This material was first published by Redemptorist Publications
and is included here with their permission.

John 11.32-44
A life unchanged and yet transformed

For four long days those who loved Lazarus have grieved and wept, sometimes in sorrow and sometimes with anger.  Jesus knew Lazarus was ill.  Why did he not come immediately to heal him?

But now, something impossible is about to happen.  Jesus calls Lazarus to come out of the tomb.  And he does.  Struggling against his grave cloths he shuffles out into bright sunlight, heat and crowds of people. Death has been taken from him, life given back to him.

He resumes the life he was living before his illness but he will again die and return to the tomb.  And in fact his life is transformed.  This moment of release from the grip of death changes everything.  These events and this man Jesus who commanded them to happen will now give meaning and purpose to his life.

We might not realise that we too are bound in the dark coldness of a tomb.  But when we hear the call of Jesus to come out and join him we do recognise our need for his kind of life with freedom and purpose.

When we respond we too will find our lives transformed, our priorities turned upside down.  While still in this world, living in familiar ways we will also know something of the life to come, the life with God who dries our tears and frees us from pain – eternal life in fellowship with Lazarus and all the saints. 

Prayer:           

Lord Jesus, call us away from anything that keeps us from knowing the fullness of life you offer to all who follow you and fill us with your love and peace.  Amen.