Fifth Sunday of Lent Year C Second Gospel Reading

Gospel John 11:1-45

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John.

There was a certain man named Lazarus who was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus was sick, was the one who anointed the feet of Jesus with perfume and dried his feet with her hair. The two sent this message to Jesus: “The one you love is sick.” When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness is not to end in death; rather, it is for the glory of God, so that through it, God’s Only Begotten may be glorified.” Jesus loved these three very much. Yet after hearing that Lazarus was sick, he stayed on where he was for two more days. Finally he said to the disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” They protested, “Rabbi, it was only recently that they tried to stone you. Are you going to go back there again?” Jesus replied, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk by day do not stumble, because they see the world bathed in light; those who go walking by night will stumble because there is no light in them.” Then Jesus said, “Our beloved Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him.” The disciples objected, “If he is asleep, he will recover.” Jesus had been speaking about Lazarus’ death, but they misunderstood him. So he said very plainly, “Lazarus is dead! For your sakes I am glad that I wasn’t there, that you might come to believe. In any event, let us go to him.” Then Thomas – “the Twin” – said to the rest, “Let us go along, so that we can die with him.”

When Jesus arrived in Bethany, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Since Bethany was only about two miles from Jerusalem, many people had come out to console Martha and Mary. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, while Mary stayed at home. When she got to Jesus, Martha said, “If you had been here, my brother would never have died! Yet even now, I am sure that God will give you whatever you
ask.” “Your brother will rise again!” Jesus assured her. Martha replied, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her: “I am the Resurrection, and I am Life: those who believe in me will live, even if they die; and those who are alive and believe in me will never die.

“Do you believe this?” “Yes!” Martha replied, “I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, God’s Only Begotten, the One who is to come into the world.” When she had said this, Martha went back and called her sister Mary. “The Teacher is here, asking for you,” she whispered. As soon as Mary heard this, she got up and went toward the place outside the village where Jesus was. Those who were there consoling her saw her get up quickly and followed her, thinking she was going to the tomb to mourn. When Mary got to Jesus, she fell to his feet and said, “If you had been here, Lazarus never would have died.”

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the other mourners as well, he was troubled in spirit, moved by the deepest emotions. “Where have you laid him?” Jesus asked. “Come and see,” they said.  As they made their way, Jesus too began to weep. The people in the crowd began to remark, “See how much he loved him!” Others said, “He made the blind person see, why couldn’t he have done something to prevent Lazarus’ death?” As they approached the tomb, Jesus was again deeply moved. The tomb was a cave with a stone in front of it. “Take away the stone,” Jesus directed. Martha said, “It has been four days now. By this time there will be a stench.” Jesus replied, “Did I not assure you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took the stone away. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Abba, thank you for having heard me. I know that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd, that they might believe that you sent me!”

Then Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, still bound hand and foot with linen strips, his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus told the crowd, “Untie him and let him go free.” Many of those who had come to console Martha and Mary and had seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, put their faith in him.

The Good News as spoken through John.