Jesus Waits
Mar
9
Written by:
Sunday, March 09, 2008
5th Sunday of Lent
March 9, 2008
Jesus receives word that his friend Lazarus is gravely ill (John 11:1-45). What would you do? If most of us received a call like this, we would drop everything and go right to the bedside of the one we love. After all, what is more important than being with people we care about in a time of crisis? But what do we find that Jesus does? He waits. . . and waits . . and waits ... until Lazarus is dead. What kind of friend would do this?
Martha and Mary are frantic. "Where is Jesus? Surely he got the message that our brother is dying! How many miracles have we seen him perform? How many times has he been to our house? We know he loves us! Why does he remain silent? Why doesn't he come when we call him? Doesn't he know we are in crisis?"
When Jesus finally does show up, Mary, Lazarus' sister, pulls no punches. "Why did you not come sooner?" we hear her saying between the lines. "We thought you loved us!" Yes, how familiar this story is to us. We sympathize with Mary. Does it not seem, at times, that the Lord is nowhere to be seen in our moments of crisis?
Yes, but Jesus has waited for a reason. His timing is perfect. He has tested the faith of his friends, Martha and Mary. Jesus has waited so that he could raise the dead. Jesus loves each of us just as much as he did Martha and Mary. But our friend, Jesus, is also God, and God moves in mysterious ways. How often God's timing is not our timing!
The Lord will periodically test our friendship with him, often by making us wait. It is a characteristic of God, that he has his own timing; perfect timing.... but quite often, not our timing. Throughout this gospel, and throughout our lives, Jesus remains our friend. But he is a friend who sometimes waits to respond. We need to keep this in mind when we are at prayer. God's silence does not always mean "no." It often means, "Yes, but not just yet."
Jesus has something to teach us in every circumstance of life. Often, the lesson is patience. The key to having a relationship with the Lord such as Martha and Mary had with Jesus is realizing that, no matter what happens to us, Jesus remains a friend. As God, Jesus is a friend who has his own timing. Often, it is not ours. We will not infrequently understand his ways. But if we remember that he is our friend, we will realize that he will work things for the best for us in the end.
Father Gary