“GENEROUS LENT 2017”
Lenten Reflections
Sunday, 2nd April 2017.
Fifth Week of Lent
Ez 37: 12-14;
Ps 130: 1-8;
Rom 8: 8-11;
Jn11: 1-45.
PEOPLE OF THE RESURRECTION
Darkness, silence, oblivion wrap the abode of the dead according to the Jewish conception. It is hard to find in the Old Testament some hints of the soul’s immortality and the resurrection of the dead. Job said: “There is hope for a tree: if cut down it will sprout again; its new shoots will still reappear. But when a man is cut down, he comes undone: he breathes his last—where will he be? The waters of the sea may disappear, rivers drain away, but the one who lies down will not rise again; the heavens will vanish before he wakes, before he rises from his sleep” (Job 14:7-12). The Bible has preserved the memory of their disorientation and concerns to remind us how dense were the darkness of the tomb, before the light of Easter shine on the world. But the Psalmist also brings hope: “Although I walk in the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for you, O Lord of life, are beside me.”
“Death” sounds frightening to most of the people, yet nothing in life is more certain than death. Many of us are haunted by the question: After death, what? The disciples were no different. The entire atmosphere around them seemed hostile, on one hand Jesus was predicting that his death was near and on the other hand they were worried about the Jews who wanted to stone Jesus to death. At this time, we hear the cynical response of Thomas: “let us go too, and die with him”. Indeed, the fear of death was haunting the disciples. Jesus by raising Lazarus from the dead tries to reveal to the disciples and the people who he really is: “the RESURRECTION and the LIFE”.
What is death?
In today’s gospel, Jesus avoids the term ‘dead’ and uses the word ‘rest’ to refer the death of Lazarus. ‘Death’ was considered something negative and the end of something. But, Jesus using the word ‘resting’ tells the disciples that death is not the end, rather a passage from one state of life to another. Death is a passage from the earthly life to the eternal life, to be soon be opened by Jesus’ Resurrection.
Jews strongly believed that only God could give life. Jesus utilizes the death of Lazarus to prove that he is indeed the Son of God, by raising Lazarus back to life. Lazarus who was dead for four days to walk out of the tomb. The Jews believed in the Resurrection of the dead but only after the earthly life ended. They see something unbelievable; a man who was dead for four days is alive again. The witnesses believed that Jesus was truly no ordinary prophet or teacher but God Himself. Jesus goes on to show that the Resurrection was not an event after death, but rather began on earth for those who lived a life totally united with Jesus.
The First Reading from Ezekiel announces the unprecedented miracle that the Lord is about to do: God will restore life to those dry bones. The Lord will open the graves in which they were placed, will make them come out of their graves and lead them back to their land. The spirit of the Lord enters everywhere and there life arrives. It happened at the beginning of the world when God, having formed man of the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being (Gen 2:7). There is nothing irrecoverable for the spirit of the Lord. He can rebuild and restore life also to dry bones.
In the Second Reading, Paul tells us Jesus, being a man like us, is dead, had to die. But he is risen. Jesus possessed the fullness of the Spirit of God, that is, he had in himself the life of God that cannot die. Jesus had in himself this divine life. The spirit of God raised him, introduced him in the glory of the Father. All baptized in His own Spirit, His own life, can no longer die. Our life in this world will end, but it will not be the end of everything. The Spirit who raised Jesus and who lives in us will give eternal life to our mortal bodies.
The Christian does not believe in a death, and a resurrection that will take place at the end of the world. He believes that man redeemed by Christ does not die. Jesus announced to Martha: “Whoever believes in me will never die.” (v. 26). Easter is just two weeks away, and many of us still see the Resurrection as an event to happen in the future. We fail to live as people of Resurrection. Lent is seen negatively as mourning, abstaining, penance; but in fact Lent is a time of learning, to live as people of Resurrection. Jesus came to redeem us not only after our death but also while we live. As we hope and live our faith in resurrection let us strive to live as resurrected people from today. And He who gave life to Lazarus will surely give life to us, life in abundance.
Prayer: Lord, You are the Resurrection and the Life. Help me to walk out of my illusions about Life and Death. May I grow in faith of the Spirit of Life dwelling in me. May I be aware of this DIVINE LIFE within me. May I be rise from my fears, to a Life of the Resurrection. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen.