July 15, 2023
Remove the Stone!
“So the Jews were saying, ‘See how He loved him!’ But some of them said, ‘Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?’ So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, ‘Remove the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, ‘Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.’” John 11:36-39 (NASB)
I often see small stones on cemetery plots. What do they mean? Here is an example: “So why place stones on the grave? The explanations vary, from the superstitious to the poignant. The superstitious rationale for stones is that they keep the soul down. There is a belief, with roots in the Talmud, that souls continue to dwell for a while in the graves in which they are placed. Stones are more than a marker of one’s visit; they are the means by which the living help the dead to ‘stay put…’ One explanation for placing stones on the grave is to ensure that souls remain where they belong...” In contrast: “While flowers may be a good metaphor for the brevity of life, stones seem better suited to the permanence of memory. Stones do not die.”[1]
“So the Jews were saying, ‘See how He loved him!’ But some of them said, ‘Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?” In the crowd at the tomb (which appeared to be many), there were two groups of people. There were those who were witness to the healing of the blind man (John 9:1-7) which occurred three months ago, and those who had not witnessed the events in Jesus’ ministry. The group of the new witnesses expressed “See how He loved him!” Jesus’ love was a phileō, or a close association love; a friendship type of love.[2] His close friend had died, and His expression showed His sorrow at the loss of the friend, but it was more than friendship love that moved Jesus to tears. As Jesus heard the words of the crowd, He was “again being deeply moved within.” “The result was that Jesus became ‘disgusted’ or ‘angered’ (the Greek is embrimasthai) in his spirit and ‘perturbed’ (tarassein) by the actions of the people (11:33) … The sense conveyed by most English versions is that Jesus was troubled along with the Jews over the death of Lazarus because he loved Lazarus (11:36). But that statement was made by the mourners, not Jesus... His problem in this story, however, was not death. It was the mourners.”[3] As Jesus approached the tomb, “Jesus said, ‘Remove the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, ‘Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.’” Imagine, the tomb probably housed other family members who preceded Lazarus. There inside, the fresh stench of death and decomposition are present, no matter how many spices and ointments were on the body. Remember, the soul departed from the body by now. It could no longer be held down.
Today as I look at the illustration above, I see those who don’t want the dead to leave. They want them. But Jesus wants to free them, not restrain their soul. He wants to take us to His home where death has no power. So take the rocks off the graves, and place some flowers to remind each of us the brevity of life. Don’t hold back your loved ones. Let Jesus take them. “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8).
[1] https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/putting-stones-on-jewish-graves/.
[2] Thomas, R. L. (1998). In New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek dictionaries : updated edition. Foundation Publications, Inc.
[3] Borchert, G. L. (1996). John 1–11 (Vol. 25A, p. 359). Broadman & Holman Publishers.