Lenten Reflection Day 28

Happy Passiontide! We are celebrating the 5th Sunday of Lent today. We had a very moving Gospel reading today to jump start us in our two week lead-up to Easter.

Today’s reading comes from JN 11:1-45. In this selection we really get to see the awesomeness of Jesus being both God and man. When he hears of his friend Lazarus’s death he is deeply moved. He travels to Martha and Mary’s house, sisters of Lazarus, in order to be with them in their grief, as well as to work a miracle so that those present would come to believe he was the Christ. We are told that Jesus “wept” and that he was “deeply troubled.” Can you imagine our God shedding tears over the loss of a loved one? Don’t you know he becomes deeply troubled when we fall into sin and lead a life far from Him, choosing to exclude Him from our daily lives. Jesus weeps along with Mary, the sister of Lazarus. He weeps alongside us too. When we experience hardship and loss he walks that journey alongside us too, sharing in our sorrow and grief.

Martha and Mary both greet Jesus in the street proclaiming “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus tells them “your brother will rise.” He then illicits from them their testimony of who He really is. Martha tells him, ” I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” Mary affirms her belief in him as Christ by her sorrowful exclamation. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” It is after their profession of faith that Jesus is moved to act out of love for his friends. He speaks words of thanksgiving to God for having his prayer heard and then speaks those powerful words “Lazarus, come out.” We are told that Lazarus walks out of the tomb, alive, and restored to his sisters, thus ending their grief. Who among us would have been able to witness this and NOT believe that Jesus was the Christ, the messiah, “the one who is coming into the world”? Our God did not want to remain a faceless, formless, all-powerful deity as in the old testament. He wished to be seen, to be relatable and like us. To share in our humanity enabled him to connect with us intimately in our physical pain, joy, grief, happiness and sadness.

Now in the home stretch of Lent, may we pause today to give thanks to God for sharing in our human condition. May we be bold like Martha and Mary, proclaiming Jesus as the Christ. And in so doing be counted as one of God’s friends, like Lazarus, to be raised to glory.

Blessings to You and Yours!