5th Sunday of Lent-A: Death is dead

In 1973 Philosopher and psychologist called Ernest Becker wrote a book called The Denial of Death for which he won Pulitzer Prize in 1974, just two month after his death. In that book he says that we human beings spend our lives terrified of death at an unconscious level. Let me quote “For behind the sense of insecurity in the face of danger, behind the sense of discouragement and depression, there always lurks the fear of death, a fear which undergoes many complex elaborations and manifests itself in many indirect ways……No one is free from fear of death…” (Page 16). Is it not in a way true? Nagging in the back of our minds is how fragile our lives are. All of us are afraid of death. Is it not?
In the good old days churches used to be the biggest buildings around. Today look at the hospitals. There are hospitals around here that are bigger than any of the churches– pushing back death. The percentage of our nation’s income going for health care is skyrocketing far beyond that of any other nation. Every news program and newspaper gives you your daily dose of health news. We don’t like death. Man has declared a war on death. Yes, two thousand years ago one man started this war and challenged death. He is none other than Jesus.
Over the past weeks the Gospel of John has been telling the story of Jesus’ battle against the power of death. A woman living in the death of being a hated outsider in her culture meets Jesus at a well and finds the acceptance she has long been searching for. And a blind man after a lifetime of social and religious ostracism reaches out to Jesus for healing. And then in today’s gospel Jesus faces death head-on when he learns Lazarus is dead. And so here, just before Jesus faces his own death, he stares the great enemy in the face. And what has been a series of skirmishes between life and death turns into a full-blown confrontation.
Scholars will argue that this isn’t a resurrection; it’s a resuscitation, because, after all, Lazarus will still face a final death. But it’s a story about God’s power to meet us in our tombs, when we feel there is no way out. New Testament scholar Raymond Brown calls these “sign” stories – signs of the ways Jesus is continually breaking open the tombs of our lives, until in this last story it’s death itself that he defeats.
Now I want to reflect with you what this event meant for each one involved in the story.
What it meant to Lazarus?
Eugene O'Neill once wrote a play called Lazarus Laughed about what happened when Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead. From the first time Lazarus’ friends see him after he has been raised, he is full of joy and laughter. "What did you see on the other side of death?" they ask. And Lazarus answers, "There is no death! There is no death! There is only life!" And he bursts into a laugh that O'Neill describes as full of acceptance of life and a profound joy.
In the play, after Jesus' death, Lazarus preaches about the living Christ who could free people from the intimidation and enslavement which the fear death brings. His great confrontation comes when he faces the cruel Caligula, heir to the Roman throne. Caligula brings Lazarus before him and threatens him with torture and execution. But Lazarus looks into his face and laughs softly, and says to him, "Death is dead, Caligula, Death is dead!"
The biggest change in Lazarus, after experiencing Christ’s new life, was that he wasn't afraid any more. He could hope.
What it meant for Jesus?
It was almost like a down payment on the promise of His own resurrection to come just weeks later. Here is a man who is awaiting death. Awaiting his own personal encounter with the common enemy. It is a rehearsal of the battle and victory over the common enemy. It would have filled him with lot more courage and confidence. It would have given him an assurance to go ahead. The fear of death is removed.
What it meant for the Pharisees?
It filled them with fear. Fear of insecurity. So the life-giving incident turns out to be life threatening. They go out and plan immediately how to kill him.
What it means for us?
Think back to times when things seemed so dark you thought you’d never see light again. The relationship had dried up, the child was losing her way, the job was defeating you. But somehow, through nothing you could do on your own, you found yourself turning toward hope, and light began to enter. Someone reached out to you, you found a new strength, a new way to face things, and you began to feel your way forward. Experiences like this, the experience of Lazarus and Jesus’ own resurrection should fill us with that same assurance. “Death is dead. No more death. He conquered it.” Amen.