"Take away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." (John 11:39)

The practice of the Jews at this time was to lay out the dead in a tomb until the flesh had rotted off of the bones. Then the bones would be placed in an ossuary (a small “coffin” usually carved out of stone) in the tomb.  Whole families were able to be buried together this way, sometimes in the same ossuary.  Jesus is asking them to open the tomb right at the time they would least like to see the body.  A couple of years ago my brother died in a mountain hiking accident.  We try not to think about what is happening to the body of a loved one who has died and been buried.  But Christians have a different perspective.  I know that my brother’s spirit is in the presence of Jesus Christ right now seeing Him and the unimaginable wonders of the place Jesus has prepared for us. I know that the body of my brother will be raised and changed to be like Jesus’ body on the day He comes to take all true believers to be with Him. When I think of my brother this is the context of my thinking, not what is happening to his body right now.  That is temporary.

Mary and Martha didn’t know.  We can read ahead and see the resurrection of Lazarus.  We can say with Paul, “"Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"…thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55)

This perspective, this victorious power over death is what Jesus is demonstrating when He calls for the stone to be rolled away. He confronts death at the point that it is at its worst, and there, for all to see, He conquers it.  That changes how I see my brother’s death – and my death.