Sunday January 14, 2024
Theme: “The power of Jesus Christ, source of our faith”
Text: John 11:39-44
39. Jesus said: Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him: Lord, he already smells, for he has been here four days. 40. Jesus said to him, Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? 41. So they removed the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes on high, and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42. As for me, I knew that you always hear me; but I spoke because of the crowd around me, that they might believe that it was you who sent me. 43. Having said this, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! 44. And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bands, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, Unbind him, and let him go.
Let's remember:
Jesus did not block his nostrils for fear of the odor of putrefaction emanating from the inanimate body of Lazarus. He didn't do things in a hurry to get rid of the stinking smell of his late friend Lazarus. In exercising his power, Jesus ignored all the hazards surrounding the circumstances in which he worked. His power was above carnal feelings and even what others feared. Exercising its power is all that mattered in bringing our faith back to full expansion. He could remove the stone by his power but he involved the witnesses so that they would feel concerned; so that each participant is involved in this testimony; so that their faith increases and stabilizes. His power was exercised through speech, without touching the dead. Lazarus got up all bandaged up whereas it is impossible to get up when the feet, the hands, the face in short the whole body is bandaged. In addition, he came out in his state as a man covered in bands, dead of disease, the body cells and the immune system out of order and therefore without strength. The power of Jesus brought all his organs back to life. The blood that had coagulated, the lungs that had atrophied, regained volume and rhythm, and the heart and brain resumed their legendary functions. What can we say about the muscles, the veins, the arteries, the bones, the skin, in short the whole body regained its senses. At the resurrection, Lazarus was no longer sick; his last state disappeared to give way to excellent health. The power of Jesus put his life back in order. How could such power not impact our faith? Excellent Sunday. Amen
Alain Louz.-