Lent 5, John – Raising the Dead

John 11.1-45

Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again? (Jn 11.8)

It’s dangerous, this healing work. Jesus’ disciples are incredulous. Does Jesus really intend to go back up to Jerusalem, the place where the "Jews" are planning to stone him? (Jn 10.31)

This power to bring life out of death is hazardous. Lazarus himself became the target of threats (Jn 12.10). The world fears this life-giving power.

We’ve seen it in Tahrir Square, as freedom protesters were attacked and killed. We’ve seen it in Libya, in Bahrain, in Yemen. And this week we see it again in Palestine, in Jenin, a refugee camp famous for its refusal to accept Israel’s theft of land, its fences and walls and iron gates. Jenin is well-known for its uprisings against Israel’s cruelty.

This week, one of Jenin’s leaders was killed, five bullets to his head, gunned down outside the theater he created in the hopelessness of this refugee camp. Juliano Mer-Khamis was the co-founder and director of the Freedom Theatre in Jenin Refugee Camp. It is not yet known who killed him, but he was most definitely a man of peace and freedom. Watch this 8-minute documentary by Jen Marlowe which tells Juliano’s story, in his own words—a man breathing new life into a community under occupation.

God of resurrection, you bring healing out of illness, life out of death. Today, your steadfast presence still inspires visions of the possibility of life in a world where death seems victorious. Give us courage to stand with those who have seen the vision you have given us, even when death threatens. Amen.