Jesus Has Power Over Death (Jn 11:1-45)
Introduction
What is the strength of observing Lent properly? The real experience of fasting provides hope to eternal life. This is because, during the fasting period, we commemorate the suffering and death of Christ, which culminates in the Easter Alleluia. Jesus said to Martha, sister of Lazarus,
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies. And no one who lives and believes in me will die forever” (Jn 11:25-26).
Martha and Mary, Lazarus’s sisters, behave differently toward Jesus after his death. Mary is peaceful, as Jesus once said of her: “She chose a better portion that we will not take away from her” (Luke 10:42). She welcomed those who came to show their sorrow at Brother Lazarus’s death. When she met Jesus, she fell at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died’ (John 11:32). She added, “But even now I know whatever you ask God, God will give it to you” (John 11:22). There is nothing different to look at, and yet. Martha does not believe that Jesus has the power to resurrect her. He does not believe that Jesus is God, although Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise from the dead” (Jon 11:23). Nothing will change the word to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah when he says, “I know that he will rise on the last day of the resurrection” (John 11:24). Then Jesus spoke the words that, until the end of time, are hope, certainty, and guarantee for those who believe in his divinity, even in the most difficult days and hours of life when death comes: “I am the resurrection and the life.” He who believes in me will live even if he dies. And no one who lives and believes in me will die forever” (John 11:25-26). Hours of Life When Death Comes: “I am the resurrection and life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies. And no one who lives and believes in me will die forever” (John 11: 25-26). Hours of Life When Death Comes: “I am the resurrection and life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies. And no one who lives and believes in me will die forever” (John 11:25-26).
With these words, Mary issued her confession of faith. She chose a better share that will not be taken from her. Previously, she listened to and considered Jesus’ words but accepted them as her own.
Martha believes in the resurrection at the end of time, but Jesus not only resurrects all those who have died; he also has the power to resurrect in his conversation with Martha. Being God, he can not only command the stone to be rolled away, but he also provokes Martha’s curiosity when he says, “Lord, it stinks; he has been in the grave for four days” (John 11:39). But Jesus gives the command that only God can give: “Lazarus, come out” (John 11:43)!
The resurrection of Lazarus is the last and greatest sign that Jesus performed during his public ministry. He only knows what awaits him in Jerusalem, although he has predicted it several times. Words: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies. And no one who lives and believes in me will die forever” (John 11:25-26), addressing every person to the end of time. Jesus confirmed these words in Jerusalem, where he continued after leaving Bethany. Thus, resurrection and life are not, as the Pharisees and Martha believed, a distant hope, but a certainty that Jesus affirmed to the Samaritan woman at the well and to the blind man from birth, whom he anointed with mud and commanded to wash in the Pool of Siloam.
With His word, actions, and signs, Jesus showed His power and revealed that He is the Son of God, the true God, and that He alone has the power to judge the living and the dead.
We are aware of “death and life” not only during Lent. Jesus did not remove death, but he himself experienced all its bitterness, becoming like us in dying so that we might have hope through his victory over death and his resurrection.
Martha was unaware of the words Jesus had told the disciples when he announced that Lazarus was sick. The words of Jesus: “This disease is not to death, but to the glory of God to glorify it with the Son of God” (John 11: 4), true because Jesus gives the assurance that no one can give anything. That death does not stop life there. But even today, it is not enough to confess by mouth: I believe “in the resurrection of the body and in eternal life”, but to show it in my life.
The resurrection of Lazarus is more than an event description or a set of facts; it should shape everyone’s response to the end of time. The resurrection of Lazarus testifies to Christ’s power and challenges us to embrace him as our God and build a life of faith. The resurrection of Lazarus precedes the description of Jesus’ martyrdom, death, and resurrection. By resurrecting Lazarus, John represents Jesus as one who has power over death, rather than simply describing one of Jesus’ miracles, even his greatest one. Jesus wants to offer everyone eternal life. We should accept Jesus’ friendship with Lazarus as a challenge to every man: Jesus wants to be with us in his kingdom. Even Lazarus had to die again because death is the gateway to a new life. Death thus becomes hope, where there will be no more sorrow, no pain, and no parting. We are more responsible in how we approach our lives. Lent, which includes the sacrament of Atonement, culminates in the Easter Alleluia, which bears the sign of new and eternal life.
We do not believe that the promise of Christ’s new life should be limited to the grave of someone dear. Lent time is a sufficient opportunity. Surviving Lent responsibly for your soul guarantees true Easter joy.
Faith in God protects everything that is against life. He who lives with God need not be afraid. Christ is the God of the living, not the dead. Today, we ask ourselves and others for the hope of eternal life, help to redress and change our lives, and the strength to remain faithful in fulfilling God’s will.
We ask everyone to know their mistakes and misconceptions and to have the power to leave sin and embark on a journey that is the only guarantee. It is time to open our eyes, ears, hands, and hearts to those who need our help so they may know that the blood of Christ cannot be shed in vain.
In the family of a successful entrepreneur, one daughter has everything. You used to have everything. I wanted and got clothes, jewellery, vacations, and permission to go where I wanted and with whom I wanted. We ask: Was she happy? It was not. Perhaps from those fifteen to twenty years during discos, private parties, fashion fads. Then she started to notice her father’s rash, untied life; his frequent departures from the house, and the solitude of her mother, whom she started to notice more than she noticed herself crying in the corner of the living room. Suddenly, she realized she had everything – and yet she had nothing.
And this girl only learned, after her twenties, to recognise and see what was worthwhile in the eyes of God. But she found true happiness within her, and although she does not have what she had with her father today, she has a beloved mother, husband, and child beside her. And all thanks to Christ. Many helped her know Christ, and his teaching prioritises living with him here on earth and having hope in eternal life.
Lent peaks. The veiled cross reminds us that we understand many things only partially, but it also reminds us that the death of Christ is a guarantee of our eternal life when we persevere with the Crucified.
Although everyone is afraid only of the death of the flesh and the soul, we are aware of the meaning of Jesus’ words he said in the resurrection of Lazarus: “I am the resurrection and life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies. And no one who lives and believes in me will die forever” (John 11:25-26).
Amen.
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