That whole scene at the tomb of Lazarus is to me the perfect example of the inevitable struggle between Sorrow and Joy that is the hallmark of this human life. Jesus has just called out “Lazarus come forth!” And the one who was dead comes back to life, hopping out of that cave… Yes, hopping; because we know – as the passage states – that the burial custom was to wrap the dead in linen strips, like a mummy. I wonder who was the first one in that crowd to repress a chuckle at the sight.

Think about the utter incongruity that those people have just witnessed. They removed the stone from the cave; and true to Martha’s words, “he stinketh”. For he has been dead for four days. Yet, at Jesus’ words, corruption and decay are undone instantaneously… with the same rapidity that the universe burst into being when God said, ‘Let there be light’. And a spirit that had been a moment before in the joyful presence of Abraham, Enoch, Elijah, and the myriad other faithful that had walked with God, suddenly finds himself confined within flesh again… and to almost add insult to injury: physically tied up like a mummy.

Have you ever pondered how Lazarus felt? Did he have a choice? Sure, given the chance to wipe away the tears from his sisters’ eyes he wouldn’t have said, No. But think about what he suddenly left behind… the Life for which his Heavenly Father had originally made him. Paul understood that feeling:

Philippians 1:21-24 (NIV) For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

And the sisters… If you have experienced deep loss in your life, I know you can imagine the flood of joy that must have overwhelmed their hearts at having their beloved brother back. And yet, in the midst of that Joy they cannot deny the fact that they are gathered there in a cemetery… they cannot erase the fact, the memory, of the agony that that death put them through.

Why?

Ask the average person on the street, what question would they ask God if you could guarantee that He would answer them? And invariably you will eventually get the question: “If God is good and He loves us, why do bad things happen (to good people)?” It is a question that has been asked for millennia. The book of Job is all about that question.

And if we read the book of Job honestly, without any presuppositions, I think we hear the answer clearly. God essentially tells Job: “What do you mean good people?” If this shocks you or bothers you, go back and read the whole book with an eye out for the passages where Job himself ends up acknowledging, confessing, that he has been a sinner. He goes as far as asking God to ignore those sins, to stop holding them against him, not because he has “made up for them” but because he, as a human being, is utterly powerless before God’s might.

You see, the reason there is pain and suffering in this world is because it is a fallen world. It is a corrupt version of the world God originally intended for us. And we are to blame. We made it this way… by our sins, by our rejection of God’s will.

We live in a world where pain and suffering await all of us because this is not the world we were created for. How, then, do we get the strength to cling to hope?  By acknowledging the reality that Job prophesied to himself in the middle of his agony:

Job 19:25-27 I know that my Redeemer lives. And in the end, as the last One, He will stand upon this Earth. And though this earth be my grave. Though my body has been destroyed, I will see God… I with my own eyes, and not another. Oh, how my heart yearns within me!

Yes, sin and sorrow and suffering are the reality in this valley of tears BUT there is One who came with the power to undo the root cause. He came to abolish the power of sin; and with it gone, all its consequences are likewise undone.

In this world? Well, yes… to the degree that we – His children – live in this world, to that degree, our lives are sovereign territory of the Kingdom of God. And so, in this world we can experience the power, the joy, of hope even in the midst of tragedy. But as Paul says, hope that is seen is not hope at all. The real joy, the ultimate joy when all tears will be forgotten is waiting for us on the other side.

Until then we will live in the middle of the tug of war between Sorrow and Joy. How do we survive it? How do we get the strength to cling to hope? It should be no surprise that my answer will be: We must make the choice.

Choose Hope

There is more incongruity in that scene at the tomb of Lazarus: As we saw where we left off last time, when that crowd saw Jesus raise the dead back to life… John 11:45 Many therefore of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he had done, believed on him… But right there, witnessing exactly the same events… John 11:46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

And you know they are not going to them to evangelize them…

John 11:47-48 The chief priests, therefore, and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, What do we? for this man does many signs. If we let him thus alone, all will believe on him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.

How is this possible? The same circumstances that lead some to faith and hope give others the occasion to be offended. It seems a contradiction. But it is not. Because how we live our lives is not dictated by the circumstances. Neither tragedy nor blessing have the power to control how we live. We have the power to control how we react to them. We choose how to go on.

And even in the middle of the darkest night God always has a path for His children to follow. We just need His light to see it.

John 11:49-52 But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, Ye know nothing nor consider that it is profitable for you that one man die for the people, and not that the whole nation perish. But this he did not say of himself; but, being high priest that year, prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation; and not for the nation only, but that he should also gather together into one the children of God who were scattered abroad.

So, there it is: In the middle of what looks like the powers of evil sealing the fate of Jesus – for Caiaphas, their high priest, has just given them all his blessing to seek him out and kill him – God makes him interject the message of the gospel for all those people to hear:

This man has come to die that the rest of us might not perish.

Think about it: They have gathered there because of their shared hatred of Jesus. And yet, they have heard the one whom they hold in authority proclaiming that there is a greater purpose for what is to come (the Cross). I wonder… How many of those, when they went to watch the spectacle of the crucifixion were cut to the core the way that Roman centurion was cut to the core? How many heard the Roman’s words “indeed this was the son of God” and remembered Caiaphas’ words, and perhaps remembered hearing in the synagogue those passages from Isaiah about the suffering servant?

It is all a choice.

The story of Mary and Martha (and Lazarus) is not over yet. It continues in Chapter 12.

John 12:1-7 (NIV) Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

And there again, we see the power of choice. Judas has chosen to be offended.

But Mary, moved by the Holy Spirit, has somehow put it all together. She has been listening to Jesus’ teaching all this time. She has heard Him talk about picking up the cross and following Him, she has heard Him talk about the grain of wheat that must fall to the ground and die in order to bring forth a harvest, she has understood that forgiveness comes only after sacrifice… and John the Baptizer revealed it long ago: “This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”… The Lamb can only do that by dying.

And I think, all of a sudden it all makes sense… maybe even to the meaning of her name. Yes, Mary was a common name, because of Miriam, Moses’ sister. But it also means Mara, “bitter”, the same word as Myrrh: that bitter perfume used to anoint the dead for burial. .

We can choose Joy within the Sorrow because Jesus did (as Hebrews 12:2 says) who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.