In the passage about the death and raising of Lazarus (John 11), he is initially identified in such a simple and common way that it basically tells us nothing, except a name: ‘a man named Lazarus’. If you put any other name instead of Lazarus, the meaning of the information transmitted doesn’t change at all. It could just as well be my name or yours or that of a member of your family.
I consider that the Bible tells us something extraordinarily important here, namely that there are moments in life when it doesn’t matter at all who you are from a social point of view, what profession you have, what wealth you have or what recommends you in the community you belong to.
You can be a doctor, a cook, a lawyer, a builder, a politician, a tailor, a cleaner or a housekeeper, there are times when you are just a man. A man who had an accident and is on a hospital bed. A man with a terminal illness waiting the end of his life. A man who lost a loved one. A man depressed. A man who can no longer see the light at the end of the tunnel. In circumstances like these, each of us is just a man.
However, later in the passage, Lazarus is also identified as Mary’s brother, ‘the one who put perfume on the Lord and wiped His feet with her hair’. It seems that being related to someone who loves Him and who gives Him the most precious gifts in her life gets Lazarus out of anonymity. Consequently, Lazarus is placed in a family and his sisters are identified. The same thing happens to Martha, who is also made known as being Mary’s sister.
A sick man who is waiting to die (and who will later on be declared dead, but also brought back to life four days after death ) suddenly becomes Lazarus, the brother of a woman who loves Jesus with all her heart and who showed it to Him in the most noble way. He is a man for whom Mary is praying with her heart given to Him. He is a man who has a sister who believes in Him and in His miracles. He is a man with a relative who knows that life and death are in His hands. He is a man with a sister who immediately does whatever He tells her, even if by her logic it may be too late. This is how a dead man named Lazarus receives a second chance at life.
Sometimes it’s hard to be the sister, the brother, the father of someone like Lazarus. But it is essential to know that it is possible that your relationship with him and your faith may be the only ones that can take him out of anonymity and give him a second chance at life.
And who doesn’t want a second chance?
The vital thing is not to give up on telling Him, not to give up on believing Him, not to give up on loving Him, not to give up on listening to Him. Thus, someone with a sister / a brother / a mother / a grandmother, etc. can become a resurrected Lazarus who receives a new chance at life.