When someone we love dies, we become aware of a large absence in our life, an absence that seems to fill the world. The death of those we love brings into sharp focus their unique quality, and we often regret that we didn't make more room for them in our lives. Any of us who has watched the last moments of a life knows that it can become a time of regret, reproach, when our sorrow can take the form of wishing: "If only I had ..."

But we know, too, that the time of dying can be a time of healing. This is shown simply and movingly by Simone de Beauvoir in her small book, “A Very Easy Death,” in which she reflects on her relationship with her dying mother: “I had grown fond of this dying woman. As we talked in the half-darkness I allayed an old unhappiness; I was renewing the dialogue that had been broken off during my adolescence and that our differences and our likenesses had never allowed us to take up again. And the early tenderness that I had thought dead for ever came to life again, since it had become possible for it to slip into simple words and actions.”

Their rediscovery of each other had waited a long time, right up to the door of death, but the lateness of the hour did not lessen the power of their reconciliation. This last time together had become for both mother and daughter a time of healing, of new life. A tender relationship that was dead was brought to life again.

In today’s Gospel, we hear how the death of Lazarus leaves a large absence in the lives of those who loved him. By the time Jesus arrives, Lazarus is dead, and Martha voices her regret: If Jesus had been with them earlier, things would surely have turned out differently. But Jesus’s absence is essential to the story. John tells us at the beginning of his account that through the death of Lazarus, the Son of God will be glorified. Just as the blindness of the man in last week’s Gospel served as the occasion to show Jesus as the light, so the death of Lazarus will serve to show Jesus as the life.

John is showing us a great truth about Jesus that he proclaimed at the beginning of his Gospel:

All that came to be, had life in him And that life was the light of men A light that shines in the dark A light that darkness could not overpower (John 1:4-5).

When Jesus tells Martha that her brother will rise again, he will show her that he means now: “I am the resurrection and the life.” The darkness of the tomb is not too dark for Jesus; the death of Lazarus does not mean that it is too late for Jesus to be his life. In a loud voice Jesus calls to the other end, “Lazarus! Come out!”

The great miracle is that while he is dead, Lazarus hears the word of Jesus and obeys it. Hearing the voice of the Son of God, Lazarus lives again. The great prophetic word of Jesus is seen to happen:

I tell you most solemnly, The hour will come, in fact it is here already, When the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, And all who hear it will live. (John 5:25)

When Lazarus comes forth, he is still wearing the cloths of a dead man. He is still enshrouded. Jesus now addresses the community: “Unbind him, let him go free.” In obeying the word of Jesus, the community plays its part in helping Lazarus unwind and emerge into the light of his new life.

Now comes the moral of this story. The story of the raising of Lazarus proclaims the great truth that Jesus is Lord of Life. He has power to call us out of our tombs—for the Christian life only begins when we, even though we are dead, hear the word of God and obey it. We know from experience that we don't have to be dead physically to be in need of being raised up. We can be dead in the midst of life—hoping for a word and a community that will put us together again.

The voice of Jesus calls us all away from making the tomb our natural habitat. It also challenges us to take responsibility for our brothers and sisters who, like Lazarus, are loved by Jesus. If we see someone buried alive, we are invited to do as Jesus and the community did in the Gospel: call them, and help them go free. If we do that as part of our Lenten task, then resurrection at Easter won't come as too much of a surprise.

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