Love w/o Plan

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” John 11:1-7

I am compelled by this story, and I have no idea how much of it I believe. It's told during Lent, because it prefigures Jesus' own death and resurrection, however you interpret the latter. It's another of what I call the "Super Jesus" stories - told to show his power and might. And his profound compassion speaks louder to me than anything else in it.

Jesus gets this letter from Mary and Martha, about their brother, Lazarus. "Lord, he whom you love is ill." Matthew Henry points out that there's no instruction here, no overt plea for Jesus to do anything - just information. Maybe they don't want to presume he will come, but know he would, if only he knew. They're also willing to interrupt him in healing all those other people - I picture Jesus as the Free Clinic - sick people all over him because they have nowhere else to turn. And Mary and Martha know that in spite of all of these others, he will care deeply about Lazarus. It's like the lost lamb for whom the shepherd ignores the other 99.

Notice how many times it's mentioned that Jesus loves these particular people, revealing personal details about them. I tend to picture Jesus as loving everybody like a fair parent - equally, if a bit impersonally. If Jesus communicates something of God to us, then this tells me that God loves us specifically, for our exact human selves. It counteracts the image of the dad with too many kids - "You're Betty, right? Okay, don't tell me. I know it starts with a B." God knows us and cares about us personally. Henry says that friendship means "your cares and your crosses multiply" - and that is the case with Jesus and his friends here.

Then there's this business of why he delays going for two days. This is a crucial point in the story and the part I struggle with the most. I'm right with Mary & Martha and the crowd who light into him for not coming sooner. I just don't buy delaying going to help your friends so that you can do a big, impressive miracle and show everybody. People didn't need that to see in Jesus the tremendous love and power he brought. So why DID he drag his feet? No good answer. Except that John does what we do when we don't understand why God doesn't do what we want: We make up something, we invent some good reason that shows everything was planned out, all for a purpose, so we can have assurance that God has everything under control. See? Jesus knows what he's doing ALL THE TIME.

What if we are loved and deeply cared for, even if there is no grand plan? To me, that's why you have a human being represent God in the first place.