioned in the very next verse. St. Ignatius of Loyola and founder of the Jesuits emphasized the importance of recognizing the difference between the two voices. The voice of God, the Holy Spirit, is actively trying to lead us toward infinite love and a desire to perform compassionate deeds, whereas the evil spirit tries to lead us away from what is life giving and urges us to go against the inspirations and directives that will lead us towards love and light. This ability to tell the difference between the two is what Ignatius called “the discernment of spirits.”

Discernment means “to perceive or recognize the difference or distinction between (two or more things);”¹ It is the process of honing our spiritual senses to determine the path of God’s will, and the gospel makes the distinction by way of hearing either the voice of Christ the Good Shepherd or the voice of strangers: “the sheep follow him because they know his voice, they will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

Hearing God’s voice is key for us in determining and following God’s will for us.
I had an experience while on sabbatical in England that show how practical this all can be. I had gone to Hatchard’s Bookstore, Queen Elizabeth’s favorite. While on the upper floor where they kept all the antiquated books, I happened on a section of first editions by Charles Dickens. They had clear plastic protectors to protect the leather. Individual books could cost 6 to 700 dollars. I grabbed one off the shelf and when I did it slipped out of its cover and hitting the floor the cover tore off. Filled with guilt I heard an inner voice telling me to ‘pick it up put it back in its cover and place it back on the shelf.’ That what I did and then went next door to Fortnum and Mason’s to meet my family for afternoon tea.

Here I was in this great historic tearoom trying to celebrate with my family and the whole time a different voice began a refrain, “Carey, you know what you are going to have to do, don’t you?” Silently to myself I bargained ‘but God I didn’t see the price, what if it’s one that costs $700?’ “Carey, you know what you will need to do to be right with me – you know you will have to pay for it.’ After teatime I reluctantly went back over to the bookstore, found the book that I had damaged The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit and found the price to be – 65 pounds about 75 American dollars at the time. I went to the clerk and bought it, with relief that my mistake only cost $75 dollars and that I had done the right thing.

The Good Sheperd is actively trying at any given moment to lead us toward what is life-giving what the gospel calls “abundant life.” The thief representing Satan, the evil powers of this world and sinful desire within us, are at work to lead us away from God and towards things that are death-dealing, the things that attempt to rob us of spiritual life and fellowship with God, and to kill and destroy the good things the Good Shepherd has given us.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Amen.

1 https://www.etymonline.com/word/discernment

You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have put off my garments of suffering and clothed me with joy. Therefore, my heart sings to you and I will give thanks to you forever! – Psalm 30.12-13 {modified}

In last week’s gospel we heard about the apostle Thomas, and how he was honest about his doubts, telling the other disciples that if he did not have a personal encounter with the risen Christ, he wasn’t going to believe. His honesty was rewarded by his receiving a personal visit with Jesus who let him touch the scars in his hands and side.

During the season of Eastertide (the time between Easter Day and the feast of Pentecost,) we hear the stories from the gospels of those early days of faith fanned into flame, by the growing community of believers that were having direct meetings/personal encounters with Jesus – He is risen – the Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! The community of resurrection is growing with the remaining 11 disciples, along with Jesus’ mother Mary, Mary of Bethany, and Mary of Magdala, are coming to know the truth that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead just as he had told them.

Today, on the third Sunday of Easter, our post resurrection story will take us on a journey sometimes referred to as “the road to Emmaus,” and it will include yet another personal encounter with the risen Christ.

Emmaus, was a town 7 miles from Jerusalem. Emmaus, which is a Greek word translated from the Hebrew and means (Arkansans are you ready for this) it means “hot springs.”¹ So you might say, these two disciples one whose name was Cleopas and the other an anonymous disciple, were on the road to Hot Springs!

They were talking and discussing when suddenly they are joined on the road by a ‘stranger,’ who is Jesus, incognito (they don’t recognize him) just as Mary Magdalene didn’t recognize him at first, mistaking him to be the gardener, until he spoke her name, then she instantly knew who he was.

What is it that sometimes keeps us from seeing people, places and things for who they truly are? Why do we often miss out on God’s blessings of hope for us by being blind to what is right I front of us? Perhaps it is our own traumas, disappointments and wounds that blind us and prevent us from seeing the ties that bind and cause us, like the two disciples, without realizing it, to walk away from Jerusalem and the resurrection hope, feeling like they had wasted the last three years of their life following Jesus.

If Thomas is known for his honesty and doubt, then Cleopas and the unnamed disciple, are known for their honesty and disillusionment. You can almost hear the disappointment in their voices as they explain why they are so sad: “But we had hoped that he [Jesus] was the one to redeem Israel.” Author and Episcopal Priest, Joseph S. Pagano writes that, “True religion is not simply knowledge about God or divine things. True religion is the actual experience of the inward sweetness of God, a sense of the heart in which we know the true beauty and mercy of God.”² The heart of the matter is truly a matter of the heart!
Without a personal encounter with Christ, religion (by itself) won’t matter much. For we don’t so much long to know more about God, as we long to have an experience of God. As Joseph Campbell put it, “they were standing on a whale fishing for minnows.” The Jesus the disciples longed for was not dead, or far off in heaven, he was walking right beside them, they hadn’t been abandoned, the darkness hadn’t won out, like they thought it had. Jesus begins to unpack the scriptures of the law, the prophets and the psalms, tying it all together as a cohesive story, and intentional plan by God to defeat death once and for all and to bring New Life for all people!

