Well, have you had enough of this sheltering at home? Whether you live alone or are in a home filled with others, it’s a real challenge, isn’t it? We all admit that the coronavirus is a serious threat to us. Some of us are already affected personally, with a member of our family or a friend who is seriously ill or has even passed away from this powerful virus. We recognize the need to practice social distancing and are looking forward to that time when we are rid of this awful plague and life will return to normal. It is too powerful a reminder to us of a reality we would rather not have consider: that we are going to die. And, it shows us how frail we are.
Today’s Gospel reading is filled with scenes of human frailty. First, in Bethany, we encounter the suffering surrounding a dying man. Lazarus is ill, and his sisters Martha and Mary are concerned about him. They send a message to their friend, Jesus. Notice, the Scripture does not say that they asked Jesus to come, or that they begged him to cure their brother. Scripture tells us only that “the sisters sent word to Jesus saying, ‘Master, the one you love is ill.’” Knowing how close Jesus was to Lazarus, a dear friend, they just wanted to let Jesus know that Lazarus was sick.
They probably didn’t even want Jesus to come since his life would be in danger. When Jesus announced plans to go back to Judea, where they had recently been, his disciples question his intentions, for the Jews had tried to stone him the last time he was there. But Jesus explained that Lazarus had died, and that they must go.
Third, we hear of people mourning someone they loved. Martha and Mary are lamenting the loss of their dear brother, and people have come to comfort them. We even hear about Jesus, true God and true Man, filled with emotion, weeping at the loss of his friend.
Finally, we see confusion and misunderstanding. The disciples do not fully understand Jesus’ mission yet, and Thomas’ bold comment, “Let us also go to die with him,” is naïve, even if it is well-intentioned. Even Mary and Martha do not fully understand as they bemoan the absence of their brother. Only Jesus knows that this suffering will not end in death, but will simply be used “for the glory of God,” just as was the case with the man born blind that we heard about last Sunday.
All of this human frailty – apparent in this story – is so familiar to us, especially now, isn’t it? But what changes all of it? Faith! Martha proclaims that she has come to believe that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” The Apostles and others hear Jesus say that he is “the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me even if he dies, will live.” Jesus has faith that the Father will hear him, so he calls Lazarus to “come out.” Jesus raises his friend from the dead. Those who were present come to put their faith in him.
Yes, all this human suffering was turned around because of faith. Faith convinces us of Christ’s victory over death. Faith in the Resurrection rests on faith in God who is the God of the Living. Today’s Gospel is not just about Lazarus being raised from the dead, it’s about our being raised, as well. All our human suffering, losses and doubts are reimagined in light of our faith in Jesus. This profound faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit, and St. Paul reminds us so powerfully in today’s second reading that the Spirit of God lives in us. With him, we can overcome anything, even death itself.
Lazarus would die again. But, in the resurrection of the Lord, he would be given new life that is eternal. Our Lord’s resurrection, which we will celebrate in just two weeks on Easter Sunday, gives us the promise of eternal life, as well. Like Lazarus, we will all die. But, as St. Paul assures us in today’s second reading, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to our mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in us.
As we continue to work hard to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, let’s use some of the extra time we have as a result of our sheltering at home to reflect on this eternal truth. In today’s first reading from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, we hear the assurance that God will put his spirit in us that we may live in his land. The people of Ezekiel’s day thought that this meant only that they would return to Jerusalem. For us, however, it speaks of our true homeland: heaven. We all look forward to being with God forever. With Jesus, we have nothing to fear from death because, for us – we who believe in the risen Lord – it leads to new life, eternal life in the joy of God’s presence in our heavenly home.
