5th Sunday of Lent – Amy

OUR COMFORT

I do love a list.  John 11:33 describes the heartache Jesus feels when he sees the community of mourners who are grief-stricken at the death of Martha and Mary’s brother, Lazarus. 

A List of Paintings:

  • 6th Century mosaic of the Raising of Lazarus, Ravenna, Italy
  • Duccio – The Raising of Lazarus –  1310
  • Rembrandt –  The Raising of Lazarus –   1630
  • Van Gogh – The Raising of Lazarus after Rembrandt –  1890

A List of the 10 resurrection stories from The Bible:

  • The Son of a Widow raised by Elijah – 1 Kings 17:17-24
  • The Son of the Shunammite Woman by Elisha – 2 Kings 4:18-37 (Gazuntite!)
  • A man thrown in to Elisha’s tomb by Elisha’s bones – 2 Kings 13:20-21
  • The widow’s son at Nain by Jesus – Luke 7:11-17
  • Jairus’s daughter by Jesus – Luke 8:49-56 (Douglas, the pediatrician, loves this story)
  •  Lazarus by Jesus – John 11:1-44
  • Jesus by God – Matt 28:1-20; Mark 16:1-20; Luke 23:1-49; and John 20:1-21:25
  • The Saints by God at the Death of Jesus – Matt 27:52-53
  • Tabitha by Peter – Acts 9:40
  • Eutychus by Paul – Acts 20:10 (beware the boring sermon)

Duchow is commenting on the humanity of Christ in this story of Jesus sorrow at the loss of his friend, Lazarus. Jesus wept.

A list of particularly human acts by Christ:

  • Sassing his mother  –  Luke 2:49
  • Sassing his mother, again –  John 2:4
  • Anger at the Pharisees  –  Mark 3:5
  • Throwing a tantrum  –  Matthew 21: 12
  • Frustrated with his friends  –  Mark 14:37
  • Scared of dying  –  Luke 22:42

The act of raising Lazarus is loaded. Wanting to console and comfort the mourners, his dear friends Martha and Mary, and to even comfort himself, Jesus raises Lazarus. But, the act of raising Lazarus (the 7th sign) will lead directly to Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin’s plan to kill Jesus. 

A list of the 7 “signs” John lays out in his Gospel:

  • Changing water in to wine at the wedding in Cana – John 2:1-11
  • Healing the royal official’s son in Capernaum – John 4:46-54
  • Healing the paralytic at Bethesda – John 5: 1-15
  • Feeding of the 5000 – John 6:5-14
  • Walking on water – John 6:16-24
  • Healing the man blind from birth – John 9: 1-7
  • The raising of Lazarus – John 11: 1-45

This story shows the duality of Christ’s nature juxtaposing human grief with divine salvation.  The Word (Jesus, the scriptures) is fully human and fully divine. This devotion speaks to how Christ comforts his friends, and urges us to be that comfort to those around us. (At times when I act particularly “human,” I do not think those around me find it all that comforting.)  However, I do find Christ’s humanity to be very comforting. 

– Amy Sutherland Nesbit, EFM Alumna

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