"Lazarus, Come Out !"

FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT. YEAR A.
March 9, 2008
(First Reading: Ezekiel 37:12-14) (Second Reading: Romans 8:8-11)
(Gospel Reading: John 11:1-45)


"Lazarus, Come Out !"

It may not be difficult to argue that the words that meet with the greatest skepticism from our world are the ones said by Jesus in the following gospel statement: "Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die" (John 11:25-26).

To counter such skepticism, Saint Paul in his letter to the Romans demonstrates the truthfulness of the Lord's statement.

Paul explains what, in deed, is the greatest tenant of Christian faith, namely that the Spirit of Christ is alive in those who believe in Him.

Now, we ask: 1. who are those who do not have the Spirit of Christ, and
2. who are those who have the Spirit of Christ.

1. Who does not have the Spirit of Christ? Paul (Romans 8:8) answers: "Those who are in the flesh"(1). That is, those who live a life in opposition to the life of God, in contradiction to the order established by God (order which is based on and realized in justice and peace and unity among all human beings).

Paul says: "The concern of the flesh is death" (Romans 8:6). The concern of the flesh is a chaotic and selfish existence, the kind of earthly existence that not only destroys the "body" but also annihilates the efforts of the Spirit to dwell in the "body". "Those who are in the flesh" are the ones who promote injustice, division, lies, destruction, death among human beings.

2. Who does have the Spirit of Christ? Paul answers: Those "who are in the Spirit" (Romans 8:9), those in whom "the Spirit of God dwells" (Romans 8:11). That is, those who live a life that can "please God", those who promote justice, unity, equality, peace and life for "the concern of the Spirit is life and peace" (Romans 8:6).

Paul further reassures us: "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 you life to your mortal bodies, through his Spirit dwelling in you" (Romans 8:11).

It then follows that our "mortal body" has true life only by virtue of the Spirit that dwells within it; and that the absence of the Spirit from our body only leaves us with an empty body, a body that dies.

Our world does not have the Spirit of Christ.
The injustices, inequalities, selfishness and divisions among human beings render our world empty of the Spirit of Christ, a world living "in the flesh"; and the "concern of the flesh is death".

Our world is in opposition to the Spirit of Christ; our world has being left only with an "empty body", and it can only resort, as in fact it does, to a glorification of the mortal body, to an "adoration" of what is temporal: Material wealth and earthly power.

As a result, our world begets and belittles the oppressed, the poor, the suffering, the ill, the dispossessed (who are precisely the product of the injustices and selfishness of the world).

In a world where the "body" is everything, the death of the body is the end of everything, for that is the only thing those who live in the flesh are left with(2).

We must instill the Spirit of Christ into our world by bringing about "life and peace" (Romans 8:6).
Once the Spirit of Christ is instilled in each person and manifested in the life of the entire community of humankind, then there will be "life and peace" in the world.

Once the Spirit of Christ is instilled in us, we will de able to bring our world out of its tomb and back into life:
Our world of the flesh has buried peace in the tomb of war,
justice in the tomb of injustice,
equality in the tomb of inequality,
truth in the tomb of falsehood,
unity in the tomb of division.

By raising Lazarus from the tomb, Jesus shows us that as he has the power to say; "Lazarus, come out!" (John 11:43), so does he have the power to say:
- "Peace, come out!" and peace will come out of the tomb of war,
- "Justice, come out!" and justice will come out of the tomb of injustice,
- "Equality, come out!" and equality will come out of the tomb of inequality,
- "Unity, come out!" and unity will come out of the tomb of division.

Once we allow the Spirit of Christ to live in us we will be able to say with him: "World come out" and the world will come out of its tomb of death.
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Footnotes:
(1) The word "flesh" here is used to indicate the manner of life in the "world of injustice, disarray and selfishness". (The Spanish translation of this verse - "Those who are in the flesh..." reads: "Those who live in a disorderly and selfish manner ...").
(2) To those who live in the flesh, biological death becomes an unbearable thought for they know of its inevitability. No matter how rich or powerful, those who live in the flesh cannot deal with thoughts of death and, some of them may wish or decide to "freeze" their mortal bodies in the hope that, say, some 500 years from now science may discover a way to bring them back to "life".