First reading (Ezekiel 37:12-14). All three readings are
concerned with resurrection to newness of life. In the First
Reading Ezekiel describes the Babylonian exile of the
Israelites and their promised restoration to their homeland
in terms of death and resurrection. They are like a mass of
dry bones strewn about a valley; but they will soon be
reassembled and re-clothed with flesh and sinews. When
the Spirit of Yahweh enters them, they will live again and
inhabit their land once more.
Second Reading (Romans 8:8-11). This contains one of the
most forceful of Paul’s expressions of Christian hope.
The God who raised Jesus from the dead will raise us also
because the same Spirit dwells in us. The present indwelling
of the Spirit is an anticipation of the complete renewal of life
that will come at the general resurrection.
Gospel (John 11:1-45). John’s main aim here is to elicit faith
in Jesus. As a model of faith, Martha declares, ‘I believe that
you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to
come into the world.’
Jesus came to offer us the life that cannot be touched by
death, the kind of life that only God possesses, and that
Jesus, as God’s Son, makes possible for those who believe in
him. The key words in the story are: ‘I am the resurrection
and the life. Anyone who believes in me will never die
(eternally).’
The delay in coming to Martha and Mary, and the fact that
Lazarus has been dead for four days, serve to underline the
point the evangelist is making, namely, that Jesus is the
master of life and death.
Eternal life is not something that begins when we die. It has
already begun in Baptism, though in a hidden way. Through
Baptism we already share in the risen life of Jesus.