In John’s Gospel today, the raising of Lazarus, stands at the threshold of Jesus’ own Passion. It is the final and greatest of the “signs” in John’s Gospel, and it reveals not only Jesus’ power over death but the deeper mystery of who he is. At the tomb of his friend, Jesus does not stand distant and unmoved. He weeps. The Word made flesh shares our grief and enters fully into the sorrow of human loss. Yet in that very place of darkness he proclaims, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
The delay in Jesus’ arrival is striking. “This illness does not lead to death; it is for the glory of God.” Glory in John’s Gospel is inseparable from the cross. The raising of Lazarus points forward to the greater hour when the Father will glorify the Son in the passion, death, and exaltation of Jesus. As Lazarus is called from the tomb, so too will Christ pass through death into life – but not as a return to mortal existence. His resurrection will inaugurate a new and eternal life.
Martha’s confession is central: “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Faith here is not merely assent to a miracle; it is trust in the person of Jesus. To accept Jesus is to open oneself to that transforming experience wherein the Father glorifies the Son through the cross and resurrection. The believer is drawn into that mystery. Eternal life is not only a future promise; it begins now through communion with the One who is Life itself.
When Jesus cries, “Lazarus, come out,” it is more than a command to a dead man. It is a call addressed to each of us. We all know the tombs that bind us – fear, sin, despair, grief. Faith means allowing Christ to speak into those sealed places and to trust that his voice has power to free us. The unbinding of Lazarus by the community also reminds us that new life unfolds within the Church, where we help one another live in the freedom Christ gives.
To believe in Jesus is to stand, even now, in the light of resurrection – and to share in the eternal life that flows from his glorified love.
Fr Stephen Berecz
