John 11:1-45
Just imagine. Imagine that new creation, that resurrection is actually possible. Imagine, even, that not only is resurrection possible, but God has already begun bringing about the restoration of the world, all of creation, and our invitation is to participate in this Missio Dei.
Of course, this renewal can be hard to picture when we’re surrounded by systems of death and imprisonment. Perhaps as abolitionists, you and members of your faith community have been struggling against the ongoing expansion of policing and incarceration, and there are times when you feel discouraged. Oppressive forces have a way of making themselves seem inevitable; meanwhile, the damage they inflict causes so much pain and harm in our communities. We lament the death that surrounds us, as we should, and yet we do not grieve alone.
When Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha dies, his sisters and his community mourn the loss of someone they loved so dearly. When Jesus and his disciples eventually join them, Martha says to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (v. 21). She is hurt, and understandably so; when we suffer the grief of death, we want to cry out to God, “where were you?” And yet Jesus has drawn near. He loved Lazarus and his sisters (v. 5), and he mourned with Mary and Martha, weeping over the death of his friend and their brother (vv.33-35). We are reminded that God is with us in our despair, and grieves alongside us. But despair is not the final word, and neither is death.
Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life” (v. 25). Resurrection is present now in Jesus. Restoration and renewal are here now. New creation is beginning now. Jesus calls out to Lazarus to come out from the tomb, and the man who was dead and still bears the cloth strips of one who was buried now walks. Jesus says, “Unbind him, and let him go” (v. 44). This is his word for us too. Our calling is the same: to work alongside Jesus as he unbinds the bound.
We are right to mourn the death that surrounds us, and to lament the injustice caused by systems of incarceration. God mourns with us. However, we continue to hope because God promises resurrection – this is the good news that the preacher must proclaim. And we are empowered to participate in God’s work of renewing the world. We continue to do the work, alongside Jesus, of unbinding the bound. This is our invitation, our calling.
In his book, The Spirituals and the Blues, James Cone quotes these lyrics from a Black Spiritual1:
Children, we shall be free
When the Lord shall appear.
Give ease to the sick, give sight to the blind,
Enable the cripple to walk;
He’ll raise the dead from under the earth,
And give them permission to talk.
Just imagine.
Jed Tate is a United Methodist pastor in North Carolina.
[1] James Cone, The Spirituals and the Blues, 34.