This week as Jesus continues his travel, he receives word that his good friend, Lazarus, has fallen ill. Lazarus is the brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany. We get the sense that this family is important in the life of Jesus. The sisters are mentioned in both Luke and John, and the Gospel writer here states that Mary is the one who will wipe Jesus' feet with perfume shortly before his final trip to Jerusalem. The message he receives from the sisters now refers to Lazarus as one whom Jesus loves. But rather than heading immediately out, Jesus plays it off as not that serious and stays where he is for a few more days.
After two days, Jesus decides the time is right and tells his disciples it is time to start on the road to Judea where both Bethany and Jerusalem are located. The disciples in this Gospel are slightly less clueless than in the other gospels. The disciples warn Jesus that the religious authorities that tried to stone him the last time he was there may not allow him to leave this time. Thomas even has the foresight to suggest that following Jesus this time will lead to their own deaths as well.
When they arrive in Bethany, Lazarus has already been dead and in the tomb for four days. Now, some quick math here will show that even heading out as soon as Jesus received the message would not have had him arrive in time. If he delayed two days and then arrived four days after Lazarus died, he likely would have arrived two days after Lazarus died even if he had left immediately. Of course, this also assumes the same rate of travel, etc., but we can really do little else than make our best guesses based on the text.
And yet, even upon arrival in Bethany, he does not go immediately to see Mary and Martha. Based on his reactions as each of them come to him at some other location, we get the impression that he does not want to face their pain. He is distressed by their obvious loss and pain. The comments that if he had been present Lazarus would still be alive seem to really affect him. Even some of the other mourners are heard saying "Surely the same man who healed the man blind since birth could have kept Lazarus alive?" His teachings and miracles are not going unnoticed. But even though the crowd knows, this does not make them his followers. There is a bit of a selfishness in these comments and that subtext may have hurt Jesus as much as the obvious pain of his friends. "He healed a man he didn't even know but couldn't be bothered to rush here to save one he loves?"
Jesus cries.
Then he has them open the tomb. Knowing that this tomb, in the desert, has held a dead body for four days, he calls for the stone to be rolled away. Martha, knowing that this tomb, in the desert, has held her brother's dead body for four days, says "You sure? 'Cause there is already quite a stench from his rotting, decomposing body." But they remove the stone, and Jesus calls to Lazarus to come out. Now the text says that "the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth." Did he hop? Was he floating? Maybe he crawled out like an inchworm. Whatever the case, the man that was dead comes out of the tomb and is set free to live once more.
As I thought about this story, I was reminded of one of the story lines in the Star Wars saga. Specifically, I thought about Han Solo's capture and sojourn as a wall hanging. In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke is on another planet when he receives a vision of his friends in danger. Unlike Jesus, Luke immediately begins preparations to go save his friends. He is advised that he will not arrive in time to do them any good, but he rushes off anyway. But, like Jesus, Luke arrives after Han has already been placed in a tomb of his own and Leia actually winds up having to come back and save Luke.
On the other hand, Leia is there with Han as he is encased in carbonite. She weeps as she sees this tomb sealed around him, uncertain if he will survive or if she will ever see him again. With Luke's help, Leia tracks down those that have taken Han (in Return of the Jedi). But in a twist, Luke, who is seen as the one with the powers and was the one who was away and received the message, is not the one to release Han from his tomb. Instead, Leia is the one to open Han's tomb. Like Lazarus, Han comes out of his enclosure. He has trouble using his hands and feet, as if they are bound. And he can't see at first, as if his face is covered with cloth. Both of these symptoms of his time in the tomb enclosed in carbonite.
Uncertain what is happening, Han asks his savior, "Who are you?" And, much as I imagine Jesus said to Lazarus, Leia says, with tears in her eyes, "Someone who loves you."