Sermon 4/3/2022 “Crossroads”
Preacher: Jo J. Belser
Location: Church of the Resurrection, Alexandria, Virginia
Text: John 12:1-8
Day: 5Lent, Year C
Bethany: A town located on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives less than two miles from Jerusalem. This place is not called Bethany today. Instead, it is named Al‑Eizariya [AL I’-Zah-ree’-ah], which means “place of Lazarus.” When Jesus dined there—often—at his friends’ house, the town was called Bethany. Scholars debate what that name could tell us about the place. The best guesses are that it was either known for growing figs and dates, or for having an almshouse and thus serving as a center for caring for the sick and aiding the destitute and pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem.
Whatever Bethany was in Jesus’ day, his three friends—Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha—owned a house there, and they apparently were rich. Jesus’ friend Simon the Leper also owned a house there. Scripture tells us that Jesus stayed in Bethany a lot, not only on his way to Jerusalem, but making Bethany his base of operations in Judea just as Capernaum was his home in Galilee.
We can think of Bethany as crossroads, not just a place where physical roads intersected, but at the dinner party we heard about in today’s gospel lesson, this was a point at which crucial decisions were made that would have extremely far-reaching consequences, not just for those present, but for us today, as well.
- Lazarus, for instance, would have been thinking about the direction of his new life, now that Jesus had so recently brought him back to life from the grave.
- Judas Iscariot hadn’t yet betrayed Jesus; HE would have been deciding whether handing Jesus over to the Pharisees would be more lucrative than continuing as the disciples’ treasurer.
- Mary and Martha would have been deciding what their role would be in the two weeks to come, the week in which Jesus had told them all plainly he would be killed and “rise again” after three days, as he had demonstrated so recently by bringing Lazarus’ rotting corpse back to life.
- Jesus’ other disciples would have been deciding how firm their resolve would be about continuing to follow Jesus into Jerusalem, given that he had been telling them over and over on the way there that he would be killed in Jerusalem and that, after three days, he would “rise again,” like Lazarus had been raised, they would have supposed. Thomas, for instance, of “doubting Thomas” fame, had said, “Let us go, too [that is, to Jerusalem with Jesus], that we may die with Him.”
So, here they all were at Lazarus’ house, each at the crossroads of their lives. Lazarus said absolutely nothing at this dinner party. Now, maybe, Lazarus did speak, and his words just weren’t recorded. Maybe. I doubt it, though. I mean, what does one say after being restored to life—literally—from being four days dead?
Popular tradition says that the 30-year-old Lazarus did not smile during the 30 years he lived after his resurrection, a situation attributed to the things that Lazarus must have seen during the four days he was dead. Think about this: Jesus had not yet died and created the “way” through the dark chasm that separated the dark underworld and God’s realm of light. No wonder Lazarus was silent during this meal!
By the way, church tradition from the fourth century says that Lazarus and his sisters, became evangelists for Christ Jesus after Jesus’ resurrection, eventually ending up in Cyprus where Lazarus became a Bishop, serving for 18 years before his second death. Archaeologists found his tomb there in 890 of the Common Era; its inscription said, “Lazarus, friend of Jesus.”
Despite what came later, Lazarus was at a crossroads at this dinner party at his house, just before Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.
You know that Judas’ life turned out very differently. He betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver—money he unsuccessfully tried to give back after Jesus’ crucifixion. You know that Judas subsequently hanged himself. You may also know that I believe that the first person who Jesus freed from the dark underworld after his crucifixion was his Judas. (Other theories abound, so I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about that.)
However Judas’ story turned out, he was at a crossroads that night when he criticized Mary for so extravagantly using a costly burial perform to anoint Jesus’ feet.
And what about Mary herself (not to mention her sister famous for working in the kitchen, the do-er Martha who so starkly contrasted with her sister’s public devotion to Jesus)? Mary blew right through the crossroads; she threw a whole year’s wages at Jesus’ feet, not in usable form, not in money, but in pure love disguised as a burial perfume. In this way, Mary said, “I have seen you, Jesus, and know that you are the Messiah. I have heard you, Jesus, and accept that you will die in Jerusalem, that you must die there, becoming for all time the Passover sacrifice for us all. I will go with you, all the way.”
The other disciples were making those same decisions, also, although not as completely as Mary of Bethany. They followed Jesus to the wilderness that week. They found him a colt and a donkey that next week. They went with him to Jerusalem and back and forth from Bethany until they deserted him at the cross. But even they, too, got another chance to follow Christ beyond his grave, until they reached their very own ones. Only one of the 12 apostles Jesus called died of natural causes, 11 of them serving him to their earthly ends.
We can’t forget the other women who accompanied Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem. Scripture tells us the names of some of them who were at Jesus’ crucifixion and who came to the tomb to anoint his body there. They must have been at Lazarus’ house that night, as well. They, too, followed Jesus all the way to the cross and beyond.
What about us? What about you? Aren’t we at our own crossroads today? Aren’t we “dining” today at Jesus’ Table, eating his Last Supper with him, in our “Upper Room?” Haven’t you already let Jesus raise you from death and are following him? The question today is if you would follow Jesus but desert him before his cross? Or would you follow Jesus all the way?
