Gospel: John 11:1-45
Now a man was ill,
Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the
one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her
hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. So the sisters sent word to him
saying, "Master, the one you love is ill." When Jesus heard this he
said, "This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God,
that the Son of God may be glorified through it." Now Jesus loved Martha
and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for
two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples,
"Let us go back to Judea." The disciples said to him, "Rabbi,
the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?" Jesus
answered, "Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the
day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one
walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." He said
this, and then told them, "Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to
awaken him." So the disciples said to him, "Master, if he is asleep,
he will be saved." But Jesus was talking about his death, while they
thought that he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, "Lazarus
has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let
us go to him." So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples,
"Let us also go to die with him." When Jesus arrived, he found that
Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near
Jerusalem, only about two miles away. And many of the Jews had come to Martha
and Mary to comfort them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was
coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord,
if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that
whatever you ask of God, God will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your
brother will rise." Martha said to him, "I know he will rise, in the
resurrection on the last day." Jesus told her, "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. Do you believe this?" She
said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ,
the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world." When she had said
this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, "The teacher
is here and is asking for you." As soon as she heard this, she rose
quickly and went to him. For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was
still where Martha had met him. So when the Jews who were with her in the house
comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming
that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came to where Jesus was
and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been
here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping and the
Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled,
and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Sir,
come and see." And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, "See how he loved
him." But some of them said, "Could not the one who opened the eyes
of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have
died?" So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a
stone lay across it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the
dead man's sister, said to him, "Lord, by now there will be a stench; he
has been dead for four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you
that if you believe you will see the glory of God?" So they took away the
stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, "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." And when he had
said this, He cried out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The
dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was
wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, "Untie him and let him
go."
Now many of the Jews
who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.
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Reflection:
When Jesus raised
Lazarus from the grave, He showed us that there is life and resurrection for as
long as we believe in Him. There is hope for a new life even if we die but to
have this new life we should not only know Jesus. We must also die from our
sinfulness and we should be friends with Him as well.
Jesus went to the
tomb of his friend Lazarus for only one purpose and that is to bring His friend
back to life again. Why? This is for the reason that Jesus wanted them to
believe and have faith in Him. Jesus wanted them to know that nothing is
impossible for Him, that even death He can mightily defeat.
Jesus’ raising of
Lazarus opens our minds to the reality that there’s a new life after our mortal
death provided that we are friends with Jesus and provided that we are willing
to accept Him as our Lord and savior.
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