“Why would the apostles lie?....Liars
always lie for selfish reasons. If they lied, what was their motive, what did
they get out of it? What they got out of it was misunderstanding, rejection,
persecution, torture, and martyrdom. Hardly a list of perks!” – Peter Kreeft:
professor of philosophy at Boston College
Gospel text (Jn: 11,1-45): There was a sick
man named Lazarus who was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister
Martha. It was the same Mary who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet
with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was sick.
So the sisters sent this message
to Jesus, «Lord, the one you love is sick». On hearing this Jesus said, «This
illness will not end in death; rather it is for God's glory and the Son of God
will be glorified through it». It is a fact that Jesus loved Martha and her
sister and Lazarus; yet, after He heard of the illness of Lazarus, He stayed
two days longer in the place where He was.
Only then did He say to his
disciples, «Let us go into Judea again». They replied, «Master, recently the
Jews wanted to stone you. Are you going there again?». Jesus said to them, «Are
not twelve working hours needed to complete a day? Those who walk in the
daytime shall not stumble, for they see the light of this world. But those who
walk at night stumble, for there is no light in them». After that Jesus said to
them, «Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going to wake him». The
disciples replied, «Lord, a sick person who sleeps will recover». But Jesus had
referred to Lazarus' death, while they thought that He had meant the repose of
sleep. So Jesus said plainly, «Lazarus is dead and for your sake I am glad I
was not there, for now you may believe. But let us go there, where he is». Then
Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, «Let us also go that we
may die with him».
When Jesus came, He found that Lazarus had been in the tomb
for four days. As Bethany is near Jerusalem, about two miles away, many Jews
had come to Martha and Mary to offer consolation at their brother's death. When
Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him while Mary remained
sitting in the house. And she said to Jesus, «If you had been here, my brother
would not have died. But I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give
you». Jesus said, «Your brother will rise again». Martha replied, «I know that
he will rise in the resurrection, at the last day». But Jesus said to her, «I
am the resurrection; whoever believes in me, though he die, shall live. Whoever
lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?». Martha then
answered, «Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son
of God, he who is coming into the world».
After that Martha went and called
her sister Mary secretly, saying, «The Master is here and is calling for you».
As soon as Mary heard this, she rose and went to him. Jesus had not yet come
into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. The Jews
who were with her in the house consoling her, also came. When they saw her get
up and go out, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to
weep. As for Mary, when she came to the place where Jesus was and saw him, she
fell at his feet and said, «Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not
have died». When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews also who had come with her,
He was moved in the depths of his spirit and troubled. Then He asked, «Where
have you laid him?». They answered, «Lord, come and see». And Jesus wept. The
Jews said, «See how He loved him!». But some of them said, «If He could open the
eyes of the blind man, could He not have kept this man from dying?».
Jesus was
deeply moved again and drew near to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid
across it. Jesus ordered, «Take the stone away». Martha said to him, «Lord, by
now he will smell, for this is the fourth day». Jesus replied, «Have I not told
you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?». So they removed the
stone. Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, «Father, I thank you for you have
heard me. I knew that you hear me always; but my prayer was for the sake of
these people, that they may believe that you sent me». When Jesus had said
this, He cried out in a loud voice, «Lazarus, come out!». The dead man came
out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped in a
cloth. So Jesus said to them, «Untie him and let him go».
Many of the Jews who
had come with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw what He did.
“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?” (John 11:25-26)
Jesus asks the same question of us
also, “Do you believe this? Do you believe that I am the resurrection and the
life? Do you believe that I can mend all the brokenness and wounds of your
life?
Don't believe in the resurrection
later; believe in the resurrection now. Live in that belief. Try
to change because of that belief. Believe that you can be changed. I
don't care what it is that assails you.
Believe in the resurrection and the
life, Who is with us, now.
No comments:
Post a Comment