In today’s gospel, we hear of the Jews who had had enough of Jesus. He has turned water into wine, healed people, fed thousands and walked on water – in today’s Gospel account, we hear about him raising Lazarus from the dead. He has everyone’s attention and the Jewish leaders were looking forward to getting rid of him so that their lives would return to normal. What we don’t hear in today’s Gospel account is this discontent of the Jewish leaders. But, if you look just before the passage we hear today, you read about the Jews picking up rocks to stone him and if you read just beyond the account we hear today you will read that “from that day on, they planned to kill him.” Jesus was upsetting their lives and they just wanted to get back to doing what they had been doing, that is, just taking care of themselves and paying only lip service to God. But, everything that Jesus did was a sign that God had something different in mind for them. , “O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them. …Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” Our readings today go straight to the heart of our Catholic Christian faith. They speak of death, and new life in Christ. We hear it promised in the first reading from the prophet Ezekiel and we hear about it actually happening in today’s powerful Gospel account. In a world where we spend hundreds of millions of dollars trying to look young and doing everything medically possible to avoid the inevitable – death – we, the followers of Christ, dare to look death straight in the eyes because we believe that, for the faithful, death leads to new life. And, it’s much more than just being raised from the dead to live in this world once again. That’s the best the prophet Ezekiel could understand. As you know, he was prophesying among his fellow Israelites in exile in Babylon after the destruction of Jerusalem. He understood that God was going to raise the dead and bring them back to “the land of Israel” as we hear in today’s first reading. “You shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people! I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land,” we hear God promise in the first reading.
And, that’s probably all that the sisters of Lazarus were hoping for, as well. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died,” we hear both Martha and Mary say to Jesus. Before he revived Lazarus, however, Jesus invited Martha to put her faith in him, “the resurrection and the life.” And then, he performed his final sign for all to see as he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
As you recall, unlike the synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, which are filled with accounts of Jesus performing miracles, the Gospel of John does not report any miracles. Rather, it speaks of “signs” – beginning with the changing of water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana – all of which point to something else, something much greater. Let’s review them for a moment. It’s easy to understand that the first sign – changing water into wine – was a sign of the great gift of the Eucharist that our Lord has given us, when wine is changed into his own life-giving blood. The fourth sign – the feeding of the crowd – reinforces the spiritual nourishment our Lord would leave us in his life-giving body and blood. The other signs all point to something else – something much greater that our Lord is about to do – as well.
The second and sixth signs that John records are the healing of the Roman official’s son and the curing of the man born blind, which we heard in last week’s Gospel. Both of these were signs that our Lord’s saving power was open not only to the Jews but to all people who would put their faith in him, including those whom the Jews considered to be sinners and outcasts. The third sign – the cure of the cripple at the Pool of Bethesda – pointed to the saving power of baptism in Jesus. And the fifth sign – Jesus walking on water – demonstrated our Lord’s power over all of nature, not only storms but death itself. This leads us back to the raising of Lazarus from the dead – the seventh and last sign. But, as miraculous as this was, Lazarus would die again. Raising him from the dead was a sign of the new life that Jesus was to offer us in his Resurrection, a life that would never come to an end, a life without the struggles and suffering that we all experience in this life. It is this promise that allows us to look death in the eyes because, for us, death is no more than the passage way to eternal life of endless joy in God’s presence.
What does this mean for us, living out our everyday lives today? It leads us to question what this world teaches us, this world that fears death and doesn’t like to talk about it or even think about it.
Easter, which we will celebrate in just two weeks, is our bold statement that, for the Christian, there is no reason to fear death. To be sure, we will all die. Some of us may live longer than others. I had the privilege of burying a parishioner last week who was 101 years old. I have also had the precious but painful privilege of burying infants only a few months old. For us – we who believe, like Martha, in Jesus, who is “the Christ, the Son of God” – there is something new that God has offered us through his Son – new life for all eternity in the joy of God’s all-loving embrace.
In today’s second reading from the Letter to the Romans, we are assured that “if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also.” As we prepare to walk with our Lord toward his suffering and death on the cross, let us be strengthened by the Spirit we received in baptism and confirmation. Then, we can be strong in our faith in our God who gives us life and the promise of new life through his Son’s Resurrection – eternal