Sunday 26th March 2023. Readings:
Ezekiel 37:12-14, Ps. 130, Romans 8:8-11, 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 dies, 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 lessons 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.
2. God Sometimes Allows His
Beloved to 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 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 was to 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.”
The truth is simple: the fact
that we are friends of God, and 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). In 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 dies, 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 that 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 no problem that
is beyond God; there is no situation 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 odor for he has been buried
four days.” Dear friends, what is it that you have been asking 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: Heavenly Father, raise me from the
death of my sinfulness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have
Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (5th Sunday of Lent, Liturgical
Colour: Violet. Bible Study: Ezekiel 37:12-14, Ps. 130, Romans 8:8-11, John
11:1-45).
@Rev. Fr. Evaristus Abu
