Lazarus was dead. There was nothing that could change that. Lazarus was dead, and though Mary had seen Jesus do amazing works over the course of his ministry, he did not come in time to save Lazarus. It was too late. Nothing could be done. And Mary, in her grief, blames Jesus. She blames him for being late. She blames him for not simply using his power from whatever distance he was to heal Lazarus of whatever had afflicted him. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Things would be different. Things would be better. But Jesus wasn’t there. Jesus failed Lazarus. Failed Mary. And her grief makes Jesus a target.
I think we all have that moment in our lives where we look at where the reality of the grave has taken hold, and we think to ourselves, “If only…” For Mary, it’s “if only you had been here, Jesus.” For us, maybe it’s, “if only they would have gone to the doctor more regularly,” or “if only that they didn’t have that one genetic switch flipped,” or “if only they had gone to a different hospital,” or maybe it’s, “if only I had said something sooner.” Sometimes we look at all the what if’s of life, and when those what if’s spawn from grief, often we want a place to hang them. And we sometimes hang them on those who have died, or on others in our orbits, or on ourselves. Grief is messy. And our gospel passage today reminds us of this messiness.
And hidden in all these things is the fact that as Lazarus is bound in the tomb, he is not the only one bound in our gospel today. All those who grieve Lazarus are bound in their grief. They are bound by the reality that the grave that has taken Lazarus awaits them all. And let’s be honest – as we ponder our “what if’s” in this world, we too are bound. We are bound by regret, bound by our own doubt and fear. We are bound by the power of death. And we cannot escape it on our own.
This is why the words of Jesus today matter. When Jesus calls out to Lazarus, and he stumbles out of the tomb, Jesus very specifically says, “Unbind him, and let him go.” He is declaring freedom for Lazarus from the power of the grave. But he is not the only one who is unbound this day. Because today, as Jesus calls out to Lazarus to come out of his grave, we know that this is Jesus’ power for our loved ones still today, the promise that the grave is not the final moment. Death does not have final say. Christ does. And Christ’s final word is freedom – being unbound from the power of sin and death that has held sway so long.
But there’s a problem. Because even though we live in the hope given to us through Jesus coming to Lazarus’ grave, and defeating death, we know there’s more than hope happening here. Because the grief is still real. Our grief is still real. There isn’t a shortcut through grief that is found in the unbinding of Lazarus. Our moment of being unbound is still not fully realized. We are still wrapped in our grief. And those bindings don’t come off easily.
But it’s important to realize that Jesus doesn’t expect us to ignore our grief. It’s important to know that even as Jesus walked toward Lazarus’ tomb to undo the power of death itself, Jesus still had grief. He still felt the weight of Lazarus’ loss. Jesus still wept. And if Jesus can weep, even knowing what comes next, then we too are still able to weep over those saints who have gone before. It’s okay to feel that grief, to acknowledge it. But still, grief does not have the final word.
And that is what our hope found in Christ tells us today. That is what the hope of the saints who have gone before tells us again today – that even though we all live through grief, even though it may never fully depart from us, the promise of the gospel today is that the final word belongs to Christ, and that final word is always going to be freedom – freedom from the power of death that overshadows so much of our lives.
So today, as we remember the saints who have gone before, and celebrate the promise of those new children of God claimed in the waters of baptism, I remind you – the grave does not bind you. Death does not hold you. You belong to Christ. And Jesus, the savior of us all, has the final word that beats back the despair of our loss, and brings us out into a new and glorious light found in the eternal promises of God. Today, people of hope, know that you are unbound from death’s sway. May you live your life knowing that the new life you have in Christ is eternal, and cannot be taken away by any power of this world. May you live your life with joy and celebration, living unbound into the future that Christ calls all of into, with his final word of life for all people.