Ezekiel 37:12-14; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45
Another Sunday with a long Gospel which needs to be read in full, and on which I will offer just a few thoughts.
“Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.” Note the deep human feelings of which the Son of God was capable. This was no bloodless God playing at being human, but a God who was fully human, with the whole range of human emotions. Friendship and love are necessary for us as well.
“Then Thomas said to the other disciples ‘Let us go too and die with Him.’” This is typical of Thomas, always sceptical, always matter-of-fact, but also courageous.
“Martha…went to meet Him. Mary remained sitting in the house.” The sisters display the same characteristics as in St. Luke’s Gospel: Martha the active one, Mary the contemplative. In this instance, it is Martha who chooses the better part, since she elicits from Jesus His great proclamation “I am the resurrection and the life”. We need both an active and a contemplative dimension in our lives.
“Do you believe this?” I was reading this passage at a death bed. When I reached this question “Do you believe this?” the whole family shouted “YES!”
“I believe that you are the Christ…” Martha trusts Jesus, so she accepts the truth of what He says. Do we have that same trust in the person of Jesus the Christ?
“Jesus wept.” Again we see His deep humanity.
“Lazarus, here! Come out!” What dead areas are there in our lives? We need to hear Jesus call us by name: “…… here! Come out!”
“Unbind him. Let him go free.” Many things bind us—obsessions, compulsions, bad habits. We too need the help of others to let us go free.
