“He cried out in a loud voice, 

‘Lazarus, come out!’

The dead man came out,

tied hand and foot with burial bands, 

and his face was wrapped in a cloth.

So Jesus said to them,

‘Untie him and let him go.’”

As usual, we are familiar with the story. Lazarus, the beloved friend of Jesus, has died. There is regret and disappointment from everyone, except Jesus, that Jesus himself had not shown up earlier to heal and save his friend from death. Jesus grieves the death of his friend, but he knows there is a greater purpose. Everyone had come to expect and believe that Jesus was a healer, and they are not wrong. If Jesus had been there, their brother or friend or acquaintance, Lazarus, would not have died. He would have been healed. None of them, however, could imagine that Jesus could or would raise Lazarus from the dead. It is a bridge too far. Death was final. Lazarus was gone. What could even Jesus do now?

Many, if not all, of us are wounded. We are in need of healing. Some of us, however, are dead. We are dead on the inside: spiritually, emotionally, or morally. Somehow, either completely or in part, the spark has gone out. Our conscience has been seared, our passion extinguished, or our spirit has been killed. There is nothing left. We have been in the tomb for four days and, by now, there is a stench. Often, in this state, we feel beyond God’s reach, beyond his power to save. Today’s Gospel from the Year A readings for the scrutiny (for those preparing to receive the Easter Sacraments), show us otherwise. Jesus is the resurrection and the life! Our interior death is not the end. Into the darkness, into the stench, and into the hopelessness, Jesus speaks your name and mine, “Come out!” Last week’s second reading from Paul to the Ephesians echos the same power, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” Arise from the dead! Come out! No matter how dead we are, Jesus can and will bring us back to life. Death is not a bridge too far for Jesus. It is who he is. Jesus is the resurrection and the life!

For those of us not dead inside but only wounded, Jesus gives us a job. When God is at work raising the dead around us, Jesus speaks to us as he did to those gathered around Lazarus, “Untie him and let him go.” Couldn’t this almost be a mission statement for the Church, for our community? Untie them and let them go! Set them free! Too often our culture is about sealing the tomb, nailing the coffin, or shoveling the dirt on the grave. We do this through innuendo, condemnation, harsh judgment, preconceived opinions, hatred, prejudice, vilification, and “cancelling.” As Jesus says to his disciples, “It shall not be so among you.” If no where else, we are to be countercultural disciples of mercy, forgiveness, encouragement, the second chance, and the new beginning. In short, of resurrection and life! It is not enough for us to notice when God calls someone out of the tomb, it’s our responsibility to untie them and let them go. 

Our Lenten journey is a journey to the cross. It is a journey to death. But, it is a journey of preparation. The journey we are on to the cross, to death, is in preparation for what lies beyond. Death is not the end of the story. In Jesus, it is a new beginning. He is the resurrection and the life! To paraphrase the words of a famous sermon, our journey is to Good Friday, but Sunday is coming!