Fifth Sunday of Lent

Ezekiel 37:12-14 (Year A) (JB)

A reading from the prophet Ezekiel

I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live.

The Lord says this: I am going to open your graves; I mean to raise you from your graves, my people, and lead you back to the soil of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. And I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live, and I shall resettle you on your own soil; and you will know that I, the Lord, have said and done this – it is the Lord who speaks.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Ezekiel 37:12-14 (Year A) (NRSV)

A reading from the book of the prophet Ezekiel

Thus says the Lord God:

“I am going to open your graves,

and bring you up from your graves, O my people;

and I will bring you back to the land of Israel.

And you shall know that I am the Lord,

when I open your graves,

and bring you up from your graves, O my people.

“I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live,

and I will place you on your own soil;

then you shall know

that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Ps 129 (Year A) (JB)

R. With the Lord there is mercy

and fullness of redemption.

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,

Lord, hear my voice!

O let your ear be attentive

to the voice of my pleading. R.

If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,

Lord, who would survive?

But with you is found forgiveness:

for this we revere you. R.

My soul is waiting for the Lord,

I count on his word.

My soul is longing for the Lord

more than watchman for daybreak.

(Let the watchman count on daybreak

and Israel on the Lord.) R.

Because with the Lord there is mercy

and fullness of redemption,

Israel indeed he will redeem

from all its iniquity. R.

Romans 8:8-11 (Year A) (JB)

A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then he will give life to your own mortal bodies.

People who are interested only in unspiritual things can never be pleasing to God. Your interests, however, are not in the unspiritual, but in the spiritual, since the Spirit of God has made his home in you. In fact, unless you possessed the Spirit of Christ you would not belong to him. Though your body may be dead it is because of sin, but if Christ is in you then your spirit is life itself because you have been justified; and if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then he who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in you.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Romans 8:8-11 (Year A) (NRSV)

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit,

since the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ

does not belong to him.

But if Christ is in you,

though the body is dead because of sin,

the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

If the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead

dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead

will give life to your mortal bodies also

through his Spirit that dwells in you.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

John 11:25, 26 (Year A) (JB)

Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;

whoever believes in me will not die for ever.

Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

John 11:25, 26 (Year A) (NRSV)

Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;

whoever believes in me will not die for ever.

Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

John 11:1-45 (Year A) (JB)

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

I am the resurrection and the life.

There was a man named Lazarus who lived in the village of Bethany with the two sisters, Mary and Martha, and he was ill. – It was the same Mary, the sister of the sick man Lazarus, who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. The sisters sent this message to Jesus, ‘Lord, the man you love is ill.’ On receiving the message, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will end not in death but in God’s glory, and through it the Son of God will be glorified.’

Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, yet when he heard that Lazarus was ill he stayed where he was for two more days before saying to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judaea.’ The disciples said, ‘Rabbi, it is not long since the Jews wanted to stone you; are you going back again?’ Jesus replied:

‘Are there not twelve hours in the day?

A man can walk in the daytime without stumbling

because he has the light of this world to see by;

but if he walks at night he stumbles,

because there is no light to guide him.’

He said that and then added, ‘Our friend Lazarus is resting, I am going to wake him.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he is able to rest he is sure to get better.’ The phrase Jesus used referred to the death of Lazarus, but they thought that by ‘rest’ he meant ‘sleep’, so Jesus put it plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead; and for your sake I am glad I was not there because now you will believe. But let us go to him.’ Then Thomas – known as the Twin – said to the other disciples, ‘Let us go too, and die with him.’

On arriving, Jesus found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days already. Bethany is only about two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to sympathise with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said:

‘I am the resurrection and the life.

If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,

and whoever lives and believes in me

will never die.

Do you believe this?’

‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in a low voice, ‘The Master is here and wants to see you.’ Hearing this, Mary got up quickly and went to him. Jesus had not yet come into the village; he was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were in the house sympathising with Mary saw her get up so quickly and go out, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

Mary went to Jesus, and as soon as she saw him she threw herself at his feet, saying, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ At the sight of her tears, and those of the Jews who followed her, Jesus said in great distress, with a sigh that came straight from the heart, ‘Where have you put him?’ They said, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept; and the Jews said, ‘See how much he loved him!’ But there were some who remarked, ‘He opened the eyes of the blind man, could he not have prevented this man’s death?’ Still sighing, Jesus reached the tomb: it was a cave with a stone to close the opening. Jesus said, ‘Take the stone away.’ Martha said to him, ‘Lord, by now he will smell; this is the fourth day.’ Jesus replied, ‘Have I not told you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and said:

‘Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer.

I knew indeed that you always hear me,

but I speak

for the sake of all these who stand round me,

so that they may believe it was you who sent me.’

When he had said this, he cried in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, here! Come out!’ The dead man came out, his feet and hands bound with bands of stuff and a cloth round his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, let him go free.’

Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what he did believed in him.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

John 11:1-45 (Year A) (NRSV)

A reading from the holy gospel according to John

Now a certain man, Lazarus, was ill.

He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume

and wiped his feet with her hair;

her brother Lazarus was ill.

