This post, by Doreen Raymer, is a reflection on the “Where Were You, Jesus?” sermon as part of the “Wilderness” sermon series.
As with many stories of Jesus, the story of Lazarus has both a human and a spiritual meaning…as did Jesus Himself.
On the human side, Jesus delayed two days in Jordan after He learned of His friend’s illness, only to weep on His arrival in Bethany. He didn’t weep because of the loss of His friend…as interpreted by the witnesses…but He wept because of the compassion He felt towards His dear friends who were suffering such grief and anger. Jesus wept…the shortest verse in the Bible.
The spiritual side of the story is that it foreshadows Christ’s own days in the tomb before His resurrection which, like when He raised Lazarus from the dead, would glorify God, His Father.
Perhaps there is a third side to consider. We are bound by our fears, imprisoned in our homes, awaiting a promised release. We ask how long it will be – not just two days or two weeks, maybe not even two months. But for us, too, there is a foreshadowing in the examples of compassion, heroism, and kindness that are being exhibited everywhere, called forth in reaction to the virus, and that are, ironically, equally contagious.