Love Unbound
"Unbind him, and let him go..."
Like the two weeks of Gospels we encountered previously, the Church prepares us for our holiest of days with the most powerful reminders of who God is. God who is love, knows no boundaries as he reaches for us, as witnessed in the story of the woman at the well. God, who is love, brings us "out of darkness into his own wonderful light", as we encountered last week in the healing of the man born blind.
And now the raising of his friend, Lazarus.
Take a look at the icon I selected for this blog. For those of you unfamiliar with Byzantine iconography, just a quick note. Icons are "doors to the sacred", inspiring prayer and meditation. They are not meant to portray the "earthly" world, so you will not see any vivid "realism" in the portrayal of the figures or the scene itself. You will find many icons portraying the same scene, ones which figure prominently in the liturgical life of the Eastern Church.
So, in this case, "Lazarus Sunday" is celebrated in the Eastern Church, and many Byzantine churches will have and icon such as the one above. As you read the Gospel, allow your eyes to settle on the icon at various points in your reading, meditating on the scene.
John 11. 1-45 is in itself an icon, in terms of the depth and breath of its meaning for us as disciples. Let's reflect on just two.
"Jesus began to weep" (John 11.35)
The crowd around Jesus sees him weeping and thinks two things: either Jesus weeps for the loss of his friend Lazarus, or he is weeping because he could of healed him if he arrived sooner.
The crowd misses the point. Do we miss it as well?
Read verse 33. When he saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed.
Emmanuel, the "God with us" is also the "God for us". He weeps, not for the single friend, or for himself, but for the community. THIS IS THE GOD WHO SUFFERS WITH US!! As a Christian, this is at the heart of our faith and hope- God loves us so much that he will suffer with us, he will weep for us!
And that would be enough...
And then we enter Holy Week when we see that God's love knows no bounds.
"Unbind him, and let him go" (John 11.44)
As powerful as the Line "Lazarus, come out!" is, I think John 11.44 is even more so. Consider what Jesus says to his apostles elsewhere in the Gospels:
Whatever you bind on earth shall bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt 16.18-20)
Jesus' command to unbind Lazarus seems obvious- I mean, of course they would take off his bandages now that he is alive!!
But that's not why Jesus says it.
Lazarus has been freed from sin.
Through our life in Christ we have been freed from sin. We are no longer "bound" by it!
And notice it is through the community, the Church, that Jesus commands the unbinding!
As you prepare for Holy Week, avail yourself of the love Christ has for you through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Encounter Love Unbound.
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