From Death into Life

As Jesus approached Bethany, Martha went out to meet him with sad news, his friend Lazarus was dead.  Martha was upset, almost blaming Jesus for the death of Lazarus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  Jesus gently calms Martha with words of hope and continues on to Bethany.  He goes to the tomb, weeps and is perturbed.  He asks for the stone to be rolled away and after a brief prayer all he does is give a command, “Lazarus, come out!”  Lazarus’ life is restored and there is plenty to celebrate.

What price did Jesus pay to raise Lazarus from the dead?  It cost him his life.  The words of Jesus that raised Lazarus from the dead were brief, yet these words were powerful.  Immediately after raising Lazarus, Caiaphas along with the other priests of the Sanhedrin began to plan Jesus’ execution.  Saint John could not be any clearer when he wrote in his Gospel, “so from that day on they planned to kill him.”  The raising of Lazarus is an example of Jesus putting into practice his own words, “no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

The price of Lazarus’ life was the death of Jesus.

The price of every human life is the death of Jesus.

Caiaphas himself foreshadowed the transformative power of Jesus’ death for all humanity when he said to the other priests, “it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.”  Caiaphas was speaking of the risk of revolt in Jerusalem, yet his words resound now as a prophecy of the salvific effects of the death of Jesus.  Through his death we no longer perish, but become heirs to eternal life.  Because we die in a death like his in baptism, we too will rise with him and share in the glory of the resurrection.

Every year there is the option to read the passage of Lazarus the Sunday before Palm Sunday for the celebration of the scrutinies.  The liturgy of the Church, by placing the raising of Lazarus in this particular place in the liturgical calendar emphasizes the relationship between the raising of Lazarus and the death of Christ.  This weekend we hear how the life of one man comes at the price of the death of another man, while next week on Palm Sunday we commemorate that the death of one man brings life to all of humanity.

Jesus asked Martha is she believed that he is the resurrection and the life and that whoever believes in him, even if he dies, will live and never die.  Martha’s response is a beautiful affirmation of faith, “Yes, Lord.  I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”  Martha’s response is our response as we approach Holy Week, the sacred week when we stand in awe at the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the mystery through which we receive eternal life.