Monday 22nd July
Read John 11:38-40
“Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 ‘Take away the stone,’ he said.
‘But, Lord,’ said Martha, the sister of the dead man, ‘by this time there is a bad odour, for he has been there four days.’
40 Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?’” (NIVUK)
Jesus is not emotional in a weak and weepy way when He approaches the tomb of Lazarus. Our translations do not serve us well at this point. This is because the emotions Jesus is reported to have displayed at this moment, both when He is confronted by the grief and despair of Mary and the Jews (v33, 35), and now as He approaches Lazarus’ tomb (v38), are more accurately described as anger.
Translators have toned down His indignation, His outrage, because they can’t quite square it with the sympathy He clearly shows with the grieving. But we should be under no illusion here – Jesus is angry. He is not angry at their grief. He is not angry at Martha when she baulks at His demand (v39). He is angry at death. The Lord of life stands before the tomb of His friend, listening to the grief it engenders, and knows and feels the full force of death’s captivity of those whom He loves dearly. He is rightly angry.
He is not unmoved. He is not impassive. He is not aloof. He is angry. One can easily imagine the gruffness and authority with which He issues the command to remove the stone that seals one up in death. We are witnessing the confrontation between life and death in those few short words.
Take away the stone and see the glory of God. A foreshadowing of another stone rolled away.