Upon arrival at Emmaus, the two disciples didn’t want this heartwarming encounter with this stranger to come to an end. What was it that so drew them in close to the timeless truths he had been telling them? There was a house where they had planned on staying the night so they invited him to stay for dinner, which Jesus accepts.

Finally, at the dinner table, Jesus begins breaking the bread and pouring the wine, and as he takes, blesses, breaks, and gives the bread to them – they suddenly see that the stranger was Jesus. In that familiar four-fold pattern of taking, blessing, breaking, and giving them the bread it all comes together for them. Jesus then vanishes from their presence. And there they are left sitting, dumbstruck and gob smacked. {He is Risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!}
Now these two disciples have joined the jubilant band of believers who were rejoicing at the glorious good news.

The journey back to Jerusalem was so different from the slow meandering pace they had kept while walking to Emmaus. It was celebration that was called for, it was time for community, and for the ecstatic fellowship with other believers!

Doctrines, Creeds, Laws, and books won’t keep us warm at night! It is the experience of God that enlivens, empowers, and stirs the embers of hearts grown cold. No one who has ever had an encounter with the living Christ can ever be the same. The power of the New Life took the despair of the disciples and turned it into dancing.

Christ is alive and at large in the world often in disguise, in the voices and faces of strangers, as well as our neighbors who remind us that God has been walking with us all along; showing up in the strangest places, at the strangest times, halfway through a seven mile walk, with people we might not have picked, through Word and Sacrament, in the face of a stranger and in the breaking of the bread, we see Christ.

So, what is the path to great faith, and true religion? What are the vital ingredients required for having a personal encounter with God; the answer is startling: Doubt, Disillusionment, Disappointment, and Honesty. Like Thomas, after touching Jesus’ wounds make his bold declaration of faith when he said, “My Lord, and My God!” Cleopas and the other disciple made their wholehearted declaration of faith with a question, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known in the breaking of the bread:
Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work.
Amen.³

1 https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Emmaus.html
2 https://www.episcopalchurch.org/sermon/when-we-want-to-talk-easter-3-a-2011/
3 The Book of Common Prayer, Collect for the Third Sunday of Easter

Life for early followers of Jesus was often chaotic and dangerous. It wasn’t just a matter of believing and practicing a new religion. Repeatedly we are told the disciples hid in locked rooms to avoid the Jewish religious authorities. As Jesus had been killed, they expected to be hunted down and executed as well. When the Christian message began leaving Jerusalem out into the Roman world, early followers were persecuted in the Synagogues. And in the wider world, Rome was the authority on religious practice and expected its populations to follow the state religious beliefs. To follow Jesus and live the life he proclaimed was often met with ridicule, persecution, and threats of death. How did they manage to live in such chaotic circumstances?

On Easter Sunday morning, some of the women in Jesus’ inner circle encounter the risen Jesus. Though the disciples did not believe the women when they told them they saw and talked with the resurrected Jesus, their unbelief is changed when Jesus appears to them in a locked room where the disciples are hiding from the authorities. Now in our scripture today where Jesus again appears to the disciples in their locked room, he appears to Thomas, who until now had not seen the resurrected Jesus. We’ve memorialized Thomas as “doubting Thomas,” even though all the disciples also had doubted Jesus’ resurrection.

Our Gospel writer, John, is not only interested in Thomas; John gives detail about how Jesus handles matters with Thomas and the other 10. John’s focus is on the risen Jesus and his attitude toward the disciples.¹ When Jesus appears this time, he begins by saying “Peace be with you” to the disciples who are afraid of being found and arrested. They are anything but at peace. So Jesus again shows them his hands and feet, the wounds, and shows them he came back to life by the power of God. They don’t only have to be afraid; they can also feel joy and excitement in the presence of their Jesus, their teacher and friend, the Son of God. Jesus expresses compassion, understanding and grace with these people who followed him, ran out on him, and are terrified. He makes clear he still believes in them, and he will place his ministry in their hands to finish what he started. To equip them for the task, he gives them several gifts: his peace which he tells them several times, himself and his love for them, and the Holy Spirit which will empower them to continue his work. John wants the Church to remember they have these same gifts within them. Though the disciples and the Church may be afraid and confused at times, they also have these gifts from the risen Jesus.

Jesus’ gifts are imparted through the spiritual window of belief. Thomas has several preconditions before he is willing to believe Jesus is alive. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my hand in his side, I will not believe.” For John, Jesus’ response is critical. Jesus in compassion and love meets Thomas’ conditions for belief. “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side.” Jesus offers Thomas the chance to verify by touch that Jesus is in fact resurrected, that he is the Jesus Thomas and the others have been following. He gives Thomas what he needs for faith and then asks Thomas to believe, to let go of his unbelief. It works: Thomas sees in Jesus so much more than the others have seen. He responds to Jesus, “My Lord and my God.” This statement is the central theme in John’s Gospel: Jesus is both Lord and the incarnated presence of God, the One Creator of the universe and all life. This reality is what Thomas in this moment recognizes.²

Earlier I said Jesus equipped the disciples, and now Thomas, with the gifts they need. What did Thomas do with these gifts which his belief in Jesus opened? Into that dangerous and chaotic world he boldly traveled. Thomas is said to have left Jerusalem, headed North, founded new churches of believers in the risen Jesus in what is now Eastern Turkey, headed East into Iraq, Iran, and eventually traveled into Northwestern India. He traveled down the west cost of India and landed in Southern India where he founded 7 new churches. These churches exist today. They trace their history to the Apostle Thomas in 52 a.d., roughly 19 years after the Resurrection. That’s what Thomas did with Jesus’ love and grace (see the Apostle Thomas in Wikipedia).

