March 22, 26 – Fifth Sunday of Lent: Lazarus is alive – Am I alive?

Daily Divine Word:

March 22, 26 – Fifth Sunday of Lent: Lazarus is alive – Am I alive?

Ezekiel 37:12-14; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45

On this fifth Sunday of lent, the readings invite us to reflect on God’s power to restore and renew, even when hope feels buried and faith acts fragile.

Pain is not the end: In the ancient world, land, house, and temple was very dear and significant to people. Therefore, dying away from their land/house was considered worse than death itself. There was a strong bond between people and their land, and it was important to be laid to rest in one’s native soil. Ezekiel prophesied in the mid-sixth century BCE to the people of Israel during their exile in Babylon. During their long sojourn in captivity, their thoughts were constantly on the land and way of life they had left behind. In captivity, they felt cut off from God and described themselves as dry bones – lifeless without a future. In this moment of darkness, God speaks through Ezekiel words of promise and restoration. God assures that pain is not the end. What seems dead and impossible to humans is never beyond God’s power.

Jesus wept: Jesus loved Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus. The Greek verb used here is philein (φιλεῖν) – it describes the real love among the friends and so, it points to the genuine friendship that existed among Jesus, Lazarus and his sisters. Jesus did not simply love the family, but he loved Martha, he loved Mary and he loved Lazarus. It was a genuine love and friendship among them, i.e. God loves each one of us individually and personally. In the tomb, nothing can be more powerful than tears, Jesus was disturbed and he wept. He was a human being, full of compassion. Tomb is a place where myriad feelings can flood our hearts. The closer Jesus gets to Martha, Mary and Lazarus, the more deeply he feels their pain and weeps. This reveals one of the deepest truths about the heart of God. Jesus know well that death will not win and yet he still weeps. Why does Jesus weep? Because, the tears of Jesus reveal that God does not stand at distance from human suffering, he enters into it. Jesus was troubled at the death of his friend Lazarus, so is God pained at each of our suffering.

Did Jesus Delay? : The gospel begins with a grief. Martha and Mary send word to Jesus. Lord, the one whom you love is above to die. But Jesus delays. One of the things that interests me is, despite the close friendship, Jesus does not immediately come to attend his suffering friend. He takes time. The message of the sisters is a plea for help, a petition in desperation, probably their only source of support was their sick brother. By the time, Jesus arrives, Lazarus had been dead and buried four days. Martha and Mary say painfully the same words, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Their words express faith, disappointment, and deep sorrow. They believed in Jesus’ power, yet they could not understand why he did not protect them from their suffering. Jesus delayed and why did he not show up before his friend could die? It is not that Jesus deliberately allowed his friend to suffer death in order that he might perform a spectacular miracle. Jesus delayed because he wants us to know that he is not moved by any external forces or emotional attachment. He works only for the glory of God. Jesus (God) is not be coerced, not even by his dearest friends. Jesus arrives, Lazarus is restored to life.

God is not distant from our pain: This gospel assures us that we are not abandoned by God in times of trouble. God is not impassive in the face of our problems; Jesus wept. God feels with us and He loves us in ways more than we can comprehend.We ask the same questions at times, ‘Lord, where were you when my prayer was not answered? Where were you when my family suffered? Where were you when my hope was dying? When our prayers are not answered as quickly as we expect, it does not mean that the delay is out of unconcern rather it is a purposeful delay. The delay could be for a day, a week, few months or years. Like Lazarus, we may be even decayed but we will not be abandoned. We need to trust God even when He seems absent. God weeps with us, shares our grief and acts at His own time. It just means blessings delayed, are not blessing denied but blessings multiplied.

Lazarus is alive – Am I alive?:Jesus cries out with a loud voice into the silence of a dead man’s tomb and Lazarus comes out from the cave tightly wrapped. This image is very striking and captures my attention. The dead man walks out. This is more than a miracle. Death is a physical state when one stops breathing, in other words it’s when one stops living. Many of us exist but dead long ago, probably waiting for the day of our burial. It is about every tomb in which each one of us are trapped: sin, despair, hopelessness, addiction, and spiritual death. Many of us are just alive but are dead long ago; could be we are spiritually dead, death of humanness, death of values and principles, death of inner freedom, death of confidence, death of joy, death of relationship, etc. We are wrapped tightly in these tombs. As Lazarus we need to walk out of these tombs and unbind these clothes. Death does not have the final word. God does not comfort people in their graves; He opens them for a new beginning.

Our Takeaway

1. Pain is not the end. What seems dead and impossible to humans is never beyond God’s power.
2. Jesus was troubled and wept at the death of his friend Lazarus, so is God pained at each of our suffering.
3. Jesus delayed maybe he wants us to know that he is not moved by any external forces or emotional attachment. He works only for the glory of God.
4. God weeps with us, shares our grief and participates in our suffering. Trust God even when He seems absent. Blessings delayed, are not blessing denied but blessings multiplied.
5. Death does not have the final word. God does not comfort people in their graves; He opens them for a new beginning. Lazarus is alive – Am I alive?

Wilson SVD