Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year A
First Reading: Ezekiel 37: 12-14
Second Reading: Romans 8: 8-11
Gospel: John 11: 1-45
On the fifth Sunday of Lent, the readings invite us to reflect on the theme of our resurrection hope in Christ. The background of the first reading is the great vision of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37. It dates back to the early sixth century BC when the people of God were in exile in Babylon. These dead and dry bones symbolize all Israel (Ezekiel 37: 11). Why were the bones dry? They were dry because of sin. Israel had abandoned God and followed other gods and their own liking. They suffered a catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Babylonians in 587 BC who deported them to Babylon. In this state of affairs, they are without hope and like a people dead and lying in tombs.
But God will not let his people die forever. To his people, God says, “I will put my Spirit within you.” It echoes the creative action of God when he created man and breathed his spirit into his nostrils and man became a living being (Genesis 2: 7). The Spirit of the Lord is the principle of life and above all, the supernatural life of grace. This is a prophecy of the restoration and reconstitution of Israel in their own land and they will know that the one true God alone had done this. This promise will find its complete fulfilment at Pentecost when the Spirit descends on the Apostles and later to all believers. For centuries this passage has formed part of the preparation for Easter as we welcome new members into the Church. It brings to the fore, the regenerative, restorative and renewing power of God’s Spirit. It is also about us who are dead in sin and speaks to us about the willingness of God to forgive our sins and his power to revive us and bring us to life even when all around us seems to announce darkness, death and despair.
The Gospel presents the last of the signs worked by Jesus in the Gospel of John – the raising of Lazarus from the dead. It is by far, the most astonishing of them all. It is the longest continuous narrative in John’s Gospel (11: 1-44) outside of the passion account. This event took place shortly before Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion. It is the event that directly results in his condemnation and death. Jesus’ gift of life leads to his own death. 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. Perhaps that is why Jesus delayed coming to let the situation become “impossible.” To bring back to life a person who is already four days dead and decaying is as unthinkable. It is to be like the dry bones of the dead miraculously restored to life in Ezekiel 37. Only God himself can accomplish this.
By the raising of Lazarus who was already dead four days, Jesus confirms the faith of his disciples, gives proof of his divinity and demonstrates his power to give life and revealing himself as the resurrection and life. It anticipates his own resurrection from the dead and is also a sign of our own resurrection. Jesus is the firstborn from the dead (1 Cor 15: 25; Rev 1:5). He is also the cause and model of our resurrection. His resurrection is different from that of Lazarus because Lazarus will return to normal life and die again, but Christ raised from the dead will never die again. That is the resurrection that he offers us. His own victory over death becomes the cause of the resurrection of all men.
For the early Christians, the story of the raising of Lazarus was also a lesson never to give up hope even in the hopeless situation in which they found themselves during the persecution because it is never too late for God to intervene and restore life. It also points to the spiritual resurrection of the soul that is dead in sin. Spiritual death is the worst kind of death that Jesus wants to save us from. Lazarus was dead and decaying but Jesus called him back to life. It teaches us that sinners must never despair.
As we reflect on the depth and tenderness of Jesus’ feelings when he wept at the death of Lazarus, let us also reflect that if the physical death of his friend could move him to tears, how much more will he be moved to tears over the spiritual death of one sinner, his friend for whom he laid down his life. St. Augustine commented on this passage, “Christ wept: let man also weep for himself. For why did Christ weep, but to teach men to weep.” We must weep for our own sins to help us return to the life of grace through conversion and repentance. Jesus loves us so much as he loves Lazarus. Like his friend Lazarus, he calls us by name, and if like Lazarus we hear his word and follow, we will receive the grace of conversion and repentance and through the sacraments, we will come back to life and have the supernatural life of grace.
Happy Sunday
Rev. Fr. Chidi Onwuka m.ss.cc.