HOMILY Sixth Sunday of Lent Cycle A March 26, 2023

 HOMILY     Sixth Sunday of Lent   Cycle A   March 26, 2023

Did you like this Gospel?   It is long, but I find it very beautiful. 

In this moving Gospel from St. John, Jesus is frustrated.  He has a hard time making Himself understood.   The disciples misunderstand Jesus about Lazarus having died, thinking he was only sick.  They think that when Jesus says that Lazarus is asleep that it is regular ordinary sleep, rather than death.

Then both of the sisters, Martha and Mary, the first thing that they say to Jesus on seeing Him is, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  Which is a not very subtle criticism of Jesus for not coming immediately when He was called.

And when Jesus saw Mary and the Jews weeping we are told “He became perturbed and deeply troubled…”  Scripture scholars tell us that is because Jesus was upset at their lack of faith, not that He was morning the death of Lazarus.  After all, Jesus knew He was going to raise Lazarus.

Finally, when Jesus orders the stone to be taken away from the tomb, Martha objects, leading Jesus to say in exasperation: “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the Glory of God?”   In other words, do you still not get it????

Jesus has a hard time making Himself understood and believed.

And guess what?   The same is often true for you and me. 

I hesitate to think about Jesus’ exasperation with my lack of faith and trust in Him.  Like the Apostles and Martha and Mary and the Jews, I too continually want proof, want reassurance, want to see some concrete and visible evidence of Christ’s power and the fulfillment of His promise of eternal life.  I want to see it on my terms and right away.

 And I think Jesus gets exasperated.  “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?”   That is addressed to me. 

That is addressed to you. 

 Because our faith is weak; because our faith is small and flimsy; because our faith is rather slim and fragile, we continue to look for proofs and assurances.  We want Jesus to come the instant we call.  We want proofs and assurances on our schedule.

But Jesus has His own schedule, which is not ours.  Jesus instead asks us to believe in Him, to have faith, to be confident in His care and protection of us, regardless of what we experience and know.

The question that Jesus puts to Martha in the Gospel today Jesus puts to each of us: “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?”

AMEN.