St. Mark tells us of Jesus restoring life to Jairus’s daughter [5:35-43] and St. Luke tells us of Jesus restoring life to the son of the Widow of Nain [7:11-17]. Only God, the Most Holy Trinity is the Lord and Giver of Life.
Jesus, being True God as well as the Incarnate One, has within Him the power to restore life, uses that divine power to restore life to Lazarus, yet Jesus does not use that power to protect Himself, indeed He has told us that such is His power no one can take life from Him, rather by the authority given Him by the Father Jesus can, and will, lay down His life for us, Jn. 10:18.
Then Jesus, groaning again within Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. [v.38]
After all His 33 years on earth, beginning with the slaughter of the Innocents by Herod, to the death of His beloved foster father St. Joseph, other family members, to that of His friend Lazarus, with deaths by disease, old age, murder, execution, part of daily life, no wonder Jesus groans. The weight of human beings suffering death surely was crushing His Heart and, perhaps too since He was getting closer to Jerusalem, confronting His own looming death, standing before a tomb like the one in which He would be buried, surely was an additional pain.
There is always a danger that we ‘see’ Christ, likely unwittingly, if we contemplate a passage from the Holy Gospels, gaze upon a statue, icon or other sacred image of Jesus, as someone from the past, rather than as the Divine Bridegroom, of whom we are the beloved, truly present to us in the here and now. When we contemplate any passage from the Holy Gospels we should ask the Holy Spirit to make us no mere observer of, but present in the now of, what unfolds as we read and meditate.
As St. Paul affirms, Jesus is: …. the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in Him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He Himself might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile all things for Him, making peace by the blood of His Cross through Him, whether those on earth or those in heaven. And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds He has now reconciled in His fleshly body through His death, to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before Him, provided that you persevere in the faith, firmly grounded, stable, and not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven…..[Col. 1:15-23]
The first restoration of life to a deceased by Jesus occurs almost immediately after the girl has died [cf. Mk.5:35ff], whereas the second of the widow’s son occurs after a longer period of death [cf. Lk.7:11ff], this time several days have passed: Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to Him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.” [v.39]. Should anyone doubt, as the old saying goes that Lazarus is ‘as dead as a door nail’!, Martha’s giving us both the time and that decomposition is occurring, surely suffices to affirm Lazarus is indeed dead – not unconscious, not in a coma, dead!
When those claiming to be exegetes of Sacred Scripture, or anyone else, reduce Jesus’ miracles to ‘acts of power’, or some other weaker word, or try to ‘explain’ them by asserting, for example the real miracle of the loaves and fish was people in the crowd being moved to share what they had with them, we should recoil from such nonsense in horror at their arrogance and disassembly of revealed truth.
Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” [v.40]
After the miraculous changing of water into wine at Cana St. John revealed that it was thus Jesus: …..manifested His glory and His disciples believed in Him. [2:11]. This manifestation of Jesus’ glory, His divinity, is for St. John, and should be for us, the primary focal point of all the miracles Jesus does. True, for those who in the immediate benefit from healing or forgiveness, etc., it is understandable if that gift grabs attention, however, frankly, be it in their lives or our own, what really is the point of any miracle if we do not open our hearts to deeper faith?
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. [41] In the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, 28:1 ff., St. Mark 16:1 ff., St. Luke 24:1 ff., and St. John, 20:1 ff., in their accounts of Jesus’ Holy Resurrection, the stone blocking the entrance to the tomb in which Jesus was buried has been removed, none detail how, and it is the very openness of the tomb which presages what will be discovered, experienced, when entrance is made. The very use of the word ‘they’ in verse 41 indicates such stones would have been no mere lid, or door, rather a thing of substance and weight. Lazarus was truly locked in, not only in death, but in the tomb itself.
Verse 41 continues: And Jesus raised His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You for hearing Me. [v.42] I know that You always hear Me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”
The raising of His eyes, as any child does when looking up towards the eyes and face of their mom or dad with a request, the expressing of gratitude, though no request has been articulated for us to hear, it is gratitude for what is soon to transpire, the expression of confidence, an example for us to always be grateful and confident, and the expression of why He is praying out loud, that the crowd – which includes all of us – may have faith, is profoundly moving. It is always the Father and Jesus together as a duo, or rather as Trinity: The Father as principle, Jesus as the Father’s instrument, and the Spirit as the Father’s driving force. All three are completely involved: the Father in taking the initiative, the Spirit in driving and leading Jesus according to the Father’s directive, and Jesus in accepting the Spirit’s guidance and so fulfilling the Father’s will. [1]
Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” [v.43]
Here death is not given a gentle option, to release Lazarus or not, rather He who with His own death will hobble death’s power forever, by His command reveals the truth He, God alone, has power over life and death.
The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.” [v.44] Lazarus, as his free will act of acceptance and cooperation with the grace being offered hobbles forth, however he cannot free himself from what binds him. Neither can we. Like the paralytic who needed his friends to let him down through the roof to Jesus, Mk. 2:4ff., we all need the help of others to be freed from that which has us in bondage, and we should willingly help others. Those who moved the stone, those who unbound Lazarus were doing so as true charity, as should we always.
One of Our Lady’s titles is Untirer of Knots, the image of which, and devotion to, is close to the heart of Pope Francis. Untying what has us in bondage frees us to run into the arms of Jesus for metanoia and all needed healing.
Holy Mary, full of the presence of God during your life you accepted with great humility the Holy Will of the Father and the legacy of your Son Our Lord Jesus Christ. Evil never dared to entangle you with its confusion. Since then you have interceded for all of our difficulties. With all simplicity and patience you have given us the example on how to untangle the knots in our complicated lives. By being our Mother forever, you arrange and make clear the path that unites us to Our Lord. Holy Mary, Mother of God and ours, with your maternal heart untie the knots that upset our lives. We ask you to receive in your hands ( mention who or prayer request) and deliver us from the chains and confusions that have us restrained. Blessed Virgin Mary, through your grace, your intercession and by your example, deliver us from evil and untie the knots that keep us from uniting with God, so that once free of every confusion and error, we may find Him in all things, have Him in our hearts and serve him always in our brothers and sisters. Mother of Good Counsel pray for us. Amen
[1] INTO YOUR HANDS, FATHER Abandoning Ourselves to the God Who Loves Us; p. 94, Father Wilfrid Stinissen; Ignatius Press, 2011
© 2020 Fr. Arthur Joseph
