COMING AND GOING

GOSPEL — JOHN 11:1-45
The Fifth Sunday in Lent

There is a lot of coming and going in today’s gospel. Mary and Martha send a messenger to Jesus with news that Lazarus is ill. Jesus and his disciples do not go right away, but eventually they come to Martha after Lazarus has died. We learn that many had come to console the sisters. Martha proclaims Jesus “the Messiah, the Son of God, is the one coming into the world” (John 11:27). She then goes to get Mary, who comes quickly to Jesus. Mary is weeping, and so are those who come with her. When Jesus asks where Lazarus is, they invite him to come and see. They all go to the tomb. With all of this coming and going, it is not surprising that Jesus tells Lazarus to come out and that Jesus commands others to unbind him so he can go.

Lazarus emerging from the tomb is a remarkable moment, but just as remarkable are the connections of all of this story’s coming and going with our daily lives. Our health comes and goes. Jobs come and go. People come into our lives and go. Kids go, and perhaps come back again. Sometimes we are the ones who come and go. The grief of loss and death comes and goes. Tears come and go. Hope can even come and go.

Amid this movement, we come together in worship. We come to gather around the font and the table and hear again the stories of Jesus coming into the world, going to the cross, and coming again in the resurrection. We come together with our griefs and joys, our struggles and celebrations, all that binds us and sets us free. We come to gather, surrounded by God’s grace. Having come, we will go in peace to serve the Lord. Thanks be to God!


From sundaysandseasons.com.
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