That they may believe that you sent me

SUNDAY 29 MARCH (Jn 11,1-45)

The Father, in the wisdom of his Holy Spirit, offers the Jews the last sign which unequivocally reveals that Jesus is his Sent, his Christ and his Messiah. In front of a multitude of people who came from Jerusalem to console Martha and Mary, the Lord raises Lazarus by now for four days in the sepulcher. Nobody believes that Jesus is capable of raising Lazarus, not even Martha. In fact, when Jesus asks that the stone be removed, Martha thinks that He wants to see his friend lying in the grave and for this reason he warns him that he sends a bad smell. He has been in the tomb for four days and is already giving off a bad smell. Instead, his prayer, raised to the Father aloud and explained so that everyone could listen it and become aware of his intentions and also of the listening relationship that reigns between Christ and the Father, reveals that Jesus wants to resurrect Lazarus. Jesus wants the whole world to know that He is sent by the Father and that he does not act either in his name or in the name of other creatures.

“Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” So the disciples said to him, “Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.” But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him.” When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  (But) even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told 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. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, “The teacher is here and is asking for you.” As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him. So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Sir, come and see.” And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?” So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.” Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.

Every disciple of Jesus is obliged, if he wants that through him faith in Christ the Lord takes root in every heart, to show that everything in him comes from the Father, through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, through the motion, advice, fortitude, discernment and wisdom in the Holy Spirit. As Jesus has always brought to light that nothing in him comes from him or from creatures, but everything comes from the Father, so too does the disciple of Jesus. He must highlight, indeed in great light, that nothing comes from his heart, from his rationality and from his will, because everything comes from the Father, in Christ and through the Holy Spirit. It is an obligation not only of justice, but also of charity. Those who love the salvation of their brothers must live this obligation with great commitment. Everything in Him must come from God. Nothing from his heart.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints arrange that no disciple fails in this gift of love.