FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT
21 MARCH 2021
Jesus
has an important conversation today with a higher authority: his heavenly Father. After the stone had been rolled away from the
tomb of Lazarus, he addresses his Father:
“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 cries out in a loud voice, “Lazarus,
come out!” When the dead man emerges
from his tomb tied hand and foot with burial bands, with his face wrapped in a
cloth, Jesus commands that he be untied him and let go.
On Good
Friday, Jesus has a conversation with another higher authority: Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor. Pilate says to him, “Do you not speak to
me? Do you not know that I have power to
release and I have power to crucify you?”
Jesus answers him, “You would have no power over me if it had not been
given to you from above. For this reason
the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”
In both
cases, Jesus confronts death head on. He
knows the horror of death. He has
already expressed his hatred of death by being deeply perturbed and weeping at
the tomb of Lazarus. After being
addressed by his Son so that the crowd would believe, the Father raises
Lazarus. Despite Pilate’s cowardly
refusal to listen to him, the Spirit raises Jesus from the dead. Death loses both times.
Death
always brings pain and grief. But death
loses. The Elect have come to believe
that truth in their formation through the RCIA this past year. As we pray the third Scrutiny over them at
the 10:00 Mass, they will be strengthened to approach the waters of Baptism at
the Easter Vigil. They will emerge from
that watery tomb with all their sins forgiven, completely one with Christ. They trust what Saint Paul tells the Romans
in the second reading: “If the Spirit of
the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ
from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit
dwelling in you.”
In his
conversation with Martha, Jesus does not tell her that the resurrection is an event
that will occur in the distant future.
He tells her that he is the resurrection and the life now.
He promises her that those who believe in him, even if they die, will
live. We already share in his risen life
through our baptism. Only the burial
bands of sin can separate us from his risen life.
It is
important to hear this message as we prepare to renew our faith in the
resurrection at Easter. In these final weeks
of Lent, we must find ways to turn crucifixion into resurrection now. We can roll away stones by giving the Lord’s
mercy to others. As Jesus orders Lazarus
to be unwrapped with burial bands, we can breathe forgiveness to those who hurt
us, just as the risen Christ will breathe forgiveness to the disciples who
abandoned him. We can expose the
darkness of our prejudices and tendencies to isolate ourselves to the bright
light of the Lord’s love. We can die to
our need for control and embrace the Lord’s call to embrace the will of the Father.
Jesus
raises Lazarus from the dead and instructs those around him to untie him and
set him free. The religious authorities
respond to this miracle by resolving to put him to death. They fear that if this final sign causes all
to believe in him, the Romans will take away their land and nation. The high priest Caiaphas tells the
Sanhedrin: “… it is better for you that
one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not
perish.” He is speaking selfishly of the
power of the chief priests, who are aligned with the Romans. Ironically, his words are truer than he could
ever imagine. When the Spirit frees
Jesus from death, no one has to untie his burial bands. They are wrapped up in the corner of the tomb
on Easter Sunday. He has died for the
sake of all nations, and he will never die again.
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