Fifth Sunday of Lent Reflection: “Do You Believe This? Trusting the Lord of Life”

Rev Dr Biju Jose OSH, PP

In today’s Gospel, we meet Martha and Mary in a moment of deep sorrow as their brother Lazarus is dying. Jesus loved this family, yet he does not come immediately. By the time he arrives, Lazarus has died.

We can sense the pain and disappointment in their words: “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Behind those words lie deeper questions: Why did you delay? Where were you when we needed you most?

These are not only their questions - they are ours as well.

There are moments in our lives when we pray with urgency, especially for those we love, and yet God seems silent. We ask for healing, for help, for intervention - and nothing seems to happen. Like Martha and Mary, we can feel confused, disappointed, even abandoned.

The Gospel reminds us that even Jesus entered this experience. On the cross, he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He too knew the silence of God.

And yet, in that very moment, God was not absent.

The Father’s love for his Son remained unwavering, even in suffering and silence. That same love brought Jesus through death into new and eternal life.

In the same way, although Jesus seemed absent to Martha and Mary, his love for them had not diminished. He comes to them, he shares in their grief, and he calls Lazarus out of the tomb. Even his delay becomes part of a greater revelation of life and hope.

This is the truth we are invited to trust: when God seems silent, he is not absent. When our prayers seem unanswered, they are not unheard.

God does not always act in the way or at the time we expect, but he is always at work—quietly and faithfully - bringing life out of death.

Jesus says to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even though they die, will live.” He does not promise to spare us from suffering or death, but he assures us that death will not have the final word. His love is stronger than death, and the bond we share with him cannot be broken.

Then Jesus asks a deeply personal question: “Do you believe this?”

That same question is placed before each one of us today. It invites us not just to understand, but to trust—to place our lives, our fears, and our unanswered questions into his hands.

As we continue our journey, may we grow in trust that God is at work in every moment—even in silence and waiting—leading us from death to life, and preparing us for the fullness of life that never ends. Amen.