Sunday 29th
March 2020. Read Ezekiel 37:12-14, Psalm 130, Romans 8:8-11 and John 11:1-45)_
_“Then Mary, when she came where
Jesus was and saw him, fell at his feet, saying to him, ‘Lord, if you had been
here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews
who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled” *(John
11:32-33)*_
Two Sundays ago, we heard Jesus say
to the woman at the well: “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again,
but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the
water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to
eternal life.” (John 4:13-14). Last Sunday, as we pondered on the story of the
man born blind, how he received his sight, yet the Pharisees who supposedly
could see turned out to be the really blind ones, Jesus said: “I am the light
of the world.” (John 9:5).
Today as we read about the raising of
Lazarus from the dead, we hear Jesus say: “I am the resurrection and the life;
he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and
believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26). When we examine these
signature statements of Jesus, three things come to mind: Firstly, Jesus is the
source of living water essential for human survival; secondly, Jesus is the
light leading us out of darkness and thirdly, without Jesus, there is no life
in us. This immediately brings us to our first lesson today.
*1. Without Jesus, we are Dead.*
In today’s first reading we hear the
prophet Ezekiel speaking in the place of God: “You shall know that I am the
LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And
I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in
your own land.” (Ezekiel 37:13-14) So long as the people of Israel dwelt in a
land of captivity as a result of their sinfulness, so long as they were yet to
receive God’s Spirit, they remained dead.
As St. Paul makes us understand in
our second reading, there is more to being alive than merely breathing. “If the
Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised
Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies.” (Romans 8:11).
The question we must ask ourselves today is: “Am I alive?” and if Yes, “What
kind of life am I living?” At the heart of all our temptations in life is
Satan’s attempt to make us reject Jesus. The truth is that without Jesus, we
become like the Samaritan woman struggling for water that never satisfies, like
the blind Pharisees and like Lazarus, dead.
As many church buildings are closed
around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, God has provided a special
opportunity for us to examine the essence of our relationship with Him. Does my
Christianity only begin and end within the church building? Do I believe Jesus
is alive within me? In all sincerity, have I been going to the church to really
commune with God or just to fraternize with friends, show off new clothes, advertise
my products, obtain business contacts and so on?
*2. God Sometimes Allows His Beloved
Suffer*
Recall that in the story of the blind
man last week, the disciples of Jesus wanted to know who sinned, if it was his
parents or the man himself. Jesus made them understand that his blindness was
not a punishment for anyone’s sin but simply for the glory of God. The wages of
sin is death no doubt but it is not every unfortunate event that happens to us
that is as a result of our sins. Today, we hear John tell us that Jesus loved
Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha. In Luke 10, we read a moving account
of how Jesus was a guest in the home of Lazarus. Martha served and Mary sat at
his feet listening to him. Jesus was told, “the one whom you love is ill.” Was
this message not enough for Jesus to swing into action? Yet Jesus stood behind
saying this illness will not lead to death but it will bring glory to God.
Like Mary and Martha who sent word to
Jesus about Lazarus’ ill health, we often pray to God when we see danger
approaching only to get no response from God. There are moments God prefers to
remain silent not because He hates us but because He already knows what He
wants to do for us. At times, we begin to doubt if God still cares or if He
even exists. There were many who came to visit Mary and Martha saying: “If Jesus
was truly this man’s friend, he shouldn’t have allowed him to die.” In this era of
the COVID-19 pandemic, many have had to ask God similar questions. Why does God
remain silent? If God is who we know Him to be, why would He let thousands of
people suffer and die like this?
The truth is simple: the fact that we
are friends of God, the fact that we strive every day to remain sinless and
walk in the light does not make us immune to the sufferings and trials of life.
As the book of Hebrews tell us: “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline
of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished by him. For the Lord
disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. … God
is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not
discipline? (Hebrews 12:5-8). Like the
case of Lazarus, when God allows us to suffer, it is because He has something
bigger awaiting us. Not even the very disciples of Jesus knew the package Jesus
had planned for Lazarus.
*3. The Saints Are Not Simply Dead
People.*
Very often, when we talk about
praying to God through the saints as Catholics, it never goes down well with
our separated brethren who are often quick to remind us that Christ alone is
the one mediator between God and man. (1st Timothy 2:5). Several
times, I have been asked: “Why do you pray to dead people?” The statement of
Jesus to Martha in today’s Gospel passage perfectly answers this question. “I
am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet
shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John
11:25-26).
In fact, in another passage, Jesus
said: “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness,
and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven that a man may
eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if
anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall
give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:48-51). To say the saints
are just dead people will be to assume that Jesus was lying in these passages.
There is life beyond the grave. How
else was Lazarus able to hear the voice of Jesus having been buried for four
days already? The Saints hear us when we ask for their intercession. They are
not merely dead people. The next question I often get is: “How can you be so
sure that someone is in heaven?” Simply put, when it is proven beyond every
doubt that he or she caused some miracles to happen on earth. Jesus is the one
mediator between God and man but our very faith in Jesus Christ accommodates
asking the saints who are alive in heaven to pray for us as well.
*4. With God, Nothing is Impossible.*
When the Angel Gabriel Visited Mary
to inform her of becoming the Mother of Jesus despite being a virgin, the Angel
assured Mary to trust in the power of God saying: “And behold, your kinswoman
Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month
with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” (Luke
1:36-37). In the raising of Lazarus from the dead, Jesus reminds us again that
with God, nothing is impossible. There is just no problem that is beyond God,
no situation that God cannot handle.
It is never too late for God. God’s
time is the best. When Jesus told them to remove the stone, Martha protested:
“Lord, by this time, there will be an odour for he has been buried four days.”
Dear friends, what is that you have been asking from God for so long now? Have
you concluded that it is too late for God to grant it? Jesus had the power to
raise the dead but first, he asked the people to roll the stone away. Perhaps,
you have lost hope and put a stone over your hopes. Jesus wants to work in your
situation but first, you have to roll this stone away.
Like Lazarus who was bound all over,
sin ties us down and keeps us stagnated spiritually. That is why we need Jesus
in our lives. And it really doesn’t matter how deep sin may have crushed us. It
is not too late today to repent and begin to live a new life in Christ.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, raise me
from the death of my sinfulness. Amen.
Happy Sunday. Be Happy. Live
Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (5th Sunday of Lent.
Year A. Bible Study: Ezekiel 37:12-14, Psalm 130 Romans 8:8-11 and John
11:1-45).