Jesus looks now to those that need to hear about him who have not seen him, so they too may believe in Jesus and meet the God of all. That includes us!

Peace: “Peace be with you.” Peace is more than a greeting. Peace is a presence, a power which Jesus uses to love and calm our spirits. Peace calms frayed nerves, quiets fearful thoughts, and relaxes tense bodies. The disciples were locked in a room afraid for their lives. Jesus gives them peace.

Jesus’ Presence and Love: The one whom the disciples followed and looked to for support and direction now will be with them wherever they go, and in every moment. They will feel loved and supported, for the resurrected Jesus is with them still. We are not alone.

The Holy Spirit: The presence and love of God is within the disciples and will be continuously given. God’s nature of love and grace will flow in them.

Love: Jesus loves his disciples as God loves; we’ve seen it in action in our reading today in the way Jesus handled Thomas. Jesus’ love sees us as we are, the good and the bad, and gives us what we need to accept ourselves, for our Creator already has accepted us. God’s nature is seen in Jesus, as love, grace and forgiveness.

God is building communities. Jesus is equipping them to love one another as Jesus loves. Jesus and Thomas are an example of this love. Says commentator Gail O’Day, “at the heart of this story is Jesus’ generous offer of himself to Thomas. Thomas established the conditions for his faith: he must be allowed to touch Jesus’ wounds. He does not censure Thomas for these conditions, but instead makes available to him exactly what he needs for faith.”³ We live in chaotic times too, as did the disciples. Christianity was born in fearful, dangerous times. In the midst of our chaos and fear, these generous offers are available to us as well. What are your conditions for faith? Jesus knows how to meet them. Peace, Jesus’ presence and love, the Holy Spirit and God’s love and grace, and unlimited love like Jesus loved Thomas, are our gifts too. The resurrected Jesus walks by our side to meet our conditions for faith. “Peace be with you,” Jesus says.

1 The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Vol. IX, John. By Gail O’Day, p.852.
2 Interpreter’s, O’Day, John, p. 850.
3 Interpreter’s, O’Day, John, p. 852

Hymns of praise then let us sing – unto Christ, our Heavenly King. Who endured the cross and grave. Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!
• From “Jesus Christ is Risen Today,” The Hymnal 1982 p.207

There’s nothing like going through a crucifixion to find out who your true friends really are. Where had all the crowds gone? Just a week earlier the whole town had turned out waving palm branches to greet this itinerant rabbi with shouts of “Hosanna” (which translated means “save us”) as he rode into town on a donkey. There were all kinds of people that were there that day; from storeowners, to tax collectors, from highly religious folk to those simply curious to see what the hoopla was all about. His mother and his disciples were also among the crowd who knew deep down that something wasn’t quite right. They had heard Jesus talking of coming to Jerusalem to die – they surely hoped not, but that’s what he did.

His sermons, teachings, and actions that not only spoke of but demonstrated God’s unconditional loving acceptance of all the wrong kinds of people didn’t sit well with the political and religious leaders of the establishment. He spoke of a rival kingdom he called the “Kingdom of God,” with a God who was above all and over all, this infuriated the political establishment. He said that when it came to who God’s chosen people were, he highlighted those who were looked down on by the religiously pious. He told stories about the last, the least, and the lost, stories that made foreigners, the poor and needy, and yes even women the heroes and heroines. This was like a new manager of a country club giving away free memberships to the homeless while the ‘good people’ had to pay for their memberships.

Jesus didn’t just tell stories he backed his stories with action. For example, he ate and drank with people who were disrespected and looked down upon – especially tax collectors who extorted money to line their own pockets. This drew harsh criticism from the religious folk of the day who said with derision ‘what kind of religion is he pushing, why he eats and drinks with sinners!’ To their critiques Jesus said: Only those who are sick need a physician, I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance (Matthew 9.12). Those relying on pedigree and pecking orders were very disappointed to say the least. To the self-promoters and ladder climbers of society Jesus didn’t have much good news. With 20/20 x-ray vision he saw beneath the surface of every person’s soul and revealed that they were all hallow, each with a common disease – call it “My Will Disease.” To all winners, he told them that what they really needed was to lose. To those who had acquired much he said to give it to those less fortunate. He said the greatest among us would be those who serve.
This was a very difficult message to stomach and making matters worse his actions appeared to authenticate his message – unfortunately for Jesus he was a credible witness to God’s kingdom and was convicted by both church and state, and given the death penalty.

