Week 4 June 2026 – REFLECTION ON MIXED MESSAGES

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?’”  John 11:25

The theologian in me is chomping at the bit to dive into the kind of story where sane people artlessly mumble, “You can’t make up this kind of stuff.”  The flaky earthling in me hears a kind soul say, “You look great today,” and instantly I conclude that most days I look near death or dress poorly. 

Sane fans of riveting faith stories vote unanimously to let the Holy Spirit unpack the story, making it new and fresh. By His grace I have the audacity to pray regularly, “Lord, please make me teachable and surprisable!”  No doubt, the disciples were surprised to hear that their Lord’s dearly loved friend was sick, but He stayed away deliberately until Lazarus was “stinkingly dead.”  Can’t you just hear them mumbling and in their perplexity say things that would both tickle and shock our ears?  We can safely assume that not even that would have alarmed Jesus or triggered rash words.

A real “word salad” – quite trendy today – is in progress when He finally says, “Lettuce” go from Galilee to Judea to wake up the patient who is just asleep. Thomas, not yet the doubter, promptly tells his fellow sceptics, “Lettuce go with Him so we all die together.”  The famously ill-tempered Pharisees will surely be lurking nearby with their own ominous “Let us…” agenda.  Chatty Martha, the relentlessly busy domestic goddess, remonstrates with Jesus, but He silences her with the pivotal declaration which is a perennially  prominent feature at our Memorial Services.  Why not rather engage with the theologically astute sister who preferred to sit at the Lord’s feet for instruction?  With the sorrowing Mary He weeps, then continues to be profoundly “moved within” by the palpable grief of dazed mourners. No doubt, the shock of seeing Lazarus lurch out of the tomb, still bound up in his grave attire, would later give them some sleepless nights.

John 11:41-42 informs the reader of how Jesus prayed to His Father before loudly commanding a presumed corpse to “come forth.”  By the time we grasp that this was all about God’s glory, not the gory of advancing human decomposition, a verbal jab to the stomach does land: “Unbind him!”  Febreze and disposable gloves had not yet been invented, so I prefer not to dwell on how it was managed.  We have all been “dead in our trespasses” and the stench of sin hadn’t evaporate magically when God calls us to “unbind” the people of His choosing. Some attend our church, others we became friends with at some point. Jesus uses both our inner contemplative Mary and chatty Martha to school us in the process. My most significant assignment as loving mentor lasted seven  years before health challenges forced my rest. Healthy boundaries had been set before and I prayed as much with my new sister as I did for her.  The driving force always was to make Morena from El Salvador strongly dependent on her Savior, not stop-gap me.