Jesus had a large circle of friends, both men and women. On the fifth Sunday of Lent, we get an inside glimpse at three of those friends: Martha, her sister Mary and their brother Lazarus from the little town of Bethany, on the outskirts of Jerusalem. It was that special place in the life of Jesus where he and his disciples could stop in, get some rest, enjoy a good meal and then go on their way! If you pay attention to the details of John’s gospel story about Martha, Mary and Lazarus, you soon realize just how close Jesus was to these people. This is a story about intimate friends, affectionate friends.
First, we know that this Mary was the Mary who kissed Jesus’ feet in public, washing them with her tears, drying them with her hair, and rubbing them with perfumed oil. (When was the last time anybody kissed your feet? You must be pretty close to somebody to do that, not to mention to do it in public!) Read down the text and you see that John underlines, again and again, just how intimate these people were with Jesus. Here’s what it says: “Lord, the one you love is sick.” “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus very much.” “See how much he loved him!” They are even so close that one of these women can “chew him out” and get away with it: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died!” And finally, seeing Mary weep, we are told that Jesus began "to weep,” as well.
One usually thinks of this story as the “raising of Lazarus,” but Jesus’ raising of Lazarus actually occupies a very small part of this story. Of the forty-four verses that constitute this story, only seven of them take place at Lazarus’ tomb. The miracle of the raising of Lazarus is the climax of this story; it is not the center. This is a dialogue between Jesus and the two women about the power of God’s love in their lives.
In his gospel, John’s stories always have two levels: one on the surface which is true and another below the surface which is even truer still. This intimate story is meant to reveal to us not only the depth of their friendship, but also how intimate God’s relationship is with us! The pain of this family is the pain of God for all his people. By listening in to the dialogue, we are also taught what they were taught: the truth about the depth of God’s love for us, about God’s willingness to give us new life, and about God’s power over our worst enemy – death.
(1) We are taught about the depths of God’s love for us. One of the biggest challenges I have faced as a priest is to convince people of God’s unconditional love for them. Why is it that so many of us have been trained by people who have dismissed these intimate stories of God’s love and have combed through the Scriptures, piecing together condemning, judging, and damning messages that they turn into a religion? Why did they, and why do we, find those negative messages more believable? I have received more letters questioning my “too lenient notions of God’s love” than any other critical letters since I became a priest. Jesus revealed the “true God,” not that “false mean god” that people have created since Adam and Eve. Even in that story, God says to Adam and Eve, “Who told you that you were naked?” (Genesis 3:11). In other words, “Who told you that you were bad, separated from me, and defective? I certainly didn’t!” Jesus came to talk us out of that mean God that we keep creating in our own minds. I can’t imagine trying to live my religion without being in love with God! I can’t imagine practicing a religion based on fear and dread!
(2) By listening in on the conversation between Jesus, Martha and Mary, we are taught also about God’s willingness to give us new life. This eternal life is on both sides of death. Death does not have the last word. Eternal life is not just some promise for the future; it is available to us right now. We are in it, as we speak! Through Jesus and in Jesus, those of us who are “dead on our feet” can be resurrected now. We can be “born again.” We can act boldly on our own behalf to live purposeful lives, to help others, and to claim the powers that lie dormant within us. One of my favorite old movies is Harold and Maude. This is Maude’s message to Harold throughout the movie: “Oh, how the world dearly loves a cage! There are a lot of people who enjoy being dead.” Jesus came, not just to bring a wonderful life after we are dead, but one starting right now!
(3) And, as this gospel teaches us, God has power over our worst enemy – death. We live in a death-denying culture. Some of our expensive funeral practices would leave outsiders with the impression that we believe that we are going to come up with a cure for death someday! That makes about as much sense as leaving the runway lights on for Amelia Earhart. We don’t even know how to die. Modern medical technology, as wonderful as it is, robs us of the spiritual experience of “letting go” of this part of our life. Through Jesus and in Jesus, we are able to see in death that “life is changed, not ended.” I feel sorry for those who are conscious at death’s door without this faith.
Over the years, I have had the awesome privilege of talking to some very conscious people getting ready to die: especially those with AIDS and with cancer. Some were not pious people, but most were deeply spiritual. Some were able to tell me that they accepted their approaching deaths and they wanted to “do it well.” Some were extremely thankful for the “eternal life” they had already started to experience in this world. Some looked with “joyful hope” for the “eternal life” ahead of them. You know, if you’re facing death, it doesn’t get any better than that! I hope I can do half as well. I pray for the ability to be conscious, filled with gratitude and ready to go when the time comes! Yes, I want to be conscious! I want to choose to let go and leap into that great unknown, knowing that I will land in the arms of God!
The message to you in today’s gospel is this: God loves you very, very
much. He wants you to enjoy the eternal life that you can start to experience
right now, and he wants you to know that death does not have the last word. You
can enjoy “eternal life” forever, yes starting right now!
Father Ron, thank you for this blog. Under your three headings in which you evaluate the “dialogue” in last Sunday’s gospel, I found it a breath of fresh air to read of God’s unconditional love for us as described in your first paragraph. Late as it was in my own spiritual development to have come to the realisation of how mind-blowing yet humbling this truth is, I can endorse what you articulate so well. When we come to terms with the reality that God loves us, it cries out for a whole new emphasis on one’s living and transforms one’s attitude to everyone that one comes in contact with daily. On the other side of the coin the fear of God’s judgement and hell that had been drummed into us from our school days and diminished so much of our relationship with God and with others goes straight out the window.
ReplyDeleteHowever, adopting to this revitalizing way of life and residing as best as one can in its awesomeness makes its own demands and is not without its challenges. I can recommend a book on this new way of relating to God by Anthony Campbell SJ – God First Loved Us: The Challenge of Accepting Unconditional Love
You are always so affirming! Thank you so much, my first partner in SVG! In the "parking lot of my life, you will always have a reserved spot!"
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