I can't tell you how often I've sat in a movie theater watching the previews for coming attractions and thought to myself, "What's the point of seeing the movie now? The trailer told me everything that's going to happen!" The bad news is that the trailer ruined the end of the story; the good news is I saved myself ten bucks by not needing to see the movie!
But sometimes, the end of the story is not the story. We see that in the cross, and Jesus' empty tomb as the story continues in the life of the church. We also see it in the story of Jesus raising his friend Lazarus from the dead. Is the story really about Lazarus living again, or is there more than just the end of the story?
There's more happening than just Jesus raising Lazarus to life. Through the story, we see him raising the faith of his disciples, Lazarus' sisters, and the whole community. And the story doesn't end there because he still raises our faith through what he did for Lazarus.
