Fifth Sunday of Lent

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

In Ezekiel’s time, Israel was in exile, estranged from God. Thus in his vision of the “dry bones” (37:1–14), he sees Israel as truly dead. This “death” easily led to despair of eventual reconciliation with God and a return to life. In response to doubts of God’s continued love of them, Israel receives divine assurance that although they are dead now, the time of alienation will come to an end. Israel will be restored to God and to the land. This spiritual rebirth is characterized as resurrection from the grave. God confirms that Israel remains “my people,” and will certainly bring them back to life: “I have promised, and I will do it.”

For Saint Paul, physical and spiritual death are inherently related. Bodily death is ultimately the result of sin—the body is dead because of sin. In Christ, the Spirit of God brings life first by attending to the condition of sin, conquering it and “replacing” it with righteousness, spiritual life. This same Spirit is also able to raise the physical body from the dead, as the Spirit did for Jesus. The Spirit of Christ, belonging to those who have turned away from “the flesh” (a metaphor for all that is in us opposed to the will of God), resurrects us from both spiritual and physical death.

When Jesus hears that his friend Lazarus is ill, he first says that the illness will not end in death. One gets the impression from this that he is not worried that Lazarus will actually die, which would explain his delay of two days before returning to Bethany. Yet Jesus knows in fact that Lazarus has died in that time, and we realize that he has allowed this to happen so that he can “awaken him.” In this final and most dramatic sign, Jesus allows the death of Lazarus so that he can publicly raise him from the dead. Such a feat is intended to provoke belief that he is who he has been claiming to be all along, the one sent by God, who alone has the power to give life.

Jan 24 2025

The Cross: A Harvest of Life

When I taught first graders in religious education class, there was a simple test in the book. It said, “Jesus died because __________ .” The correct answer was “he loves us.” The first graders could spit out that answer. But they looked at me with questions in their eyes, as in, “My mommy loves me; is she going to die, too?” They didn’t really get it. As Lent draws near to its close, I have been wrestling with the meaning of the cross, too. I can spit out that same answer, but I am not sure that I really get it either.

Still pondering the cross, I go out to the garage where my garlic is hanging. In early spring, winter-stored herbs and garden produce dream of becoming more than food. I have to watch carefully, for potatoes want to sprout eyes and onions hope to develop shoots. As I slice the garlic, I see little green centers that wish to become leaves.

Jesus knew that a grain of wheat also desires to get into the ground and grow. He uses that grain as an analogy for himself. But the gardener in me asks, does the wheat actually die?

I looked up the Greek word that Jesus uses here for “die.” This “die” does not mean to go out of existence. It means to be separated, apart from the realm where you have been. Jesus knows that the season has come for him to be separated. The Word who became flesh cannot stay in this earthly realm. He has to go. He prepares his friends for that. Like the wheat and the garlic in early spring, he gives himself away. I am still wrestling with that. But somehow and for some reason, Jesus is willing to become something more for us.

Consider/Discuss

What happens to Jesus’ grain of wheat and my garlic cloves if they don’t get eaten or go into the ground? They rot. Onions become shells of skins. Potatoes turn wrinkly and bluish with mold. Garlic gets soggy and soft and smells even worse. There comes a season when a plant is designed by nature to give itself away to nourish. What does that mean for us?
This most famous of Jeremiah’s passages says that God will write his law on our hearts and we will be God’s people and he will be our God. How does/ doesn’t Jesus’ self-sacrifice give you a stronger sense of belonging to God?

Living and Praying with the Word

Jesus, when you were here on earth, you prayed with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save you. Yet you were willing to offer yourself to the Father to become our Savior. That sort of blows my mind. I don’t understand it, but I thank you. Someday, when we are together, show me how much that cost you and what “because I love you” means.

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

The first readings for Lent have focused on God’s covenant relationships, with all “mortal creatures,” with Abraham, and then with Israel. In the case of Israel, this relationship has often been marked by human infidelity and divine patience (not endless, but renewable). Now, as Israel enters into a period of judgment, God promises that the relationship has not come to an end. The covenant will be renewed, but this time things will be different: Israel will be transformed so as to be able to know, understand, and live according to God’s expectations. The judgment is not punishment for wrongdoing but is intended to prepare Israel for a new phase in its relationship with God, one that is the fruit of repentance, forgiveness, and transformation.

