If there’s a God…..or so the question goes, why doesn’t come down and show himself to us?

Of course, for the Christian believer, he already has, and the proof supports faith, but for the unbeliever, no amount of persuasion, so it would seem, will convince of this happening in history, and faith remains – so far at least - an illusion. 

In this famous scene, in a small village called Bethany, on the outskirts of Ancient Jerusalem, only days before the most momentous event in human history, Jesus, the son of God. Both fully human, and fully God, has a meal with his friends; although, sadly, one of whom is not so much a friend as he should have been.

That oft-asked question…’; if there is a god, why does he not show himself….’ Is picked up in Luke’s Gospel, chapter 16, where we see the story of a rich man and a poor man. The rich man is unnamed, the poor man was too called Lazarus. It goes like this:

¹⁹ “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. ²⁰ At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores ²¹ and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

²² “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. ²⁴ So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because I am in agony in this fire.’

²⁵ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

²⁷ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, ²⁸ for I have five brothers. Let him warn them so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

²⁹ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

³⁰ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

³¹ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

And here, in this small village of Bethany, Jesus shares a meal with another Lazarus. Not a made-up character in a parable, but a real breathing friend. A friend who had died, had been in a tomb for three days, before Jesus called for the stone to be rolled away, and called: 'Lazarus come out'. And Lazarus did.

Can you see the obvious parallel? A man dead in a tomb for three days, wrapped in linen cloths from his burial preparation, outside the grieving, a stone on the entrance, and a resurrection.

All this happened to Lazarus, and all this would happen in the coming days to Jesus. It was like a reflection of the immediate future.

And in this scene, two other very different responses are unwinding. One is Mary, and the other Judas, Judas Iscariot. And the difference in the choices they make could not be starker.

Mary, the sister of Lazarus, took a jar of expensive perfume, broke it open and poured it on Jesus’ feet. She used her hair to wipe his feet. In Mark's Gospel account of this moment, we have the added beautiful words, when Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her’. Mary’s response was the right response.

Then there was Judas. 

Have you ever wrestled with Judas? It’s almost folly to open up what seems to be the pandora's box of Judas Iscariot. The conundrum goes like this: if Jesus needed Judas to betray him, then isn’t that a little unfair on Judas. After all, If Jesus had not been betrayed, he wouldn’t then have been arrested and then Crucified. So wasn’t Judas just doing what he had to do. Or perhaps he was acting out a course of events and choices pre-destined for him even in advance of his own birth – that history might be fulfilled – poor old Judas! After all, the act which he is about to carry out, betraying Jesus and receiving thirty pieces of silver for his services only a few days later, are they not prophesied to take place, even before he was born?

Now, I know I have just wriggled my theological feet onto the thin ice of the Voldemort of Christian theology (Harry Potter fans will know what I mean)…. 'he who shall not be named'. In this case, the biblical question which perhaps should not be named: the question of whether God ordains, even pre-ordains what we do.

That in truth is one of my favourite of all subjects, and time here does not allow for any depth of examination. But we can see an important point here.

If you have ever wondered about Judas. Did he have a choice? Was he the poor cosmic victim who had to carry out the essential role in the betrayal of Jesus, and then end up taking the eternal blame for it? This moment in Bethany, this snapshot into history reveals the truth. It’s a bit like the point in the best murder mystery, when the detective, gathering the witnesses together, knowing the murderer is in the room, reveals the truth. The truth was, that Judas’ heart was as rotten as a bruised apple. What he did, only days later, betraying Jesus, grew out of the rot which was already in his heart. Demonstrated days before, as we see, by his hard-hearted response to what he had just seen Mary do: pouring expensive perfume, worth a year's wages, onto the feet of Jesus, and wiping his feet with her hair. 

Judas had a choice. The right choice would have been to drop to his own knees, take hold of Jesus's foot, and wipe Jesus’s feet with his own hair too. Instead, he moaned and criticised. And we are told, that secretly, he was helping himself to the money, and was a thief, and saw not worship and beauty in this simple, yet powerful act of Mary’s, but loss. If only he had taken a look to the side and seen Lazarus, raised from the dead. Surely it is true, even someone raised from the dead will not convince unbelief. So, if Judas has ever worried you. Then know, God did not make him do that which was not already true to his character, he simply allowed him to be true to himself that history and eternity might be fulfilled. Judas had a choice, and so do we. 

But Mary. Have you noticed Mary speaks not a word? Jesus did not say, ‘what she has said will be told wherever the gospel is preached - but was what she has done. What she had done silently. God sees what you do silently, without fanfare. It is possible that this encouragement might be more for women than men. Your gentle, humble, silent, often unseen acts; are seen by God. They are not missed. Not a single one of them. So often it is women who continue in faith, in spite of husbands or partners or boyfriends who so far have not knelt before the Saviour who love them and gave his life for them too. And it is often women who quietly pray and hold on, faithfully worshipping. Men, we need to be on our knees too. Not so proud that we cannot mop Jesus’s feet with our brow. We need, particularly if we are married, to be on our knees with our wives before Jesus. 

So the scene is set. The picture is clear. Lazarus, raised from the dead, points to the resurrection from the dead which will lead to eternal life for all who believe and bow the knee to Jesus. Judas speaks of the danger that we might harden our hearts and miss the whole point of what is unveiling before us as we approach Easter. And Mary, beautiful-hearted Mary, points the way for each of us, laying herself down in worship. Humble and completely giving all she has at Jesus's feet.

And Jesus – as we point forwards….as we shall commemorate and celebrate if the next weeks, shall also be placed in a tomb. Again, anointed for burial with perfumes, and raised from the dead. Not to die again. But alive for evermore. Inviting us to be with him for all eternity. 

And our part in all this? is the invitation, to choose, not to be hard-hearted as Judas was, but to make the choice of Mary. Mary, who gave all she had to worship at Jesus's feet. Amen

Rev. Chris Willis