Jesus has visited his friend Lazarus and in his humanity is distraught at his death. The shortest verse in the scriptures puts it succinctly: Jesus wept. In all his preaching teaching and leading he has been unable to prevent the death of his close friend. It is no wonder that he stayed in Jerusalem for two days after he heard that Lazarus was ill. He had a premonition, not only of Lazarus’ death, but of his own. In weeping Jesus was not only coming to terms with his friend’s death, but with the inevitability of his own, and this is what provides the transformative power to this scene.
Jesus claims the power of God to be brought to bear on this situation and his Father listens to his prayer. Lazarus, who believed in the resurrection from the dead on the last day, is raised to life. In this action Jesus provides his last and ultimate sign. Death is conquered!
For the last few days the words of one of the Holy Sonnets composed by the English metaphysical poet John Donne have been in my mind. They speak directly to this Gospel:
Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
After all the preaching, witness and teaching of Jesus, his life is fast coming to its zenith. He has invited his disciples to join his liberating journey towards new life. He uses Lazarus as his last and most poignant sign of this journey. Lazarus was raised to life again and died again sometime afterwards. He did, however, experience the liberating presence of Jesus. He believed and this faith led him to be free.
On the cusp of Holy Week, Jesus offers us the same freedom. As he called Lazarus out of his tomb, he calls us out of our tombs. He calls us to leave behind the deathly parts of our lives and accept the new life he offers. Leaving behind the deathly parts of our lives is a constant challenge, so as we enter the final week of Lent we are presented the chance to commit ourselves again to God, to take advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, to align ourselves with the new life Jesus promises us, the life we will celebrate at Easter.
Lazarus, surrounded by those he loved, returned to this life and was confirmed in his desire to live the new and eternal life promised by Jesus. His sisters were asked by Jesus to confirm their faith. ‘Just as Jesus asked Martha if she believes that he is the "resurrection and the life," Jesus addresses to each of us this same question that in fact exceeds our ability to understand. Jesus asks us to trust him, as he has been entrusted to the Father. And despite our doubts and our darkness, we are invited to follow Martha's example and say to Jesus, "We believe in you, because you have the words of eternal life. We believe in you, we hope in the gift of life after life, an authentic and full life in your kingdom of light and peace.[i]"’
We all need to grow and change. Remember Martha when she appears earlier in the Gospel. She was admonished by Jesus for worrying and fretting about too many things. Here we see her calm and focussed: a model of growth in faith and wisdom. It is worth remembering that the church has a feast of St Martha, but not of Mary and Lazarus. Martha is the one who grew the most. This chance is offered to us as well, and we live safe in the knowledge that our saviour Jesus Christ has defeated death of the soul and given us the words of his everlasting life.
Homily 5th Sunday of Lent, 10th April 2011, Year A OLQP
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