Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent
GATHERING WHAT IS SCATTERED
Introduction
At the time of the purifying trial of the exile, Ezekiel preaches God’s utopian dream: Israel will be gathered into one: one nation, one land, one sanctuary, ruled by one shepherd and a servant king under one God in a covenant of peace.
After the resurrection of Lazarus, the cynical High Priest and leaders decide to put the embarrassing troublemaker, Jesus, to death for opportunistic reasons of the state. But John, and Christians with him, realize that Jesus’ death, for the sake of all, will ultimately unify us all in his kingdom.
We are today still scattered and divided tribes, within the Church and outside it. Is unity for us utopia or a firm hope? Do we realize that it can be attained only by respect, love and sacrifice?
Reading 1: Ezekiel 37:21-28
Gospel: Jn 11:45-56
45-48 That was a turning point for many of the Jews who were with Mary. They saw what Jesus did, and believed in him. But some went back to the Pharisees and told on Jesus. The high priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the Jewish ruling body. “What do we do now?” they asked. “This man keeps on doing things, creating God-signs. If we let him go on, pretty soon everyone will be believing in him and the Romans will come and remove what little power and privilege we still have.”49-52 Then one of them—it was Caiaphas, the designated Chief Priest that year—spoke up, “Don’t you know anything? Can’t you see that it’s to our advantage that one man dies for the people rather than the whole nation be destroyed?” He didn’t say this of his own accord, but as Chief Priest that year he unwittingly prophesied that Jesus was about to die sacrificially for the nation, and not only for the nation but so that all God’s exile-scattered children might be gathered together into one people.53-54 From that day on, they plotted to kill him. So Jesus no longer went out in public among the Jews. He withdrew into the country bordering the desert to a town called Ephraim and secluded himself there with his disciples.55-56 The Jewish Passover was coming up. Crowds of people were making their way from the country up to Jerusalem to get themselves ready for the Feast. They were curious about Jesus. There was a lot of talk of him among those standing around in the Temple: “What do you think? Do you think he’ll show up at the Feast or not?”
Prayer
Lord God, creator and Father of all,
your sons and daughters
are still scattered and divided:
Christians and non-Christians,
various Churches and sects
claiming exclusive rights on your Son,
and each of them full of factions.
Make us dream again the dream
which you alone can make possible:
that we can all be one
if we believe and follow him
who died to unite all that is scattered,
Jesus Christ, our Lord for ever.
Reflection:
1 April 2023
John 11: 45-56
To give us life, He walks to his death.
We are now on the threshold of the Holy Week, and today’s Gospel sets the stage for the coming events. The storm clouds gather….The Gospel narrative today picks up the events that followed immediately after the restoration of Lazarus to life. Some began to believe in Jesus; others report him to the Jewish authorities.
An official meeting at the highest level takes a full-fledged decision. It is tragic and paradoxical that the final reason for the decision to put him to death is because Jesus brought a man back to life. By raising Lazarus to life, Jesus has sealed his death sentence. “…it is better for you that one man dies for the sake of the people than that the whole nation is destroyed.”
Caiaphas, the high priest, did not know the God of Jesus. His “god” was the devil, a murderer from the beginning. He passes the judgement: “it is better that one man dies”.
Autocratic and oppressive regimes have followed Caiaphas’s cold-blooded pragmatism across the centuries. Their so-called national interest so often overrides the right to life of ordinary people. Even in our times, nationalistic arguments are used to justify immoral procedures, minority suppression, preemptive military strikes, and torture.
The members of the Sanhedrin were more concerned about their power base than any national interest. They deliberately rejected Jesus’ message of love as the only way to life and freedom. Caiaphas succeeded in convincing the Sanhedrin that if the ordinary people followed Jesus, there could be riots in the society and the Romans would come and destroy them and their temple. They opted to kill the prince of peace to avoid riots!
The raising of Lazarus from death to life finally led to the killing of Jesus. Jesus, in his free will, determined the Hour of Grace. He chose the Feast of the Passover for the journey to his life-giving death and freedom because the Israelites had taken their first steps towards freedom with the original Passover. During the first Passover, lambs were killed, and their blood was sprinkled on the doorsteps of the Israelites; thus, they were saved from the sword of the angel of destruction. In the new Passover of Jesus, a new liberation begins. The actual liberation would no longer be by the blood of lambs but by the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God.
Tomorrow, on Palm Sunday, we enter the Holy Week. Let us prepare ourselves to walk with Jesus to witness his passion, death and resurrection.