Jesus: The Lord of Life (HOMILY FOR THE 5TH SUNDAY OF LENT

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent

Ezekiel 37:12-14. Psalm 130:1-2,,3-4,5-7a,7b-8. Romans 8:8-11. John 11:1-45.

Theme: Jesus: The Lord of Life.

The practice of covering crosses and images throughout the Church from today may be observed, if the Conference of Bishops so decides. Crosses remain covered until the end of the celebration of the Lord's Passion on Good Friday, but images remain covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.

The three readings today are centered on the life that God gives to all people. Once there is life, there is hope. Life is essential to the extent that people do everything to preserve life.

The first reading introduces us to the theme through the prophecy of Ezekiel that gave Israel the hope of resurrection. God, through prophet Ezekiel, spoke to the  dry bones of the Israelites and raised them up, and gave them life once more. As a result of their sins, they were in slavery in a foreign land. God tells these despairing Israelites that all is not lost. He will give them a real life, not that of slavery, once more.

They are still his chosen people in spite of their neglect of him. He will give them a new spirit, a spirit of obedience once more. Living in slavery in a foreign was not life. He will bring them from exile and establish them in Judah again. They will then realize that nothing short of the power of Yahweh have done this for them.

Though there is no question of resurrection of the body here, we have a metaphor, a type of resurrection that will come later.

In the second reading, we have a direct reference to the future resurrection to a life of unending glory for all those who, during their life on earth, were loyal to Christ. This resurrection is a new body, which will never again be subject to death or pain or suffering, has been won for us by Christ, who, having died for our sins, was raised by the Father on Easter morning.

The Gospel presents the new message brought by Jesus. It is no longer a matter of resurrection on the last day but a gift of a new life that prevents a person from dying through raising Lazarus by Christ from death after being buried for four days.

The family of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary had intimate friendships with Jesus. Jesus found a second home once he was out of Nazareth in their house. He could find rest from the tensions of life in the company of these three great friends.

When Jesus heard that Lazarus was ill, he delayed visiting him until he died. This action of Jesus would ordinarily make the sisters of Lazarus to be angry with Jesus. Jesus delayed to come to the aid of his friend Lazarus because he wanted his return back to life from death to give glory to God.

On Jesus' arrival at Bethany, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. He waited until the case became hopeless. Why? Sometimes, God stresses us to a breaking point to determine the strength of our fidelity in him. If we are in the situation of Martha and Mary, would we not be frustrated? After all, they have been offering Jesus the best hospitality and friendship, but when they needed him, he failed to come. Many of us do feel the same sometimes in our relationship with God. Think about those times we blame God for not responding quickly despite our faithfulness to him. These are moments to listen to him attentively.

Jesus made a very powerful, almost outrageous statement in telling Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die" (John 11:25-26). He then went ahead to raise Lazarus back to life physically. With these statements, Jesus could not have meant that anyone who believed in him would not die physically since, obviously, countless believers in him have died physically before making this statement. Even if he had not raised Lazarus back to life physically, what He said would still have been valid.

What Jesus meant was that those who died believing in him would be transformed. They close their eyes to this world only to open them in eternity. That is what we refer to as a transition today. For us believers, death is but a transition from one form of life to a superior, everlasting form of life.

As Christians, our hope and belief in the life after death stand at the centre of our faith. Ultimately, the raising of Lazarus from the dead is a sign confirming the truth of Jesus' statement in John 11:25-26 that whoever lives and believes in me (Jesus) shall never die. We do not know what the world would have been without the hope of the resurrection. The wicked would have triumphed over the good. Raising Lazarus back to life points to the fact that Jesus is the only voice that wakes the dead. He is the only key to eternal life. Through this miracle, Jesus was not only compassionate but also showed that He has power over life and death. By raising Lazarus from the dead after four days in the tomb, He pointed out that He would rise from the dead after his crucifixion, death, and burial on the third day.

May God raise our mortal bodies to eternal life after our earthly sojourn through Christ our Lord. Amen.