"Mommy, mommy! Come and see this right now!" "Just a minute," comes the reply. How many of us have had this conversation? We want someone to drop everything and attend to what we want him or her to attend to. We want their attention and we want it right now. And when we don’t get that attention in the timeframe we expect, we get upset.

Well Martha wants Jesus’ attention. Her brother Lazarus, who is Jesus’ friend, is sick. Though the message sent, "Lord, he whom you love is ill," doesn’t ask for Jesus to hurry to Bethany right then, it is certainly implied. Surely by sending the message to Jesus, Martha expects him to come quickly to her brother’s bedside. But that isn’t what happens. Instead of rushing off to Bethany to see his friend, Jesus stays around where he is for another two days. We aren’t even told what he does for these two days. Was it something really important like healing people or preaching a good sermon? We don’t know. But only after delaying for two days, does Jesus turn to his disciples and tell them where they are headed next.

We can imagine the disciples’ surprise when they heard Jesus say that they were headed to Bethany. First of all, he had gotten the message from Martha two days ago and didn’t seem to do anything about it then so why the sudden rush? Secondly, the last time that Jesus was in the area of Judea he almost didn’t make it out with his life. By returning to Judea, Jesus was placing himself and any who would go with him in a great deal of danger.

Thomas, always the optimist, places his support behind Jesus’ decision, saying, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." If Jesus was headed to danger, Thomas was prepared to face it with him. Thomas’ loyalty reminds me of Tonto, always willing to follow the Lone Ranger into a fight no matter what the odds. Or Hermione and Ron who stick with Harry Potter no matter what danger might be lurking behind the next door. If Jesus was going to be stoned, Thomas was willing to go with him and follow him wherever he might lead.

Instead of being met by an angry mob, ready to stone him, Jesus is met with the news that Lazarus is no longer merely sick but is dead and has been dead for four days. In ancient times, people believed that a person’s soul remained near the body for three days. After three days, there was no hope and one was truly dead. So by all accounts, Lazarus is truly dead. But this is not a big surprise to Jesus or his disciples. After all, he told them before they left for Bethany that Lazarus was dead.

Then, Martha comes out to meet Jesus, knowing that he didn’t drop everything he was doing to come to her brother’s aid. In the midst of her grief she still calls Jesus, Lord but begins her sentence, "If only…" "If only you had been here, then my brother wouldn’t have died." "If only…" How many times have we heard, used, or thought that phrase? "If only he hadn’t gone to the store on that day." "If only she had gone to the doctor sooner." "If only I had done something or said something." We all have "if onlys" roaming around in our heads.

But Martha doesn’t stop with "if only." She goes on to say, "if only…but." "If only you had been here my brother wouldn’t have died…but I know God will listen to you and do whatever you ask." If only…but. Martha shows her confidence that since Jesus is indeed Lord, God will listen to him and will be able to make some good out of this terrible situation. Martha has been faced with the loss of her brother but she still expresses her confidence that Jesus will provide some comfort though she does not yet know what form that comfort will take.

Then, Jesus enters into a theological conversation with Martha about the resurrection. Martha expresses the prevalent thoughts about resurrection at the time: that there would be some day in the far off future when all those who had been dead will be raised up and given new bodies. But Jesus turns the tables when he declares that this idea about resurrection being a far off thing isn’t correct. The resurrection is present in the person of Jesus right now. "I am the resurrection and the life," Jesus says.

Resurrection for Jesus isn’t some re-animation of bodies on the last day, but resurrection is a transformation of the whole person. Resurrection and eternal life are embodied when a person lives their life, as one author put it, "animated by the Spirit." After joining in this theological discussion, Martha confesses her belief in Jesus as the Messiah, the anointed one, the Son of God, and the one people have been searching for.

When Jesus encounters Mary and all of the mourners who accompany her, he cannot help but be emotionally disturbed by their grief. It is as though being faced with the raw grief that Mary expresses in her "if only" is too much for Jesus to stoically sit back and bear. There is no "if only…but" in Mary’s expression of grief.

Jesus asks the people who surround him where they have laid his friend Lazarus. The people reply, "Lord, come and see," and bring Jesus to the tomb of his friend. Martha and Mary follow Jesus to the place where their grief is most pointed. Jesus speaks to God and then cries out for Lazarus to come out. Much to the surprise of all those who had gathered around the tomb, Lazarus comes out of the tomb, still wrapped in his grave clothes. The last words that Jesus speaks in this passage are, "Unbind him, and let him go."

Where are the tombs that hold your grief? Where are the places of your most pointed grief? Or asked another way, where are the places where you are hurting? Perhaps, as Jesus asked to be taken to the tomb of his friend, he is asking to be taken into the places where we are hurting. What if Jesus were to ask you, "where is your place of hurting?" Can we take Christ there? Can we say to Christ "come and see?" Can we feel Christ crying and hurting along with us?

When we allow Christ to enter all of the "if onlys" that float around in our minds, will we be able to express confidence in Christ’s ability to bring healing? Will we be able to turn all of our "if onlys" into "if only…but with you Christ anything is possible." Can we hear that perhaps Christ is saying to us in the midst of our regrets, griefs, and if onlys, "Come out, be unbound from all that is holding you back and be set free."

Christ called out to his friend Lazarus to come out from the tomb. Death could not hold him back because God’s glory was called to shine through him. Now, even though Lazarus had been called out of the tomb and raised from the dead, he would face physical death again. At some point, Lazarus would die and this time he would stay in the tomb. But this chance to live again must have changed Lazarus. Now he can live a life truly animated by the Spirit. Lazarus is truly unbound and set free when he comes out of the tomb and lives a life full of the Spirit.

In John’s gospel, he emphasizes that eternal life is not something in the far off future or something that is available only after death. Eternal life, a life lived with Christ, is available to any and all right now. Eternal life means living a life in which we are not controlled by all of our regrets and sorrows. Eternal life means living life animated by the Spirit.

What may be preventing you from living a life animated by the Spirit? What are the grave clothes that are still wrapped around you and binding you up? "Come and see," Phillip said to Nathaniel. "Come and see Jesus of Nazareth." "Come and see," the Samaritan woman said to the villagers. "Come and see the man who told me everything I have ever done." "Come and see," the people said to Jesus.

Can we say to Christ, "come and see?" And then can we hear the response we know Christ will give, "Come out, be unbound, you are set free."