Today, God speaks in a special way to our world that is filled with inordinate love for life and undue fear of suffering and death. The long and short of His message is that we must trust in Him alone, for nothing is permanent except Him; we would therefore do well to fix our gaze on eternal life rather than set our heart on earthly promises.

On this fifth Sunday of Lent, the three readings offer a supernatural perspective on life and death. Traditionally called Passion Sunday, today marks the start of ‘Passiontide’, a season that invites us to begin a close preparation for Easter. In this run-up, let us seek to better understand the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord and Saviour and to see those stages in our day-to-day life as Christians. The readings prepare us mentally and spiritually for the greatest mystery of all time.

The First Reading (Ezek 37: 12-14) is drawn from a major prophet of the Old Testament. Ezekiel focuses on how God is always faithful and keeps His promises. He makes God’s mercy and justice known through a vision of dry and scattered bones vivified in the valley. The bones represent the Israelites, exiled and dispersed; their revival represents God’s saving grace to the land and the people. Church Fathers like St Justin, St Irenaeus, and St Tertullian consider Ezekiel’s vision to be an indication of the resurrection of the bodies on the last day.

Although today’s Gospel (Jn 11: 1-45) does not quote Ezekiel verbatim, it shows a realization of his prophecy. Jesus raises Lazarus, in a miracle several notches higher than the cure of the blind beggar at Siloam, in last Sunday’s Gospel. Jesus made it clear that the beggar’s congenital blindness was not a chastisement; Lazarus’ illness was ‘not unto death.’ Our Lord delays his coming to Bethany, located some 3 km from Bethlehem, so he might not merely have to cure but to raise his friend to life – ‘for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it.’ It is the Lord’s final ‘sign’ to the Jews: to believe in His divinity and the power of the true God.

Jesus takes yet another step, by clearly proclaiming: ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life; whoever believes in me, even he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.’ Whereas such a statement crosses the limits of human logic, look at Thomas: he who would later be dubbed ‘the doubting’ one is presently ready to die with the Lord. Are we ready to leave behind our earthly knowledge and pride and believe in His logic?

For their part, the disciples did not seem to understand what Jesus meant by saying that Lazarus ‘has fallen asleep’; they had probably forgotten how He had raised the daughter of Jairus! And the Bethany household too was bemused by Jesus who said, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ In her limited human view, Martha took it to be the resurrection on the last day.

What would we see if we looked through Martha’s glasses? And after knowing what really happened two thousand years ago, do we believe firmly that He is truly the Resurrection and the Life? Are we ready to leave behind our earthly possessions and wear spectacles of faith? Can we say confidently that ours is an awesome God, who never fails, and that He never fails us?

But then, isn’t it paradoxical that the One who gave life to Lazarus was put to death?! Mary, who had anointed Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair, was only prefiguring his burial. And Martha, who knew Jesus so well, was so naïve as to say, ‘Lord, by this time there will be an odour, for he has been dead four days.’ It was as if he was dissuading Our Lord from performing so clean a miracle.

All is grist that comes to the mill of the Author of Life. Whereas He can turn bad odours into fragrances and transform death into life, the fragrance of divine fidelity was paid back with the odour of human infidelity. That is to say, life was repaid with death. Whereas the Jews were unmoved by the marvel wrought by the Lord, they moved hurriedly to complain to the Sanhedrin. The rest is history…

We are all Lazaruses wounded by sin. Unless rescued by Christ, we shall remain like dry bones in this valley of tears. St Paul reminds us in the Second Reading (Rom 8: 8-11) that the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us. We must pray that, in untying our sinful bandages, He forgives us our sins. As Pope John Paul II once said, ‘The real strength of a man lies in the fidelity of his witness to the truth and in his resisting flattery, threats, misunderstandings, blackmail, even harsh and relentless persecution. This is the path on which our Redeemer calls us to follow Him.’[1]

[1] Cf. Pope John Paul II, Passion Sunday sermon, 2002 https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=4206

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