The Third Scrutiny

In the Catholic Church, the "scrutinies" are a series of ancient rites, celebrated on the middle three Sundays of Lent, that prepare elects (those preparing for Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist) for their full initiation into the faith through self-reflection and prayer.

The Raising of Lazarus

         Somewhere in the two million words that Saint Augustine wrote you will find this observation: “God would rather draw good from evil than not permit the evil in the first place.” For most human beings, I don’t think that this is the preferred way of thinking or of acting. I think it’s a no-brainer to say that it would be best for all concerned to avoid the evil in the first place. Now I kind of took that sentence out of context, so I should point out that when Saint Augustine made that statement, the evils he includes ... in addition to moral evil ... are physical evils such as sickness, natural tragedy, and those events that bring suffering in the world … the wildfires of California … the earthquakes in Indonesia, Tonga, and Mandalay, Myanmar … the flooding in Italy and landslides in Nepal immediately come to mind.

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Entrance Antiphon: Ps 43(42):1-2 – Give me justice, O God, and plead my cause against a nation that is faithless. From the deceitful and cunning rescue me, for You, O God, are my strength.”

First Reading: Ez 37:12-14 – “I will put My spirit in you that you may live.”

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 – “With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.”

Second Reading: Rom 8:8-11 – “The Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.”

Verse Before the Gospel: Jn 11:25a, 26 – “I am the Resurrection and the Life, says the Lord; whoever believes in Me will never die.”

Gospel: Jn 11:1-45 – “I am the Resurrection and the Life.”

Communion Antiphon: Jn 11:26 – “Everyone who lives and believes in Me will not die for ever, says the Lord.”

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         Our concept of God as a loving Father often leads us to question the observation of Saint Augustine. Since God is all-powerful and all loving, why wouldn’t God save us from suffering in the first place, rather than make us endure the suffering and then ... and only then ... experience the good that God draws from the suffering? I don’t know whether this gives any comfort, but when we object to God’s logic, we find ourselves in good company ... consider Martha and Mary.

         Today’s readings remind us that facing these realities in life helps us find a way through them to freedom, healing, and even resurrection. The Prophet Ezekiel reminds us of God’s promise to open our graves and have us rise from them: Chapter 37:13 states, “I will put My spirit in you that you may live.” Saint Paul proclaims to the Romans in Chapter 8:11, “If the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the One who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through His Spirit dwelling in you.” And today in Saint John Chapter 11:25a, 26, Jesus proclaims, “I am the Resurrection and the Life; everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus does even more. He models a process to face any difficult reality of life to find hope, freedom, and new life.

         Today we learn that Jesus hears that His dear friend Lazarus is ill and then has died. And He purposefully waits two days before starting out. Many ask why Jesus doesn’t go to Lazarus sooner. Aware of Jesus’ great love for all three members of the family, can we accuse Jesus of being heartless in this situation? Any answer is mere speculation. One answer might be that when we ask why, there is never a satisfactory answer. Another “why?” most often lurks around the corner. But we are human beings, and it seems we need to ask, “why?” It’s part of our make-up. However, staying there is often a dead-end that gets us stuck. What we really need to do is to move through the “whys” and get to the “where is Your promise of new life, God, in the midst of this reality?”

         And so, another question ... This one is for all of you Bible trivia experts out there. What is the shortest verse in the Bible? I’ll even give you a hint. It was in one of the three readings we heard today. Yep … it’s in the Gospel. Saint John Chapter 11, Verse 35 ... “And Jesus wept.”

         Jesus goes to His friends Martha and Mary in their grief, aware that they most likely would ask why He didn’t come sooner. Each does that in her own way: “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus faces the music, so to speak. He listens and answers, offering a different perspective, “Your brother will rise.” Both Martha and Mary affirm that view. Jesus proclaims to Martha, “I am the Resurrection and the Life,” and then asks, “Do you believe this?” It appears that Martha does. With Mary, there is no repetition of talk about resurrection. They communicate on a different level, the level of feelings. Jesus is “perturbed and troubled” when He sees her weeping. Other translations say that He is moved with compassion … in other words, that is, He feels her pain.

