If I Could Ask One Question of Lazarus, I would ask “What Were You Thinking As You Left the Tomb?”

 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “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.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”  Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”  John 11:1-6, 17-44

The dead do not come back to life. This is one belief that most of us have – though we have heard of stories where someone who had apparently died did just that. But in the time of Jesus, the dead did not come back to life. If you were placed in the tomb, that was that. Yes, there were stories about Jesus and his miracles – healing the blind, the lame, the deaf. The sisters of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, were close friends of Jesus. They would have spent many hours with him, listening to his teachings, his stories, his philosophy about life and faith. If there was anyone who could bring their beloved brother back to them, it was Jesus. But there he was, in the tomb. And not just placed in the tomb, he had been there four days. This is the key point of the whole story of the raising of Lazarus, for it is believed in the eastern religions and also rabbinical teaching that the soul of the departed hovers near the body for three days. After three days, the soul leaves without any possibility of returning. Jesus deliberately made sure that He would resurrect Lazarus after three days of his death to demonstrate to His disciples and to all that truly He was Lord of the living and of the dead.

In this case, Lazarus would have truly transitioned to the afterlife – and then transitioned back when Jesus called him out of the tomb. That is the source of my one question for Lazarus – “What were you thinking when Jesus called you out?” What one question would you ask Lazarus?

Pastor Dave

If I Could Ask One Question of Thomas, I would ask “Where Were You That First Night of the Resurrection?”

“When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” John 20:19-29

Thomas, where were you? Where was Thomas? The other disciples got the memo that they were gathering in the Upper Room that evening – the pressure was mounting – people were beginning to watch them – to make accusations against them. They needed to continue to meet, to pray, to wait. Most importantly, they needed to stay together. And so they gathered – and were praying. But someone had to notice that they were short one person. Where was Thomas?

Perhaps Thomas couldn’t get past the horrors of the cross. He was completely devastated by the death of Christ. We know that Thomas was one to question (remember John 14:5 “Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”). Perhaps along with his questioning personality, he also had a pessimistic attitude. As such, perhaps he just didn’t believe Jesus was coming back. If Thomas believed Christ was going to show up at the meeting, he would have been there.

We know that grief, and the realization of failed dreams and purpose can cause us all to lose hope. And when we lose hope, we lose faith – and when we lose faith, we lose mission. Thomas just had witnessed three years of mission and ministry be nailed to a cross. So, knowing he wasn’t in the room with the other disciples – and missed the appearance of the resurrected Jesus – I would like to know where he was. That is my one question for Thomas. What is the one question you would ask him?

Pastor Dave