What would life have been like for Lazarus after he was raised from the dead?

He would have had notoriety. Were social media available, he would be considered an influencer. Where else would you go for information about what happens when we die. Questions like, “what was death like” would have been asked.

One would think that Lazarus would have new perspective on the idea of “don’t sweat the small stuff” after dying and being brought to life. Unfair criticism, threats, wealth, and social standing, the things we get bothered by, would likely have little, if any, effect on Lazarus. 

John tells us that the Jews wanted to kill him because of his testimony of being brought back to life (see John 12:10). Lazarus had to go through life with a target on his back from the leaders of his community. 

While I have never heard a sermon proclaiming this thought, I wonder if Lazarus should represent the paradigm for the Christian life. Paul tells us that Christians have been raised to a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17) even though we have not yet experienced physical death.

If I am truly raised to a new life, then the little things that throw me off, the little things that I allow to push me toward shame or condemnation, should be inconsequential. My frame of reference should be like Lazarus’ knowing that death, hardship, and the opinion of others are shallow threats.

I wonder if, after experiencing death and resurrection, Lazarus had a renewed sense of who God created him to be and much of the junk that marred the image of God in him was burned away. He was given a new, true identity in his relationship to Jesus and the new life Jesus had given him.

I want that for myself. Many people have tried to define who I am, and in my idolatry, I have let them. I call it idolatry because I have been more concerned with what people think about me than what God thinks about me. I have allowed them to chisel away at the image of God in me.

This is not to say that I should not listen to feedback about my behavior, but that feedback needs to be put through the lens of Scripture so that I am more concerned about what God says. 

This was not modeled in my church-going family. This was not modeled in the churches we attended. In fact, it was overtly taught in my family that we needed to be very concerned about what people thought of us. We needed to dress a certain way, and we needed to act a certain way, and we needed to talk a certain way. 

The only problem was that this “certain way” was not based on Scriptural principles, but was based on a legalistic church culture. This is a lot like the Jewish religious practice in which Lazarus grew up and which Jesus came to confront.

What I want to adopt is a Lazarus perspective. His perspective of what really mattered would have been shaped by a glimpse into eternity. I am guessing that he put everything through the grid of what prepared him for reuniting with his savior, Jesus.

I’ve been a Christian for a long time, and I am a long way from being fully yielded to this perspective. But it is my hope, and I believe the evidence proves this out, that I have made progress and will continue to draw nearer to Jesus as I allow the wrong perspectives and the wrong voices to have diminishing influence in my choices.

I will strive to have the Lazarus perspective.

In the churches of my youth, the story of the two sons, recorded in Luke 15:11-32, was used as a warning against “loose” living, hence it was referred to as the story of the Prodigal Son.

The highlight of the story for me is that the loving father is waiting at the crossroad to greet the prodigal when he decides to return. Rather than condemnation, the prodigal is greeted with an embrace, wrapped up in the arms of the father.

The thought that comes to me this morning is that the older brother needed that embrace just as much as the prodigal. The older brother, who felt superior to his brother because of his continued service, showed that he did not understand the father’s intent for both of his sons.

God, as represented by the father in the story, is focused on restoring the relationship with us. That hug, that embrace, those tears, and the warm greeting by the father is what we all need.

The prodigal accepted the grace of that embrace, and we can suppose that he lived the rest of his days reminded of the gift he had been given.

We can hope that at some point, the unforgiving older brother also came to realize his need of grace and took steps to experience the father’s love. We can hope that once he experienced the father’s love, he extended the grace of the father to his younger brother.

Both sons needed grace. Not only the son who ran away from his responsibility and flagrantly violated his father’s expectations but also the one who outwardly kept the rules but not from a grateful heart.

Thankfully, the embrace is available to both sons.

Whether we are more like the older brother and look with judgment on others, or if we are like the younger who made obviously bad choices, the ebrace is waiting.

We only need to walk into it.

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Two thousand years ago people understood the natural cause of human birth and the timing of the process. They had the ability to count off nine months in whatever language they spoke.

I’m thinking of this after reading the narrative of Jesus’ birth in the Gospel of Matthew.

By agreeing to marry Mary, knowing that she was already pregnant, Joseph signed up for a lifetime of suspicion and gossip surrounding Jesus’ birth. Joseph chose to obey God despite the probable damage to his reputation.

In a small town, rumors about Jospeh and Mary were bound to be whispered by the town gossips. We get a hint about this in John 8:19 when the Pharisees asked Jesus, “where is your father?” It seems likely that they were implying that Jesus’ conception was illigitimate.

I am both challenged and encouraged by this line of thought.

I’m challenged because there are times when I have been silent when I should have spoken. There are times when I have made compromises when I should have stood firm. I haven’t always obeyed.

But I am also encouraged that (as I stated in my previous post) when we obey, God sees and will use that obedience for his glory and our good.

By signing up to be the protector of Mary and Jesus, Joseph played an important role in God’s plan for humanity. While our role is likely not as “large” as Joseph’s, God can and will use our obedience to bring about his plan for humanity.

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Pride is a sin which I can so easily spot in others and too seldom recognize in myself. Or, at least in the moment when I am responding in pride, I fail to check myself and choose humility instead. It is my suspicion, based on my observation of others, that I am not alone in this struggle.

This thought is prompted by reading Andrew Murray’s excellent book entitled Humility. In Chapter 2 of that book, Murray lists the following behaviors as being rooted in pride:

• Lack of love
• Indifference to the needs, feelings, and weaknesses of others
• Sharp and hasty judgments and utterances
• Manifestations of temper and touchiness and irritation (not using the excuse of being outright and honest)
• Feelings of bitterness and estrangement

In fact, when one considers how deeply pride infects our sense of self and how we function, we can see that pride is the primary thing that prevents us from fully satisfying the two great commands to love God fully, and love our neighbor as ourselves.

The antidote to this pride is humility. I cannot in good conscience tell you that I’ve made much progress in fostering humility in myself, but I can say that the starting point for developing this trait is to acknowledge complete and utter dependence upon God as its source. I suspect that full submission to God is the antidote to pride.

I wonder how outsiders would respond to the church if their first impression was that the church is about humility and service to others. Too often, this is not the impression given by Christians to non believers, myself included.

God, grant us the ability to see where pride is inhibiting our relationship with you and with others. Grant us the ability to repent, receive your forgiveness, and live in humble submission to your will.

If you are encouraged by this post or would like to join in a conversation, please use the comment form below to offer your feedback. If you are reading this in an email and would like to comment, you can reply to the email or click on the “Read in browser” link below to go to the web page where you can enter a comment. I enjoy hearing from you.