(By Cynthia Davis)
After sitting quietly for several minutes, Lazarus looked at his sisters.
“Jesus himself seemed sad after his conversation about the wheat. After a couple of minutes he said, ‘My soul is troubled. Shall I say, ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ Then he answered his own question. He looked up to heaven and his face changed. It became peaceful and he said, ‘No, for this is the reason I came. Father, glorify your name.’ Then something really strange happened.” The man paused.
“What?” Martha asked.
Mary leaned close to her brother, “Tell us.”
“You may not believe me,” the man warned. “I heard a voice coming from above. It said, ‘I have glorified it and will glorify it again.’ Some said it thundered, but I heard the words clearly.”
“I wish I had been there,” Mary sighed ecstatically. “It would have been wonderful to hear a voice from heaven!”
“It was amazing,” Lazarus nodded. “Jesus told the crowd, ‘This voice came for you, not me. When I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself.’ That started an argument.”
Martha interrupted, “He really said, ‘when I am lifted up’?”
When her brother nodded, she whispered, “Could that mean he will be crucified?”
“No!” Mary was quick to cry out.
“What else could it be?” Lazarus looked at the two shocked women. He reached out to take Mary’s hand. “He told you to keep the perfume for his burial.”
“I don’t want that to happen,” the younger woman sobbed and shook her head wildly.
“It will be as it must be,” the man stroked her hair. “Jesus seems so calm and confident, that I don’t believe it myself. He ended the conversation with a comforting image, though. He told us, ‘walk in the light, so darkness doesn’t overtake you. In the dark, you don’t know where you are going. While you have light, believe in the light, so you can be children of light.’ I think he meant that if we trust in him and in the Father, then we will always be able to see with faith.”
“Isn’t there anything we can do?” Martha asked. She brushed tears from her cheeks with one end of her veil.
“If I could, I would keep Jesus safe,” Lazarus told her. “I would have brought him here, but He left us all. After he told us to walk in the light, we couldn’t find him. He must have known that his presence would cause arguments.”
“Where do you think he went?” Martha looked concerned. “I hope it is someplace where the authorities cannot find him.”
“I don’t think that he can be arrested unless he allows it,” mused Lazarus.
His sisters looked at him in confusion, but the man did not explain. Instead he stood up and went outside to say his evening prayers. Silently the women cleared the nearly untouched food. Each member of the family had much to ponder.
