The story of the Samaritan woman and Jesus begins with a conversation at Jacob’s well, but it soon becomes obvious that the water Jesus means and the water the woman is thinking about are entirely two different things. Jesus is the living water, the water that never runs dry and is an abundant and dependable geyser nourishing the spirit. In a similar way, the story of the raising of Lazarus is really about two definitions of life, the old one of the world, and the new one offered by Jesus. ;
Being able to cycle through time again and again are popular themes of fantasy. There was a movie a while back called the Time Traveler, sort of a confusing plot, if I recall, about a fellow who has a love affair with a woman at various times in her life. The problem is the couple has to restart and conclude their relationship over and over again. They age, but their characters never really develop. They are simply trapped in a cycle with no depth or lasting roots. My favorite film is Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray. Murray plays a self-centered and conceited sort of fellow who, as a TV news reporter, is sent to cover the appearance of the groundhog in the small Pennsylvania town of Paxtonia. Once there, he finds he can't get out, but is forced to repeat this one particular day in his life until he gets it right and learns to become a decent human being. While the movie Groundhog Day has a happy ending, actually having to live the same life over and over again, would be a living hell. After a while time machine travel becomes a curse, not a blessing. Without God's grace, humanity ultimately never can get it right.
God's resurrection is not resuscitation. It is not bringing back an old life just as it was. God unbinds us from the forces of death in order for us to live, not the same old life, but a renewed life. The woman at the well receives from Jesus not only living water, but also a new life. In last week's Gospel the blind man who received his sight does not go back to being a cagier beggar now that he is able to see. The man born blind becomes a disciple and is given a future to live on an entirely different plane. In John’s Gospel all the great miracles that Jesus does are signs that when God interrupts our present life, our present life is transformed. We are never given just a repeat copy of the same old script.
The Gospel is always telling us that no matter who our parents are, no matter our education, no matter what our childhood was like, no matter our age, no matter the state of our health, God can change us. It is God who unlooses us from all the subtle stuff of the world that ties us down. It is God who unbinds us from the pernicious stranglehold of this world and frees us to live into the citizenship of God's new earth
In Christ we are reborn into a new body. In Christ, we are a new creation. That is why baptism is symbolic of being rescued from out of the depths of the water and being reborn again. Lazarus is no longer a person of the past, but a child of promise. Yes, Lazarus will die again, but he will die in hope and having had a foretaste of God's gift of new life. Lazarus embarks on a journey to God’s new Jerusalem as soon as he is called out of the tomb and unwrapped.
In one sense the key to this story is not with Lazarus at all. Rather Lazarus is the great sign given to Mary and Martha that they should see that the life, offered by Jesus, begins today and their future is not bound by mourning for a lost past. That is why when Martha replies, “Yes, I know that my brother will rise again,” Jesus says, in effect, “Yes, I know as well as you of the tradition about the resurrection, but I say to you. I am the resurrection and I am the life. In a similar way when Moses asked, “God, who will help me lead my people out of slavery in Egypt?” God did not say, “Just hurry along, take this magic staff with you and I will be checking in from time to time. Don’t worry, things will all work out in the end.” Rather God said, “I am who I am. I will be with you now.”
Bishop Robinson reminded us in his sermon this past week when he visited Cornell that when enslaved people, whomever they are, discover the Gospel, they learn that Jesus doesn’t teach about accepting a future sweet heaven in the bye and bye, but offers a way that sets them loose from oppression and exploitation now! The Gospel is a revolutionary book and good news supporting liberation, never underpinning the status quo of oppression. Oppressors, who give those they oppress the Bible, never have really understood what the Bible says.
Lazarus is a great sign that Christ changes our life right now. That is why the authorities became frightened of Jesus. Jesus openly proclaims, “I am the resurrection.” A future resurrection doesn’t threaten things of this world. Politicians generally don’t concern themselves with long-term implications far off in the future, but a savior whose unbinding begins now, can really upset the schemers and schemes of the world. That is why Lazarus is such a great sign. For over against all the formidable tombs of worldly power, Jesus unbinds us and offers us life today. That is why the two most important words of Jesus in this story come as Lazarus is called out into the light of a new day. “Unbind him. Unbind him now.”
