The crucifixes and sacred images in Church are covered with a veil until Good Friday and Easter vigil, respectively. Christ is drawing closer to his passion and people’s emotions are getting stronger. Today’s readings prepare us for the suspense of passion week and Easter so that we don’t get stuck with the sorrowful emotion of Christ’s passion but wait for the end of the story.
In the first reading, we heard the famous passage where God promised He will raise his people from their graves and put a new spirit in them, and they will know He is their God. In the second reading, St Paul reminds us that if we have the Spirit of God, we are “life.” If we have Christ in us, we have life and the grace of the resurrection. Today’s gospel tells us about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. The Lord showed us that He is the resurrection and life and the giver of all life.
The ultimate fear is the fear of death. It is so because we see death as definitive, the finish line of this life and all we have known. Even when we think about it with the eyes of faith, we still feel unsure of what to expect beyond this life. The Lord’s message is that He is our restorer and life-giver. If we trust in him, our fear of death is removed because He is the resurrection and life.
The life Jesus gives goes beyond the physical life. That life symbolizes the grace of sanctity. God’s message is that our souls and spirit can be sanctified by His grace. It is His will that our spiritual life is renewed; our shame and sin are replaced by grace and holiness.
As the season gets intense and the passion draws near, God’s word for us is that we hold our breath with the message of resurrection, knowing that the story didn’t end with Jesus’ suffering and death but with the glorious resurrection on Easter. Similarly, our life’s story will end only in God’s glory at our resurrection.