Out of the Shadow of Death

Last week brought forth a moment of joy few expected to see so soon, if ever again. Bob Woodruff returned to the ABC News studios for a surprise visit to his colleagues, the first since he was injured in a roadside bombing attack in January while covering the war in Iraq. With wife Lee by his side, Woodruff was greeted by a spontaneous round of applause. "You could literally see the emotion in each hug. There was barely a dry eye," according to World News Tonight executive producer Joe Banner. Woodruff, recovering from head injuries and broken bones, appeared energetic and thrilled to be among friends that day. "I missed you all," said Woodruff. "I woke up in the hospital and looked up and just thought about you guys and I thought about everything I wanted badly to come back to. Man, it's good to be here." His doctors have called him lucky to have survived his injuries, let alone have recovered so well from them. His wife Lee has mentioned that his healing was also helped by being surrounded by loving people.

ABC News was ready for some good news and so was our nation. Peter Jennings' death late last summer shocked and saddened all of us. Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas had only been named co-anchors of World News Tonight the month before the attack on Woodruff and his team that almost killed him. The occupation of Iraq itself by U.S. forces is lasting much, much longer than the American public was led to believe. This public experience of the horrors of war is another reminder of how much politics does influence individual lives, and how much individual lives touch each other in ways seldom expected.

The account of Lazarus' resurrection from the dead might have been a story any news anchor would be interested in covering for many reasons. Jesus, the itinerant preacher reported to have called upon God to raise Lazarus from his tomb, was a close friend of Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha. Mary had, in fact, been the woman who had anointed Jesus' feet with very expensive oil, then wiped his feet with her hair. Reports from Bethany, where the sisters and their brother lived, indicated that they had notified Jesus, traveling outside the area, by messenger of Lazarus' illness when they believed it had become life-threatening. They had asked him to return to Bethany as quickly as possible. While friends of Jesus, they had also become followers, believing his message, and that he was the Messiah, long-awaited in the Jewish community. Their message to Jesus wasn't only a call to a friend for support, but also a plea for healing for their brother that they had seen Jesus perform for others.

By all accounts Jesus didn't seem upset or worried about Lazarus, and said to his disciples, "This illness will 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 hearing that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was (John 11:4-5)." The disciples traveling with Jesus were relieved. They had no desire to return to Judea, the region in which Bethany was located, as the locals had attempted to stone Jesus the last time they were there. Their relief was short lived. Two days later Jesus told them it was time to go to his friends. "When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days (John 11:17)."

Located within a few miles of Jerusalem meant many people from the Jewish community had come to mourn Lazarus, but also to see when, or even if, Jesus would show up. Jesus' reputation in and around Jerusalem, site of the Holy Temple, was not as positive as in other areas, as the attempted stoning would indicate. The Chief Priests and Pharisees were more able to raise doubts about Jesus' teaching and miracle working on a consistent basis here. Word had already spread that the sisters had called on Jesus for help and he had basically said not to worry, he would be there in a few days. The gossip mill between Bethany and Jerusalem, and beyond, was running strong on that tidbit alone. What would Jesus say to these women now that he had arrived?

Martha had met Jesus outside of town, and their conversation included Martha's belief that Lazarus wouldn't have died if Jesus had been there, but she also still had faith in Jesus as her friend and the Messiah. Martha went back to the house to notify Mary privately that Jesus had arrived and was asking for her. As Mary left to meet Jesus, the crowd followed her, assuming she was going to her brother's tomb to grieve. "When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved (John 11: 32-33)." From there, Jesus, the disciples, Mary, Martha and the crowd of mourners moved on to the tomb, ostensibly to allow Jesus time to grieve as well. But something quite unexpected happened instead.

Jesus called for the stone to be rolled away from the front of the tomb. Against everyone's better judgment, the stone was rolled away, but many people kept their distance, anticipating the four-day-old stench of a dead body as more than they wanted to deal with. But instead, Jesus called for his friend to come out of his tomb. And he did. It isn't every day that we see a resurrection.

Bob Woodruff and Lazarus both returned to the public eye when hope was gone, and never more needed or prayed for. Lazarus' family and friends were probably no less shocked and grateful than we are for Bob Woodruff's return to us. But Lazarus' resurrection did not protect Jesus from further scrutiny by those in power who sought to destroy him. In fact, if anything, the resurrection from the dead of Lazarus spurred on Jesus' enemies to continue to work against him. Neither does Bob Woodruff's resurrection from a war zone absolve we, the United State's citizenry, from the responsibility to scrutinize our continued military presence in a country asking us to leave, a place we do not belong, and a president who has a need to keep us there for reasons not fully explained.

Resurrections do not mean all is fixed, just that God has not given up on us. Let us not disappoint in our response.