The Gospel of John, chapter 11:43

We have been contemplating the Resurrection of Jesus these past few days. There is so much to this story, and so many aspects to it, that I’d like to dwell on another Resurrection story; namely, the Resurrection story of Lazarus in the Gospel of John, chapter eleven. Lazarus, like St. John, is called the “beloved” friend of Jesus. The word “beloved” is used for a purpose. “Beloved” was a special term of endearment used by the early Christians to describe an intimate relationship of friendship with Jesus. Thus, the story of Lazarus’ resurrection is our story as well.

The raising of Lazarus, earlier on in the ministry of Jesus, helps us to come to a deeper faith in Him; faith in the power of Jesus to conquer even the grave.

Thus, the story develops:

Jesus is met by Martha. Although she has faith in Jesus, that faith is weak. She objects when Jesus asks to have the stone rolled away from the tomb. She had missed the meaning of Jesus’ words: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, though he should die, will come to life; and whoever is alive and believes in me, will never die.” ( John 11: 25 )

These words tell us that those who are united to Jesus in faith already experience the resurrection. Our relationship to the God who transfigures us, gives us living water, bathes us in light, and rescues us from the clutches of death, is a relationship that begins now and survives after death. This is truly the new life which the resurrection signifies.

After a brief prayer of thanksgiving and praise to God, Jesus calls Lazarus forth from the tomb. Lazarus came out of the tomb bound tight in the garment of death, and Jesus says: “Untie him and let him go free.” ( John 11:44 )

Like Lazarus, we are bound by the powers of death that surround us; narrow-mindedness, long-held grudges, broken relationships, and the inability to see life’s possibilities. Today’s gospel calls on us to untie one another, to free one another, and to journey together unfettered, knowing that in freedom, God walks with us.

Jesus did not say that the person who believes in him ‘will’ have eternal life. He said that the believer in him ‘has’ eternal life. Christians who share in Christ’s death and resurrection through baptism have eternal life offered to them now. They have become born again like the Apostle Paul who could say: “I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.” ( Galatians 2: 20 ) The Resurrection is not just a past event that happened to Jesus over two thousand years ago; it is not just something that we will experience after we die; it is a present reality that is experienced by everyone who rises to new life by following the example of Jesus in the here and now.

Like Lazarus in this gospel, we are called to make that passage from death to life by becoming intimate or “beloved” friends of Jesus.

May you have the courage to go through the dying experience to sin that leads to the new life of the resurrection.

Fr. Hugh Duffy