Reflection on Jn 11:23-25

These words were spoken in Bethany before Jesus raised Lazarus who had been dead four days. Lazarus’ death was preceded by an illness. Jesus and the apostles were not in Judaea at the time. Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, sent word to Jesus: “Lord, he whom You love is sick.” When Jesus heard that, He said: “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Two days later, Jesus said: “Let us go to Judaea again. Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” Then His disciples said: “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get well.” Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought He meant natural sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly: “Lazarus is dead.” When Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about an hour away, and many Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him. Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus: “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” This was followed by the words which we are going to repeat seven times a day for a period of two weeks. Jesus’ words are timeless: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.” Jesus wants these words too to reach the heart of every one of us. He wants us to have the saving faith, and at particular moments of our life He demands our faith through which He wants to work a physical or spiritual miracle, i.e. to intervene in the natural or spiritual laws. Martha had no doubt that if Jesus had come to Bethany at an earlier time, her brother would not have died. She heard about or even was an eyewitness to several miracles. The last one was the healing of the man born blind a few days ago in Jerusalem. Jesus says to her: “Your brother will rise again.” She answered: “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Martha thus believes in the Christ of the future. And she also believes in the Christ of the past: “If You had been here, my brother would not have died.” This is the problem of our faith too. But Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We should be aware of the real presence of Christ and His almightiness at the present time not only in prayer but above all in times of crisis. Jesus Christ is true God. He is the same as 2,000 years ago when He walked on this earth and worked miracles. Being God, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, He created the universe. He healed the sick and cast out demons. This is the Christ of the past. Moreover, in His almighty power He will raise all humanity to life at the final Resurrection. This is the Christ of the future. Being God, however, He is the same today. Realize this at least for one minute in your prayer. Maybe you also are in a situation when your daughter, mother or brother has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. What is your faith like? It is not enough to believe in God. You need to believe God. God wants to be glorified through your faith but you do not believe Him in practice. The question arises: What if God, who loves your daughter or sister, sees that from the perspective of eternal life this is the best time for her to depart from this life? God knows the dangers which can threaten her eternal salvation. This is one of the alternatives and it casts doubt on the faith in the miracle of healing. You begin to have doubts: There’s no point in praying if it’s not God’s will. These doubts, however, are a mere guise for our lack of faith and laziness to fight for God’s miracle. This miracle is for God’s glory, that many may believe in the power of God and be saved.

But there is another problem: Some people have been miraculously healed but have not changed their way of life, continue to live without God and cause offence.

Two women came to Lourdes some years ago. One of them received the gift of faith, repented and died reconciled to God. The other was healed but then lapsed from virtue.

And another question: Those who pray do not know if it is really the will of God to pray for a miracle of healing. Rather, they find it necessary to pray for the healing of the soul. What to do? Pray for the healing of both the body and the soul.

If you are at peace as to praying for a miracle of healing, stand in faith before God. Remember the miracles from the Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles or the lives of saints as well as the miracles from the present time and from your personal life. Realize that God – Jesus – is almighty. The Word of God testifies: “With God nothing will be impossible.” Perhaps in this prayer of faith you will receive God’s gift of faith through which God will perform the miracle of physical healing. But according to the experience, God gives us what we ask for or something better. Sometimes God puts you in a situation when He wants you to pray with faith for the healing of your daughter, mother… But finally your mother dies. How to understand it? An example is David who lay all night on the ground and kept a strict fast, even without bread. He pleaded with God for the healing of his child. On the seventh day his son died. When he was told that the child had died, he arose from the ground, washed himself and went into the house of the Lord and worshipped. Then he returned to his house, and at his request they served him food and he ate. David was aware of his sin of adultery and of his guilt in the death of Uriah. When the child died, David did not curse God; on the contrary, he went into the house of the Lord and worshipped. He knew that it was the best solution for both him and his child.

God puts us in situations in which He wants to be glorified through our faith, in us and through us. No prayer of faith is in vain. God will give us what we ask for or something better. We will fully understand it in eternity. It happens sometimes that God reveals to us many years later why He did not answer our prayer in the way we asked Him. The rule is: pray for healing and do not doubt.

An example of a living faith from South Korea: A preacher spoke about the raising of Lazarus, and emphasized: “Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” He highlighted the word ‘today’. There was a lame boy in a wheelchair before him. Distinguished physicians had confirmed that the boy would never be able to walk. The preacher saw the boy’s living faith, which was the fruit of the preaching of God’s Word. He approached the boy and asked him: “Do you believe that Jesus can heal you now?” The boy, aware that Jesus was present there, said with tears in his eyes: “Yes, I believe.” And the preacher said: “So rise and walk!” And the boy rose and was healed. People were then witnesses of numbers of other miracles in that temple.

Let us return to Bethany. Jesus said to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Martha said: “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God!” When they came to the tomb, Jesus said: “Take away the stone!” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him: “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her: “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” And He cried out with a loud voice: “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out of the tomb.

This event is topical for Ukraine today. Some believers pray sincerely for the resurrection of Ukraine. By this time there is a spiritual stench of apostate Christianity, symbolizing spiritual death. God showed the prophet Ezekiel the whole Old-Testament Church as a valley full of dry bones. God asks the prophet: “Can these bones live?” When the prophet believes that God can do that, he is commanded: “Son of man, prophesy to these bones, and say to them: ‘O dry bones (the people of Ukraine), hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: ‘Surely I will bring the Spirit into you, and you shall live.’”

The Ukrainian people have accepted the spirit of lies and death especially through the mass media. Western Ukraine, under the influence of heresies of the apostate hierarchy, has become a spiritual grave full of bones, which signalize that there used to be a true Christian life there. It is not much better in Eastern Ukraine. It reaps the fruits of the atheistic ideology of previous years. Today, Ukraine as a whole is a spiritual cemetery. Prophesy to Ukraine with the same faith as the prophet in the Old Testament: “O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: ‘Surely I will bring the Spirit into you, and you shall live!” Believe in the spiritual resurrection of the Ukrainian nation! The miracle of spiritual resurrection can be performed by God alone, but He seeks people who have the obedience of faith like Ezekiel. God can stop the autogenocide of the nation programmed by the West. The Spirit of truth can cast out the spirit of lies and death which has been received even by simple folk because they believe the lies systematically disseminated through the mass media and allow destructive demoralization to enter their personal lives. Spiritual resurrection is a work of God’s almighty power, but God demands your faith. Stand up for the nation and its resurrection! Jesus said to Martha: “Your brother will rise again. Do you believe this?” Realize the presence of Christ and His Word, stand in faith even if you see that what you pray for is impossible with men. But with God all things are possible. You can stand before God for a few seconds or minutes and let His almighty power work through your faith. The Blessed Virgin said: “How can this be?” How can impossible things become possible? And the reply was: “The Holy Spirit shall do it!” We do not need to know how but who will do it. She said: “I am the slave of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word.” And Elizabeth testified: “You are blessed, because you believed that the Lord would do what He said.” You are blessed too if you believe God. The Holy Spirit will raise Ukraine to life. The Holy Spirit will raise up heroes of faith in Ukraine. The Holy Spirit will unmask the spirit of lies and death. The Holy Spirit will bring to life the dry bones of the Ukrainian people. How? By His divine power. Through whom? Through you. “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”

Download: Reflection on Jn 11:23-25