Homily for the
5th Sunday of Lent
March 22, 2026
John 11: 1, 3-7, 17, 20-17, 33-45
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx
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| The Raising of Lazarus (Leon Bonnat) |
“The Jews said, ‘See how he loved him’”
(John 11: 36).
1st, I want to comment on St. John’s
frequent references to “the Jews.” This
doesn’t mean the entire Jewish population in Jesus’ time. Jesus, his mother, and his apostles were all devout
Jews, and so were the earliest members of the Church in the Holy Land. In John’s Gospel, rather, “the Jews” means at
times the inhabitants of Judea, as in today’s gospel, and at other times Jesus’
co-nationals who rejected his claim to be the Messiah. In sum, it generally means his opponents, not
the Jewish people as a whole.
For 3 Sundays now, we’ve been reading important,
long stories from St. John that have to do with water, light, and life. They’re preparing the catechumens for their Baptism
at the Easter Vigil and the rest of us for renewal of our baptismal promises at
the Vigil or on Easter Sunday.
The gospel of the Samaritan woman at
the well focused on the living water that Jesus offers to believers—the living
water of the Holy Spirit, who enables us to worship God in spirit and truth. Jesus healed a blind man by anointing his
eyes with mud and sending him to wash in the water of Siloam, after which he
recognized Jesus as the Savior. In
Baptism we’re washed, anointed with chrism, and empowered by the Holy Spirit to
see that Jesus is our Savior.
Today we come to the gospel of Jesus’
raising of Lazarus.
Jesus had a close circle of friends who
traveled with him, his 12 apostles. But
he had other dear friends, as well, most notably a family in Bethany, a village
about 2 miles east of Jerusalem on the road to Jericho. This was the family of Lazarus and his
sisters Martha and Mary. In addition to
their central part in today’s gospel, the 2 sisters also appear in St. Luke’s
Gospel when Jesus visits and dines with them (10:38-42).
You know that one of Jesus’ apostles is
called “the beloved disciple”—one who was next to him at the Last Supper, who
followed him to Calvary, who raced to the empty tomb on Sunday morning. He’s not identified; generally, we think he’s
St. John. But a few scholars think it’s
Lazarus, who evidently was very close to Jesus.
“When Jesus saw Mary weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping,
he became perturbed and deeply troubled….
And Jesus wept. So the Jews said,
‘See how he loved him’” (John 11:33,35-36).
It’s marvelous that the Son of God
should have a close friendship with his individual followers—with John, with
Lazarus and his sisters. His great
desire, which he expressed to the apostles at the Last Supper, is that we be
his friends: “No one has greater love than
to lay down his life for his friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves…. I have called you friends” (John 15:13-15).
Lazarus was quite surely dead after 4
days, and his tomb should stink of death (11:39). (If a critter has ever died within the walls
of your house or in the attic, you know that’s an awful stench.) Moved deeply by his compassion, Jesus calls
Lazarus out of his tomb, and when his friend emerges, he commands, “Untie him
and let him go” (11:44). Lazarus isn’t
resurrected as Jesus will be on the Sunday after his crucifixion; he’s
resuscitated or revivified. He’ll
eventually die for good—according to pious legend as a missionary of the Gospel
in France.
The raising of Lazarus is the last great
sign that Jesus performs in his public life; it’s a sign of his own coming
resurrection. It’s a promise to us who
are Jesus’ friends that on the Last Day he’ll summon us, too, to “come out”
(11:43) of our graves, rise from our ashes, or emerge from the sea. He’ll untie us from death, not temporarily but
permanently, and let us go with him to everlasting life—because he loves us
every bit as much as he loved, and still loves, Lazarus—St. Lazarus, who shares
a feastday on July 29 with his sisters Sts. Martha and Mary.
