Sometimes hospital chaplains have the task and honor of talking with people about advanced directives (aka end-of-life planning). One of the questions is whether the person would like to be “brought back” should their hearts or breathing stop. Some responses are absolutely yes-no matter what, others are maybe, and some don’t want to come back. One woman’s response to this question was priceless. She said something like, “Honey, when I’ve finally just started dancing with Jesus, don’t you dare rip me out of his arms.”
That leads us to wonder what it must be like to be dead one moment and alive again the next, or, as in the story of Lazarus (John 11:1-45), four days later. While the point of calling him out of the tomb was to help people believe in Jesus, Lazarus was in an unusual situation. We might wonder about his reaction, his life after this event, and how he felt about death. After all, in time, he did die again.