The Discomfort of Grief

One of the Scripture readings for this coming Sunday (5th Sunday of Lent) is the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1:45). After Lazarus died, many people came to Martha and Mary to console them in their grief (v.19). People in mourning typically did not leave their homes during the first seven days after a death except to go to the grave of the loved one to grieve their death. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, however, she went to meet him. When she met Jesus, she said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (v.21). She then sent word to her sister Mary that Jesus was calling for her. So Mary got up quickly and went to where Jesus was. The people mourning with her in the house thought she was going to the tomb to weep, but instead she went to meet Jesus, saying the same words that Martha had said earlier—“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (v.32). ​

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