Lazarus and Dying Twice

I’ve often felt bad for Lazarus, the friend of Jesus, whom Jesus rose from the dead. Why feel bad for him? Well, he went through the whole dying process, which can often be painful or miserable, was raised up from death, then lived his life for who knows how long until — he had to die again. Death does not scare me as much as dying — and poor Lazarus had to do it, not just once, but twice! This has struck me as not much of a blessing.

Yes, of course, the second time must have been different for Lazarus than the first. Like his sisters Martha and Mary, Lazarus may have had faith in Jesus as the Messiah before he was called out of the tomb and believed in the resurrection on the last day.[i] (I’m not a theologian or scholar, but I’m going to conclude that this means they believed in Heaven.) But the sisters still wept and mourned for Lazarus when he died the first time, seeming to rather reproach Jesus for not getting there sooner to save him, to cure him from the illness from which he was dying so that he could have felt better and lived. Yes, yes, the sisters believed that Lazarus would be raised on the last day — but they really didn’t want him to die. This is very human. And we can well imagine that Lazarus felt the same way. The illness and the dying were unwanted, even with belief in the resurrection.

Even Jesus wept with the sadness of His friend’s death.

After being sealed in the tomb for four days, Jesus came and miraculously raised Lazarus from the dead — made him alive again, with no rot or stench of his body at all. Everyone was amazed. Jesus had told His disciples that the illness of Lazarus would not end in death, because He knew that He would raise His friend from the dead bodily, as if the illness had not killed him. Jesus waited until death was pronounced to visit His friend because He knew that it would  glorify God and cause people to believe in Him as the Messiah.

 How long Lazarus lived after this raising, I don’t know. But he would have to die again sometime. His second time would be with the full knowledge that Jesus has amazing, legitimate power over death. If there had ever been any doubt in his mind or in the minds of his sisters, those doubts must have cleared out completely after the great miracle. So, yes, the second time that Lazarus died would be with something more than belief in the resurrection. It would be with something like certainty. And perhaps that made the dying process easier.

 This reflection tells me that this is probably how we should all be facing the thought of dying. We should all be prepared for the pain and misery of the dying process to be temporary, for any agony to be totally worth it because of what comes next: the resurrection, Heaven. I’d like to say that, because of what the Bible has recorded for us, because of what has been passed down to us through Apostolic Tradition, we should all have something more than belief in the resurrection, we should all have something like certainty. But we are very human.

 I fear my own dying process, whatever it may be, and I’m hopeful that it will be quick and easy. But I know that I’m thinking about dying the wrong way. I should be remembering that it is a transition. Dying is a transition from this life to the next. Dying is a transition from the reality of the soul animating the body to the reality of the body no longer being able to hold onto the soul. What comes next for my soul should give me real hope to sustain me through dying, no matter what the process is like. I know that I should remember what Jesus said to His disciple just before He Himself would rise from the dead. (And Jesus didn’t have to die a second time. Jesus ascended straight to Heaven, being God in the flesh, after all.) Jesus said:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.”[ii]

Jesus has prepared a place for me. Right now, I should be preparing to meet Him at the end of my days, and to be resurrected at the End of Days, by living a life focused on what matters eternally: faith, hope, and love. When I am dying, I pray that I remember that the dying process is the bodily preparation for my soul’s entrance into the reality of pure spirit, of being embraced in the pure, unadulterated presence of God.

At the end of Jesus’s assurance cited above, He said: “Where I am going you know the way.”[iii]

 Like us, the disciples could not really comprehend where Jesus was ultimately going to go. Where is God? Where is Heaven? Our limited brains can’t fathom. But Jesus reassured His disciples again by telling them that He is the way. If we truly love Jesus, if we truly believe in Jesus as well as believe Jesus in what He says, if we follow Jesus, then we know the way.

 And that brings me to another good reminder. Jesus also said, “Take up your cross and follow me.” What does that tell us?

 Being God in the flesh, how did Jesus choose to die? On a cross. Horribly. Terribly. The dying process of Jesus was torturous, was literally excruciating. That, oddly, should give me comfort. If all powerful God chose to become one of us and die a horrible death with an agonizing dying process, then maybe that kind of pain and suffering really is worth going through. If it’s good enough for Jesus…

  Still, I find myself praying:  “Lord, do not allow me to be put to the test! Lord, have mercy upon me and love me in all of Your kind and gentle ways. Amen.”

 I am very human.

 Posting this on The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day), I pray that the souls of our dearly departed be gently prepared for entrance into Heaven with Our Lord. Lord, have mercy on us all.

©  2023 Christina Chase

---

Feature

[i] John 11:24

[ii] John 14:1-3

[iii] John 14:4