Fifth Sunday of Lent
Resurrection of Lazarus (John 11)
Last Sunday at Cecilia’s Abbey we had the gospel of the prodigal son, and I offered a reflection on the importance of brothers in one’s upbringing. Today’s gospel reminds me of the advantage sisters are in one’s teens: they bring their friends into the house, where their fickle affections can be transferred to those most worthy of attention. It was not like that for Lazarus: no wife, no children, no mother-in -law. He was already a witness to the resurrection before his illness. He was a celibate who bore witness by his life to the time when death would be no more, and the propagation of the human race by marriage and the bearing of children would have no place. It was entirely appropriate that Jesus should refer to his death as sleep. To one detached from earthly life, who believes that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is indeed the Living God, death is the necessary transition from the mortal life of earth to the unending life promised us. For them there can be no doubting of the resurrection of the dead.
Our first reading, from the vision of Ezechiel of the valley of the dry bones, is an early and powerful expression of that faith. Jonah also was a sign of one returning to life after the three days in the belly of the whale. Jesus referred to him as a sign to the men of Nineveh: he himself would be a similar sign to the people of his day. Lazarus was there, at the very gates of Jerusalem, to show that death is not the annihilation of a human being. God has the power to reverse the sentence of death and of decay, and that power is vested in the Son of God. As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. Jesus raised Lazarus and made him a sign of the resurrection, the undeniable authentication of his divine mission. For this reason the Jews sought to kill Lazarus also, since just by his presence he was a sign and witness to the resurrection. The Pharisees perceived his special relationship with Jesus, who had proclaimed himself the Resurrection and the life. The Sadducees rejected the very idea of the resurrection. Both groups threatened Lazarus’ life as long as the Jews were established in the Holy Land. Père Lagrange suggests that this is why there is no mention of Martha, Mary and Lazarus in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew. Luke mentions Martha and Mary, but without any location. Only John, writing after the destruction of Jerusalem relates this great miracle, when the three, if they were still alive, had no need of protection.
We each of us bear witness to Our Risen Lord by joyful fidelity to our Christian commitment and to our state of life. As we approach Easter let us pray that we may be ever more alive to our responsibility to make him known, witnessing to him by our lives and by our love.
Dom Prior Gregory Corcoran