![]() ![]() Jesus tells Martha to believe this even before He raises Lazarus. Jesus exhorts her to believe that her brother will rise, that he will rise not only on the last day, and that because of his belief in Jesus, he will never die. This brings us to Jesus’ response to Martha. Jesus demonstrated through them that He is indeed “the resurrection and the life.” As a result, the Gospel tell us, “Many of the Jews… began to believe in ” (John 11:45). ” These considerations show us that Jesus had a loving purpose for Lazarus and what might have seemed like unconcern to Lazarus and his sisters was actually for their good and for the glory of God. ![]() However, as Jesus said to his disciples at the time, his delay was not out of unconcern, but “for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through. He waited two days before setting out for Bethany to visit Lazarus. Another thing to consider is that Jesus seemed to be unconcerned about Lazarus’ illness. Jesus permitted Lazarus to die just as He permits us and our loved ones to die. Lazarus was restored to life, but he would die again. One is that the raising of Lazarus, unlike the resurrection of Jesus, was temporary. To recognize this, there are two things we might consider. Why, one might ask, did Jesus, who had the power to raise Lazarus, not raise up my husband or wife or father or mother? Does Jesus not love that person like he loved Lazarus? Jesus certainly does love us and our loved ones as He loved his friend Lazarus. After all, Jesus does not ordinarily bring our loved ones back to life. This might strike someone who has lost a loved one as being anything but consoling. Let us first consider the response of Jesus to His friend Lazarus in raising him from the dead. “Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ … And when he had said this, he cried out in a load voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ the dead man came out.” In each of Jesus’ responses to the siblings in Bethany, we can recognize a corresponding dimension of Jesus’ consoling love for the sick and sorrowful. Instead, “When Jesus saw her weeping… he became perturbed and deeply troubled.” What follows is the shortest verse in the Bible: “And Jesus wept.” Jesus’ response to Lazarus is well known. ![]() I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” To Mary, Jesus says nothing. Jesus responds to Martha by telling her, “Your brother will rise.” Then, to clarify exactly what He means, He says to 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.” He asks, “Do you believe this?” to which Martha replies, “Yes, Lord. Martha went out to meet Jesus and, in her grief (and perhaps with a hint of anger), said to Him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Soon afterward, Mary came to Jesus and, falling at His feet weeping, said the same thing: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” In Jesus’ response to the grieving sisters and to their dead brother Lazarus, all of whom He loved, we can recognize the ways in which Jesus shows His love for us when we sick or dying or stricken with grief or sorrow. By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus was already dead and buried. Still, Jesus stayed where He was for two days before journeying with his disciples to Bethany. “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus,” the Gospel tells us. Jonah Pollock, O.P., Associate Director, Dominican Friars Health Care Ministry of New York According to the Gospel of John, Lazarus of Bethany, the brother of Martha and Mary, was ill, and his sisters sent word to inform Jesus. Reflections on Ethics, Faith, and Health Care The Consoling Love of Christ: A Reflection on John 11:1-44 by Fr. Catherine of Siena Priory in New York, NY. This weekly series of posts is from Dominican Friars Health Care Ministry of New York, a ministry of the Province of St. ![]()
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