by Fr. Tommy Lane
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” said Martha to Jesus. (John 11:21) (In the longer Gospel today) Martha’s sister Mary also said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:32) Some bystanders said, “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?” (John 11:37) Lazarus must have been a young man because we would not expect to see such exasperation at his death if he were already at a ripe old age.
I think they were almost, but not quite, blaming Jesus for Lazarus’ death. When the sisters sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was ill, they did not request Jesus to come and cure Lazarus but that was certainly the implication. They knew Jesus was near enough to get there in time but delayed. What made it even more painful was that Jesus had obviously spent a lot of time with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus as John tells us Jesus loved all three of them (John 11:5). We can imagine that Jesus had eaten many meals with them (John 12:1-2) and most likely lodged with them many times on his trips to Jerusalem since they lived so near the city.
What made it even more painful was that it was now four days since Lazarus died. We might ask what difference it is whether it is two days or four days. In the thinking of that time, there was a big difference. In the thinking of that time, a person’s soul hovered near the body for three days and departed on the fourth day. Since Lazarus was dead four days when Jesus arrived, I think the implication is that Jesus would not be able to resuscitate him like he raised the daughter of Jairus (Luke 8:41-42, 49-56) or the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17). Of course Jesus knew exactly what he was doing and deliberately waited until Lazarus would be dead four days when he arrived. Raising Lazarus after four days, rather than after three days or two days, really showed that Jesus was the master over death.
When Eve was tempted by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, she said God had told them, “You shall not eat it or even touch it, or else you will die.” (Gen 3:3) And so Adam and Eve did die, as well as everyone since then because of loss of the original holiness before that fall in the Garden of Eden. Jesus raising Lazarus is repairing the catastrophe of the fall of Adam and Eve and its consequences for all of us. At the end of his life, presumably at a ripe old age, Lazarus died again. When Jesus died, he rose never to die again. We will share in the resurrection of Jesus to eternal life because of our baptism. Jesus said to Nicodemus early in John’s Gospel, “no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit.” (John 3:5-6) We were born of water and the Spirit in baptism and so we look forward to sharing in Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus said,
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. (John
11:25-26)
Jesus raised Lazarus again to show this; Jesus prayed to his Father before the entrance to Lazarus’ tomb:
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.
That last line of Jesus’ prayer, “that they may believe that you sent me,” shows us the reason for Jesus raising Lazarus and it being such a dramatic raising after four days: that we may believe that the Father sent Jesus as our Savior, that he is the resurrection and the life, and whoever believes in Jesus will live even after death, and everyone who lives and believes in Jesus will never die. Since it is because of our baptism that we share in Jesus’ resurrection, there is an intimate connection between baptism and the Easter Vigil when we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. We renew our baptismal promises during the Easter Vigil and adult converts to the faith all over the world are baptized during the Easter Vigil. Since we look forward to sharing in Jesus’ resurrection because of baptism, it makes perfect sense that baptisms take place during the Easter Vigil when we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. Our Gospels for the last two Sundays and today are preparing us for the Easter Vigil: two weeks ago, Jesus meeting the woman at the well in Samaria (John 4); last Sunday Jesus curing the blind man (John 9); and today Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11). In baptism, we receive the living water of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised the woman at the well, we receive the light of Jesus like the blind man, and raising Lazarus reminds us we are promised eternal life in baptism by Jesus. Jesus said,
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. (John
11:25-26)
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2023
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Fifth Sunday of Lent Year A
Eternal life is now if you believe in Jesus 2017
Come out of your tomb, be unbound and set free
Jesus invites you to see life in a new way and live with his life now 2008
Related Homilies excerpt of Funeral Homily on Martha, Mary and Lazarus