This week in our Lenten series Bearing Witness, we explore what it means to bear witness to hope in a world surrounded by death-dealing systems, despair, and exhaustion. In today’s reading of the Gospel (John 11:1-45), John’s story of Lazarus unfolds slowly in the shadow of grief. Mary and Martha mourn the loss of their brother, and even Jesus himself weeps at the tomb. Yet in the midst of that sorrow, Jesus speaks a powerful word of life: “Lazarus, come out.” Jesus does not ignore the pain of his friends, nor does he offer easy explanations for suffering. Instead, he meets people in their grief and still calls life forth from the tomb.