What Are We Going to Do?

March 31, 2012

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent

I will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Thus the nations shall know that it is I, the LORD, who make Israel holy, when my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever. Ezekiel 37:26-28

Many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, "What are we going to do? John 11:45-47b

Piety

Father, you promised us peace. By our actions, we have broken that covenant with you and with each other. Help us to choose your path as we decide what we are going to do.

Study

What was it about the miracle at Bethany when Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead that prompted some of the people to go to the Sanhedrin where the death plot began to unfold? Clearly, some in the crowd on that resurrection miracle felt that if Jesus had come sooner, Lazarus could have been saved from death.

The other signs Jesus performed did not spark such violence. Up until this point, people were believing in Jesus because of the signs. While Jesus prayed often, we do not always get the words of his prayers…until now. On the day Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, St. John shares the prayer Jesus recited: And Jesus raised his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me." John 11:41-42

Jesus had taught this lesson to his closest disciples and even to Nicodemus in that first lesson in that private lesson one night. But now, his connection to the Father is a subject about which he is preaching openly. On their own merit, the miracles of healing and others signs satisfy various needs of people who are ill, hungry, thirsty or distressed. But now, with this prayer, the signs take on an added dimension -- the people think that the work threatens their power and security.

Action

What are we going to do?

I realize that there is the popular phrase WWJD -- What would Jesus do if he were in our situation. But that is the easy part. Jesus acted consistently out of the perfect love he passed on from the Father. The Lord promised us a relationship of peace. That peace is not broken by God. That peace is broken by us.

Maybe I will craft a little plastic bracelet with these letters: WWWD? What will we do? With five weeks of Lent behind us, ahead of us we have Holy Week. We still have time to decide if we will crucify Jesus with our words and deeds. We still have time to decide if we will deny him with our actions and run into hiding to protect our own skins.

But we also have time to decide if we will be there with Simon to help carry the cross. We still have time to decide if we will be there with Veronica wiping the sweat and blood from his face and eyes. We still have time to decide if we will be there with our mother Mary at the foot of the cross.

WWWD?