John 11:1-45

1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6 after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. 10 But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” 11 After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” 13 Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” 28 When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” 38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

"Lord, he whom you love is ill"

We have already seen Jesus in Galilee bringing back to earthly life the daughter of Jairus in Capernaum (Mark 5:21-43) and the son of the widow in Nain (Luke 7:11-17).

This Gospel invites us today to accompany Jesus and His disciples to Bethany, a village on the outskirts of Jerusalem, where Jesus visits the family of Martha, Mary and their brother Lazarus. The text indicates that Jesus befriends and loves the family, and they love Him in return. "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep" (V. 11).

Lazarus suffers from an illness that requires the intervention of a medical doctor. The two sisters know the ultimate and qualified doctor. They send a messenger to tell their family doctor, "Lord, he whom you love is ill" (V. 3). Jesus remains where He is two more days before coming back to Bethany. Then He tells the disciples plainly, "Lazarus is dead" (V. 14).

Death in a village shocks all of its inhabitants, especially when the deceased is young. If you enter the village, you might think it is lifeless, shrouded in an atmosphere of profound grief.

The family of the deceased observes seven days of mourning, including a near-abstention from food, sitting on the ground while mourners maintain solemn silence.

We know what happens next and how Jesus identifies with His loved friends. He is moved and weeps before asking God the Father to answer His prayer. He calls the young man whose joints have disintegrated after four days in the grave, "Lazarus, come out" (V. 43).

May we concentrate our meditation on a few items:

Jesus' complete friendship, love and care for His faithful.
The quality of Martha’s and Mary's faith and prayer. They don't tell Jesus what to do. They just present Him with the lived reality, confident that He knows what to do better than they do. His will be done. They trust and accept His will, just as we see at Cana when Jesus’ Mother approaches her son saying,"They have no wine,” and then she says to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you to do” John 2: 3,5. May we reconsider our way of praying and how many times we dictate our will instead of presenting the case with trust and confidence to God who knows better what is best for us. Sometimes we think that God does not answer our prayers, but we need to trust Him and consider that the lack of response is the best response.
The Resurrection is the focal point of our Christian faith. “I believe that he will rise on the last day" says Martha to Jesus, and He responds, "I am the resurrection and the life" (V. 24-25).
How many times do we echo Martha's saying to Jesus, "If you were there?” Even if we think that He is not there, He remains with us in His way and appears before us when He considers the time to be opportune.

No matter how circumstances may seem, we can fully trust in our friend and our Lord Jesus. He is always with us and caring for us in His loving, wise and eternal ways.