Along the way he met people from all walks of life: Jew, gentile, rich, poor, healthy and diseased, men, women, and children. He came to reveal to them all and to all of us that we are all God’s chosen, all are chosen especially those who have been told by society that they are not.

On Sunday morning after Jesus’ crucifixion on Friday the fake news was everywhere: Jesus – the King of the Jews dead at 33 – Jesus of Nazareth proven to be a fraud – Religious huckster gets his Due.

The male disciples who had been with Jesus for three years were nowhere to be found and had gone into hiding. All that remained were a handful of his faithful women followers, that included the three Marys: Mary his mother, Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus, and Mary Magdalene.

Early that first Easter morning Mary Magdalene left the others in their grief and went to the tomb where Jesus’ body had been placed. To her alarm the stone had been rolled away from the tomb and Jesus was nowhere to be found. She quickly ran back to where Peter, John and the other disciples were hiding and told them that the tomb was empty and that someone had removed Jesus’ body. They ran back to the tomb and confirmed Mary’s story. They still didn’t get that he had risen and they went back home. Mary Magdalen – heartbroken remained outside the tomb weeping. Mary had met Jesus during a time in her life where everything was falling apart, and she was on a downward spiral towards her won destruction. No one had to convince her that she was a sinner. Jesus had forgiven her and healed her soul – she owed him her very life.

But once again, her life seemed to be at a dead end what would she do now without her Savior? She takes one final look into the empty tomb and was startled to see two angels – think cherubim and seraphim sitting on the place where Jesus’ body had been and they asked why she was weeping. She tells them that she is looking for Jesus.

She then turns and sees Jesus but doesn’t recognize him who asks her why she was weeping and who was she looking for. She repeats what she had just told the angels and Jesus speaks her name “Mary!” – when she hears him call her name, she instantly recognizes that unmistakable voice and replies “Rabbouni” – (master – teacher!) She wants to just camp out there with him but he tells her to go and testify to his other disciples what she had seen – she runs back to them and says: “I have seen the Lord!”
Mary becomes the first witness to the resurrection and in later church tradition would come to be known as “The Apostle to the apostles”

In the end it’s not about knowledge, creed, or intellectual assent but experience. Others had arguments about God, while Mary of Magdala had an experience of God and no argument or false accusations could take that away. The risen Lord had done in the resurrection what he had been doing bringing dead things and dead people back to life again. If this were not true the Christian faith would have died out centuries ago.

This, dear friends, was the evidence of Jesus’ resurrection and remains so to this day; those credible witnesses who haven’t had to luxury to sit back and argue or debate, but are those who have felt their own poverty of soul and spirit, and their need for the Savior. The Good News of the Gospel is for all who have ever failed, felt their weakness, doubted their self-worth, or known themselves to be sinners. For of such as these is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

We have come tonight at this moment, The Great Easter Vigil, because Jesus, who had been killed, has come back to life. God has Resurrected his Son, and because of this fact, we have been brought into the presence of God, and through Jesus, we have become aware that God loves us, and with grace, restores to us our ability to hope; we are no longer alone.

Two women have witnessed the arrest, torture, crucifixion, and burial of their teacher, leader, and the center of their world. It’s all gone. They are now traumatized, grieving, confused, hopeless. They have risked coming out of hiding, while the disciples are still hiding in seclusion to avoid the Jewish authorities. The women have come to the grave where it all ended. What they found they did not expect. Suddenly comes a great earthquake and the appearance of an angel rolling back the stone of the tomb. The tomb is open and empty. ((What would you or I be feeling right now at the tomb?)) The guards at the tomb faint with fear, maybe dead. The women no doubt are terrified, which the angel notices and says to them, “do not be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised.” Then he gives them time to take it in. He shows them the place where Jesus had been laid, the burial clothes Jesus had been buried in, neatly folded. He tells the women Jesus is going to Galilee and that they are to tell the disciples to go there, and that Jesus will appear to them there. Now Matthew tells us the women experience “fear and great joy,” both emotions at the same time.

Two women, Mary Mag-da-lene and another Mary (whom Luke and Mark identify as Mary the mother of James), hurry to tell the disciples. But, before they even get out of the garden, they run into Jesus! They fall to the ground and hold on to Jesus’ feet. He isn’t a figment of their imagination or a ghost. They can touch him. He has substance.

What is the first thing Jesus does? He addresses their trauma and fear. “Greetings….Do not be afraid.” The commentator Melinda Quivik says the Greek word used here, “chairete,” is like saying “hello” or “good morning” to family members or friends. Jesus is putting the women at ease as he in very familiar fashion refers to them as his friends in this greeting.¹ He refers to his disciples as his brothers, not his students or followers or disciples. Now they are his brothers. To the women, he says, go tell his “brothers” what has happened, that he wants them to meet him in Galilee, where they will see him just as the women are now. Galilee, where they have spent all their time together as he taught people about the ways of God and healed people. “I will meet you at home.”

Trauma, grief, fear, confusion, hopelessness. Jesus addresses their fear and pain. They and all his disciples, and his mother, have all suffered as they saw him suffer. All their hope was lost. At his every resurrected appearance, Jesus addresses his followers’ traumatized emotions. His very presence and kind, understanding voice reassures and heals them. He is alive, and so are they. All is not lost; he has not left them. New life has just begun.

