Walking with Jesus: Fifth Sunday of Lent

For Sunday, March 26, 2023

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

The readings today are as dramatic as any we would encounter in anyone’s lifetime. The people of the prophet Ezekiel’s time were a defeated people. They had been demoralized and overcome by horrible adversity during their sufferings in the Babylonian Captivity. Is there any hope for us? Will we ever be allowed to return to our homeland? Will we be treated as slaves and non-people for the rest of our lives? Where is God? We are told that we are His People. Our beloved Jerusalem has been destroyed. Is Israel condemned forever to live in slavery and shame, to die and be buried, as no longer loved even by God? Ezekiel says NO! “Thus says the Lord God:  O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel.” [Ezekiel 37:12] In my despairing moments I can sympathize with their grief and aloneness. Why do I feel that God is not with me … has forgotten me … that I’m not loved?

God takes the initiative through the prophetic books. God chose a succession of Israelites and appointed them to be prophets. They received communications directly from God and transmitted them to the people in His name. They received these communications through visions, dreams and ecstasies. The prophets then communicated them to the people through sermons, writings, and symbolic actions. The office of prophet was due to a direct call from God. We are important to God: We are loved and have a mission described by Isaiah 200 years earlier in these inspiring words:

Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, break into songs you mountains.
For the Lord comforts His people and shows mercy to His afflicted.
But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.”
Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget, I will never forget you.
See, upon the palms of my hands I have written your name. 
[Isaiah 49:13-16]

Paul’s 8th chapter to the Romans is his groundwork treatise on what it means to be a Christian. The text presents two terms that can be confusing: “the flesh” and “the Spirit.” These terms are diametrically opposed to each other. The flesh is Paul’s metaphor for all that is mortal and destined to death — which he defines as separation from God. It is not to be confused or identified with sexual desire; it is a way of life that is opposed to God. The Spirit refers to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the source of life. Those who live in the realm of the Spirit are in Christ, living Christ’s life of love, care, and forgiveness. All those who are in the Spirit will die, just as Christ died —  and the Spirit is their assurance of resurrection from the dead. According to Paul’s anthropology, humans are either in the flesh or in the Spirit. The bottom line: Am I living the life of Christ?

In John’s gospel there is a section called The Book of Signs (chapters 1-12). Signs are the gospel’s word for the wondrous signs of Jesus. The raising of Lazarus is Jesus’ final sign. It points to Jesus as the giver of all life. Lazarus dies: It is proven by Martha’s words, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.”  [John 11:39] Though Lazarus is dead and is brought back to life, eventually he will die again. Jesus, on the other hand, will die and undergo a resurrection that will glorify Him with a radically new form of life, unlike anything humans experience on earth. This is called “eternal life” or “life everlasting.” It is very important to know that Jesus knows exactly what He is going to do and why He is going to do it. Jesus is not mourning the death of Lazarus — He is using that death to teach a lesson and also to reveal something about Himself. Now both Martha and Mary believe in the resurrection of the dead … many Pharisees did … but the Sadducees did not. The sisters wanted Lazarus back now. Jesus responds with His life's mission: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me even if he dies will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe in this?” [John 11:46] And Martha replies, “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that You are the Messiah the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.’’ [John 13:27]

This makes the whole scene a living reality. Lazarus has died ... we will die. Yet our lives are not to end in death. Death is not the last word. Jesus’ last question is an important one: “Do you believe?” It will be asked of us on Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, when we have the opportunity to renew our Baptismal vows. These liberate us from the fear of death, enabling us to refocus and change the emphasis and direction of our lives to glorify God in word and deed. This is our mission.

So I reflect on:

• I am reminded that Lazarus died eventually. Imagine the conversations, reunions and mended relationships that must have taken place in the meantime. I have the same opportunities and grace given by God for these in my life, enabling me to live as Jesus.
• I look at the people I haven’t forgiven who hurt me … I look at the ones I've refused to love … how is Jesus calling me “back to life” this Easter?

Sacred Space 2023 states:

“Do I have some sense of being ‘dead’ in some areas of my life? What is keeping me in the grip of death? Do I have any awareness of what would need to change in my life for me to become more alive again?”