#82 John Dear on the Raising of Lazarus: "We need to to call humanity forth out of the culture of death, war and empire."

On this week's episode I reflect on the Gospel of John, chapter 11, the story of the raising of Lazarus, based on my book, Lazarus Come Forth!I propose that John rewrote the Gospel story to portray Jesus as the God of life who calls humanity in the person of Lazarus out of the tombs of death, out of empire, violence and war, and command us to unbind humanity from the trappings of death and let humanity go free in the fullness of life and resurrection peace.The message is: have nothing to do with death, with violence, injustice, war or anything that inflicts death on others. Instead, live life to the full, and help others live life to the full. Possibly you'll recognize yourself in these scriptures: How the male disciples promise to walk with him but never show up; How the professional mourners weep over Lazarus, even though they just tried to stone Jesus to death; How Martha tries to stop Jesus’ nonviolent resistance; How Jesus announces, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever is fully alive here and now in the present moment of resurrection peace, and believes in me as I walk the way of life and nonviolence and confront the forces of death, will never die.” “Do you believe this?” he asks us. As Jesus approaches the tomb, he issues three new commandments: “Take away the stone!” “Lazarus/Humanity come forth!”“Unbind humanity and let him go free.” Listen for my conclusion of this climactic call of John’s Gospel, and what our mission is today.See what you think. I hope you like it. My book is available hereMore writings from me: beatitudescenter.orgYou can find me on Substack https://fatherjohndear.substack.com/🌻, John