All Saints’ Day John 11:32-44 Revelation 21:1-6a
The book of Revelation – the final book in the Bible – is still a mystery but the hope that it proclaims is life-changing and life-giving. Let me explain. We find an extraordinary story in John’s Gospel, in the account of the raising of Lazarus. Lazarus, you will remember, was the brother of the sisters Martha and Mary, and had died, leaving his sisters, with whom he lived, in deep grief and despair. Jesus, although he is not far from their place at the time of his friend’s death, does not set out immediately to see them. Instead, he waits, and then goes to visit, and subsequently brings Lazarus back from the dead even after his burial. The strange scene of Lazarus walking out from his grave, still with bits of the grave linen on him, must have been very impressive indeed! And yet, it does raise a question: why did Jesus not prevent the death of Lazarus during his illness or go to him immediately after he had died to bring him back? Why did he wait until Lazarus had been dead for four days and buried? We can perhaps only conjecture, but with the passage from Revelation chapter 21 to accompany the Gospel reading, we may be able to find a helpful answer.
The first four books in the New Testament, the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, all offer us the Good News (that is what Gospel means) of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to save humanity from their sins and to give them the hope of eternal life. These accounts, witnessed and proclaimed by a host of people, especially the disciples, all give evidence to this. And the main feature of the Gospels is that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the One who came to save us. Save us from what, some may ask. Well, it’s what Revelation 21 also says: save us from death, as it will be no more; as mourning and crying and pain will be no more. Bad news for funeral directors? Well, joking aside, there will be a time, one day in the future, when the fulfilment of all that Jesus came to give us in his dying and rising, his teaching and everything else that he embodied for the coming of the Kingdom of God will take place. And the end of death totally, will mean that at least one profession will be out of business… That is, of course, good news really. For no matter how each culture deals with death and mourning today, be it loud or more restrained and quiet, there will be no need for it at all then. Instead, there is to be rejoicing; laughter instead of mourning; a wedding banquet instead of a wake.
But what about Lazarus’ death and Jesus only appearing four days afterwards? As the sisters had said: ‘If you had been here, our brother would not have died.’ I wonder: could it be that Jesus tarried because he was making a point? And the point being that our journey to life has to go through death? Like the way Jesus was going to die in order to give us life, even after death? The passage from Revelation tells us that the new state in the renewal of creation comes when ‘the first things have passed away’ – or, in other translations, ‘when the old order of things or the former things have passed away’. Let us be clear: Jesus came to destroy death, but these things happen in God’s time, not ours. We should not hasten death, but we should treasure the time we have been given in the here and now. Because Jesus came to give us life; abundant life, to the full (John 10:10), today already, while we are on this earth. We may still struggle in this life – the Psalms are particularly honest about that. But Jesus makes the difference. When he is with us, we can make it through, as he has promised.
Today, we are reminded of the saints, those Christians who lived their lives in remarkable ways, yet clinging to the hope of God in Christ, encouraging us by their example. May we then not lose hope, but live fully, gratefully, looking forward to eternal life with God, while fulfilling our purpose here and now, rejoicing. Amen.