On this Sunday, the third
scrutiny of catechumens is celebrated, accompanied by the catechesis on Baptism
from the gospel of John. The passage read today for this catechesis is the
raising of Lazarus. In the gospel of John, Jesus performs seven miracles,
called “signs.” This one is the last before the resurrection of Jesus himself.
We could consider the raising of Lazarus as the climax of the previous signs. Jesus
presents himself as “the resurrection and the life” (Ego sum resurrectio et vita). He is the one who conquers
death and gives life: “Whoever believes in me, even if
he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
People already believe in Jesus.
The two sisters, Martha and Mary, when they meet Jesus, say: “Lord, if you had
been here, my brother would not have died.” Evidently, they know that Jesus is
able to heal people; so, they are convinced that, if Jesus had been with them,
he would have prevented Lazarus from dying. The Jews, on their part, say:
“Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so
that this man would not have died?” This means that either they have been
present at the healing of the man born blind or the news of that miracle has
spread everywhere. All of them believe in Jesus as a healer, but no one considers
the possibility that he can raise Lazarus from the dead.
Martha knows that whatever Jesus
asks of God, God will give him; but, when Jesus tells her that Lazarus will
rise, she replies: “I know he will rise, in the resurrection of the last day.”
After Jesus invites her to believe in him as the one who gives life, she
declares her faith: “I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of
God, the one who is coming into the world”—a perfect profession of faith,
similar to Peter’s. And yet, when Jesus orders to take away the stone from the
tomb, she complains that it is already four days since Lazarus’ death. It is inconceivable
that a man can raise the dead; so even those who believe in Jesus exclude this
possibility. Only God can give and take life. However great, Jesus is still a
man. But they do not take into consideration the possibility that Jesus might
be God and, as such, raise the dead. Jesus, by raising Lazarus, manifests his
deepest identity.
It is interesting to notice that
Jesus reveals his divinity precisely at the moment when he more openly shows his
humanity. In no other page of the gospel he discloses his human feelings like here.
The gospel points out that “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” The
two sisters inform Jesus of their brother’s illness with these words: “Master,
the one you love is ill.” Jesus terms Lazarus “our friend.” When Jesus sees
Mary and the Jews weeping, he becomes “perturbed and deeply troubled,” and
eventually he himself bursts into tears. The Jews recognize the affection of Jesus
for his friend: “See how he loved him.” Jesus is a true man: he loves like us;
he is moved and weeps like each of us. It is exactly when we see him more
human, that he shows us his divinity.
This remark is important, because
Jesus’ humanity, which could seem to conceal his divinity, in reality manifests
it: Jesus reveals his divinity through his humanity; and we can discover his
divinity only through his humanity. For us there is no other way to reach God
but through the humanity of Jesus Christ: “I am the way and the truth and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
What we are saying about the
humanity of Jesus goes also for the Church and the sacraments. The Church is an
extension of the humanity of Jesus; the sacraments are a continuation of his
signs. For example, Baptism is a kind of resurrection: when we are baptized, we
are raised from sin’s death and start a new life. That is why Baptism can be
considered as the sacrament of regeneration and rebirth. Through it we are born
to a new life, a life that will never end: “Whoever believes in me, even if he
dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
Q
