Jesus does a most amazing thing: he commands his dear dead friend Lazarus who was in a tomb for four days, to rise from the dead…and he does!

What great power Jesus has to be able to do that! But the religious leaders become very jealous at all the attention being given to Jesus, thinking that they are going to lose power over others. How dumb! They think that they can kill someone who has power over death! Dah!

The Gospel of St. John is one that often has two meanings when John shares about Jesus. It’s something like the first joke I ever heard as a kid. “Why did the moron through the clock out the window? He wanted to see time fly!” That simple joke is funny because there are two meanings to the idea of time.

So it is that the verse for today has two meanings: the religious leaders think how good for them it will be if Jesus dies, as they jealously say that if they put Jesus to death, the nation will benefit from it! Now read it in the positive way that St. John intends—by the death of Jesus, we are all saved from having to die in our sins.

As always in the stories of Jesus, imagine that you are there, a silent witness in the crowd, watching all that is going on. Notice the feelings that are stirred up inside you when you do this!

John 11:45-57

Here is a sample of a seven-syllable breath-prayer
One to die for the people v. 50
For more information about
this creative way to pray, see Bible Breaths.

This is the First Week in Lent
Spring in the north.  Year C
On Fridays in Lent and Easter we read the Gospel of John.

Seasons of Grace – A Calendar for 2019

Solar and Sacred Seasons
Some adjustments to make the church year simpler.

These Firestarters are from a new edition of The Bible Through the Seasons being developed for families with children. For the Firestarters in the original edition, I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand Firestarters with you on your phone or tablet.  More information…