The Smell of Death

Michael Kelley:

John 11 records one of the best known miracles of Jesus – the raising of Lazarus from the dead. And yet when you read the story in its entirety, you begin to see some of the great detail John recorded in order to put us in Bethany that day.

Take, for example, the fact that Lazarus had been in the grave for 4 days. That’s pretty significant; a detail that was put there purposely by John.

Jewish folklore was that the soul would hover above the body for up to 4 days after death, looking for signs of life and a chance to return. But after four days of death, there was no hope. Decomposition would have started. The body would have begun to decay.

And the smell. Maybe that would have been the worst part. The smell would have been putrid. Abhorent. Disgusting. The body would be sealed inside a tomb to keep the smell of the dead away from the living.

The smell is the smell of death. Of rottenness. Of lifelessness. A sensory reminder that the situation was beyond repair.

But Jesus isn’t afraid of that smell.

Read the rest.