(Artist/Ansgar Holmberg, CSJ)
NARRATOR: There was a man named Lazarus, who was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. The sisters sent word to Jesus to inform him, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
JESUS: This sickness will not end in death; rather it is for God’s glory, that through it the Son of God may be glorified.
NARRATOR: Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus very much. Yet, after hearing that Lazarus was sick, Jesus stayed on where he was for two days more. Finally he said to his disciples:
JESUS: Let us go back to Judea.
NARRATOR: When Jesus arrived in Bethany, he found Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. The village was not far from Jerusalem—just under two miles—and many Jewish people had come out to console Martha and Mary over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, while Mary sat at home.
MARTHA: Lord, if you had been here, my brother would never had died. Even now I am sure that God will give you whatever you ask.
JESUS: Your brother will rise again.
MARTHA: I know he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.
JESUS: I am the resurrection and the life: whoever believes in me, though they die, will come to life; and whoever is alive and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?
MARTHA: Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that you are the messiah, the Son of God: he who is to come into the world.
NARRATOR: When she had said this, Martha went back and called her sister Mary.
MARTHA: The Teacher is here, asking for you.
NARRATOR: As soon as Mary heard this, she got up and started out in his direction. Actually Jesus had not yet come into the village but was still at the spot where Martha had met him. The Jews who were in the house with Mary saw her get up quickly and go out, so they followed her, thinking she was going to the tomb to weep. When Mary came to the place where Jesus was, she fell at his feet.
MARY: Lord, if you had been here, my brother would never have died.
NARRATOR: When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had accompanied her also weeping, he was troubled in spirit, moved by the deepest emotions.
JESUS: Where have you lain him?
ALL: Lord, come and see.
NARRATOR: Jesus began to weep.
MOURNERS 1: See how much he loved Lazarus.
MOURNERS 2: He opened the eyes of the blind man. Why could he not have done something to stop this man from dying?
NARRATOR: Troubled in spirit, Jesus approached the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across it.
JESUS: Take away the stone.
MARTHA: Lord, it has been four days now; surely there will be a stench.
JESUS: Did I not assure you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God displayed?
NARRATOR: They took away the stone, and Jesus looked upward.
JESUS: Father, I thank you for having heard me. I know that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd, that they may believe that you sent me. Lazarus, come out.
NARRATOR: The dead man came out, bound hand and foot with
linen strips, and his face wrapped in a cloth.
JESUS: Untie him and let him go free.
NARRATOR: Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and saw what Jesus did put their faith in him.
John 11.1-7, 17-45
Sunday Readings: Ezekiel 37.12-14 Romans 8.8-11 John 11.1-45