Fr. Thomas Keating, writer-teacher in Centering Prayer, says we all carry traumas—some small, some large—much of it from childhood just from the normal experiences of growing up, and in daily life events as adults. Right now, even watching the news can traumatize us. [[Have you ever been talking with someone, they say something that suddenly causes you to feel anxious, angry, or overwhelmed? But not because they said anything wrong; you don’t even know why you are reacting the way you are. We call that a “trigger.” You are now in touch with the hurt and trauma Fr. Keating is talking about.]]] We learned early in life ways to cope with negative experiences and learned how to protect ourselves; we still use them. These coping strategies often hinder our ability to openly relate to one another, and our ability to experience God’s presence, love and grace is compromised. From the world of psychotherapy, we know that severe trauma can create PTSD and severely compromise our emotions and coping. Jesus’ followers, and these two women, were exposed to that kind of trauma, and if Jesus had not intervened, it could have severely crippled their ability to manage life. Fr. Keating says it’s this sometimes small, sometimes crippling injury inside of us that Jesus seeks to heal and free us for a life of love, grace and joy, to make it possible to fully love others: family, friends, even strangers, without defensiveness.

Our new life has just begun tonight, once again, as we meet the resurrected Jesus in the garden, as we meet him in the Eucharist, as we gather with one another as the Church. Tonight God makes it Easter, life giving joy and release from hopelessness and fear. We bring our life-long traumas and all the things we are afraid of, our lost dreams and lost hopes, our loneliness and disappointments, into the presence of the resurrected Jesus, God’s gift to us of love and grace; and Jesus offers to stay with us and heal us from our brokenness, and to keep us company each day of our lives. Jesus is alive and present with us!! Yes, tonight God makes it Easter, life giving joy and release from hopelessness and fear, in the presence of the resurrected Jesus Christ.

1 Melinda Quivik, “Holy Week,” New Proclamation, Year A. pp.294-296, 2008.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
From “Anthem 2” in the liturgy for Good Friday, The Book of Common Prayer p.241

The last words of famous people are often poignant, purposeful, and memorable. Here are just a few examples:
Alfred Hitchcock grappling with his theology said, “One never knows the ending. One has to die to know exactly what happens after death, although Catholics have their hopes.”
Some were like Vince Lombardi whose thoughts turned to loved ones. Just before he drew his last breath he turned to his wife Marie and said, “Happy anniversary. I love you.”
Convicted murderer James W. Rodgers managed to hold on to his sense of humor to the last. When he was put in front of a firing squad in Utah and asked if he had a last request. He replied, “Bring me a bullet-proof vest.”
Some were holding on to faith like the Blues singer Bessie Smith said, “I’m going, but I’m going in the name of the Lord.”
Some were truly ready to leave like the actress Joan Crawford who yelled at her housekeeper, who was praying as Crawford was dying, “Damn it! Don’t you dare ask God to help me!”
My personal favorite was from Apple Computer founder, Steve Jobs, “Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.”
The most famous last words of all have to be the seven last words of Jesus from the cross on good Friday. These words reveal the priorities of the Savior of the World and show us how to die well and to focus on the ultimate concerns of human life.

The First Word
    “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Jesus first priority wasn’t another sermon, another teaching, the performance of another miracle, or figuring out how to produce more, acquire more, or spend more. It wasn’t about attaining a job promotion, or earning the adulation of the crowds who were gathered. It wasn’t regret over not having a ‘final fling’ with Mary Magdalene. No, his first priority and primary concern when dying was for his enemies. He prayed to God for the forgiveness of the very ones that were nailing him to the cross, for Pilate the politician caught in the middle between justice or keeping his place in office, for the religious folk who scapegoated him as a heretical enemy to their faith, for the pagans, epicureans, and friends of Barabbas, for the whole cast of the tragic drama before us he prayed: Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.” Jesus didn’t want to die holding a bitter grudge but instead he let go, he let it go, he let them go.

The Second Word
    “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Between two thieves indicted, convicted, and sentenced to death Jesus the sinless One is hung on the cross. One thief hopes Jesus still has a trick or two up his sleeve to get him out of this mess, but soon realizes he’s out of luck and joins the crowd in taunting Jesus. But there was another thief whom tradition calls Dismas whose name means “sunset” who saw beneath the surface to the Savior and his only hope for the next life. “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He makes Dismas a promise today you will be with me in paradise. Jesus reveals that the cross is his throne where he has power to pardon the most hardened criminal. Echoes of the third chapter of John:
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved (3.17).

The Third Word
    “Woman, behold thy son…and then he said to John, “Behold thy mother.”
Jesus at the time of his death made his earthly family a priority. Jesus had a human mother, who by this time in her life was a widow. Jesus was her source of care, protection, and income. Before Jesus could leave, he would need to see to his earthly obligation to his mother. A big part of dying is to see that the living under our care is cared for after we are gone. Jesus gives his mother the respect she rightly deserves as the Mother of God who was in unimaginable distress having her own soul pierced by the death she was witnessing.

