Should we choose John 11:17-27 or this passage?

Verses 17-27 give the famous "I am the resurrection" exchange; this passage gives the actual raising scene with "Jesus wept" and "Lazarus, come out!" Both are profound. Choose 17-27 for the theological declaration, this passage for the narrative power and "Jesus wept."

Gospel Reading

John 11:32-45

"Lazarus, come out!"

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Scripture text (World English Bible)

Therefore when Mary came to where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.” When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. The Jews therefore said, “See how much affection he had for him!” Some of them said, “Couldn’t this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have also kept this man from dying?” Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see God’s glory?” So they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, “Father, I thank you that you listened to me. I know that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude standing around I said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” He who was dead came out, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Free him, and let him go.” Therefore many of the Jews, who came to Mary and saw what Jesus did, believed in him.

Themes

Lazarus, come out
Jesus wept
the raising of the dead
sorrow and power together
Christ at the tomb

Reflection

This passage continues the Lazarus story from where Jesus arrives at the tomb to the moment Lazarus walks out, still wrapped in his burial cloths. For a Catholic funeral, this Gospel offers the grace that another version of the Lazarus story does not: the actual sight of Christ at a tomb, weeping, and then commanding the dead to come out.

The two-word verse that has consoled Christians for two thousand years, "Jesus wept", is here. The God who is about to raise the dead is also the God who weeps over death. The Catholic tradition has cherished this verse for what it says about Christ's heart. Grief is not unfaithful. To weep is not to lack hope; Christ himself wept at the tomb of one he loved. Bereaved families need to know this. Their tears are joined to his.

But the Gospel does not stop with weeping. Jesus, "perturbed again," goes to the tomb. He commands the stone to be taken away. He calls in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" And the dead man comes out. For a Catholic funeral, this scene is a foretaste: a sign in narrative form of what will happen at the resurrection of the body on the last day. The same Christ who called Lazarus will call the deceased. The same voice that pierced the tomb will pierce the grave at the end of time.

The detail that Lazarus comes out still bound, "tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth", is striking. He is alive but not yet free. Jesus says, "Untie him and let him go." For Catholic tradition, this has often been read as an image of the soul that has died in Christ's grace but still needs purification: the souls in purgatory, who are alive in him and yet need to be freed. The funeral Mass is part of that untying.

Best for

·Funerals where the family wants the actual raising scene proclaimed
·Liturgies for someone whose death involved deep family grief
·Funerals during Lent (when the Lazarus story is the Sunday Gospel of the Fifth Sunday)
·Catholic families who appreciate the implicit purgatory note in the "untie him" command

In the liturgy

A longer, narrative Gospel. Reward a strong lector who can carry the story's emotional arc: the weeping, the command, the unbinding. Among the most powerful funeral Gospels when proclaimed well.

Pairs well with

Frequently asked questions

Should we choose John 11:17-27 or this passage?: Verses 17-27 give the famous "I am the resurrection" exchange; this passage gives the actual raising scene with "Jesus wept" and "Lazarus, come out!" Both are profound. Choose 17-27 for the theological declaration, this passage for the narrative power and "Jesus wept."

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