Gospel Commentary March 26 Jn 11:1-45
Today’s Gospel addresses friendship, faith and life — a foundational triad of our human existence. Let’s start with friendship.
John the Evangelist places a great emphasis on the friendship that exists between Jesus and the family from Bethany. We know that Our Lord visited with Martha, Mary and Lazarus at their home on more than one occasion. St. John was well aware of this friendship, “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” Similarly, Jesus’ response to the death of Lazarus demonstrates deep care, “And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him.’ ” John also makes note of the fact that Mary bestowed upon Jesus one of the most extraordinary acts of loving devotion in the Gospels when she sat at his feet, anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair.
This level of deep friendship nurtured in Bethany manifests the humanity of Christ. It is heartwarming to know that Jesus enjoyed genuine friendship enriched by spending time together, sharing a meal prepared with great love, conversing about life’s deeper realities and extending acts of extraordinary care.
The death of Lazarus is also an opportunity for Jesus to draw the family to a whole new level of faith in him and trust in the will of our Heavenly Father.
At the start of this story is a very curious twist. Immediately after noting the love that existed among this group of friends, John states: “So when he (Jesus) heard that he (Lazarus) was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was.” That seems strange coming from Jesus, who normally is rather quick to address the pressing desires of those who presented him with genuine needs. Why would Jesus delay for two days? The answer comes at the end of a short dialogue with his disciples: “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him.”
The disciples are, as a group and as individuals, slowly growing in their faith. They are building their understanding of Jesus’ true identity. It is a gradual, nonlinear process of recognizing that Jesus is a person who cares deeply, a rabbi, a prophet, the long-awaited messiah and, ultimately, God’s only begotten Son. Jesus is divine, the second person of the holy Trinity. Coming to this deep, full understanding of Jesus’ identity demands the grace of the Holy Spirit, humility, the gift of faith, a genuine encounter with Jesus, and time to let this profound reality settle into our minds and hearts, darkened by sin.
Jesus chooses to allow his good friend, Lazarus, to die in order to provide these friends with an experience of his power and identity that will catapult their faith to a whole new level. Jesus goes to the tomb and says, “Take away the stone.” Martha quickly objects noting that there will be a foul odor. Once again, Jesus points to the grace of faith, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?”
Next, Jesus cries out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man soon appears tied up in the traditional burial clothes. Jesus then orders those nearby, “Untie him and let him go.”
This event makes clear for all who witnessed it that Jesus is Lord of life. He calls his good friend back to life on this earth. He restores him to his two sisters and to his friends, co-workers and extended relatives. Jesus demonstrates that he is indeed God, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He has power over life and death. The result is increased faith: “Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.”
Finally, this miraculous demonstration of Our Lord’s power over nature points to something deeper, a reality much richer and more beautiful than simply restoring a friend to life on this earth where he will have to endure a second, physical death. Jesus desires to heal and restore our relationship with the Father through the gift of his cross so that we can be drawn up into the fullness of life and love of the holy Trinity. The raising of Lazarus from the dead points to the greater gift of God’s desire that we be united with him in love and truth for all of eternity, not merely for some 70 or 80 years on this earth. This is extraordinary news.
“I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
Fr. Peterson is director of mission and development for the Youth Apostles.
Lord of life
ADOBESTOCK
blue-sky-with-cross_AdobeStock_113562790 web
Gospel Commentary March 26 Jn 11:1-45
Today’s Gospel addresses friendship, faith and life — a foundational triad of our human existence. Let’s start with friendship.
John the Evangelist places a great emphasis on the friendship that exists between Jesus and the family from Bethany. We know that Our Lord visited with Martha, Mary and Lazarus at their home on more than one occasion. St. John was well aware of this friendship, “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” Similarly, Jesus’ response to the death of Lazarus demonstrates deep care, “And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him.’ ” John also makes note of the fact that Mary bestowed upon Jesus one of the most extraordinary acts of loving devotion in the Gospels when she sat at his feet, anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair.
This level of deep friendship nurtured in Bethany manifests the humanity of Christ. It is heartwarming to know that Jesus enjoyed genuine friendship enriched by spending time together, sharing a meal prepared with great love, conversing about life’s deeper realities and extending acts of extraordinary care.
The death of Lazarus is also an opportunity for Jesus to draw the family to a whole new level of faith in him and trust in the will of our Heavenly Father.
At the start of this story is a very curious twist. Immediately after noting the love that existed among this group of friends, John states: “So when he (Jesus) heard that he (Lazarus) was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was.” That seems strange coming from Jesus, who normally is rather quick to address the pressing desires of those who presented him with genuine needs. Why would Jesus delay for two days? The answer comes at the end of a short dialogue with his disciples: “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him.”
The disciples are, as a group and as individuals, slowly growing in their faith. They are building their understanding of Jesus’ true identity. It is a gradual, nonlinear process of recognizing that Jesus is a person who cares deeply, a rabbi, a prophet, the long-awaited messiah and, ultimately, God’s only begotten Son. Jesus is divine, the second person of the holy Trinity. Coming to this deep, full understanding of Jesus’ identity demands the grace of the Holy Spirit, humility, the gift of faith, a genuine encounter with Jesus, and time to let this profound reality settle into our minds and hearts, darkened by sin.
Jesus chooses to allow his good friend, Lazarus, to die in order to provide these friends with an experience of his power and identity that will catapult their faith to a whole new level. Jesus goes to the tomb and says, “Take away the stone.” Martha quickly objects noting that there will be a foul odor. Once again, Jesus points to the grace of faith, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?”
Next, Jesus cries out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man soon appears tied up in the traditional burial clothes. Jesus then orders those nearby, “Untie him and let him go.”
This event makes clear for all who witnessed it that Jesus is Lord of life. He calls his good friend back to life on this earth. He restores him to his two sisters and to his friends, co-workers and extended relatives. Jesus demonstrates that he is indeed God, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He has power over life and death. The result is increased faith: “Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.”
Finally, this miraculous demonstration of Our Lord’s power over nature points to something deeper, a reality much richer and more beautiful than simply restoring a friend to life on this earth where he will have to endure a second, physical death. Jesus desires to heal and restore our relationship with the Father through the gift of his cross so that we can be drawn up into the fullness of life and love of the holy Trinity. The raising of Lazarus from the dead points to the greater gift of God’s desire that we be united with him in love and truth for all of eternity, not merely for some 70 or 80 years on this earth. This is extraordinary news.
“I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
Fr. Peterson is director of mission and development for the Youth Apostles.
Related Articles
Recognizing our need
A chance to bloom
Divine Communion