Friend of Jesus gets a reprieve: Today's gospel gives a vivid picture . . .

God on earth in a memorable exercise of divine power . . .

It’s in the day’s gospel passage . . .

. . . which leans heavily on Jesus’ weeping at his friend’s death and then calling him forth from his place of interment, where he’d presumably been mouldering for four days.

“Lazarus, come forth,” he said. And Lazarus did that.

Two great lines from this passage: “Jesus wept” and the call to the friend as above. Memorable they are and easily called to mind. Helps to imagine the scene. I like a passage, a sermon, that does that.

We live by the visual — TV, movies, Internet and all. We are grabbed by what we see. In this case it’s Jesus weeping and Lazarus walking out of his burial cave into the arms of his crying sisters.

Think about it. The Son of God is at the center of this scene, embodying the Triune God, as Teresa of Avila saw in a prayerful vision. Never one of Them without the Other, of course.

The passage portrays God in action. Another close friend of the Son, the apostle John, tells the story. Read it again, John 11:1-45, with all this in mind, along the way whispering another great Gospel phrase from another story entirely, “I believe, Lord, help thou my unbelief.”

Go ahead, nothing to lose.