Powerless Death
Homily on the 5th Sunday of Lent, 22 March 2026, SJBP Cotcot, Liloan
Have you ever experienced a painful death in your family, I mean, the sudden death of someone you loved so dearly? Or someone who had been looking after you and had occupied a big part of your heart? It’s not only painful; it is be heart breaking, isn’t it? You ask so many questions – why should he die so soon? Why this? Or why that? And so on… and you keep thinking of reasons just to understand and to pacify the heart bursting with pain within you. And unless you begin to find some good reason for the untimely death, the grieving would never really subside. This is exactly what Martha and Mary could have felt in the gospel story we have heard today.
Brothers and sisters, we gather today on this fifth Sunday of Lent to be one with the Lord in his passion and death and to be one also with all those who have lost their loved ones like Martha and Mary in whatever part of the world.
Martha and Mary were the siblings of Lazarus, who was a beloved friend of Jesus. When Lazarus fell ill, they had a message quickly sent to Jesus “Master, the one you love is ill.” The message was short; not demanding, but direct to the point.
We recall that much earlier during the wedding at Cana (in the same gospel written by John), when the wine had run out and the guests were still having a good time, Mary, his mother, approached Jesus and quickly dropped him a short but clear message “They have no more wine.” And we all know what Jesus did – after having the jars filled with water, he changed the water into wine.
In this episode of Lazarus’ illness, Jesus was told “Master, the one you love is ill.” But this time he did not respond quickly. He tarried awhile where he was doing his ministry, and then after two days, he went. But unfortunately he did not make it on time. So long was his delay that when he arrived in Bethany, Lazarus was already buried in the tomb for four days.
However, this is the part that strikes us most. Jesus wept at his friend’s sudden death. This grieving on the part of Jesus should not be taken as fake or mere pretention. As a human person with human feelings, Jesus was indeed capable of developing real friendships and of loving people genuinely to the point of getting hurt.
And so, even if as God, he knew that Lazarus could be raised up to life again, he still could not deny or suppress his deep sorrow. When he saw Mary in tears and heard her telling him “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died,” spontaneously, Jesus broke into tears. He too wept. He was as deeply affected as Martha and Mary were.
The Lord’s grieving at Lazarus’ death tells us that he too grieves with us whenever we lose a loved one.
The good news is that Jesus did not allow himself to be overpowered by grief. He did not allow the inevitable death to take full control of how he felt and how he would react. In short even in his brokenness he did not lose heart. Instead, he gathered up his inner strength and faced the problem head on. And this is the most striking part. He stood before the tomb, then he called Lazarus by name shouting out “Lazarus, come out.” Immediately Lazarus came out no longer dead, but alive again.
With Lazarus being resurrected by Jesus, Martha and Mary’s grieving had instantly been turned into joy, so similar to how water had been turned into wine Can, and how the man born blind had been endowed with gift of seeing at the pool of Siloam.
What could this story of Lazarus’ resurrection be telling us today?
1. Death may at times be inevitable. Certain illnesses can really end up in death sooner than we expect. Could this be God’s will, or does he simply allow it for a much greater purpose?
We have heard of Jesus ability to heal countless people who were sick. But in the case of Lazarus, he seemed to have failed. Why? There are times in fact when despite our prayers for a loved one who is sick, the Lord does not seem to hear and listen. And our prayers seem powerless, if not useless. Why?
The answer can be found in Lazarus’ resurrection. Jesus may have allowed Lazarus to die so that he could manifest clearly that even death, like any other sickness, has no power over him. Didn’t he say to his disciples “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” And to Martha, he also said “Your brother will rise… I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live… and will never die.”
Therefore even if our prayers seem at times to be powerless, God remains powerful, and he will surely grant to us more than we can ever expect or imagine. This leads us to the second message the Lord might be telling us.
2. Only faith and love can make death powerless.
When we truly love someone who already passed away, he doesn’t totally die because his memory continues to live on in our mind, in our heart. It is our love that can keep that person so much alive today even years after his death. That is why we bury our loved ones in memorial parks, and celebrate their death anniversaries with Masses offered for them, and dinner tributes in their honor. Our enduring love keeps them forever alive.
Even much greater than our love is Christ’s perfect love for them. If Jesus’ love for Lazarus empowered him to raise his friend back to life, Jesus’ love, which is definitely more powerful than death, can also raise our beloved ones from the dead, whether instantly or in eternity. Even our spiritual death due to sin can be overcome by the power of God’s love burning in the Sacred Heart of Jesus who is willing to forgive us and raise us up to new life.
3. Lazarus’ resurrection is just a prelude to Jesus’ glorious resurrection.
If Jesus allowed Lazarus to die, it was for the purpose of manifesting his much greater power over death and of revealing the immense glory of Father. And by raising Lazarus from the dead, he wanted to show clearly to his disciples that he is the Resurrection, that is, even if he himself should die on the cross, he certainly has the absolute power to raise himself up from the dead.
By next Sunday, we shall already be celebrating the Passion of our Lord, and after that Easter Sunday of the Lord’s resurrection will follow.
May this Eucharist strengthen our faith in Christ’s power to forgive us and raise us up from our spiritual death to new & everlasting life. May we not lose hope that despite the pain of being broken hearted for losing someone we truly love, he can still fix our brokenness and make us whole again. GiGsss!
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