5th Sunday of Lent 

 

My dear parishioners,

God is Good!!!  All the time!!!  And all the time!!!  God is Good!!!

During Ezekiel’s service to God, the city of Jerusalem fell into ruins and the kingdom of Judah collapsed. For too long, God’s people resisted every effort on God’s part to steer them back to the ideal traditions of Israel. They ignored those traditions; they looked for security in earthly resources instead of in God. Those earthly resources failed them; the people went away in exile. But, in this oracle, the prophet reveals that all is not lost.

The raising of Lazarus is the culmination of the signs Jesus performs in the first half of John’s Gospel. This sign reveals that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. This means that Jesus has full power over life and death. In John’s Gospel, this sign will become the direct motivation for having Jesus killed.

The setting of the story. Lazarus is the brother of Martha and Mary. All are portrayed as good friends of Jesus. The focal point of the story is that Lazarus is ill and his sisters have summoned Jesus to come. Oddly enough, Jesus waits two days before going to Lazarus. Jesus indicates that somehow the death of Lazarus is going to glorify God, but at this point it is unclear what this means.

Martha and Mary. When Jesus finally arrives, Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days indicating that he is definitively dead. Martha meets Jesus and tells him that if he had come earlier he could have prevented Lazarus’ death. She appears to want Jesus still to do something, but she does not say what. Jesus affirms the Jewish belief that ultimately Lazarus will rise on the last day, and Martha herself reaffirms that. This leads to Jesus making the key affirmation of the story, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Martha, however, does not grasp the deeper meaning of what Jesus says. Mary, then, has almost the very same conversation with Jesus claiming that, if Jesus had come earlier, Lazarus would not have died. Jesus’ response to all this is that he wept.

Jesus is perturbed and deeply troubled. Most commentators interpret Jesus’ weeping as an emotional response to the death of his good friend and the sadness of Martha and Mary. But the text goes on to say that in fact Jesus is perturbed and deeply troubled. The reason that Jesus is angry and upset is not because Lazarus had died. Jesus knows he can raise Lazarus up, so that is not the issue. The real issue is that Martha and Mary and the others present do not understand who Jesus really is and what he is about. Thus, when Jesus goes to the tomb, he prays out loud, and then literally shouts Lazarus out of the tomb. When Lazarus emerges, he is still bound with burial clothes that need to be removed. The final words of Jesus are very significant. “Untie him and let him go.” Jesus is the giver of life

 

Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved

 

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Aloysius