My Dear People, 

In today’s Gospel, according to John, we read of one of the more dramatic “signs”—the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Why is this sign so different from the others? Unlike other signs whereby Jesus would raise someone immediately or within a day after they died, this time Lazarus had been buried for four days. This meant the body was beginning to decompose and it would be impossible to resurrect the whole body. Because of this miracle and seeing Lazarus alive and whole, many changed and believed in Jesus. The gospel passage concludes with: “Now many of the Jews who had come….. and seen what He had done began to believe in Him.” 

Jesus was in Galilee when He received the news that Lazarus (the one Jesus loved) was ill.  Jesus knew He would not make it to Bethany in time. It would take Him at least two days to walk to Bethany. In other words, if Jesus had left immediately after receiving the message that Lazarus was ill, He might have arrived there as Lazarus was dying. 

Jesus did not do miracles just for the sake of miracles. He performed miracles so people would have greater faith as the result of the miracle. This case was no exception. By waiting the extra days, the resurrecting of Lazarus would be more dramatic, and therefore more people would believe in Him. This, in fact, is exactly what happened, and what John recounts in his gospel. 

As many have pointed out, the Jewish understanding was that the first three days after death was an immediate state, in which the soul stayed close to the body. But, after three days, death was final. Lazarus, then, was considered to be finally dead.

The responses of Martha and Mary are very different. Martha is the one who processes emotion by talking. Martha first responds with faith in Jesus and says: “Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.”  She fervently wanted to believe Jesus could raise Lazarus from the dead, and she hoped it would happen; but, it was later on that she said to Jesus: “Yes, lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world!”   Martha’s final response is with strong faith-- a great example of faith. 

Now notice the response of Jesus when Mary comes. Mary expresses emotion by weeping. In response to Mary’s weeping and that of other mourners, Jesus, too, becomes “distraught.”  In verse 33 and also 38, it is often said the Gospel of John portrays Jesus as most “clearly divine.” And, at the same time, John portrays Jesus in some of the most deeply human moments of His ministry. He states: “Jesus wept.” 

The Lord commands the stone to be removed from Lazarus’s tomb.  The calling forth of Lazarus, as dramatic as it is, remains only a miracle in the physical order. The greater miracles are in the realm of the spirit. Though it may not seem so to us, the redemption of the world is a greater act than its creation. 

The raising of Lazarus, like the previous Lenten Gospels from John (Ch. 4,9) points to Baptism. Paul says, “we were indeed buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).  “For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.”

Yours in Christ, 

Fr. Vincent Clemente