Gospel: The Resurrection and the Life

The Fifth Sunday of Lent brings us to the Gospel reading according to St John, where we were brought to the town of Bethany where the siblings Lazarus, Mary, and Martha lived. Mary was the one who anointed Jesus' feet with expensive perfume and dried it with her hair. Now, Lazarus was ill and the sisters sent a message to Jesus in order to heal him. Jesus was away at that time. When Jesus heard the message, He said that the illness will not result to Lazarus' death but it is for the glory of God, so that the Son may be glorified through it. So he stayed for two more days from the place He was.

Then He told His disciples that they should go back to Judea. But the disciples warned Jesus that the Jews were trying to stone Him there. But Jesus said to them that when one walks in the day, he will not stumble because he sees the light of this world. But at night, he stumbles, because the light is not with him. (The reading builds up from Spiritual Blindness from last week.) He also told them that He will go back to awaken Lazarus from his sleep. They thought that it was just ordinary sleep so He said to them that Lazarus has died and he intentionally delayed His return to rise him up so that they may believe.

When Jesus arrived, Lazarus has been buried for four days. The town of Bethany is very near Jerusalem, and a lot of Jews were there to comfort Mary and Martha about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she ran to Him and said that if only He was there, Lazarus would not have died. She also said that she know that God will give whatever Jesus asks of Him. So Jesus told her that Lazarus will rise.

Martha responded that she know that Lazarus will rise, in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus told her that, "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." Martha responded that she believes this, as she have come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who is coming into this world.

Martha then went to Mary secretly saying that Jesus is there and asking for her. She then rose quickly and ran to Him. The Jews who were there comforting her followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

When Mary arrived from where Jesus is, she fell at his feet and said to Him that if He was only here, Lazarus would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews with her weeping, He became perturbed and deeply troubled. So He asked where Lazarus was buried. When He was shown where the grave was, Jesus wept, and the Jews who were there testified on how He loved Lazarus. But others said: Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?

Still perturbed, Jesus asked to open the tomb but Martha told Him that there will be stench because Lazarus was already dead for four days. But Jesus told her that if only she believe she will see the glory of God.

So they opened the tomb. Jesus then raised his eyes in prayer saying, "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." Then He cried out, "Lazarus, come out!"

The dead man came out in burial clothes, so Jesus asked to untie him. Now many of the Jews who was with Mary had seen what He had done and began to believe in Him.

This Gospel before the Holy Week speaks to us about the promise of Easter, that Jesus is the resurrection and life, and those who believe in Him will inherit it. It does not matter if it is not the end of days, or if people does not see it. When we are in Christ, he will rise us up.

But what happened in Bethany was a different story. Jesus needed a way to convince the Jews that He was the Christ. There must be an evidence. Jesus knows that Lazarus will be risen after his death, but not what other people might normally expect. When He commanded him to come out of the grave, Jesus made testimony of the glory of God. And for us, we faithfully await for this moment as the very promises of Easter, just as what happened in Bethany.

This Gospel also tells us about an important thing: Jesus wept. He showed his humanity to us when He was deeply disturbed when people were mourning about the death of his dearly beloved friend. His tears testified of love. It is a great reminder of God's unconditional love for us, and this undying love will result to our resurrection when our time of death has come.

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The Gospel reflection is sponsored by iHop.