Fifth Sunday of Lent
John 11:1-45Today’s gospel reading tells the story of death and rising of Lazarus. There are many intricacies in this story. One of the anomalies is the response of both Martha and Mary when they see Jesus. They both saw Him privately, independent of the other. But their words were precisely identical: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Here we witness what Jesus is desiring from us: pure faith. He wants us to have faith that no matter what, we know Jesus can handle anything. The fact Martha and Mary had missed was that Jesus was with them. The fact is Jesus is always with us. He wants us to trust Him. Trust His care for us. Trust His love for us. Trust His ability to handle all of our crosses. Trust that He will work everything for the good of all.
This kind of trust comes only through a personal relationship with Jesus. Our contact with Him will strengthen our abilbity to trust Him. Our time with Him will solidify our faith and enable us to say, “I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus, I trust in You.”