Jesus: The Way To New Life

𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘 𝟐𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐀, 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐋𝐀𝐙𝐀𝐑𝐔𝐒

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐄𝐱𝐨 𝟑𝟑:𝟕-𝟏𝟏, 𝟑𝟒:𝟓-𝟗, 𝟐𝟖

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟎𝟑:𝟔-𝟏𝟑 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥."

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟏𝟏:𝟏𝟗-𝟐𝟕 

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒆.” (𝒗.26) 

        Today is the Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus. Martha is known for her hospitality and as a model disciple of Jesus, Martha was said to have confessed her faith in Jesus as the Son of God. The Church named her as the patroness of housewives, waiters and waitresses.

         We also have different readings for today and the liturgical calendar lists down 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟏𝟑:𝟓𝟒-𝟓𝟖 as its Gospel Reading. But since today is the Feast Day of St. Martha, we will defer to the Liturgy of the Hours which uses the Gospel of 𝐉𝐧 𝟏𝟏:𝟏𝟗-𝟐𝟕 and or 𝐋𝐤 𝟏𝟎:𝟑𝟖-𝟒𝟐 as both readings correspond to the narrative about Martha.

         John tells us the story of the raising of Lazarus while Luke highlights the servant heart of Martha and Mary having found the “𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒚” as she preferred to sit down at the foot of Jesus while listening to him.

         In his acquiescence to Martha’s aggressive nature, Jesus may have also signed his own death warrant because the raising of Lazarus was an incredible miracle that moved many people to believe in Jesus.

         That this event happened in Bethany which was just two miles from Jerusalem also prompted the chief priests and the Pharisees to finally put the capstone to their plot to kill Jesus for they feared this kind of publicity will provide undeniable proof to the claim that Jesus is indeed the Son of God.

         With his pronouncement “𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆. 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒅; 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒆.” (𝒗.25) became a cause of worry for the Pharisees because these are not empty words as these were accompanied by a factual deed when Lazarus rose even if he had been dead for four days.

         This event will certainly have serious political repercussions, and the Pharisees used this to finally muster the courage to plan and bring Jesus before the Roman on a charge of rebellion.

         The chief priests succeeded as we saw what happened to Jesus but what Caiaphas failed to comprehend was they may have done Jesus a favor because by his death Jesus finally proved once and for all that he spoke the truth when he said: “𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.”

         The rest is history, and his death and resurrection led a multitude to finally believe and have faith in him which eventually led to the downfall of the Roman empire and the spread of Christianity throughout the world.

         And when we look deeper into the Gospel of John and Luke, we will find that these events also take place in our lives and is still taking place in the lives of many believers and converts yet to come. In each one of us there is a Lazarus that is waiting to be resurrected. There is also a Martha in us who is always on the move. And there is also a Mary in some of us who have found the “𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒚”

         That Lazarus had been laid out in a tomb for four days is in keeping with the tradition in those days that the dead need to be buried within 24 hours since they yet do not have an advanced embalming process at that time. For all intents and purposes, there was no way that Lazarus would rise and live. At least to the people who were there.

         But what this event is telling us is that we who are dead to sin can still be resurrected and brought out of darkness and into a marvelous light if we will only believe in Jesus. Belief in Jesus is the key to being resurrected from the depth of our sinfulness.

         We suffer spiritual death when we ignore the needs of others and or when we become insensitive to the feelings of others. We put to death our honor and integrity when we engage in a dishonest pursuit of livelihood. There is no life in us when we prefer to sow disunity and disharmony in the Church and or in the Community by our disrespect to the flow of pastoral authority.

         We are dead when we refuse to use our hands for the building of God’s Kingdom on earth by our refusal to serve in the mission field. We are dead when we allow pride to rule our lives thinking highly of ourselves instead of embracing the humility and obedience that Christ has set as a standard. We can be dead by our endless pursuit of fame, power and honor in both our temporal lives and even inside the Church.

         And like Lazarus, Jesus Christ can resurrect our bodies that are dead to sin and bring us into a renewed relationship with God and with life itself for life begins the moment a person accepts Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior. We begin to enjoy life because the fear of death is removed from our midst as we begin to believe in Jesus who is the source of life.

         We are also ushered into a relationship with life itself by our resurrection because believing in Jesus means not only observing but following his commands of which there are only two – “𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑻𝒉𝒚 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕.” And the second is more like it “𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒃𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇.” On these two commandments depend on all the law and the prophets.

         This means that we are resurrected to a new life when we find joy in the company of fellow believers and find joy in bringing the Good News to others as we have been commanded to do.

         To evangelize is to be like Martha who is a woman of action. Some of us may be hard and unkind to Martha for the way she acted towards Mary but impatient though she may be there is no doubt she has the faith bigger than a mustard seed when she told Jesus “𝒀𝒆𝒔 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒅’𝒔 𝑨𝒏𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑶𝒏𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅.”       

         This was also what Mary found when instead of helping Martha she chose to stay with Jesus kneeling in front of him and listening to him. And when Martha protested and complained of Mary’s childish behavior Jesus only said, “𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅.”

         At this very moment, Mary became like the man who found the treasure and the merchant who found the pearl of great price when she found joy in the Word of God while listening to Jesus – the one thing that is necessary.

         And it is the same with us. When we believe in Jesus and accept everything that he says to be true and if we stake everything, we have in our possession to gain the truth that Jesus brings then we are resurrected for we are released from the fear that punctuates the godless life that we lived in the past.

          What happens is that when we are raised to a new life in Jesus, our lives become so fulfilled that death has no more power over us and it is also through Jesus and with the Holy Spirit working in us that we are assured of our place in the Kingdom of Heaven. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘺 29, 2025)