John 11 records the raising of Lazarus from the dead, one of the best - known miracles of Jesus. And yet when you read the story, you see 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 four days. That's pretty significant; a detail that John purposely included.
Jewish folklore said that the soul would hover above the body for up to four days after death, looking for signs of life and a chance to return. But after four days of death, there was no hope. Decomposition sets in, and the body begins to decay. And oh, the smell. It would have been putrid. Abhorrent. Disgusting. The body would be sealed inside a tomb to keep the smell of the dead away from the living. The smell of rottenness and lifelessness. It's a sensory reminder that the situation was beyond repair.
But Jesus wasn't afraid of that smell. He strode boldly to the tomb and commanded that the stone be rolled away. But there were protests. "Lord, he stinks. It's been four days." "Don't roll the stone away. It's going to stink. Let us leave him alone; what good is there in confronting that smell? The smell of death?"
But Jesus isn't afraid of that smell. He inhales it deeply and then breaths it back out. He's not afraid of it because He won't abide it. He reaches into the smell of death and produces the fragrance of life. He did it with Lazarus; He did it with me; and He's doing it countless lives every day.
We recoil at the smell of death. Our stomachs turn. Bile comes up in our throats. But Jesus? Jesus beats back the stench of death with the fragrance of life...
Where is your sting, death? That's what Paul asked. He asked because the sting is nowhere to be found. Jesus confronted it and won. Because He did, I live - we live. Praise be to the Ever-living One.