So the sisters sent a message to Jesus,

“Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

But when Jesus heard this, he said,

“This illness does not lead to death;

rather it is for God’s glory,

so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus,

after having heard that Lazarus was ill,

he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this Jesus said to the disciples,

“Let us go to Judea again.”

The disciples said to him,

“Rabbi, the people there were just now trying to stone you,

and are you going there again?”

Jesus answered,

“Are there not twelve hours of daylight?

Those who walk during the day do not stumble,

because they see the light of this world.

But those who walk at night stumble,

because the light is not in them.”

After saying this, he told them,

“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,

but I am going there to awaken him.”

The disciples said to him,

“Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.”

Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death,

but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep.

Then Jesus told them plainly,

“Lazarus is dead.

For your sake I am glad I was not there,

so that you may believe.

But let us go to him.”

Thomas, who was called the Twin,

said to his fellow disciples,

“Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

When Jesus arrived,

he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

Now Bethany was near Jerusalem,

some two miles away,

and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary

to console them about their brother.

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him,

while Mary stayed at home.

Martha said to Jesus,

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha said to him,

“I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.

Those who believe in me,

even though they die, will live,

and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.

Do you believe this?”

She said to him,

“Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah,

the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary,

and told her privately,

“The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”

And when Mary heard it, she got up quickly and went to him.

Now Jesus had not yet come to the village,

but was still at the place where Martha had met him.

The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her,

saw Mary get up quickly and go out.

They followed her because they thought

that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him,

she knelt at his feet and said to him,

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

When Jesus saw her weeping,

and the Jews who came with her also weeping,

he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.

Jesus said, “Where have you laid him?”

They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”

Jesus began to weep.

So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

But some of them said,

“Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man

have kept this man from dying?”

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb.

It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.

Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”

Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him,

“Lord, already there is a stench

because he has been dead four days.”

Jesus said to her,

“Did I not tell you that if you believed,

you would see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone.

And Jesus looked upward and said,

“Father, I thank you for having heard me.

I knew that you always hear me,

but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here,

so that they may believe that you sent me.”

When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice,

“Lazarus, come out!”

The dead man came out,

his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth,

and his face wrapped in a cloth.

Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary

and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

John 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33-45 (Year A) (JB)

A Reading from the holy Gospel according to John

I am the resurrection and the life.

The sisters Martha and Mary sent this message to Jesus, ‘Lord, the man you love is ill.’ On receiving the message, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will end not in death but in God’s glory, and through it the Son of God will be glorified.’

Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, yet when he heard that Lazarus was ill he stayed where he was for two more days before saying to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judaea.’

On arriving, Jesus found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days already. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said:

‘I am the resurrection and the life,

If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,

and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

Do you believe this?’

‘Yes Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’ Jesus said in great distress, with a sigh that came straight from the heart, ‘Where have you put him?’ They said ‘See how much he loved him!’ But there were some who remarked, ‘He opened the eyes of the blind man, could he not have prevented this man’s death?’ Still sighing, Jesus reached the tomb: it was a cave with a stone to close the opening. Jesus said, ‘Take the stone away.’ Martha said to him ‘Lord by now he will smell; this is the fourth day.’ Jesus replied ‘Have I not told you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and said:

‘Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer.

I knew indeed that you always hear me.

But I speak

for the sake of all these who stand round me,

so that they may believe it was you who sent me.’

When he had said this, he cried in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, here! Come out!’ The dead man came out, his feet and hands bound with bands of stuff and a cloth round his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, let him go free.’

Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what he did believed in him.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

John 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33-45 (Year A) (NRSV)

Short form

John 11:3-7. 17. 20-27. 33-45

A reading from the holy gospel according to John

The sisters of Lazarus sent a message to Jesus,

“Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

But when Jesus heard this, he said,

“This illness does not lead to death;

rather it is for God’s glory,

so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha

and her sister and Lazarus,

after having heard that Lazarus was ill,

he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this Jesus said to the disciples,

“Let us go to Judea again.”

When Jesus arrived,

he found that Lazarus had already been

in the tomb four days.

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,

she went and met him,

while Mary stayed at home.

Martha said to Jesus,

“Lord, if you had been here,

my brother would not have died.

But even now I know that God

will give you whatever you ask of him.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha said to him,

“I know that he will rise again

in the resurrection on the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.

Those who believe in me,

even though they die, will live,

and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.

Do you believe this?”

She said to him,

“Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah,

the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

Jesus was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.

He said, “Where have you laid him?”

They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”

Jesus began to weep.

So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

But some of them said,

“Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man

have kept this man from dying?”

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb.

It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.

Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”

Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him,

“Lord, already there is a stench

because he has been dead four days.”

Jesus said to her,

“Did I not tell you that if you believed,

you would see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone.

And Jesus looked upward and said,

“Father, I thank you for having heard me.

I knew that you always hear me,

but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here,

so that they may believe that you sent me.”

When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice,

“Lazarus, come out!”

The dead man came out,

his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth,

and his face wrapped in a cloth.

Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary

and had seen what Jesus did believed in him.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.