The Fourth Word
    “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
The sky has grown opaque with darkness, clouds that totally blocked the sun, as if to obscure (if it were possible) God’s eyes from the horrible spectacle of God’s Son who had not committed a single sin but now is becoming sin – taking it all upon himself and drinking the bitter cup that he had asked God to let pass from him while he had prayed in the garden. Have you ever felt the absence of God? Have you ever felt abandoned by God? Jesus has an he gets it when we feel the absence left only with doubts. He endures this for our sake as john the Baptist had rightly said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the Sin of the world.” Not just the little sins (the verbs of sin) that we all commit, but by taking away Sin itself the noun of sin – the entire entity and phenomenon. Anything that could ever finally separate us from the Love of God was taken upon, taken into Jesus and destroyed!

The Fifth Word
    “I Thirst”
I have been honored to accompany many folks in their final hours and moments and I can tell you they all got thirsty. Dying is hard work and as the body starts shutting down thirst is one of the last things to go. Jesus’ suffering was real! Christ was no ‘will ‘o the wisp,’ not a ghost, but one who was fully human, as well as Divine. In the end we all will meet the same fate and Jesus hallows these suffering and dying moments by going through the process himself. As Swiss theologian Hans Uhrs Von Balthazar wrote: “Jesus’s love [that] bears our brokenness as his own, moving though still deeper darknesses, and bearing it to the end. At the center of the Christian faith is one who is not alien to tragedy, a savior not complacent in the face of suffering”.

The Sixth Word
    “It is Finished”
Jesus the Divine Son of God had been sent to earth to complete a mission that only He could accomplish; God incarnate coming in human form that touched the whole of human experience and thereby gathering up all of the human experience and redeeming it all from the powers of darkness and death. Redemption bridges the gap, ultimately saving us from final death, curing us from the sense of estrangement from God, our neighbors, and our own selves. We too have been created by God and sent to earth to fulfill our unique calling and mission to the glory of God. May we be able to say those words and find their fulfillment in our lives – it is finished.

The Seventh Word
    “Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit”
Having fulfilled the purpose of his earthly journey and finished his mission. It was time to let go. He could trust in the God who had been with him every step of the way even in those moments where he felt truly abandoned, the faithful and true God would be there for Him at his earthly end. Jesus who had brought heaven to earth, now was fully qualified to take up all things earthly to heaven and to redeem it all!
The seven last words speak of Forgiveness, Promise, Loving Care, Being held safe in our abandonment and doubt, Divine solidarity in human suffering, Redemption of all our offenses, Rest from Earthly Labors and finally – Eternal Life!

Give mercy and grace to the living; pardon and rest to the dead; to your holy Church peace and concord; and to us sinners everlasting life and glory; for with the Father and Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
• From the closing prayer of the Good Friday liturgy, The Book of Common Prayer, p.242

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” Amen. – From John 13

Holy Week began this past Sunday (known as Palm Sunday,) with Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey to the shouts of Hosannas from the crowd waving and strewing palm branches on the road.

Next in Holy Week came Spy Wednesday where Judas agreed to spy on Jesus and promised to betray him to the religious leaders for the price of 30 pieces of silver. This was not a fortune; it was equal to a month’s pay for a common laborer. It was also the price under the law of moses, that a slave owner would be paid if their slave were killed by an animal – a possible foreshadowing of Christ’s betrayal and death.

On Thursday evening of Holy Week Jesus and his disciples were gathered to celebrate what would come to be called “the Last Supper” where Jesus and his disciples would share a final Passover meal. In the Episcopal Church and throughout the Anglican communion this night became known as Maundy Thursday.

Maundy is a peculiar word formed by combining the letters from old French and Middle English words, and is derived from the Latin phrase mandatum novum and means “a new commandment.” It was during the reign of King John in the 13th cen. that a long-standing tradition started where the Monarchs of England would wash the feet of the poor and give them money. The coins that were given to the poor were known as “Maundy Money” and this tradition continues to this day with King Charles III. It has lost some of its original meaning by the discontinuation of foot washing, and the maundy money is now given to worthy recipients for their acts of Christian service to church and community.

But let’s return to that first Maundy Thursday night some 2026 years ago. This would be a night like no other for Jesus and his disciples. Jesus was going to say and do three things that up to this point had never been said or done before. First, he would give them a new commandment, secondly, he would wash their feet, and third, he would create a new variation on the traditional Passover meal which would become Holy Communion for the Christian after Christ’s ascension.

The new commandment (the mandatum novum) was and still is:
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

If you have listened to many sermons, you will have probably heard the Greek word Agape’ used to describe the sacrificial Love God has for us. This word Agape’ is a noun. Something that is fascinating, when you look up the Greek for Jesus’ new commandment – one might expect that the word Agape’ divine love would be used but it’s not what was used. The word for love in Christ’s new commandment is Agapao and it’s a truly beautiful choice for Agapao is not a noun – it’s a verb! It is God’s love – set into motion, and demonstrated by action. So, this took the command to love our neighbor as ourselves to whole new level:
‘I give you a new commandment that you show sacrificial love in action towards one another. Just as I have shown sacrificial love in action towards you, so you should show sacrificial love in action for one another.’

The next thing that happens is so shocking that Peter resists and only after protesting does he give in. Jesus humbles himself and taking on the form of a servant, wraps himself in a towel, gets down on his knees starting with Peter and begins to wash his dusty weary feet, and said: “Unless I wash your feet, you have no share with me.” A practical duty that all pedestrians of the day had to do for themselves Christ would show that he was not too good to do for his disciples:
“So, if I your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.”

