Written by Jonathan Melton
John 11:39a (NRSV) Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
We are called to roll away stones.
Like Martha and her friends, we listen for the voice of the one who challenges our ideas about what is and isn’t possible. As people of hope, Christians are yoked to the impossible things that happen at the feet of Jesus. Martha and her friends are not asked to raise Lazarus from the dead but merely to take away the stone that signifies the boundary between life and death. Martha and her friends roll the stone away out of a profound obedience to the one who says, “I am resurrection and life.” By their belief, the people make space for the movement of God.
To be a Christian is to risk the deep hope, profound scandal, and transcendental change of resurrection—to show up as a beacon of hope in places of darkness and despair, to roll away stones, to make straight the way for the reconciling glory of God. Rather than change the subject or look away, we step toward the difficult darkness, bearing the light of Christ into the deep unknown. The risen Christ, who raised Lazarus from the dead, still speaks into the darkness today: “Take away the stone.”
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