March 26, 2023

Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live.

Jesus loved Lazarus like a brother. Jesus grieved like we do. He had the power to walk on water and to raise the dead, but he was just as capable of feeling loss, pain, and grief. He shares this deep grief over the death of Lazarus with Martha and Mary. The sadness of the women seems compounded by their belief that had Jesus been there, their brother would not have died.

Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days when Jesus arrives in Bethany. Martha and Mary take turns confronting Jesus: Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died, they cry out. Martha is not just speaking from her grief. She also makes a profession of faith: Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. As upset as Martha may have been both about her brother’s death and Jesus’ absence, she believes there is still reason to hope. Somehow, Martha knows that Jesus can shine a light into her darkness.

I am the resurrection and the life, Jesus says, whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Jesus asks Martha, Do you believe this? The answer to that question defines the life and faith of every believer. It is the same question asked of each of us when we confront our own mortality or the death of someone we love. Soon to face his own passion, Jesus has come to Bethany to show Martha and Mary that life does not end in death. With an authority that comes from within himself and from God above, he orders: Lazarus, come out! Once freed from the wrappings that bind him, it is evident that Lazarus has not only overcome death, but also the illness that caused it. In a similar fashion, all believers shall one day be called forth from their tombs and freed from the chains of illness, sin, and death that plague our human existence.

At Bethany, Jesus fulfills Ezekiel’s prophecy from the first reading: I will open your graves and have you rise from them. In his Letter to the Romans, Saint Paul gives all of us the hope that we can experience the same gift of new life given to Lazarus when he says: The one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also. Once we understand that faith is stronger than death, we have nothing to fear. The hope of the Resurrection helps us to overcome Calvary and reach out to the victory that awaits us in the kingdom of God. Grief is the one emotion shared by every human person at some point during their life on earth. And joy is the one emotion shared by every saint in heaven, who has exchanged their cross for the crown of glory.