Pax Christi Metro DC

Ezekiel 37:12-14 Romans 8:8-11 John 11:1-45 or 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45

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?” (John 11:25-26)

by Cathleen Crayton

An Ignatian prayer and reflection practice is to place oneself in the story to gain a greater understanding of the action of the Scripture:I go with the people who are following Jesus and Martha and Mary to Lazarus’ tomb. I glance at the grieving sisters as they walk with Jesus. Their affection for Jesus is plain, even while they are perplexed that he did not respond to their pleas to heal his beloved friend-and their brother-Lazarus and to save him from death. Now, walking beside them as they approach Lazarus’ tomb, I try to read the sisters’ faces as a mirror to my own heart. Do their faces register disappointment or anticipation? Is it hope or unbelief I see? I stand, waiting, as a large man from the crowd walks up and rolls away the stone from Lazarus’ tomb. I listen as Jesus beckons toward the tomb, “Lazarus, come out.” Moments later, my breathing quickens, and I gasp, as in wonder I witness Lazarus slowly walking from the tomb with his head covered and his feet and hands tied with burial bands.

Jesus raising Lazarus back to life foretells the resurrection of Jesus himself. The similarity of Jesus’ resurrection and that of Lazarus strike me-in both narratives, the task of rolling away the stone from the tomb becomes an important act and ritual in the story. In the Easter account, Jesus’ resurrection from the dead was inferred because no body was found in the tomb after the stone was rolled away. In Lazarus’ case-after the stone was rolled away-Lazarus emerges from the tomb at Jesus’ beckoning. But why did Jesus allow Lazarus to die in the first place when he had the power to heal? Why must a grain of wheat fall to the ground before it bears much fruit? Why do we often “hit bottom” before we can be fully brought back to our feet? Lazarus’ rising from the dead speaks of the power of God to resurrect our lives here in this life from the misery of sin and death. If Jesus’ resurrection promises what awaits us after our earthly life, Lazarus’ resurrection speaks to the promise of Jesus that the kin-dom of God is now in the present, in our earthly existence-our God is the God of second chances!

Questions for Reflection:

• What in my life has had to “fall to the ground” in order to bear fruit?
• When have I rolled away the stone from my own heart and allowed God’s life-giving mercy to enter?
• How do I manifest my belief that the kin-dom of God is present?

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