“I am the Resurrection"

5^th Sunday of Lent

Most of us had gone into a cemetery. We know that it is a place where dead bodies of people (or animals) are buried. For most of us the idea of a grave sounds creepy – dark, alone and lonely and with a deafening silence. Furthermore, the image of decomposing bodies and the skeleton inside a grave is an unbearable sight and makes us want to puke. Yet it is the same imagery that the prophet Ezekiel had used in the first reading as he announced that ‘Yahweh will open your graves and make you rise from there.’ True enough that sometimes (or most of the time) our life, both physical and spiritual can be likened to a grave – no life, dark, alone and lonely, dead. Sometimes we find ourselves filling the role of the “dead man walking,” breathing but no sense of living. But the Lord has promised and He assured us through the prophet that ‘He will do it.’ He will not only open the graves and make us rise from them but He will also bring us back to the land of promise, a place of life, light, togetherness and of the living; a place which is a joy to imagine and that will make us desire to be in. Such a place and life will be filled with newness and permanence because He will also put his Spirit in us that we may live.

Flesh is not about human body. Rather it is a “code word for the ‘distortion’ that original sin introduced into human nature.” When ‘flesh’ enters into our natural desires they become destructive and degrading of men. It is natural to desire for delicious food but when flesh enters our desire for it, we turn into a glutton. The same is true with our sexual desire that when flesh enters it, it becomes an instrument for self-gratification and exploitation. And again, our desire for excellence and greatness originates from our being created in the image and likeness of God that when we allow our flesh to dominate, we become our own law, refusing to submit to legal authority, abusing and degrading those around us. This kind of ‘flesh-filled life’ is what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans that ‘that those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” He reminded them that they are “in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.” The dwelling of the Spirit in us makes “healing of our human nature from within the goal of transforming every aspect of our lives.” The Spirit gives us the power and strength to empower us to triumph in our struggle against the flesh.

In Today’s Gospel, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. The narrative story engages our emotion to that of Jesus’ love for Lazarus and her sisters. But then it tries to engage us into a deeper understanding of that love. The evangelist John revealed Jesus as the divine Messiah by narrating the seven sign-miracles: The turning of water into wine at the wedding in Cana, the healing of an official’s son in Capernaum, the healing of an invalid at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, the feeding of the 5K near the Sea of Galilee, Jesus’ walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee, the healing of a blind man in Jerusalem, and the raising of Lazarus in Bethany.

c/o panoramio.com

The raising of Lazarus is the seventh and climatic sign in revealing Jesus’ person. “It is completing because John carefully chose these seven signs to present Jesus as the Messiah, and the Son of God. It is climatic because this last sign brings to a climax a theme that has been building throughout the miracles, that Jesus has the authority to give eternal life to those who believe in Him.” This miracle gives hope in this life and beyond this life. “In raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus demonstrated His authority to reverse the effect of sin and death. It also confirms Jesus’ authority to give life and to resurrect the dead thus demonstrating His claim to be ‘the resurrection and the life.”