“I am the resurrection and the life” Do you believe this?
As this gospel reading is quite long, you are invited to use your own Bible to read the text.
This story is found only in the Fourth Gospel, although the other Gospels do tell of people being raised from the dead (Jairus’ daughter, the son of the widow of Nain). Our story, very much longer than these other stories, is the seventh (the climax) of the seven signs: the Wedding Feast at Cana, Woman at the Well, the royal official’s son, the Loaves, the walking on the water, the Blind Man and Raising of Lazarus. The writer has expanded the narrative into a moving drama, thus exploring in a very human way the teaching about Jesus and the resurrection.
POINTERS FOR PRAYER
1. Martha and Mary are portrayed as people of faith but Jesus led them to an even deeper faith. Who were the people who led you to a deeper faith in Jesus? Remember them and give thanks.
2. Martha and Mary were struggling to come to terms with their bereavement. What has helped you in similar situations?
3. The concern of Jesus is palpable and touching. Recall those who matter to you and to whom you matter. Such love mediates God’s love, which surpasses human love with the gift of new life and Easter joy.
4. One can imagine Lazarus as a symbol of people and groups that are written off as dead (sometimes by themselves), and yet through faith come back to life again. Have you had the experience of being revived by faith? Has faith helped to free you from what held you in bondage, or was destructive of your life?
The historical Jesus was guarded in declaring his identity but by the time the Fourth Gospel was written, Christians had arrived at a rich understanding of the mystery of Jesus, the Son of God. John’s Gospel puts before the believer a grand assemblage of 7 I AM sentences, rooted in the name of God in Exodus 3:14, I AM WHO I AM. I am the bread of life. (John 6:35, 48, 51); I am the light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5); I am the gate for the sheep (John 10:7, 9); I am the good shepherd (John 10:11, 14); I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25); I am the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6); I am the true vine (John 15:1, 5). We are reminded that we believe first of all in a person, not in a philosophy. Anyone one of these images would take us deeply into our encounter with the Risen Lord, none more so than “I am the resurrection and the life.”
At the heart of this Gospel reading is a spectacular advance in teaching: our Christian teaching about the resurrection is not simply a doctrine but a person. Differently put, it is not something we believe but someone in whom we place our trust.