Do you believe Christ’s Spirit dwells in you?
Imagine being raised from the dead! As Jesus approaches the end of his ministry in John’s Gospel, he knows that he needs to demonstrate beyond any doubt that he is the Son of God. When he learns that his friend Lazarus is ill, Jesus nonetheless remains for two days in the place where he is, for there can be no doubt that Lazarus is dead if Jesus’ actions are to have any effect. When, finally, Jesus arrives in Bethany, only Martha, the sister of Lazarus, has some modicum of faith in him: I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you, she tells Jesus. Jesus knows Psalm 130; he knows that when he addresses himself to the Father, he will be heard, for his soul trusts in the Father’s word. Surrounded by the Jewish community of Bethany, Jesus thanks his Father for hearing him and summarily raises Lazarus from the dead: Lazarus, come out! As Jesus has just told Martha, he is the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in him even if he dies, will live. And thus, Lazarus exits the tomb and is unbound.
Yet the story of Lazarus is our own story. Jesus comes to lead us through death to life, life in him. Like the promise of God to the people of Israel conveyed by Ezekiel, Jesus comes to put his Spirit in us, that we may live. As the people are restored to life, made whole by the Spirit of God, so, too are we blessed by the kindness and mercy and fullness of redemption born of the death and rising of Jesus. And, as Paul tells the Romans, If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you. If we are focused in the love of Christ and in the power of God at work in the world, in us and through us, then we belong to Christ and are one with him, no longer alone in our fears or isolation or brokenness, but one in his Body, one with him, in Spirit and truth. We too raised from the dead by the Lord who loves us beyond all telling, who hears our voice, and calls to us, come out, that we might be unbound!
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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