Father Denny Dempsey

A Family From Bethany (part 5)

Lazarus had died on the Sabbath in the late afternoon. Martha and Mary washed and anointed his body and wrapped it in linen strips in preparation for burial the next morning. When Samuel and Eleazar arrived at the house shortly before midnight, many of the neighbors were there mourning and keeping vigil. Samuel took Martha and Mary aside and reported to them what Jesus had said. He could tell they were hurt that Jesus had not come with him, but it would have been too late anyway.

His wife Naomi was there among the mourners. Samuel gave her a hug and then. accompanied by Eleazar, went next door to his own house. He prayed God's protection over Maria and Nathan who were fast asleep. He thought about staying awake with the mourners through the night, but he needed to rest. Martha and Mary would need to count on him for strength in the days ahead.

In the morning Samuel and Eleazar joined other men of the village to prepare the tomb for burial. One of several burial caves cut into a rock face of limestone near the village, the tomb was shared by several related families from the village. The men rolled back the big stone which blocked the entrance to keep animals out. Against the back wall were stacked several decorative boxes called ossuaries. Some months after a funeral, the bones of the deceased were transferred to an ossuary to make room in one of the two available burial niches for any subsequent funeral.

The funeral procession left the house shortly after dawn. Six men carried Lazarus' body on a stretcher. Martha and Mary followed close behind accompanied by several other women crying out loudly, their foreheads covered with dust and ashes as a sign of mourning. Following the burial, a period of seven days mourning and prayer was observed in accord with Jewish custom. Neighbors brought food for the family and visitors. People went back and forth between the tomb and the house, praying for Lazarus and consoling Martha and Mary.

A Family From Bethany (part 4)

It was still dark out when Samuel and Eleazar reached the encampment by the Jordan. Some people had tents. Most had constructed lean-tos or slept in the open. While the majority appeared to be sleeping, a few were up talking quietly and preparing breakfast.

Samuel and Eleazar continued on to the river crossing. It was only about 30 feet wide at this location. Someone waved at them from the other side. "Come on across, it's no deeper than your knees." Samuel could not see the figure very well, but he recognized the voice.

"Is that you, Peter? You may remember me…Samuel, Lazarus' neighbor from Bethany. Some of your group stayed at our house when Jesus came to Jerusalem on a few occasions."

"Yes, Samuel, Shalom. What brings you from Bethany at such an hour? Cross over, you and your friend, and join us for breakfast. Jesus should be back soon. He gets up early most days and goes off by himself to pray."

"Are you sure it's not to get away from your snoring, Peter?" Everyone laughed. The voice was that of John, Peter's closest friend and fishing partner from Capernaum. "Come, Samuel, but if you prefer, my friend Peter knows how to walk on top of the water and can bring you over dry."

A Family From Bethany (part 3)

Lazarus' condition became progressively worse as the day wore on. His fever rose, and by nightfall he was delirious. Martha and Mary knew their only hope lay with Jesus' healing power.

Samuel had left in mid-afternoon to search for Jesus somewhere in the Jordan River valley. He went down to Jericho, truly down. The 12 miles route from Bethany to Jericho dropped 4,000 feet in altitude, winding through arid rocky outcroppings. There were no villages, only one building, an inn halfway along the route. The only people aside from the innkeeper and his family were robbers who frequented the desolate area, preying on travelers.

Usually travelers on the route waited until morning to travel in the security of a large group. Samuel had decided to run the risk of setting out alone. Lazarus' condition was too critical to wait until morning. He gave a sigh of relief and a prayer of praise to God when he came within sight of the green Jericho oasis.

A Family From Bethany (part 2)

The sun was high in the sky by the time Naomi, Maria, Nathan and Martha left Jerusalem through the Golden Gate down past the ancient tombs in the Kidron Valley. Many Jewish people believed that some day God would raise all the dead to life again, and those buried closest to the Temple would be the first in line.

As the path turned up the slope to the Mount of Olives, they slowed their pace…all except little Nathan who would run on ahead and wait for them impatiently. "What's taking you so long?" he would call back and then run on ahead a bit more. Maria took care of the conversation, recounting for Naomi and Martha all she had seen in the city. The market had been crowded. Maria couldn't remember ever having seen so many foreign merchants with their camels and wagons laden with exotic treasures.

About three fourths of the way to the top of the ridge they stopped for a rest at the Garden of Gethsemane. Naomi took out some barley cakes and dried fruit and a small goat skin she had filled with cool water at the Pool of Siloam on the way out of Jerusalem. Martha added some sweet cakes she had purchased at the market. It was so comfortable sitting there in the shade of the big trees. A light breeze in their faces carried the sounds of the city laid out in a panorama across the valley from them.

Maria looked across at the Temple. Her father Samuel had told her that, during Passover time the previous year, there had been more than 75,000 people in the Temple area at one time. On their way to the market that morning, they had stopped at the Temple, climbing the wide stairway to the huge open-air "Court of the Gentiles", so named because even non-Jewish people were permitted in that area. There was a covered area on three sides of the courtyard where rabbis could seat themselves and discuss the Word of God with whomever gathered around. Naomi and Martha had stopped to listen to one of the rabbis for a while before going into the Court of the Women to make an offering for the poor. Maria had tried to listen but had been distracted by the sound of hundreds of animals in makeshift pens in the center area.