Welcome to my annotated commentary of Sunday’s readings. The purpose of my commentary is to give you the background for each reading, a little better understanding of its message and the message that the Sunday readings provide us.
As we race toward Easter – Holy Week is only a week-and-a-half away – we hear all three readings speak of the dead being raised to new life. How exciting it is to live in hope of the Resurrection, especially now as we are bombarded with so much news of suffering and death around the world as a result of the coronavirus! Allow me to place this Sunday’s readings in the context of the readings from the past two Sundays; they all present to us various images of what coming to faith in Jesus Christ is like. You will recall that, two Sundays ago, we heard about the Samaritan woman who experienced Jesus as the spring of water inside her, welling up to eternal life. Last week, we heard about the blind man who was brought from blindness to sight, from darkness to light. This Sunday, we hear the story of Lazarus who moves from lying down to being lifted up, from being bound to being free, from death to life. This is the difference that believing in Jesus Christ makes in our lives. Let’s examine how this is offered for our consideration in all three readings.
Ezekiel 37:12 – 14
Our first reading this Sunday is a very powerful prophecy from Ezekiel. Let’s review our background information on Ezekiel. When did he prophecy? Where? Why? To whom? Actually, there is a great deal of debate about all of this. It is thought that Ezekiel delivered his prophecies sometime between 597 and 571BC. So, his prophecy was either shortly after he was led into exile in Babylon or several years after Jerusalem was destroyed. You will recall that the Babylonians first succeeded in breaching the walls of Jerusalem in 597BC and carried off some of the most prominent of the citizens of Jerusalem before being forced to retreat; Ezekiel, a court prophet, would have been among those led into exile in Babylon. So, then his prophecy would be given in Babylon but addressed to the Israelites still holed up in Jerusalem. Or, his prophecy occurred after Jerusalem was destroyed in 587BC and his message was delivered to those who had not been led into exile in Babylon but remained without leaders in and around a flattened city. Scripture scholars are equally divided about the location of his prophecy: either Palestine or Babylon. Although 1:1 would argue for Babylon, 24:25-27 argues for Palestine. Also, his vision of the temple (chapter 8) places him near Jerusalem. He was called to foretell the destruction of the temple and the people and then, most clearly in chapter 37, speak of the rebirth of Judea. We will hear a portion of this prophecy on Sunday – verses 12 – 14 – but let’s begin with 37:1 to give us the background for the verses we will hear on Sunday. If it is to be taken from an actual experience, this description may have been a battlefield where unburied remains were scattered all over. The religious experience that follows symbolizes the prophet’s mission to the exiles: to assure them that Israel would rise again! The metaphor shifts from “bones” to “graves.” Although there is no reference to resurrection of individuals, it is certainly not a foreign idea (cf. Is 26:19; Dn 12:2 for other hints at resurrection in the Old Testament).
- The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he led me out in the spirit of the LORD and set me in the center of the broad valley. It was filled with bones.
the center of the broad valley. It was filled with bones. This sounds like a battle field where the dead soldiers have been left and the vultures have picked off the flesh so only the bones are left. Such a scene would have been an indication that the defeated army had to flee in haste since, even in battle, the Israelites would ordinarily bury their dead as was required by Jewish law.
- He made me walk among them in every direction. So many lay on the surface of the valley! How dry they were!
- He asked me: Son of man, can these bones come back to life? “Lord GOD,” I answered, “you alone know that.”
- Then he said to me: Prophesy over these bones, and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!
Prophesy: Ezekiel is called to speak the word of God, not his own words.
- Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Listen! I will make breath enter you so you may come to life.
- I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow over you, cover you with skin, and put breath into you so you may come to life. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.
- I prophesied as I had been commanded. A sound started up, as I was prophesying, rattling like thunder. The bones came together, bone joining to bone.
- As I watched, sinews appeared on them, flesh grew over them, skin covered them on top, but there was no breath in them.
- Then he said to me: Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man! Say to the breath: Thus says the Lord GOD: From the four winds come, O breath, and breathe into these slain that they may come to life.
breath… breathe: This is a very important word in the Bible; you find it first in Genesis 2:7 where we hear of God breathe the breath of life into the man whom he had formed out of the clay of the earth. If you look in your footnotes, you will read that this word is a translation of the Hebrew word – ruah – and can be translated in a variety of ways: wind, spirit, or breath. It is translated variously throughout this passage but always speaks of the power of God bringing life.
- I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath entered them; they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army.
- He said to me: Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel! They are saying, “Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, and we are cut off.”
