Gospel Lectio Divina for The Fifth Sunday of Lent - March 26, 2023
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
READ
The sisters of Lazarus sent word to Jesus, saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea.”
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “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. Do you believe this?”
She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”
He became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Sir, come and see.” And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?”
So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. 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.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe
you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. 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.” And when he had said this, He cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
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.”
Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.
MEDITATE
“This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
In last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus heals the blind man for the same reason: to show the glory of God. That begs the question, though. Does God permit suffering?
Illness and death are inevitable due to the fall of man. It’s the path we’ve all chosen. We’ve all chosen sin at some time in our lives, and the result of sin is illness and death. God cannot change that without violating our freedom to choose sin over him, and without changing the very fabric of existence. We could be like robots programmed to do everything God wants us to do and never truly experience love, because to love someone we must first be free to love them. Or we could have the freedom to choose God or sin, and then truly experience love when we choose God. God chose to set up the world the latter way, so we didn’t have to live as robots.
But that ability to choose comes with consequences. Now, God could have just left us to our own devices to show us where our sins would lead. Or he could choose to bring some good even out of the evil that we do, and the results of evil. Winston Churchill once said, “The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” The fall of man and the illness and death that resulted are a difficulty. But God is an optimist. He sees the difficulty as an opportunity to share his glory, and to give people reasons to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
Jesus comes close to saying he is the Son of God here, but still doesn’t exactly say it. He leaves this truth for others to testify and show their faith, and he leaves it for his actions to prove. Some people may say that he is clearly implying that he is the Son of God, but implying is different than saying it. He did not explicitly say, “I will heal him, so that people may know I am the Son of God.” Rather, he leaves the whole speculation up to faith, because faith is stronger than knowledge.
Also, when Jesus said “this illness is not to end in death”, one could easily think that he is saying Lazarus won’t die. But it’s important to point out that Jesus did not say that Lazarus wasn’t going to die. He was saying death won’t be the final end for this illness. So Lazarus’ illness, death, and resurrection testify to the resurrection in store for all of us. By raising Lazarus from the dead and by rising from the dead himself, Jesus proves that he is the Lord of the resurrection.
So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea.”
If he loved Martha and Lazarus, why didn’t Jesus leave immediately when he heard Lazarus was ill? These types of Scripture verses could leave us scratching our heads, and if we don’t take extra time to think about what’s going on, these questions we have could leave us doubting Scripture. Little by little, the small questions add up to the point where we could think that Scripture really isn’t a credible source, or that Jesus wasn’t as righteous as people set him out to be. That is why it is worth our time to think more deeply about certain Scripture passages that confuse us. That is why we need lectio divina.
Upon further reflection, I notice that the answer is quite simple. The passage may have offered some clarification if it read, “he remained for only two more days”, thus implying that he would have stayed longer if Lazarus wasn’t sick. Jesus was a popular man, and probably had many other obligations. This alludes to the fact that there are many stories about his life and ministry that simply are not in Scripture, but if all the wonders he performed were recorded there wouldn’t be enough books in the world to contain them, as John said in his Gospel.
The fact that Jesus remained for two days also touches upon the precision of God’s plan. Even upon hearing the news, Jesus knew that Lazarus’ death and resurrection would bring glory to God, and cause people to believe Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus knew Lazarus was going to die. He didn’t prevent it. He could have healed Lazarus, but he had healed people before. The time had come for him to prove that he was Lord of the Resurrection. Interestingly enough, as always, he lets his actions prove that he is the Son of God–and by extension God himself since the Son is equivalent to the Father in nature.
Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.
Whenever I read about people who came to believe in God through some miracle, I think ‘If only I could experience a miracle, then I’m sure I would never struggle to believe ever again.’ But God knows my heart. He knows if a miracle would solidify my faith once and for all. His plan is perfect. For whatever reason, those who experienced and witnessed the miracles Jesus performed were meant to experience and witness them for reasons beyond me. I cannot hope to experience a miracle in this life. I can only live as a Christian the best way I know how, and hope to receive heaven for being a good and faithful servant.
PRAY
Dear Lord,
I believe you are the Son of God not just because of the miracles I’ve heard you performed, but because of the many times you have intervened in my life. A demon can suspend the laws of nature. People can use magic to mislead others. But only you know how to say the exact words a heart needs to hear to convert and turn away from sin. Only you know exactly what a soul needs to turn to you. Oftentimes it’s not even a miracle, but you can raise people from the dead if that’s what it takes to make people believe in you. In your infinite wisdom, you know that oftentimes all it takes is the right event, or the right words, to cause someone to see the truth and run back to you. Lord, I glorify you for your power and wisdom. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
LISTEN
Sometimes the things the Lord tells us to do seem crazy. Jesus said, “Roll away the stone” and Martha said, “By now there will be a stench.” What Jesus was saying to do probably seemed absurd. He gives strange instructions, and does strange things, many times before performing a miracle. This is to test the faith of those around him. He does nothing arbitrarily. If he tells us to do something, in the same way, none of it is meaningless. Listen to him. He is God the Father’s beloved son. He alone can lead us to the resurrection of new life.
Kilby is a freelance writer from New Jersey and managing editor of Catholic World Report. He received his undergrad degree in humanities and Catholic culture from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. In addition to working with the Knights of the Holy Eucharist (knights.org), he has served as a journalist for Princeton Packet Publications, and the Trenton Monitor, the magazine for the Diocese of Trenton. Some of his published work can also be found in St. Anthony Messenger, Catholic Herald (UK), and Catholic World Report. For the latter he is managing editor. Find more of his writing at ramblingspirit.com.
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