The Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 17, 2002
7:30 & 9:00 a.m.


The raising of Lazarus is the final and climactic sign in the gospel of John. It is the last sign that Jesus works before his death and resurrection. Many of the signs that Jesus works in John are accompanied by the revelatory formula, “I am,” which is intended to convey who Jesus is: “I am the bread of life;” “I am the light of the world;” “I am the Good Shepherd.” All of the signs Jesus works in John, and all of the “I am” formulas progressively reveal Jesus’ identity and lead up to today’s climax: “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” That Jesus is the source of life and of resurrection can mean only one thing: that his origin and power are divine. Or to put this another way, John saves this sign, the raising of Lazarus, for the last because it is the most stupendous and revelatory of who Jesus is.

The story of the raising of Lazarus is not the only story of the resuscitation of a corpse in the gospels, just as the healing of the man born blind last week is not the only account of Jesus’ ability to heal blindness. However, last week’s healing is the only account of Jesus’ restoring sight to someone blind from birth; which puts that healing miracle in a class by itself, a cut above the other healings worked by Jesus. As the man born blind observes about his healing, “Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.”

In a similar manner, John the evangelist wants to place the raising of Lazarus in a class by itself. Other stories of Jesus’ raising the dead in the gospels include the raising of Jairus’ daughter and the raising of the son of the widow at Nain. But Jairus’ daughter had just died when Jesus raised her. And the son of the widow at Nain was being carried to his grave; which means that he must have died earlier that day since Jewish law required interment within 24 hours of death.

But Lazarus is in a case by himself. He has not just died, nor has it been less than 24 hours since he died. He has been dead four days. He is already in a tomb. According to the rabbis, the soul hovered in the vicinity of the body three days and then departed. In the Jewish view, Lazarus’ soul has departed his body, and decay has already set in. He is not in a coma. He is really dead. Martha’s graphic remark to Jesus leaves no doubt: “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.”

Thus, Lazarus’ resuscitation is an even more emphatic sign of Jesus’ power over death, and of his identity as the source of life. The raising of Lazarus is a precursor to Jesus’ own resurrection. Lazarus will die again. Jesus will be raised never to die.

We are perhaps most familiar with the raising of Lazarus from its use in the Burial of the Dead. In the context of that liturgy, this story comforts and strengthens us in remembering God’s power over death – his power to resurrect in and through Christ. It is a proclamation of Christian hope in the face of death.
But the Lazarus story is about more than physical death, and the hope of resurrection after death. Listen again to the conversation between Martha and Jesus:

“Martha said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now, I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’”

Jesus redirects Martha’s attention away from the future to the present – away from the one who is dead to those who are living – those who are living and who trust in him.

When Martha speaks of her brother being raised in the resurrection on the last day – in the future – she is articulating a belief common to Pharisaic Judaism. But Jesus’ reply to Martha, “Whoever lives and believes in me will never die,” indicates that Jesus is the source of life, not just in the future, after death, but now, in the present. Being in relationship with him, trusting him, changes us and the quality of our lives even now. 

In other words, the story of Lazarus is not just about physical death and physical life; it is also about spiritual death and spiritual life. Spiritual death is a life lived in separation from God; a life lived in disobedience to God; a life lived failing to trust in God, without knowledge or hope of God’s mercy, goodness, and forgiveness. Resurrection life – life with God – is not just a future reality or event. It is our present life, lived in a relationship of love and trust with God.

Lent is a season in which we are to renew, nurture, and foster this relationship with God. It is a season of repentance – of turning away from sin – from all that separates us from the life of God – and returning to him. We are preparing to renew our relationship with God by renewing our baptismal vows at Easter.

Lent is not simply about giving up things – meat, chocolate, dessert, alcohol – things that all too often work to enslave us. Giving up those things reminds us that they are not the center of our lives. We were not made primarily to be consumers, but to be servants of God. We were not made primarily to satisfy our own appetites, but to give ourselves as God gave himself in Christ, for the life of the world. Lent is a time when we seek to give up old patterns of thought and behavior which separate us from the life of God, which bind us to unhealthy and sinful ways, which get in the way of our service to God. In Lent we remember that our life here and now is to be found not in things, but in God.

As we enter into these last two weeks before Easter, it would be salutary for us to give some time, attention, and thought to the ways in which we have grown away from life in God, separated ourselves from him, distanced ourselves from his ways. In order for us to be prepared to renew our relationship with God at Easter, it is crucial for us to look at how we fall short of living our lives in his presence and with his guidance now.

• Have we ignored or neglected the public prayers of the Church? Have we distanced ourselves from the community of faith in which God desires that we participate and contribute to its building up and its common good?

• Have we neglected or ignored our daily personal life of prayer? Have we become slack in thanking God each morning for the mercy of a new day and the gift of breath? Have we become slack in surrendering each day to God in the evening, asking pardon for the ways in which we have offended him, and lacked charity toward others?

• Are there places in our lives where we have become overly preoccupied with ourselves? Our successes or our failures? Our possessions or our grades? Our appetites or our pleasures? Our joys or our suffering?
  Have we allowed our sufferings to blind us to the sufferings of others? Have we allowed our abundance to blind us to the needs of others?

• Have we become stingy, greedy, unforgiving, or otherwise separated ourselves from the mercy and generosity of God?

• Have we used our time, talent, and treasure as a means of practicing our vocation as Christians, or have we used those gifts primarily for our own satisfaction and benefit?

As we draw near to renewing our life in Christ at Easter, let us look closely at the state of our spiritual health. Let us take stock of our relationship with God in order to cast off those things which prevent his life from flowing freely through us. The clergy make themselves available for confession, or the Reconciliation of a Penitent during Holy Week precisely because we all need to take stock of our spiritual health, our spiritual lives, and cast off those thoughts and habits which prevent us from living now in the presence and under the guidance of Christ.

Christ’s promise of new life begins now. May we be willing to do some spiritual house cleaning these last two weeks of Lent, so that Easter may truly be for us a renewal of our life in Christ.

The Rev’d Pamela P. Snare is Senior Curate of Christ Church, Covington

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