Lazarus, come out! Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent, Year A.

The raising of Lazarus is not simply a story about what Jesus once did, long ago, outside the village of Bethany. It is a revelation of who God is and how God acts. In John’s Gospel, Jesus does not explain death away; he is deeply moved, he comes to the tomb, and he weeps. But then he speaks. And when he speaks, even what has been sealed, bound, and left for dead is summoned into life. The Gospel leaves us with a question, not about Lazarus, but about ourselves: what wounds, sins, or failures have we shut away and learned to live with, telling ourselves that this is simply how things are? Today’s Gospel assures us that God’s word is still spoken into such places, and that no stone is too heavy to roll aside, no loss too complete, for the voice of Christ to reach.