Funeral Homily 3

Untie him and let him go free. John 11:32-45

Particularly for a young person or someone who suffered terribly for some
time.

This is a terrible moment. We find ourselves trying to understand what

has happened, trying to make some sense of what we are experiencing here
and now. We are very much like Martha and Mary in the Gospel. We
want to say to Jesus, as they did, “Why did this happen? Why couldn’t
you stop this? Why did N. have to suffer. Martha and Mary asked these
questions to the Lord. He had been part of their family. They couldn’t
understand why he let their brother Lazarus die. It is natural for us to ask
these questions. They do not make the Lord angry with us, as they did not
make him angry with Martha and Mary. They are the cry of our hearts.

Did you notice, however, that Jesus did not answer those questions? He
did not explain to Martha and Mary why their brother died, or why they
had to suffer this heart break. But what he did, was even more important.
It is the shortest verse in all the Bible: “Jesus wept.” He shared their pain
and sorrow. He stood at the grave of his dear friend, along side the sisters
of his friend and together they wept. Sharing in their pain, he gave them
strength and consolation.

Jesus weeps with us today. He knows our sorrow and he shares our pain.
He wants to take the burden of sorrow from our hearts and carry it with
him to the cross. We ask him Why and he answers How. We want to know
why this had to happen. He tells us how to endure it and find strength and
hope: in Him and in his closeness to us. We cling to him, as Martha did in
the passage just before this one. At the moment of her greatest sorrow she
is able to say that she believes Jesus is the Messiah, the one who has come
into the world. Like Martha we say to the Lord, we do not understand but
somehow we still believe and we trust that He who is our savior is present
even in this terrible moment and only He can give us the strength we need.
But we are also consoled by what Jesus says at the end of this Gospel. He
calls Lazarus from the tomb and says those beautiful words: “untie him
and let him go free.” Jesus has called our beloved N. from the tomb as well.
Jesus has said that he wants to set N. free from his suffering but in an even
more wonderful way than he did for Lazarus. Lazarus would only have to
die all over again in the future, but he has given our beloved N. a share in
his own resurrected life: he/she will never have to suffer again.

This may not be the answer we want. What we would like is for our
beloved N. to never have been sick, to not have left us or been taken from
us like this. Only the Lord knows the full picture of life. And only the
Lord can give us the consolation we need so much at this moment. But he
will give us that consolation. He weeps with us, and he wants to dry our
tears and console our hearts. We pray that although we may not
understand, God will strengthen our faith in him and our trust in the
Lord’s love which embraces our beloved N. as he/she enters eternal life.