As I mentioned earlier, these first verses of chapter 37 give us the background to understand the passage we will hear on Sunday which begins with verse 12:
12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel.
graves and have you rise from them: Notice how the focus shifts from bones to graves. Ezekiel is now speaking to the people around Jerusalem who are familiar with graves – they surround the city even today – and assuring them that God will lead them to a new life, risen from their graves.
13 Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people!
14 I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land; thus you shall know that I am the LORD. I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD.
my spirit: Just as the Lord gave life to the dry bones on the battlefield, he will give his life to those in the graves surrounding Jerusalem.
This is a very hopeful message to a desperate people, living either in exile or in the ruins of their once-prosperous land. And, it’s a promise from the Lord; what he promises, he will fulfill.
As is always the case, our first reading prepares us for the Gospel: the account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead.
John 11:1 – 45
This powerful episode of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is the seventh sign in John’s Book of Signs. It is a sign both of the final resurrection and of the rising from sin to grace that takes place in the soul of the believer. It literally fulfills Jesus’ words in 5:8, where he Jesus commands the crippled man at Bethesda: “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” This incident is found only in John’s Gospel. In Luke’s Gospel, there is a mention of Martha and Mary who invite Jesus to dinner (cf. Lk 10:38-42) and Luke also uses the name Lazarus, but this is for the parable of the rich man (cf. Lk 16:19-31). Some scholars question the literal history of this account not because they disbelieve in miracles but because they find it difficult to explain that such a powerful event is not mentioned anywhere else in the NT. Most scholars, however, relying on the principle of improbability, consider this to be an incident that occurred.
John uses the raising of Lazarus to bring out the irony of the Jewish leaders’ actions. Jesus is the source of life (cf. vv. 24-26), yet they think that they can silence him by putting him to death! The raising of Lazarus, the longest continuous narrative in John outside of the passion account, is the climax of the signs. It leads directly to the decision of the Sanhedrin to kill Jesus. The theme of life predominates. Lazarus is a foreshadowing of the real life that Jesus dead and raised will give to all who believe in him. Johannine irony is found in the fact that Jesus’ gift of life leads to his own death. As I mentioned a moment ago, this raising from the dead story is not found in the synoptic gospels, but remember the account of the raising of the daughter of Jairus found in Matt 9:18ff, Mark 5:21ff, Lk 8:40ff and the raising of the son of the widow of Nain in Luke 7:11-17. So, the raising from the dead is found in all four gospels. There are also interesting parallels between this story and Luke’s parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). In both, a man named Lazarus dies; in Luke, there is a request that he return to convince his contemporaries of the need for faith and repentance, while in John, Lazarus does return and some believe but others do not.
The raising of Lazarus is the last of Jesus’ signs in John’s Gospel and the last of the signs we will contemplate during Lent. Let’s recall the first six signs:
First sign: miracle at Cana (cf. 2:1 – 11) which points to the Last Supper when Jesus turn wine into his body and blood;
Second sign: healing of the official’s son (cf. 4:46 – 54) which points to the wholeness of life God offers through his son;
Third sign: cure of the cripple at the Pool (cf. 5:1 – 30) which point to Jesus’ oneness with the Father;
Fourth sign: feeding of the crowd (6:1 – 15) which also points to the Last Supper when Jesus will nourish everyone who comes to him;
Fifth sign: walking on water (6:16 – 20) which points to Jesus’ power over all of creation; and
Sixth sign: curing the man born blind, where physical vision leads to spiritual vision.
Surprisingly, the actual miracle of raising the dead man takes up only seven of the 45 verses of this passage. Instead of spotlighting Jesus as the miracle worker, John invites us to situate ourselves with the disciples – as well as Martha and Mary – as they grapple with Jesus’ self-revelation in word and deed. We can both learn from and be comforted by their feeble understanding and growing commitment to Jesus.
Let’s examine the passage:
1 Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
Mary and her sister Martha: the only time we hear about Martha in John’s Gospel is here and in the next chapter. As I mentioned earlier, we hear about both Martha and Mary in Luke’s Gospel (10:38 – 42) where we hear Jesus chide Martha for being busy about many things and telling her that Mary has chosen the better part. This Lucan account gives us the impression that Martha and Mary were very close to Jesus; their easy conversation hints at a longtime friendship.
2 Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill.
Mary…hair: there is no mention of this incident in John’s Gospel prior to this incident but there are several accounts of a woman anointing Jesus with oil, either his feet or his head (cf. Mt. 26:6 – 13; Mk. 14:3 – 9; Lk. 7:36 – 50; Jn. 12:1 – 8). It is curious that this verse speaks of Mary anointing Jesus even though it doesn’t occur, in John’s Gospel, until after Lazarus is raised from the dead.
