Death of Lazarus

How Jesus Embodied Love Here

At first glance, Jesus' response to Lazarus's illness seems puzzling, even callous. When word comes that "he whom thou lovest is sick," Jesus doesn't rush to his friend's bedside. Instead, "he abode two days still in the same place where he was." This delay appears to contradict the very love the sisters counted on.

Yet John carefully frames this account with repeated affirmations of Jesus' love. "Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus," the narrator emphasizes, using the Greek word agapē — not merely affection, but self-sacrificing, purposeful love. This is love that acts not from impulse but from wisdom, not for immediate comfort but for ultimate good.

Jesus' seemingly strange delay reveals love's deeper dimension. When he finally explains, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby," we glimpse love operating on a timeline beyond human understanding. His love for this family encompasses not just their present crisis but their eternal benefit and the strengthening of their faith.

The cultural context intensifies this demonstration of love. By the time Jesus decides to return to Judea, his disciples remind him, "Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?" Bethany lay dangerously close to Jerusalem, where religious authorities had already attempted to kill him. Yet love compels him forward despite mortal danger.

Thomas's response — "Let us also go, that we may die with him" — captures the gravity of Jesus' decision. This isn't a casual visit to comfort grieving friends; it's a potentially fatal act of love. Jesus chooses to risk everything for those he loves, embodying the very essence of agapē: love that gives itself completely for others' sake.

Following His Example

First, practice patient love that trusts in larger purposes. When someone we care about suffers, our instinct is to fix things immediately. But sometimes the most loving response involves waiting, praying, and allowing difficult circumstances to unfold according to God's timing. This might mean resisting the urge to rescue adult children from consequences they need to experience, or supporting friends through necessary grief rather than rushing them toward premature comfort.

Second, demonstrate costly love that involves personal risk. True agapē often requires us to venture into uncomfortable or even dangerous territory for others' sake. This could mean standing up for a colleague facing workplace bullying despite potential career consequences, or maintaining relationship with a family member struggling with addiction despite the emotional toll. Like Jesus returning to hostile Judea, love sometimes calls us into spaces where we're vulnerable.

Third, communicate love clearly even when our actions seem confusing. Jesus explicitly told his disciples about his love for this family, helping them understand his motivations. When our loving actions don't fit others' expectations — when we set boundaries, delay help, or make difficult decisions — we must clearly express our love and explain our reasoning when appropriate. Love doesn't just act; it helps others understand the heart behind the action.

Echoes in Other Traditions

This profound understanding of self-sacrificing love that operates beyond immediate impulse appears throughout the world's wisdom traditions. Whether expressed through Buddhist compassion that seeks ultimate liberation rather than temporary comfort, Islamic teachings on divine mercy that encompasses both immediate care and eternal benefit, or Confucian concepts of benevolence that consider long-term flourishing over short-term ease, humanity consistently recognizes that the highest form of love sometimes requires patient endurance of present difficulty for greater future good.