The readings for Fifth Sunday of Lent may be found at:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032623.cfm
This week, St. John tells us about one of Jesus’ most outstanding miracles.
Raising Lazarus from the dead.
And this powerful scene
reveals to us not only how deep Jesus’ love is for His friends,
but also proves his divinity, in his power over death itself.
Now, chances are we’ve all lost someone dear to us.
We can imagine the grief and sorrow that Lazarus’ sisters,
Mary and Martha, must have felt
as they watched his illness get worse
and as they watched their beloved brother die.
Many of us have felt that kind of pain before.
It can really wound us,
sometimes break us.
Feeling helpless, emotional,
filled with sorrow, like something is missing.
Asking why this had to happen.
Questioning God.
We’ve all likely felt that way, haven’t we?
Now, Mary and Martha,
along with their brother, were close friends of Jesus.
And as his friends,
they probably knew that he had the power to heal the sick.
They probably even knew he had the ability to raise the dead.
How much harder must it have been for them.
Losing their brother,
knowing someone they knew well,
could have made it all right - all better
and that, that person was not there when they needed him the most.
When Jesus arrived four days after Lazarus had been placed in the tomb,
we can imagine what the body must have been like.
What the smell of death must have been like.
And when Jesus got there,
both sisters expressed their disappointment and confusion to Him.
Why hadn’t Jesus arrived sooner?
Why hadn’t he been there to cure their brother?
Why had He let him die?
Instead, he was off somewhere else and did nothing to help them.
If we are honest, we are not so different from Mary and Martha.
When something really goes wrong in our lives, when something bad happens,
when someone gets really sick
or we lose someone that we love,
we often question Jesus and wonder where He was when it happened,
why He wasn’t here to make it all better.
But Jesus knew that Lazarus' death was not the end of the story.
He knew that His Father had given Him the power to give life,
even to those who had already passed away.
And so, with great compassion and love,
Jesus called out to Lazarus' tomb and commanded in a loud voice,
“Lazarus come out.”
And to the amazement of all who were there,
the dead man came out from the tomb,
hands and feet bound in bandages
and his face wrapped in a cloth,
to which Jesus commanded, “Unbind him and let him go.”
Fully alive and fully restored to his family and friends.
What a powerful reminder this is of Jesus' power over death and His love for us!
Just as He raised Lazarus from the dead,
so too can He bring new life to our own souls.
He is the resurrection and the life,
and those who believe in Him will never die.
But this story is not just about Jesus' power over death.
It is also about His compassion and love for His friends.
And we are all meant to be His friends.
Jesus wept with Mary and Martha when He saw their grief and sorrow.
We sometimes forget that Jesus was human.
He felt emotions. He felt pain. He felt hunger and thirst.
He loved. He felt grief and sorrow. He wept real human tears.
He shared in their pain and suffering,
even though He knew that He was about to perform a great miracle.
And so, we too can take great comfort in knowing that Jesus is with us
In our own times of grief and sorrow.
He knows how we feel.
He weeps with us and shares in our pain,
offering us His love and compassion to help us as we struggle.
Let us take heart in the miracle of Lazarus' resurrection
and the love that Jesus showed to His friends.
Let us have faith in His power to bring new life to our own souls,
and trust in His compassion and love to sustain us in our times of need.
May we always remember
that He is the resurrection and the life,
and that those who believe in Him,
his friends - that we are called to be,
will never die.
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