You're too late....

John 11:1-46

The Raising of Lazarus

1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." 4 But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it." 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. 7 Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." 8 The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?" 9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 "But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." 11 This He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep." 12 The disciples then said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. 14 So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, 15 and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him." 16 Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, so that we may die with Him."
17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. 20 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. 21 Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 "Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world."
28 When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." 29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him.
30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." 33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, 34 and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews were saying, "See how He loved him!" 37 But some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?"
38 So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" 41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 "I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me." 43 When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." 44 The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
45 Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.

The raising of Lazarus forms a crescendo in the Gospel account of Jesus' life. It is after this seminal event that the Jewish authorities finally realize that they must get rid of Jesus...that any man who can raise people from the dead is a danger to their power. Things had already been pretty tense, so much so that the disciples were fearful of even going back to Bethany, which was two short miles from Jerusalem. When Jesus raises Lazarus, He signs his own death warrant.

Lazarus is an intriguing character that we know little about. It seems clear from the narratives that he was a fairly rich man, who had enough favor to be able to have an audience with Harod. Some Biblical scholars (including one of my favorites, Ben Witherington) believe that Lazarus was the "Beloved Disciple," the author of the Gospel of John and the benefactor of Mary, mother of Jesus, after Christ's death on the cross. We know from the narrative that Jesus loved Lazarus, as well as his sisters Mary and Martha. We know that Jesus was willing to travel through a hostile environment to help his friend.

And, of course, we know Jesus was too late.....

When Martha sees Christ coming to her home, she can not help but lament the fact that Jesus ran a little too late. Even in her professions of faith, it is very easy to see a thin-veiled disappointment that Christ could not have arrived sooner to help her brother when he really needed it. Even when Christ reveals to her that He has come to raise Lazarus, Martha misses the point...thinking that Jesus is talking metaphorically about the raising of all souls from Sheol.

Jesus was too late.....

Eric Hipple was the quarterback of the Detroit Lions for about 10 years in the 80's. Hipple had had bouts with alcohol abuse and depression, although he never felt that the label of "depression" fit him. This undiagnosed condition continued to cause problems for him and his family; but, the biggest problem escaped his attention. His 15 year old son, Jeff, also suffered from depression and also went undiagnosed. Hipple found his son after he had used a gun to commit suicide.

He was...agonizingly...too late.

What Hipple has done, however, is to not make this failure to recognize a serious problem the end of the story. Hipple has received help for his condition and now speaks all over the world on the dangers of depression and the importance of early diagnosis.

In Midian, there are often times when we are too late to change things of great importance. While that could be the tragedy of a suicide, it could also be the disappointment in a particular relationship. It might be the volunteer opportunity that you realize, too late, that you really should have stepped up for.

The challenge for all of us is whether or not "too late" becomes the end to these vignettes in our lives. What Jesus clearly shows is that too late is not a term that applies to Him. He is the Truth and the Life...God beyond time..and He can always impact events according to His will.

While we are not able to stop time and correct whatever we wish, we do have the capacity to make a difference even after we have failed. With faith and determination, being "too late" to stop one thing can be the beginning of being "right on time" for many more.