The reading from the Letter to the Hebrews moves us toward Palm Sunday by focusing on the obedience of Christ to the mission given by the Father to save God’s children from their sins. The passage is part of a larger discourse on the role of Christ as God’s great high priest (5:5–6). Just as the high priests of Aaron’s line offered sacrifice for Israel, so Christ offers himself in obedience to his mission. Besides the fact that Christ is God’s Son, his perfect obedience qualifies him as high priest, whose intercession on our behalf merits God’s hearing. In the same way, those who are obedient to Christ receive from him the salvation he has merited for all.

In response to the request of the Greeks (that is, Gentiles) to “see” him, Jesus makes the enigmatic statement that it is now the hour for the Son of Man to be glorified. He immediately identifies this “hour” with his approaching death, which itself will give life. In other words, the Gentiles along with everyone else will truly “see” Jesus when he undergoes his passion, death, and resurrection; they will know who he is. But Jesus does not speak only of his own death; he frames his saying about dying and giving life, or preserving eternal life, in terms of “whoever” is willing to undergo death. This death, like Jesus’ own, is a form (or consequence) of service to Christ.

Jan 14 2025

The Journey from Death to Life

Caravaggio painted an image of Lazarus coming forth from the tomb. Eugene O’Neil wrote a play called Lazarus Laughed. Sylvia Plath wrote a poem called “Lady Lazarus.” Poets, playwrights, and artists have been attracted to this story from John’s Gospel through the centuries. For some two millennia Lazarus has been the symbol of someone brought back from the dead, revealing the power of God at work in Jesus of Nazareth.

Over the centuries Lazarus has been a figure of hope for countless generations, especially at the time of a loved one’s death. Are there any more comforting words than those that Jesus says to Martha? “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” (John 11:25–26).

Death comes not only at the end of life, but sometimes within life. This is true both for individuals and whole nations. Israel in exile was like a field of dry bones, sealed up in tombs, cut off from life completely, lacking all hope. But God promised to bring Israel back to life and return the people to their home. God promised the spirit that would bring them back home and restore life.

Paul’s words to the community at Rome serve to remind us that death will not have the last word. For all the death that we see in our world from war and earthquakes, sickness and human violence and cruelty, there is a power stronger than death: the Spirit of God.

Consider/Discuss

How do you think of death, as the end or as a transition?
Are you being called to die to something in your life, so that you can live more fully in the power of the Spirit?

Responding to the Word

We pray to the Lord of the living and the dead that we might not lose hope even now in the face of so much sadness in our world. We pray for a strengthening of trust in God that removes any fear of death threatening us or those we love.

Jan 14 2025

Scripture Study for

Ezekiel uses bodily resurrection as a metaphor for the reestablishment of the nation after its exile. The scene is a graveyard, the ultimate place of death and decay. Three statements of reversal are made: the sealed graves will be opened, the dead will be raised, and the exiled will return home. Both original creation and this restoration, considered a new creation, are unconditional gifts from a magnanimous God. It is clear that God controls the powers of life and death, destruction and restoration. Since the people believed that exile was punishment for sin, they viewed their restoration as yet another pure gift from God. Paul contrasts two ways of living: life in the flesh and life in the spirit. Flesh and spirit both signify the whole person, but from particular points of view. For Paul, flesh refers to human nature in all its limitations; spirit refers to that nature attuned to God. Paul insists that life in the flesh cannot please God, while life in the spirit is a form of union with God. The real point of this passage is the resurrection of those who are in union with God. Just as Christ conquered death and lives anew, so those joined to Christ share in his victory and enjoy new life.

The resurrection of Lazarus points to the future death of Jesus. The parable about day and night can be understood in at least three ways. First is the literal meaning. The second metaphorically points to an inner light that guides the person. Finally, light can refer to Jesus. All of this cryptic speech prepares for Jesus’ instruction on resurrection. With a self-revelatory exclamation, Jesus proclaims that he is the resurrection and the life, and faith in him guarantees life for others. The resurrection of Lazarus cannot be denied, but it can be misunderstood. Jesus is not merely a wonder-worker; he himself has the power of resurrection and he is the source of eternal life.