Gospel: John 11, 1 – 45
Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. So the sisters sent word to him saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?” Jesus answered,
“Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” He said this, and then told them, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” So the disciples said to him, “Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.” But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him.” So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go to die with him.” When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “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 this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, “The teacher is here and is asking for you.” As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him. So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping,
he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Sir, come and see.” And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?” So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.” Jesus said to her,
“Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” And when he had said this, He cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth.
So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.” Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.
Homily
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In the gospel given to us for our meditation this week, the same questions are asked and our God is described for us. We know the story well. Lazarus, a good friend of Jesus is very seriously ill. His sisters, Martha and Mary send a message to Jesus; “Master, the one you love is ill.” Jesus appears not to take the message seriously and only starts the journey to Bethany after Lazarus is well dead (four days) He tells his disciples the reason for his tardiness in going to Bethany; “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe.” Through this incident the disciples will come to have a better understanding of God and believe in God.
When Jesus arrives in Bethany, the sisters of Lazarus tell Jesus; “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” This statement contains however this question. Where were You when Lazarus needed you. We sent for you why did you take so long? When Martha asks the question she adds; “But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” At this Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Jesus exhorts Martha to trust him. When Mary asks the same question, Jesus does not try to answer; instead he asks; “Where have you laid him?” When they show him we are told, “Jesus wept.” Jesus’ answer to the pain and suffering of Martha and Mary was to enter into their pain and share their pain with them. Having shared their pain Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.
This episode parallels the account of the passion and death of Jesus. God did not rescue Jesus from the scourging and crucifixion. Indeed when Christ asked his Father; Where are you, Why have you abandoned me?; the Father did not reply, He did however convert the pain and suffering into the victory of the resurrection.
Therein lies the answer to the question as to the kind of God who allows such horrendous suffering. We have a God who does not rescue us from suffering but a God who enters into our suffering and through that suffering brings us into new life. This move through suffering into new life is only facilitated however through our faith and hope in God who loves us and is able to turn darkness into light. That is why the answer of Mary to Jesus when he tells her that her brother will rise is so important. Martha tells Jesus; “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus then continues to lead Martha on her journey of faith and tells her, “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 this?” Martha then gives her total assent to Jesus and says to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” Martha, like us, probably did not understand the full import of the words of Jesus but she gave her full assent to the person Jesus Christ and this total trust allowed Jesus to work the miracle that was worked. Lazarus passed through pain suffering and death into life.
Very often in life we are confronted by pain and suffering which seems totally senseless. The solution however may not be to question but to share the helplessness, suffering and pain without trying to understand the silence of God but rather trusting that the God who is all loving will in fact know how to change pain suffering and death into new life. This is the lesson of the twenty seven years Nelson Mandela spent in prison, the best years of his life seemingly wasted. This is the lesson of the life of Mons Romero who chose to share the injustices and pain of his fellow Salvadorans. It is the lesson which our lives are meant to give.
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, you could have saved the world with a snap of your fingers yet you chose the way of suffering and death to bring about New Life. We try to run from suffering. Suffering and pain seems so senseless yet they surround us and we cannot escape them Help us to trust in your great love for all of us, a love which allowed your Son to suffer the agony of the cross and through the cross come to new life. Help us to believe that for those who love God, all things, even the most horrendous work for Good and that through them, like Lazarus we come to New Life. We ask this through our Lord Jesus, your son and Mary, our Mother. Amen
