Fifth Sunday of Lent – Healing What Feels Dead
Reflection
There is a place we know too well—the place where hope feels buried.
In the first reading, God speaks with authority and tenderness:
“I will open your graves… I will put my Spirit in you that you may live.”
Not might live. Not someday.
That you may live now.
In the Gospel, we encounter the story of Lazarus. A family Jesus loved… a situation that seemed too far gone… a delay that didn’t make sense. Martha and Mary both say the same aching words
“Lord, if You had been here…”
How often does that echo in our hearts?
Lord, if You had intervened sooner…
If You had changed them…
If You had saved this before it got this bad…
But Jesus does something unexpected.
He does not rush past their grief.
He weeps.
Before the miracle… before the healing… before the restoration—
Jesus enters into the pain.
And then, standing before what everyone else calls final, He speaks:
“Lazarus, come out.”
There are parts of your marriage that may feel like they’ve been in the tomb too long:
- Communication that has died
- Trust that feels buried
- Love that seems bound and lifeless
And yet—this Gospel confronts us with a holy truth:
Jesus is not intimidated by what looks dead.
He waits… not to abandon you, but to reveal something deeper:
- A faith that trusts beyond sight
- A love that endures beyond feeling
- A resurrection that only He can accomplish
Jesus didn’t just raise Lazarus—He called him by name.
That means He is not working in generalities in your story.
He sees your marriage.
He knows your wounds.
He understands your waiting.
And when the time comes, He will speak life into what seems beyond saving.
But notice something important:
After Lazarus comes out, Jesus tells others:
“Untie him and let him go.”
Resurrection is His work.
But healing often unfolds in steps.
Your role right now is not to force life back into what feels dead—
it is to remain, to believe, and to trust the voice of the One who calls life forth.
Reflection questions
- Where in my marriage do I feel like something has “died,” and how is Jesus inviting me to trust Him with that place?
- Like Martha and Mary, have I been holding onto disappointment with God—saying “Lord, if You had been here…”—and what would it look like to surrender that to Him?
- What might it mean for me, personally, to hear Jesus call life forth again—what “grave clothes” (fear, control, bitterness, hopelessness) is He asking me to let go of?
Prayer
Jesus,
You are the Resurrection and the Life. You see the places in my marriage that feel buried, forgotten, and beyond hope. Meet me in my grief, as You met Martha and Mary. Teach me to trust You even in the waiting. Speak Your life into what feels dead. Call forth healing where there is silence, restoration where there is loss, and hope where there has been despair. Untie what is bound. Breathe Your Spirit into what has grown cold. I believe, Lord— help my unbelief.
Amen.
Lenten Truth
What looks like the end… is often where Jesus chooses to reveal His greatest healing power.