Readings: Ez. 37:12-14; Rom 8:8-11; John 11:1-45
Jesus Wept!
The readings of the Third, Fourth and Fifth Sundays of Lent in Year A, are specially chosen for scrutinies. “The Scrutinies are rites for self-searching and repentance and have above all a spiritual purpose. They are meant to uncover, then heal all that is weak, defective, or sinful in the hearts of the elect; to bring out then strengthen all that is upright, strong, and good.” (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults). This was clearly seen in the story of the Samaritan woman (Third Sunday of Lent), who came to the well to draw water in John 4:5-42. From her interaction with Jesus, she discovered that Jesus is the Messiah who came to give us everlasting life through his words. Jesus told her: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” In the story of the man born blind, John 9:1-41 (Fourth Sunday of Lent), we discovered that we are all blind; hence, we must accept our blindness, our faults and our shortcomings and go to Jesus for a cure. Christ warns: “If you were blind, then you would not be guilty; but since you claim that you can see, this means that you are still blind.” Let us therefore, ask Christ to open our eyes so that we may see him as our Savior, our Lord and our God. In today’s Gospel reading from John 11:1-45, we see Jesus at the graveside of his friend, Lazarus. Christ wept for him and then raised him to life again. Jesus tells us: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
Since we are observing social distancing and are unable to celebrate public Mass with the attendance of the parishioners and celebrate the third scrutiny today, the readings are adaptive to our current situation. In the first reading, Ezekiel promised the people that God had not abandoned them. He is with them always to rescue and bring them back to the land of Israel. “O my people, I will open your graves, and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel.” God promised to pour out his spirit on the dead bones and restore them to life again. In the Gospel Jesus wept for Lazarus before he brought him back to life. He told those standing by to untie Lazarus, who came out of the tomb “tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in cloth, and let him go.”
Why did Jesus weep for Lazarus? Showing emotions, like crying or laughing, can humble and bring us closer together as human beings. We shed tears when we are personally touched by the object that provoke us to tears. Tears shed for the passing of loved ones or tears shed amid tragedy can be said to be tears shed for humanity. When Jesus wept for Lazarus, he expressed his humanity in a very special way that elicited comments from the crowd. “See how he loved him.” The tears of Jesus identified him with our human weakness. Jesus wept because Lazarus, his friend, whom he loved, was dead. Christ felt sad for the pain that death caused those he loved. His tears demonstrated that he is not a stranger to our pains, loss, deprivation and our need for comfort, companionship and love. Christ assures us, through his tears, that it is all right to cry and be empathic, but not to weep as those without hope. He is always in our midst. He may be delayed in coming to our aid, but he will surely come. His delay may be “for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” He will reach out and touch us and bring solace to our pains. Hence, he restored Lazarus to life, even after shedding tears for him.
When faced with sad and frustrating situations, such as now, with the coronavirus pandemic and being locked-down for days, we wonder when it will all end. The news is sad and gloomy with more and more people being infected and the number of deaths growing with the day, we weep for ourselves and cry out to God. This is the time to see Jesus weeping with us. Let us be consoled that the Christ who weeps with us, knows what to do for us, to draw us out of darkness of despair to the light of his love. His love and concern for us will triumph over our sadness, pain and loss. We have to trust him enough to entrust our worries and anxiety to him. The book of Proverbs cautions us that “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” (Prov. 12:25). And Peter urged us to “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1Peter 5:7). While Paul encourages us: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6-7).
The God who does the impossible will do the possible for us at our hour of despair and worries. We must do what Mary and Martha did - send words to Jesus, then wait for Christ to show up and then run out to welcome him, hoping that he will cry for us and with us. After weeping he will ask us, where have you kept him? What is the problem? How can I help you? Once these questions are asked, we know that our miracle is close at hand. He will call out in a loud voice and restore us to wholeness. He will call for us to be untied, released and set free. Christ needed others to untie Lazarus. He wants us to cooperate with him to set ourselves free from our bondage. We are grateful to doctors, nurses, scientists, paramedics, all health care providers and men and women of good who have joined hands together to fight this pandemic. We must do our part to stay at home so that we may flatten the curve of this virus. We must be set free from our shackles, our frustrations and our doubts so that Christ may give life to our brokenness.
May we never give up hope for we know that after Good Friday comes Easter Sunday. We will fight and subdue this virus. For we know we are not alone. “…the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4). We pray that Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is our life and our resurrection may stand by us so that we may be set free from the clutches of coronavirus and restore our world to normalcy once again. Amen.
Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP
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