3 So the sisters sent word to him, saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.”
Mary and her sister Martha: notice that Martha and Mary don’t ask Jesus to come and heal Lazarus; they simply want to inform him that Lazarus is ill; another indication of the close friendship they enjoyed.
4 When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Not to end in death: this is misunderstood by the disciples as referring to physical death, but it is meant as spiritual death.
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
6 So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was.
7 Then after this he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?”
Judea…back there?: As we see in the previous chapter, Jesus had been in Jerusalem but then left because the Jews threatened to stone him. It’s not clear where Jesus went but he went far enough to leave Judea. This is another example of incidents found only in John’s Gospel that lead us to consider that Jesus went back and forth from Galilee to Judea several times during his public ministry even though the synoptic gospels mention only one time.
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
10 But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
The light is not in him: the ancients apparently did not grasp clearly the entry of light through the eye; they seem to have thought of it as being in the eye (cf. Lk. 11:34; Mt. 6:23). Jesus uses this lack of understanding to reinforce his teaching that he is the “light of the world.” And, his inner light would prevent him from stumbling.
11 He said this, and then told them, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.”
12 So the disciples said to him, “Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.”
13 But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep.
14 So then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died.
15 And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him.”
16 So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go to die with him.”
Called Didymus: Didymus is the Greek word for twin. Thomas is derived from the Aramaic word for twin; in an ancient Syriac version and in the Gospel of Thomas (80:11-12) his given name, Judas, is supplied.
17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
in the tomb for four days: Although it was – and still is – Jewish custom to bury a person before sunset of the day of death, at this time, it was believed that the soul could hover around a dead person for up to three days before departing. Jesus stayed away long enough so that everyone would be in agreement that Lazarus was truly dead.
18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away.
About two miles: literally, “about fifteen stades”; a stade was 607 feet.
19 And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.
20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home.
21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 (But) even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.”
24 Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.”
25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”
Lord…:The titles here are a summary of titles given to Jesus earlier in the gospel.
28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, “The teacher is here and is asking for you.”
29 As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him.
30 For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him.
31 So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
32 When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled,
Became perturbed: a startling phrase in Greek, literally, “He snorted in spirit,” perhaps in anger at the presence of evil (death).
34 and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Sir, come and see.”
35 And Jesus wept.
36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.”
37 But some of them said, “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?”
38 So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it.
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.”
there will be a stench: although we heard a moment ago that Martha acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, she did not yet grasp that he had power over death.
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me.
Father: in Aramaic, abba. See the note on Mark 14:36.
42 I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.”
I know that you always hear me: We hear here another account of Jesus’ prayer. Notice the confidence he shows: I know that you always hear me.
43 And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
Cried out in a loud voice: a dramatization of John 5:28; “the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice.”
44 The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”
45 Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.
Romans 8:8 – 11
We hear, once again, from Paul’s letter to the Roman community. In this selection Paul reminds the Romans of who they are at the deepest level of their being. He’s addressing the question of what literally gives them life and therefore what motivates them to do what they do and be who they are. Paul’s famous contrast is between flesh and spirit — a distinction that has been degraded and misunderstood through the ages in more ways than we would want to consider. Most of those misinterpretations tend to denigrate the weak and changing body, fallible senses and shameful desires in favor of the “spiritual side” of humanity.
But what Paul is talking about in his contrast of flesh and spirit is one’s basic orientation in life. Being “in the flesh” is self-centered, subconsciously but irrevocably oriented to the processes of degeneration and death. People who live that approach to life “cannot please God” because they have opted out of the realm of God’s influence; they have no room in their lives for anything bigger than their bellies. (See Philippians 3:19.) The religious way of “being in the flesh” may focus almost exclusively on obedience to the law and / or saving one’s soul, an approach to life that is individualistic and ultimately egocentric.
Being “in the spirit,” on the other hand is first of all a grace, an undeserved but joyfully received gift of God which flows over into a life of love of God and others. Being “in the spirit” is a reciprocal relationship. Because the Spirit of God dwells in us, we actually live in God as well. Not only has God given us life, but we share, like Christ, in God’s own life. We are not “of the flesh” — not because we reject anything of creaturely existence, but because we are oriented to much more. Being “in the spirit” is a way of life that helps us take our place in the midst of creation in the process of being “set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).
Paul’s teaching about being “in the spirit” is profoundly humbling and intensely freeing. The greatest challenge of this reading is to believe that we who have been called to share in Christ’s life have absolutely nothing to worry about. That is the freedom of the children of God.
8 (Brothers and sisters:) those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
11 If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you.
As we hurry toward Holy Week, let’s reflect on these powerful readings that teach so clearly about the new life that our Lord offers us through his Resurrection! These readings give us true hope in the midst of news filled with despair. See you next week – Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion.