In the seemingly hectic swirl that ensued upon the Lord learning of the death of his friend Lazarus, at which news “Jesus wept,” he told Martha, Lazarus' sister, the most fundamental truth of the Christian faith: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” He follows this revelation by asking her, “Do you believe this?”1 My dear Elect, this is the question Jesus asks you today.
Beliefs are strange things. We all have well-founded beliefs and we all have unfounded beliefs. Belief does not preclude doubt. In fact, dealing with doubts is indispensable for clarifying what you believe. We probably face no greater uncertainty than contemplating resurrection and life eternal in the wake of the death of someone dear to us. This is why engaging in momento mori- remembering your own death- is a fruitful spiritual practice.
Sure, living forever sounds great, but is it true? Can it be possible, or is it merely a desperate wish? Woody Allen expressed this deepest of human longings well when he said, “I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.”
“Do you believe this?” This is the same question posed in our first reading from Ezekiel, the immediate context for which is Israel's return from exile. But how anyone and everyone comes to know that God is LORD is through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. God's Lordship is made manifest by Christ's victory over death, which is the power that opens graves and has us rise from them, both metaphorically and truly.2
It is easy, as Christians, to become so numb to this reality, this truth, that we lose sight of its audaciousness. In his Letter to the Romans, St. Paul fleshes this out more fully:
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you3My dear Elect, you are preparing for Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist. These are the means Christ has instituted to impart to you, his Holy Spirit, who is also the Spirit of the Father. In other words, the Holy Spirit is the way Jesus remains present, not just to you, but in you and through you. But for this to happen, you must die.
Being infused with the Holy Spirit means being filled with new life, which is life eternal. Eternal life is not that life that begins after mortal death. Rather, eternal life begins when we die, are buried, and rise in Christ to new life through Baptism. A few chapters earlier in Romans, in the midst of a rather complicated exposition on sin and grace, the apostle makes an important point, one you will hear again at the upcoming Easter Vigil:
are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life4Don't drive the Spirit out by continuing to live according to the flesh, which does not mean a rejection of the body but a rejection of sin: living according to the Spirit is something we are called to do now and, as the result of Christ's resurrection, forever with our bodies. This determination to cooperate with God's grace, which builds on our nature, is sung about by Old Crow Medicine Show in their song “Darius Rucker,” which is about a deep longing for home:
Oh, north country winters keep a-getting me downHow a wish turns into hope, an unfounded belief into a well-founded one, is through experience. Experience is how an event becomes an encounter. What does this mean? Pope Benedict, with his characteristic clarity, did about as good a job describing this with words as anyone: “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.”6
Lost my money playing poker so I had to leave town
But I ain't turning back to live that old life no more5
The “person” whom the Christian encounters who changes her, makes her a Christian, is none other than Jesus Christ. It is Christ who asks you today, as you come nearer to the waters of Baptism: "Do you believe this?” This evening, in preparation for being dying and being buried with Christ in Baptism, Jesus directs you: “Take away the stone” from your heart so that he can raise you to new life.
1 John 11:25-26a.35.↩
2 Ezekiel 37:13.↩
3 Romans 8:11.↩
4 Romans 6:2-3.↩
5 Old Crow Medicine Show, "Darius Rucker."↩
6 Pope Benedict, Encyclical Letter, Deus caritas est, sec. 1.↩
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