In the Gospel, I recognized something that I missed many times before, Jesus
was perturbed, twice.
When Jesus saw Mary weeping and the Jews with her weeping, he
became perturbed and deeply troubled…. And when, “Some said, ‘could not the one who
opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not
have died?’ Jesus was perturbed again….”
To be perturbed is to be anxious. In Philippians we are told “Work with anxious concern to achieve your salvation.” In
other translations, anxious concern is written “fear and trembling.”
I picture these emotions as an upset Jesus speaks with the crowd. He was
upset at the death of Lazarus and perturbed at the expectations of the Jews,
Mary and Martha, and even his disciples. Even as Jesus neared the cross, they
did not understand everything He did was for the glory
of God.
Everyone has expectations. We have expectations for our self. Parents
have expectations of their children. Spouses have expectations of one another.
You have expectations of the Priest and Deacon. Priests and Deacons have
expectations of the community.
We even have expectations of God. Remember, Jesus was perturbed, twice.
Expectations hold others to our standards. It is not fair to impose our
expectations upon another. Only God has the right to expect things from us and scripture
says that “Those who are in the flesh cannot please
God.”
Maybe that is why Jesus wept. He wept for
his friend Lazarus; but, He also wept in anxious concern for our salvation.
As Christian believers, our salvation is manifest in striving to meet God’s
expectation and His will for us. We are to follow Him.
But this is made difficult because the world has human expectations of
God, "Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone
you, and you want to go back there?"
God’s expectation is not passiveness. We must be active in God’s work. “If Christ is in you…, the spirit is alive because of
righteousness.” He gives us his righteousness, which is the goodness and
love in us to do His work,
Salvation has anointed us for His work. Jesus tell us, If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he
sees the light of this world. But if one walks
at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."
In Christ, we can raise those dead because of sin. Like Jesus’ call to
Lazarus, Christ reaches out to others through our goodness, our holiness, and
our lives lived as an example of Christ’s love. The Christ shouts, Untie them.
This is done in Christ’s perturbation for sin. It is done not of
expectations but in anxious concern. This is done in fear and trembling, because
we always fall short of God’s expectations. Yet, we continue in the hopeful
expectation given by Christ’s death on the cross.
“Then you shall know that I am the LORD….”
God’s expectations are the same for all Catholics, Christians, and true
believers. So like Thomas,
called Didymus, said, "Let us also go to die with him."
Jesus, our salvation, words, "I am the
resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe
this?"
Those who believe answer, "Yes, Lord.”
The resurrection is
not a place or a time, but is Jesus. – (Fr. Joe Martina) For some this is unexpected and it perturbs them.
Y’all be good, y’all be holy, preach the gospel by the way you live and
love. Amen.Amen.
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