“Lazarus, come out!” (1)
When Jesus shouted to the tomb,
People’s breathing stopped.
“Unbind him, and let him go.” (2)
When Jesus shouted to them,
People’s mouths gaped.
To Jerusalem, from Bethany,
People who had experienced an amazing mystery,
They witnessed to what Jesus had done.
In Jerusalem, near Bethany,
The chief priests and the Pharisees gathered in council:
“What are we to do? This man is performing many signs.
If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him.”
What if people come out of the dark cavern?
What if people open their eyes to the light?
What if people unbind the restrictions of our tradition?
What if they believe in Jesus?
The chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death, (3)
They planned to put Jesus to death as well. (4)
If the religion for release becomes an institutional power,
It finally walks on the way of blindness, oppression and death.
Today there are those who are anxious as well.
What if they believe in Jesus,
The way, and the truth, and the life? (5)
What if they come out of the dark cavern into the light?
Rev. Yong Sub Sim
Poem based on John 11:47-48.
Notes:
(1) John 11:43
(2) John 11:44
(3) John 12:10
(4) John 11:53
(5) John 14:6
Image: Giotto, 1266?-1337. The Raising of Lazarus, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=46567 [retrieved May 26, 2019].
