This week, we begin our fall Bible study with the Gospel of John, a treasured portion of Scripture for many Bible-readers and weekend-worshipers and God-adorers. It seems to have its fair share of captivating imagery and memorable texts: from the start with its own retelling of our human beginning with the grace of Christ thrown in, the “I Am the bread of life” and “I Am the good shepherd,” not to mention perhaps the most famous verse of all in John 3:16. And then there’s the story of Lazarus, the account of which does not appear anywhere else. But thanks be to God this Gospel writer insisted on including a portrayal of Jesus in his empathy and compassion as well as death-defying triumph.
One of the benefits of such Bible studies is to hear the different translations around the table. Back in 2002, a rather unique semi-translation of Scripture emerged in The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language. Some would argue it doesn’t belong around the same table with more word-for-word translations, but the writer in Eugene Peterson, a brilliant scholar in his own right, set off to make the stories from long ago a bit more accessible, especially to those relatively new to Bible-reading and all-around faith-practicing.
At one point in John 11, when Jesus and Martha (Lazarus’ brother) converse about Lazarus’ ultimate fate, Martha is willing to go along with Lazarus being raised on the “last day,” but Jesus takes it a captivating step forward, and perhaps even more captivating from The Message: “You don’t have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life.” Sometimes even the church falters into saving all the eternal beauty and hope and love for the heavenly realm, when, in reality, it has already been unleashed to us in Jesus Christ, no matter how dismal the earthly/human landscape may appear at times.
And then, there’s the end of the story, when Lazarus, the one whom Jesus loved, is called out by the Resurrection and the Life, with the burial shroud, of sorts, still covering Lazarus. From The Message, Jesus says, “Unwrap him and let him loose.” Another captivating way to envision Jesus not only calling Lazarus to rise from dead to seize life, but calling all of us to be let loose into our living. Let loose from being fear-filled over death or relentless guilt over whatever sin committed or wondering if we don’t do enough Bible-reading or worshiping or making a difference in the world; let loose from all of that to go out and act as if our identity, our eternity, our connection with God has already been taken care of in Jesus Christ. And so, we are let loose to seize life and all the opportunities to experience God’s boundless love and share the Gospel (with our own translation of how we’ve experienced it) with some holy impacting along the way, to be sure. And thanks be to God that Jesus was let loose into our humanity, into our world, and has no signs of stopping…forever. Thanks be to God, indeed!
In Christ,
Pastor Brad