Fifth Sunday of Lent (Year A)

Fifth Sunday of Lent March 26, 2023

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

(Image courtesy: Google)

G.K. Chesterton once said, “Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all.” In traditional Jewish mentality bringing back to life a person who is already four days dead and decaying is as unthinkable as the prophet Ezekiel’s vision in which the grey, dry bones of the dead are miraculously restored to life.

When somebody who we love dies it feels like our own heart has been truly broken, leaving us feeling as if life no longer has any kind of meaning. It’s like life itself has come to an end for us too. At this point when we are consumed by sadness and sorrow no words can bring us any sense of consolation simply because we feel so broken inside.

However, when John describes the resurrection of Lazarus he also intends to awaken our own faith, so that the resurrection is not something that takes place at some time in the distant future, but is a living reality in the here and now! God gives life now to those we commend to him, for in Him all are truly alive, ‘For He is the God of the living not of the dead.’

Of all the miracles Jesus did, the raising of Lazarus ranks as the most astonishing to the people of his time. Traditional Jewish belief had it that the soul of a dead person somehow remains with the body for three days. After three days the soul departs finally from the body never to return, and that is when corruption sets in. When Martha objects to the opening of the tomb and says, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days” (John 11:39), she is expressing the common view that this is now a hopeless situation. Is that why Jesus delayed coming to the funeral, to let the situation become “impossible” before acting on it?

In the entire episode, Jesus is the central figure, who challenged each participant by clarifying the central issue: the real meaning of death and life.  In Bethany Jesus works this miracle and reunites Lazarus with his family. In fact, the dead man now alive hobbles out and come before them whom they have to free. Paradoxically this miracle of Jesus hastens his own death since it becomes an additional reason for Jewish leaders to destroy Jesus.  Ironically therefore, the death of Jesus gave true life to the world. Thus the whole story can be read as a parable of the meaning of Jesus as Christ and Lord.  The raising of Lazarus is not just the resuscitation of a dead man but is a powerful symbol of the new life that all of us can undergo when we submit to Jesus as Lord and Saviour.  Through our Baptism we all die to sin to receive a new life of Christ.

Thoughts in two points: Firstly, it tells us that through our living faith in Jesus, all our physical bodies will be raised in the final resurrection. Secondly, especially now with the approaching of Easter Sunday, we are called symbolically to resurrect ourselves from sin to grace by partaking in the Sacrament of reconciliation. It is an invitation for us to march forward faithfully in hope, knowing that those who believe in Jesus, will live forever.

Can we see ourselves here in Lazarus? Lazarus, whose name, a shortened form of Eleazar, means "God helps." He is from a town whose name, Bethany, means "House of Affliction." So God helps one who suffers from affliction. John takes a friendship between Jesus and this family and an event that has the quality of reminiscence and shapes it to his theological purpose (Brown, 431). Lazarus is the "one Jesus loves"; he represents all those whom Jesus loves, which includes you and me and all humankind. This story, then, is the story of our coming to life from death in this present moment, not just in a future event.

Do you see death around you? At the moment the political situation and the height of division among the haves and have nots. Our society is wounded and caught in the web of violence and communalism, politicization of religion, electoral authoritarianism, crony capitalism, a majoritarian State that systematically denigrates and demonizes the minorities with a divisive and violent agenda, omnipresent corruption, rural under-development, and injustice perpetrated against Dalits, tribals, and minorities. We discover our Christian calling in response to these turbulent surroundings. Death is everywhere. Can we hear the voice of Jesus filling us with hope? “Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all.”

Happy Sunday