Fifth Sunday of Lent  April 10, 2011

Ezekiel 37:12-14 Psalm: 130  Romans 8:8-11  John 11:1-45

1. The reading from Ezekiel is short but contains a wealth of food for thought. The background to the text is a picture of a dejected People of Israel. They are in exile in Babylon. This passage follows the famous passage of the revival of the Dry Bones in Ezekiel ch. 35. This story was made famous by the charismatic song by the Delta Rhythm Boys.

The picture of the revival of Dry Bones moves from Bones to a picture of graves and burial plots. There is a resurrection There is life after death. This picture is beginning to grow. However the newness of life after death shifts the focus from death and graves to something more tangible and immediate. It focuses on a newness of life for the People of Israel. They will have a new life in their homeland.

1a) Although “graves� is mentioned four times in as many lines, there is no sense of hopelessness or despair. God’s spirit will come on those “dry bones� in the grave The new life has a purpose. The purpose is for the People of Israel to get to know the Lord, God. They are to give glory that belongs to God. 

This theme echoes the same idea in the Gospel. Jesus knows that Lazarus is ill. Jesus will delay his return to the home of his friends, Martha and Mary. New Life will come to the “one� who has been in the grave. Once again, the Spirit of the Lord will come on the one who is dead so that the Glory of God may be witnessed by the Chosen people. They are given the choice to accept or reject the new life.

2. The Responsorial Psalm highlights the hope of new life for those in exile. The Psalm is the well known De Profundis“ or Out of the Depths. It is usually a psalm pleading for mercy and forgiveness. However juxtaposed to Ezekiel’s prophecy, it becomes a plea for the Exiled Israelites. They want to be freed from exile and bondage.

3. The Letter to the Romans can also be read on two levels like the passage from Ezekiel. However, as we journey through Lent with the RCIA candidates it takes on a third level for prayer and meditation.

• Christ has been raised from the dead and this new life of Christ gives all a promise and hope for immortality.
• We can get this if we choose to believe in the Resurrection of the Body as we say in the Creed.
• The third level of new life is the joy and hope for the Christian community. They experience this as seen in the joy of the RCIA candidates who are admitted into the believing community at the Easter Vigil.

The Gospel could and should be read in its longer version. If this is not done at Mass, we should read it for our private prayer and meditation. We can do this later on Sunday itself or during the week. As in the case of the story of the Blind Man last Sunday, the Raising of Lazarus developed several layers by the time it passed from the oral stage to the written stage. In its core form, it was a brief narrative of “bringing back to life� a person who had died. It was a story similar to

• the raising of the son of the Widow at the village of Nain
• the raising of the daughter of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue.

But in these two cases, the son and the young girl had just died. Some would say their bodies were still warm. In the case of Lazarus we see more clearly the signs that point to the resurrection of Jesus himself.

Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. His body had a stench and decay. His body was well bound in the Hebrew tradition of burial.

The evangelist was pointing out to the legalism of the Pharisees that kept the People of Israel bound. It was different from being in Babylonian captivity. But there was an equal lack of freedom.  This brought about stench and decay rather than New Life. This legalism were the binding cloths of death in the daily life and daily practice of the People of Israel.

4. The raising of Lazarus bring to a climax the ministry of Jesus. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, the cleansing of the temple and the fact that Jesus acclaimed God as his Father – was the final act that pushed the Pharisees to seek the death of Jesus. In John’s Gospel the raising of Lazarus was the final straw that broke the back of the camel. Now they sought not only to kill Jesus, but to kill Lazarus as well. Lazarus was the walking and talking proof that Jesus was the Messiah. The Pharisees were not willing to acknowledge that.

The second notable feature of this sign or miracle was that it pointed to the Resurrection of Jesus in the near future. Jesus had predicted it as a conclusion to his Passion and Death. This in turn gives us new life and new hope that we too will rise again on the Last day. The key saying of Jesus was: “He who believes in me, even though he dies, will live forever.�

5.

• The challenge handed to us is to give up the legalism that binds our own Church in this day and age. It causes the church to decay and give out a stench.
• It is a challenge to us to live the new commandment. This brings us new life. It makes us caring and compassionate for the needy and voiceless in our society.
• It challenges us to be responsible stewards of the earth which is entrusted to us.
• It is a challenge to be free of the bands that bind us in living not as slaves but as children in the Kingdom. Free from fear, free from human respect, free from the desire to live up to the expectation of others, free from trying to give a good impression all the time.

It is a critique of our way of life. We spend money we do not have, to buy things we do not need, to please people whom we do not like!