Podcast: 5th Sunday of Lent, Year A

Hi and welcome to the Modern Psalmist Podcast. I’m Rebecca De La Torre.

Today we are celebrating the 5th Sunday of Lent year A, and are only a couple weeks away from the feast of the Resurrection. The readings and antiphons point us to God’s perfect justice, mercy, and promise of the resurrection.

We begin with our entrance antiphon, taken from Psalm chapter 43:

“Give me justice, O God,
and plead my cause against a nation that is faithless.
From the deceitful and cunning rescue me,
for you, O God, are my strength.”

The psalm for today is from chapter 130. The response is:

“With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.”

This psalm reminds us of God’s endless mercy and desire to redeem his people. It’s a good precursor to the resurrection story in today’s gospel.

Our Gospel acclamation today is another quote from Jesus, taken from the gospel reading today from John chapter 11:

“I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will never die.”

The gospel reading for today is the story of Jesus resurrecting Lazarus. It’s one of the most profound proofs that Jesus is truly the son of God.

One lesson I learn from this gospel is that God has plans far greater than anything we can imagine.

When Jesus received the message sent by Martha and Mary that Lazarus was sick, in John chapter 11 verse 6 we read

“when he heard that he was ill,
he remained for two days in the place where he was.”

Can you imagine how Mary and Martha must have felt when they realized that Jesus got the message but stayed where he was? What an incredible test of their faith!

And Martha’s response when Jesus finally arrived, four days after Lazarus had died, proves that she still had great faith in Jesus.

In verses 21 and 22 Martha says:

“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.”

It seems that Martha had not given up hope.

How many times have we cried out to God for help, and when the answer we get doesn’t meet our expectations, we question whether God really cares about us?

We can see from Martha’s response that she still had faith in the Lord. Even though Jesus allowed Lazarus to die, it was to glorify God in resurrecting Lazarus after being dead in the tomb for 4 days. There were many witness to Lazarus’ resurrection, and in verse 45 we read that

“many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.”

Martha didn’t understand God’s plan, but she still had faith and said specifically that she *knows* that whatever Jesus asked of God, God will give him. Not only did Jesus ultimately answer her prayer to save Lazarus, but it was all part of God’s greater plan to bring more people to himself.

Jesus had said earlier in the gospel when he was first told of Lazarus’ illness in verse 4:

“This illness is not to end in death,
but is for the glory of God,
that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

So the entire time Jesus knew what he was doing, even though none of his disciples understood his plan. Jesus even tells them what he’s going to do, but it is too radical for them to understand until they experience this miracle for themselves.

This gospel story is a beautiful reminder to us that even if we think God is not answering our prayer, we must have faith that God has a great purpose in his plans for us.

The communion antiphon for today is part what Jesus said to Martha in John chapter 11 verse 26:

“Everyone who lives and believes in me
will not die for ever, says the Lord.”

A song that I’ve been looking forward to featuring is one of my favorites of all time, What Wondrous Love, which is an old Southern Spiritual hymn that I grew up with in Alabama. The song highlights the great sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross in verse one, our continued praise of him in verse 2, and the promised resurrection of the dead in the final verse.

I hope you enjoy my arrangement of What Wondrous Love.

That was the traditional Southern Spiritual hymn, “What Wondrous Love” for the 5th Sunday of Lent, year A. Links to the recordings and sheet music for all the songs on this podcast can be found in the show notes below.

Join me next week for Palm Sunday of the Passion of our Lord. God bless you and have a beautiful week.