We do this action of foot washing every year on this night to remember that we are called to show sacrificial love in action. Why only once a year? Well, most of us drive cars, trucks or SUVs and don’t need our feet washed unless were in the hospital. However, we have found that there are many ways to show sacrificial love in action: When we are home sick and the soup patrol knocks on our door with piping hot soup and bread we have been shown love. When we are perplexed, distraught and was given a listening ear and wise counsel we have been shown love. When someone gives us rides to the church when we are unable to drive ourselves, we have been shown love. When in the secrecy of our homes we pray for one another, we have shown love. Whenever we are sinned against and choose forgiveness rather than hold a grudge we are showing love in action.

This is one of the things that makes the Church different from a social club or community service organization; we don’t get to pick who we come to church with, or who we will be sharing communion with at the altar. Some of us can be difficult, we have disagreements, and can be hard to understand, but these are the very ones that we have been called to show sacrificial love in action to. It really is all about love – Agapao! By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you show sacrificial love in action for one another! Amen.

At the beginning of Passover Week in Jerusalem around 33 ace, Jews from around Jerusalem and from the whole Greek Roman world began gathering for Passover, in the City of David, the home of the Temple. Pontius Pilate, local Roman Ruler, called in Roman Army reinforcements to the city to police and control the crowds. From the West gate of the City, Pilate led an army of Roman soldiers in full battle dress, weapons on display, riding on war horses as a show of force to the City demonstrating Roman was in command. This Pilate did each year during his reign¹

Later, at the beginning of Passover week, Jesus came to town. We just re-enacted this entry this morning. Jesus rode in through the East gate of the City riding on a donkey, and a donkey colt, with his disciples following behind him. They and some of the crowd beside the street waved palm branches, symbols of “liberation” while others threw their cloaks on the road ahead of Jesus as a sign of jubilation and kingly respect. No army, no weapons, no war horses. Matthew notes that the Hebrew prophets of old foretold this very scene, donkeys and all, that this would be how the Messiah would enter Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9).

So, what is the symbolism here? Jesus rides donkeys. Donkeys were symbols of gentleness and humility, as opposed to Pilate riding in on a war horse, symbol of power and military might. Donkeys: Donkeys are gentle creatures, affectionate, cute, and rather funny to be around. Linda Blagg, who has two donkeys, says they can read your soul, and know your heart. They will do anything for you, unless you do something harmful or against their nature. Then they might kick you with their powerful hindquarters. Christians have noted that donkeys have the image of a cross in the fur on their back, a dark streak beginning at the mane, the cross-beam intersecting at the withers. They are much like Jesus himself. In all ways, the opposite of a war horse. The people shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” The word “hosanna” once meant “save us” in Hebrew and Aramaic, but by Jesus’ day, it was reduced to a cheer, more like “yeah!”² We’re told the City was in turmoil because many did not know who Jesus was or what his entrance was all about.

Many people expected in Jesus the return of the great King David who would raise a great army and push the Roman army out of Israel and free the people, with the cloaks thrown on the road as if a red carpet, the great cheers for the great king.³ But there is no army and no weapons. Because, as Jesus has been teaching throughout his ministry, the Kingdom of God is about relationships, not Earthly governments and armies. Luke 10 and Matthew 22: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 7: “do not judge others.” Matthew 18: don’t forgive others seven times, but “seventy seven times.” Matthew 25: “Come you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you…., for I was hungry and you gave me food…thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me…, naked and you gave me clothing…, sick and you took care of me…, in prison and you visited me.” Matthew 20: “whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant….just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

The Kingdom of God is not in the world’s governments, nations nor their leaders. The kingdom of God is in people who express love, grace, and forgiveness to others, who seek to meet the needs of others. The Kingdom of God is in groups of people who share love, grace and forgiveness with each other. The Kingdom of God is in those who experience God’s love and grace and forgiveness and are transformed by God. A nation or government and its leaders are only Christian to the extent that they act in love, grace and forgiveness, acting in accord with the nature of God, demonstrating Jesus’ presence. Our Churches are only healing and life giving to the extent we let God make a home in us. But, fortunately for all people everywhere and in every walk of life, God gives out love, grace, and forgiveness.

We are here in the Church today giving ourselves to that transformation, seeking the life altering presence of God who can take our self-centered and often damaged selves and make us the loving and gracious disciples of Jesus Christ, citizens of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus did not come with an army to rid the world of other nation’s armies and power, but to transform people who would then transform their interactions with each other into love, grace and forgiveness, and who would behave that way in every area of their lives, be it family, business, government, or Church. Only then do our institutions begin to look like the Kingdom of God. Only then can wars stop being waged, only then can governments act as true servants to the needs of the people, only then will we treat all people with equality and dignity. Pilate’s Roman soldiers will not help create God’s work on Earth, nor any army. Laws generated in a
society not following the love of God will not bring safety and tranquility to the people. But, people transformed to love and grace Will !!