         As a matter of fact, Jesus weeps, aware that the crowd might ridicule Him as they did. This is an important exchange. We must face our feelings, no matter what others might think of us, if we are to find hope, freedom, and life in the midst of whatever causes us pain, harm, or death. Today, Jesus shows emotion for an occasion that He has never shown before. Jesus lost control of Himself in a situation that ... in fact ... He could have controlled. I don’t think that any artist has attempted to portray Jesus in this state, but it might be immensely helpful to us to imagine Him completely subject to the human condition ... overcome not by tyrants ... but by tears. As we see, Saint John makes a strong point of the fact that Jesus was perceived as having the power to control the sequence of events. Clearly, His motive for not controlling the situation in the first place must have been very powerful. Abandoning control, then, was a clear choice. Consider that this choice was to fully identify Himself with us when we are at our weakest. Jesus is fully human.

         While you are thinking about that ... something else to think about ... is that the only reason that Jesus weeps? Remember, Jesus is fully human ... but He is also fully God. God loves us so much ... Jesus loves us so much ... that perhaps He weeps when His followers fail to recognize Him as their source of eternal life. Even when Martha professes her belief in the future resurrection ... does she believe deep down that Jesus Himself is the Resurrection and the Life? Does Martha realize her friend is the Messiah? Maybe He weeps in frustration that even His closest friends do not know Him. When Mary and the mourners give free rein to their grief, Jesus’ anger at their lack of comprehension makes Him greatly disturbed in spirit ... remember He is perturbed and troubled. Quite possibly, He yearns for their faith in Him as the victor over death and the revelation of God’s glory.

         Then Jesus makes an important step in this journey. He asks to see Lazarus’ tomb. And it’s important on a couple of different levels. He goes to the place that symbolizes death. He not only goes there, but He also asks that the stone covering the tomb be rolled away. And in doing that, Jesus receives another blow when His instruction to open the grave of Lazarus is greeted by Martha’s literal-minded objection. Lazarus had been dead four days without the embalming methods we have. The body would stink. And I think Jesus’ response betrays His wrenching disappointment. “Didn’t I tell you if you believed, you’d see God’s glory?” And on another level, if the stone had not been rolled away and the possibility of stench faced, Lazarus would not have been able to walk out of the tomb. We must all go to the source of pain, suffering, and death in our lives. And going to that source often stinks. But if we do not go there, we do not have the possibility of learning from that source to discover what we need to own ... where we need to make amends ... and what changes in life we need to make to find hope in despair ... freedom in sin ... or life in death. And also important is that Jesus needed others to roll away the stone. Just as sin, suffering, and death affect both the community and the person ... so, too ... we often need the community’s help to find hope, freedom, and life.

         Then Jesus asks Lazarus to come out. But before doing so, Jesus thanks His Father for hearing His prayer. He does so for the sake of the crowd that they may believe He has been sent by God. And again ... consider Jesus bears the burden of knowing that even when He raises Lazarus from the dead, there are some who will still not believe in Him. And at this point, even Lazarus had a choice. As human beings we all have free will. We all have a choice. Jesus respected that choice. Lazarus chose life. Consider the fact … consider the possibility … that Lazarus could have remained in the tomb. And so, I repeat once again … we are all human beings with free will … we all have choices. We can remain in whatever death is dealing for us or we can choose to believe that there is another way of looking at life ... of living anew ... and then take the steps to go there. God always respects that freedom. The question is can we respect it in others and take responsibility for it in our own lives?

         And finally, Jesus asks the community to “untie him and let him go.” For any of us to have the chance to live anew or find hope and freedom ... we have to be willing to see one another and ourselves with new eyes ... we have to be willing to see with the eyes of faith. Jesus cannot force the onlookers ... or any of us for that matter ... to accept Him as the Son of God. Faith remains free. We must believe that Resurrection … that the changing of our lives … is possible and then really see one another and ourselves through those new eyes.

         Life may be terminal, but death is a change, not an end. We need to believe, and we need to have faith in God’s promise to make all things new for us and through us. Easter is just two weeks away. Lent still affords us an opportunity to get things back on track. We need to be like Lazarus, and we need to be like Christ ... we need to choose life ... we need to believe ... both as individuals ... and as community.