This morning I felt led to read from John's Gospel once again, chapter eleven, which is the story of Lazarus. This morning I am meditating on the following verses: John 11:4,14-15 NIV:
[4] "When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it.”
[14] So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, [15] and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
The interesting thing I saw this morning was that both of these statements were made to His disciples, not to the crowds following Him. Verse fifteen in particular is very telling, for apparently there were those that followed Him who still did not fully understand or believe that He was the Messiah, the Son of God. This particular situation was really meant to be the final proof, the one event that showed everyone who Jesus was in reality. Lazarus was someone they all knew, someone they knew Jesus greatly loved. This was almost like losing one of their close friends, so they were all impacted.
Now I want to digress for a moment from that line of thought to look at what we know about Lazarus' death. We know that by the time Jesus got there he had been in the tomb 4 days (John 11:38) which means he had likely been dead about 5 days. I wanted to look at the state of Lazurus' body and the significance of his being raised, and what was reversed for him to come back to life.
There are 4 stages to a body decomposition after death, according to ( http://www.aftermath.com/content/human-decomposition). This process of decomposition begins around four minutes after a person dies and follows four stages: autolysis, bloat, active decay, and skeletonization. According to this website the Body Decomposition Timeline begins as follows: 24-72 hours after death — the internal organs decompose (Autolysis); 3-5 days after death — the body starts to bloat and blood-containing foam leaks from the mouth and nose. So we know that Lazarus' body was well into the second stage of decomposition by the time Jesus arrived, possibly moving into the third stage.
I know this is a bit gross, but here are descriptions of the first two stages:
Stage One: Autolysis
The first stage of human decomposition is called autolysis, or self-digestion, and begins immediately after death. As soon as blood circulation and respiration stop, the body has no way of getting oxygen or removing wastes. Excess carbon dioxide causes an acidic environment, causing membranes in cells to rupture. The membranes release enzymes that begin eating the cells from the inside out.
Rigor mortis causes muscle stiffening. Small blisters filled with nutrient-rich fluid begin appearing on internal organs and the skin’s surface. The body will appear to have a sheen due to ruptured blisters, and the skin’s top layer will begin to loosen.
Stage Two: Bloat
Leaked enzymes from the first stage begin producing many gases. The sulfur-containing compounds that the bacteria release also cause skin discoloration. Due to the gases, the human body can double in size. In addition, insect activity can be present.
The microorganisms and bacteria produce extremely unpleasant odors called putrefaction. These odors often alert others that a person has died, and can linger long after a body has been removed.
So, Lazurus was likely in stage two, and his Sister even indicated that was likely when Jesus asked for the stone blocking the door to be removed (John 11:38). During this period of history, the practice of embalming was not widely practiced, so the people were likely more familiar with these stages than most of us, as there was no hiding the odor, no way to slow down the decomposition. I believe that the Father allowed Lazarus to be dead this long, because He wanted the sign to be impossible to discount or ignore.
We know Jesus raised several people from the dead, which are described in other accounts, but in most of those accounts the person had died shortly before He encountered them. If you were cynical, you could explain away those miracles as people just being in a deep coma, and think that Jesus really hadn't raised them from the dead, but Lazarus was a different situation and everyone could agree and understand that his body was now dead. Jesus said this was so that He might be glorified and the disciples might believe. I can see why this was successful, for they knew the miracle was undeniable when Lazarus walked out of the tomb with all his body and organs functioning correctly, completely restored to life. In fact, so many people heard about this event that they flocked to Bethany not only to see Jesus, but to see Lazarus (John 12:9).
So why am I focusing on this today? I think it is important for us to know how capable God is to do miracles that cannot be explained away. One cannot look at the death of Lazarus and explain away 4-5 days of decomposition being completely reversed in an instant. This is so far outside the zone of possibility that we must be confronted with the fact that it was miraculous. Secondly, Jesus understood that even after all the signs and miracles He had done that there were those that still didn't believe in Him, even among His followers. He wasn't upset about that, or cranking down on those who didn't believe, but rather trusted the Father to make it abundantly clear that He was the Messiah, God's own Son. Jesus did not judge the unbelieving followers but continued in His obedience to the Father and allowed the miracle to glorify Him. I believe this event was the anchor of faith for many of His followers after He was crucified, and before His resurrection.
So today I am encouraged to not give up hope over a situation that seems to have past, some hope that has died, especially if the Lord has spoken a promise concerning this situation. If He has made a promise, than it is never too late to see that hope become reality. Secondly, I am encouraged that the Lord will help me to grow in my faith and recognition of His true identity. He will be glorified by the Father in my sight so that I might believe, and I believe this is true for us all.
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