Source(s): Scriptures: Ezekiel 37:12-14; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45
Living the Word. Laurie Brink, O.P. and Deacon Frederick
Bauerschmidt © 2013. World Library
Publications
Naked,
and You Clothed Me. Edited by Deacon
Jim Knipper © 2013. Clear Faith
Publishing LLC. “Untie him and set him free.” by Bill Bausch.
Do you think the caterpillars
know? Do you think caterpillars are told
of their impeding resurrection? How in dying
they will be transformed from poor earth crawlers into creatures of the air
with beautifully painted wings? If told,
would they believe it? I imagine the
wise old caterpillers shaking their heads at the news of their impending resurrection—no
it can’t be; it’s a fantasy.
Yet with two weeks
to go before we enter into the liturgy of Jesus’ Passion we are being asked to
contemplate the reality of death and resurrection. We are being asked to contemplate it on two
levels of reality, the physical human reality and the spiritual reality.
Our first reading
and the Gospel respond to the physical human reality. Through the prophet Ezekiel God promises, “Thus says the Lord God: O my people, I will
open your graves and have you rise from them…”(Ez 37:12) and
Jesus, in the Gospel, tries to explain this to his Apostles and Martha, that he
is the fulfillment of God’s promise a number of times through the situation
with Lazarus. “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.”(Jn 11:11)
More clearly he states, “Lazarus has died and I am glad for you,
that I was not there…”(Jn 11:14-15) and still to Martha he says, “I am the resurrection and the life; … Do
you believe this?”(Jn 11:25-26) Jesus did everything, to include ringing the
bell, to let His disciples know how the situation was going to play out and
everyone gave him a North and South nod of the head saying, “I believe”… kind
of. The responses he was receiving were
like that of the wise old caterpillars, “no it can’t be; it is a fantasy.” See Thomas thought for sure if Jesus went to
Lazarus he would be killed and resolved, “Let
us also go to die with him.”(Jn 11:16) Martha when it came time to remove the stone
said, [wait a minute] “…by now there will
be a stench; he has been dead for four days.”(Jn
11:39) You know the rest of this story, but here is
the question, Do you believe in the physical resurrection of Lazarus? If your response is “yes” hold that thought
as we consider the spiritual reality of resurrection.
We use the term
“rising” for getting out of bed in the morning, and for what we believe will
happen to us on the last day. The
Resurrection calls us to other “awakenings” in daily living as well. In Paul’s letter to the Romans he says, “…although the body is dead because of sin,
the spirit is alive because of righteousness.”(Rom 8:10)
One of the images that sticks with me in
the Gospel is Lazarus, upon the command by Jesus to come out, makes his way out
of the grave, “…tied hand and foot with
burial bands, and his face…wrapped in a cloth.”(Jn 11:44)
It reminds me of the wise old catepiller
in its pupa before it emerges to new life.
Jesus also commands the community to “Untie
him and let him go.”(Jn 11:44)
You see the Lenten
season and in particular today’s scripture readings are asking us to consider
the things in our lives that are binding us up to the point that we lose
hope. Times of hurt & weakness like
when we don’t get the promotion we wanted or we lose our job; for our young
people it may be the time you didn’t make the team or broke up with your first
love. These are that time we often say
“I believe” yet, we do not live like we believe and trust in God’s daily
interventions and invitation to resurrection.
Let’s go back to the question, do you believe in the resurrection? Each Sunday we profess: “I believe in God… I
believe in Jesus Christ… I believe in the Holy Spirit… I believe in one Holy
Catholic and apostolic Church… (the community who helps lift us up), I believe
in the forgiveness of sins… I believe in the resurrection of the body and life
everlasting.” We say the words, do we
live the words. Here’s the deal, if we
truly live this “I believe” we can live in reckless abandonment because no
matter what this world throws at us or tries to beat us down, we know we have a
loving God who promised he would open our graves and have us rise from them. In the context of Lent, we are asked to
consider what are the burial wrappings of sin from which Christ comes to raise
us, yet we see as a kind of dream, an illusion—no it can’t be; it’s a fantasy.
The story of
Lazarus is about Jesus’ victory over bodily death, but also his victory over
sin. The seasons of Lent and Easter
display for us the drama of death and resurrection, a drama in which we are
full participants, as we pass over from a life of sin into the new life that
Jesus offers us.
Faith asks, “If
caterpillars, why not we?”
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