Fifth Sunday in Lent

Prayer of the Day
Creator God, you prepare a new way in the wilderness, and your grace waters our desert. Open our hearts to be transformed by the new thing you are doing, that our lives may proclaim the extravagance of your love given to all through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 126
Philippians 3:4b-14
John 12:1-8
Have you ever done something trying to be helpful, only to get into trouble once it was accomplished or completed? I can’t remember any specific moments but I know I have had plenty of them.
Jesus does something that is exceptionally helpful, in fact, way beyond helpful; he raises Lazarus from the dead! Amazing stuff! And yet, it will wind up getting him into trouble. Because of this, Luke tells us in the portion of our narrative, people were coming out to see the result of this wonderful miracle and in the process they were forsaking the faith and believing in Jesus instead. The Chief Priests were not happy; they planned to put Lazarus to death. It seems an odd reaction to me since, if they did, Jesus could once again raise him from the dead, but the plotting began and it would eventually lead to Jesus’ demise as well.
In Christ, God helps us to see and understand more fully God’s love for us and the world. And even though it will get him into the ultimate trouble of being crucified, Jesus continues the journey and keeps the faith. Because of his death, we shall rise again. Proof once again that God will go to any length just to save us. Thanks be to God!