Merry Christmas!  Let’s talk about death and dying. 

If you polled every person who ever lived, they would probably have two things in common.  No matter their race, age, or gender, everyone does two things: they are born and they die (with a few exceptions here and there).  Personally, I’m trying to go out like Elijah or Enoch, but that’s a different story for a different day. 

Death is unrelenting.  Although medicine or exercise or money might slow its arrival, death will inevitably visit us all.

I feel very ill-equipped to talk about death- it's one of those things that I don’t really understand (please note: I am alive), and the whole idea is a little bit freaky.  When will I die?  How will I die?  What’s the whole transport process from here to heaven?

One thing I can share, though, is the passage that I always go to when death rears its ugly face in my life.  The story is in John 11, and it begins like this:

“Lord, he whom you love is ill” (vs. 3)

One of Jesus’ best friends has fallen ill.  His name is Lazarus- you might know him as the brother of Mary and Martha.  When Jesus hears the news about Lazarus, he immediately goes and heals him.  PSYCH.  That’s what you might expect, but Jesus actually does the exact opposite of that. 

“He stayed two days longer in the place where he was.” (vs. 6)

Jesus let Lazarus die.  In fact, he had been in the tomb for four whole days when Jesus finally arrived in Judea.  There was a Jewish superstition that suggested the soul hovered over the body for three days after death, so at this point, Lazarus wasn’t just dead, he was extra-dead™. 

When Martha saw Jesus coming, she went out to tell Him that if He had just been there just a little earlier, Lazarus would still be alive.  Jesus responded to Martha with a statement she did not yet fully understand,

“I am the resurrection and the life.” (vs. 25)

Martha misunderstands the statement, moves on, and goes to get Mary.  When Mary hears that Jesus is calling for her, she comes to express the same sentiment her sister did, “Lord, if you had been here...”  She weeps, her friends weep, and then something unexpected happens, 

“Jesus Wept.” (vs. 35)

Slow down for a moment.  This is the shortest verse in the Bible.  It’s easy to skip, but don’t miss the heart of Jesus here- the way that He loves people.  More than that, Jesus knew how this story would end, yet he still experienced grief, sorrow, and anger.  I pause here to remind myself that it is possible to trust God and mourn at the same time. 

“Lazarus, come out.” (vs. 43)

Can’t you see it?  The stone moved; a startled crowd greeted by a man who’d been dead for four days.  Lazarus emerges with his hands and feet still bound in linen strips, and his face still wrapped with cloth. 

“Unbind him, and let him go.” (vs. 44)

Notice how quickly death fled with just three words from Jesus.  It is no surprise that the One who spoke life and creation into existence so easily spoke life into Lazarus.  After this, many believed and others began to plot his murder- the Pharisees knew, as we know, that a resurrection was a Messiah-level miracle.

So, reader, if you’re in a tomb, even if you’re extra dead, Jesus is calling you- come out.

If you feel like Mary and Martha, that Jesus is running late, He is right on time.

If you’re weeping over loss, know that you can trust God and mourn at the same time.

If you’re still in your grave clothes, ask the Spirit to help you take them off, you are a new creation.

And if you fear death, remember that resurrection is your future reality, too.
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We can talk about death, even during Christmas, because the birth of Christ meant that the power of death would soon be dying.  Christmas meant that the nasty curse we picked up in Eden would soon be reversed.  Christmas meant that the Serpent-crusher was here.  This Christmas, let’s celebrate the arrival of the resurrection and the life.