On this Fifth Sunday of Lent, as we approach Holy Week, we see Jesus come closer to the climax of His life and mission. As He goes near Jerusalem, the setting for the final drama of His life, the threats of His enemies increase by the day. The Gospels say pretty bluntly that many are rallying their forces to get rid of Him – once for all. Jesus’ disciples were quite aware of the situation and not very keen on going anywhere near Jerusalem. They were quite alarmed, then, when Jesus said, “Let us go to Judea.” Bethany in Judea is only two miles from Jerusalem. They reminded Jesus that the last time He was there, the Jews wanted to stone Him. That is the background to the question, “Are you going back there again?”
Jesus let them know that fear and danger could not be the deciding factors in His life and mission: “A man can walk in the daytime without stumbling, because he has the light of this world to see by….” Jesus’ point is that there are times for things to be done, for tasks to be accomplished, and for missions to be carried out. Whatever the risks involved, they must be done.
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The hope that comes with the Resurrection of Jesus is the central theme of all the Lenten Scripture readings, especially those on this Fifth Sunday of the season. Hope is central, but have you noticed a progression in themes … from “the thirst for living water” (on the Third Sunday), through “the desire to be healed of our spiritual blindness” (Fourth Sunday), to our ultimate desire to share in eternal life with the Risen Lord (today)?
Be sure to read John 11, 1-45 before coming to Mass this weekend. It is the longest single narrative in the four Gospels. The Raising of Lazarus is the story which marks a key turning-point in the Gospel: not only is it the last and greatest “sign” Jesus will perform, concluding the “Book of Signs,” but it is effectively Jesus’ last public appearance before His Passion and death, before He enters into the Holy City Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
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A reflection for this Fifth Sunday of Lent, offered by Pope Francis: “Jesus calls to us as He called to Lazarus in his tomb: “Come forth!” This call is addressed to every human person because we are all marked by death. Christ is not resigned to the graves that we have constructed with our choices of evil and death, with our mistakes, our sins. Jesus invites us, almost orders us, to come out of the tombs into which our sins have plunged us. This is where our Resurrection begins: when we decide to obey the command of Jesus to come into the light, to life…. The raising of Lazarus shows us that there is no limit to the Divine Mercy, which is offered to everyone. The Lord is always ready to roll away the tombstone of our sins, which separate us from Him, the light of the living.”
