Reflection on the Fifth Sunday of Lent

The passage in John’s Gospel about Jesus’ raising of Lazarus is the conclusion of the section in this Gospel that scripture scholars call the “Book of Signs”. We know from our daily lives that signs direct us to something else. With Jesus, He is, in John’s Gospel especially, pointing to God the Father. For instance, at the Lazarus’ tomb Jesus thanks the Father for hearing Him and comments that He prayed this out loud so that the crowd would believe that the Father had sent Jesus. God the Creator, in collaboration with the Word that became flesh in Jesus as well as the Holy Spirit, brought everything into being so that all creation would rejoice in the gift of life. Jesus brings about rebirth, recreation, and through the Holy Spirit we are empowered to collaborate with Jesus and the Father in the continual transformation of all that exists.