Sunday 22nd March, 5th Sunday of Lent

We’re deep into Lent – only two more Sundays, and we’ll be celebrating the joy of Easter Day. Yet, to me, it feels like a guilty treat during this penitential season to be able to preach from the richness of John’s Gospel at Parish Communion today.
On the surface, today’s Gospel reading (John 11 1-45) tells the story of the raising of Lazarus, which indeed, it does. But, as ever with John, there are layers and layers of complexity just waiting to be uncovered; so many stories calling to be understood. 
When Martha sends a message to her friend Jesus to let him know that her brother Lazarus is ill, it is the start of a chain of misunderstandings. Misunderstandings that lead to new understandings, new revelations for Martha, for the Disciples, for the Jews, as to who Jesus is. Misunderstandings that echo forwards towards Easter, to another woman, Mary Magdalene, weeping outside another tomb, Jesus’ tomb. There, her misunderstanding is gloriously resolved when she meets our risen Lord. But that is for another day. Easter Day.
In the Lenten meantime, let’s embrace our misunderstandings and our questions and celebrate how we can learn through them.
Every blessing
Philippa