Today, Palm Sunday, and this week, Holy Week, connects us with the Creator of all existence, and God’s call to us to be in the Kingdom of God. A man riding on a donkey, serving the people in love, obedient to God, self-sacrificing, is the metaphor for the Kingdom of God.

AMEN…..

1 Men’s Bible Study, Saint Mark’s Episcopal, Little Rock
2 New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Vol. VIII, Matthew (M. Eugene Boring), pp. 402-403.
3 NIBC, Vol. VIII, p. 403

“I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord. Whoever believes in me, though they were dead, yet shall they live; and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” Amen. – from John 11.25-26

In spite everything the Holy Bible continues to stay near the top on the best seller list, and one of the reasons is that it is chocked full of good stories. Oral tradition was how ancient peoples preserved, and transmitted their highest tribal values to future generations. By telling and retelling Through stories, poetry, and song, each new generation was introduced to what was most important. Finally after centuries and with the advent of writing they came to be written down. The Gospels are great examples of how a good story carries a lot of freight.

The story of Lazarus is one of those great stories and once heard it’s almost impossible to forget. If you were giving it a title, a good one might be: “A Dress Rehearsal for the Resurrection from the Dead”
The story includes Jesus’ three close friends from the village of Bethany: Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. They were all siblings and had been extremely helpful to Jesus and through ministry they became close friends.

This makes the opening scene so strange. Jesus receives word that his good friend Lazarus had taken ill and it was a serious situation. Rather than dropping everything and rushing to his rescue, he stays two additional days where he was and had this to say: “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.” How strange.

As the end of the two days Jesus suddenly tells his disciples that it’s time to go back to Bethany. He tells them that Lazarus was only sleeping, and that he was going to awaken him. How strange. This is all quite disturbing to the disciples especially since the last time they had been in Bethany the villagers had attempted to stone Jesus and his disciples to death. In characteristic style, Thomas casts an additional pall on the proceedings and said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

On the outskirts of town Martha intercepted Jesus to tell him not to bother with her brother, that Lazarus was dead. She who was freshly heartbroken had some pretty harsh words for Jesus: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (‘In other words, where the blank______ have you been!’) Have you ever been disappointed with God? Martha, although deeply disappointed in Jesus still held to a glimmer of hope and added:
“But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”
Maybe, this worker of miracles might have one more miracle up his sleeve for her brother. Jesus seeing that she still has an ember of faith tells her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha agrees that Lazarus will finally be resurrected like all of the dead will be on the last day. Jesus says something strange:
“I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Martha declares her faith in Jesus that he was more than a mere mortal:
“Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
She runs back home tells her sister Mary that Jesus is just coming into town. Mary gets up quickly to meets Jesus and is followed by the villagers. She greeted him with the same disappointment of her sister Martha and said:
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Grief, pain, and suffering where had Jesus been, why didn’t he come before Lazarus died? The deep disappointment is Jesus was real. Mary, along with those who had followed began to weep profusely! This greatly distressed and disturbed Jesus, he asked where they had laid Lazarus to rest, and then something happened that revealed the deep truth about Jesus that he was not only divine but human. We are told that Jesus was no demigod and untouched, the gospel tells us, “He was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.” Then something extraordinary happens. Here the classic King James version of the bible reads just two words – “Jesus wept.” Jesus feels, Jesus suffers, Jesus loves. This moment when Jesus reveals his humanity and his great empathy for those in grief, is enshrined in the burial service of our prayer book which states:
Lord, you consoled Martha and Mary in their distress, draw near to us who mourn and dry the tears of those who weep. (BCP p.497)
Jesus, the human grieves, and thereby sanctifies all of our grief by his own, and is revealed by his weeping.
They walk to the tomb and Martha with an eye for detail and a keen sense of the obvious warns Jesus about the stench of Lazarus after four days of being dead. Again, the King James versions puts it poetically – “Lord, by this time he stinketh…” Jesus, a bit disappointed in Martha said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” The stone from the grave was then rolled away and the strong overpowering stench of death fills their nostrils – Jesus then calls out in a loud voice: “Lazarus come out.”

Lazarus slowly emerges covered in grave clothes embedded with aloes and spices and with his hands bound by bandages! The stench gives way to astonishment as the miracle is performed – Lazarus is very much alive! Jesus tells them to unbind him so that he can walk freely. Because of this great many believed.

Names were extremely important back in that day. Names often gave the person clues to their destinies. Guess what the name Lazarus means in Hebrew? “God Helped” I’d say Lazarus lived up to the prophecy that his name revealed.
What if God knows about the trouble of our lives – those situations that seem to have no solution and God appears to be silent on the matter. Maybe it has something to do with our intimate relationships, our finances or the lack thereof, or at school, or work, or something extremely personal that’s going on in our bodies.

As they say hindsight is 20/20, as we look at the conclusion of Lazarus’ story we can see God was working out the divine purpose for God’s glory. How might we apply this in our situations of trouble, distress, or grief?

Last week during the peace I was greeted by one of our children who handed me his artwork from children’s chapel it was a highly decorated word and one word only – Faith! What a reminder and I very much needed it that day!

Perhaps it’s time to use what little faith we have and believe in our great God, the God that is both human and divine, that feels all of our pain, and to trust that God + Our Difficulty = God’s opportunity to do something truly remarkable! Let it be Lord, let it be!