Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, let him go free.’
John 11:44b

DOM HENRY WANSBROUGH OSB¹

The third of these great Johannine gospel readings on the Sundays of Lent, leading up to and preparing us for the baptisms of the new members of Christ at the Easter Vigil, grips us with the story of Jesus’ gift of life to his friend Lazarus. This is not the same as the gift of life to us by Jesus in the resurrection, for Lazarus returns to ordinary human life, and will die again, whereas the Christian resurrection transforms us into a new way of life, giving us a life which is an participation in the divine life. But the resurrection of Lazarus is the last and greatest of Jesus’ signs, his marvellous works which point towards and hint at this final gift of divine life. The first of the signs was the transformation of the water of the Law into the wine of the messianic wedding banquet at Cana. These signs show who Jesus really is. As well as showing the divine power of Jesus – for only God can give life – they also show the real, human love of Jesus for his friends. He is upset by Lazarus’ death and weeps for him, sharing the human sorrow of his family as he shares our sorrows too.

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Rev Dr FRANCIS J MOLONEY SDB²

Mary also expresses her sorrow at Jesus’ late arrival (vv. 32-33), but she leads him into his frank expression of sorrow, affection and the crucial question: ‘Where have you put him?’ (vv. 33-34). While Martha’s encounter led to words which proclaimed Jesus as the resurrection and the life, Mary’s leads to action which proclaims the same truths (vv. 39-44).

The resurrection of Lazarus — still wearing the signs of death to which he will return — produces faith among many, but the story returns to where it began: the oncoming death of Jesus. Caiaphas informs the Pharisees: ‘One man must die for the people’ (v. 50). But the storyteller adds that the effects of this death will reach further: ‘not for the nation only, but to gather together in unity the scattered children of God’ (v. 52).

Jesus’ life-giving presence is double edged. ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only Son — not to judge the world — but to save the world’. This is the Jesus whose death and resurrection we are about to celebrate. True life cannot be had without death. There is no glory without death. Lazarus comes to life, as Jesus turns towards a death which will give eternal life. However, the life restored to Lazarus is temporary. This is indicated by the clothes of death he is still wearing as he comes forth from the tomb (v. 43-44). The life which the death of Jesus produces will last forever. This will be indicated at the resurrection of Jesus, where the clothes of death will be found carefully wrapped, and laid to one side (see Jn 20:6-7). The wonder of Lazarus’ resurrection is simply that — wonder. The resurrection of Jesus brings eternal life.

Moloney, Francis J. This is the Gospel of the Lord Year A: Reflections on the Gospel Readings (Function). Kindle Edition.

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RGG

A colleague of mine writes in his Homily Reflection for this Sunday that:

Even after Lazarus is raised, he remains wrapped in the cloths of the grave. In a real sense, he is still bound—unable to walk, unable to live, still entangled in the signs of death. And so, Jesus turns to the community and commands, “Untie him and let him go.” The miracle of life restored is God’s work; the work of unbinding belongs to us. This command is not restricted to the community of Lazarus’s time. It is a command God gives today. We are to reenact and participate in untying those whom God has already raised from their deaths and graves. And here the Gospel writer offers a profound twist: the community itself experiences restored life precisely in the act of unbinding Lazarus. This is the Christian drama³

I think this is a profound comment. In many ways, salvation is the unbinding of the bound, and the re-tying us to our source!⁴

I must admit that I immediately thought of Pope Francis and his devotion to Our Lady Undoer of Knots !! ⁵

Pope Francis has a long‑standing, very personal devotion to Our Lady under the title “Untier/Undoer of Knots,” and he has been the single greatest factor in making this once‑obscure Marian devotion known throughout the Church in recent decades.

Spiritual meaning for Francis

• Francis reads the “knots” primarily as the entanglements of sin, conflict, and wounded relationships—especially in families—that the devil uses to bind people.
• He has explicitly connected this devotion with spiritual warfare, saying that Mary’s intercession helps “untie” the knots the evil one creates in hearts and in family life.
• He has also used this image in the broader context of mercy: opening the Jubilee of Mercy on 8 December (also the Argentine feast of Our Lady Untier of Knots) underlines Mary’s role in loosening what blocks us from receiving divine mercy.

However, Jesus is talking to the people gathered to witness the miracle of Lazarus’ resuscitation. Lazarus is not resurrected, he is revivified. But Jesus talks about resurrection and life!

²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² [But] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” ²⁴ Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live…

And then crucially Jesus says:

²⁶ … everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ^{27 *} She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”⁶

And so Jesus says: Lazarus, Come Out! As Adam and Eve ⁷ came out of hiding when God called, and Elijah came out of the Cave. ⁸

Jesus the resurrection and the life is much more than just the One who puts an end to death so that we can live on and on.. as we have been. Resurrection and the sharing in divine life is what Jesus brings as the Kingdom breaks in upon creation so bound up in sin and death. John demonstrates this clearly in the Resurrection narrative:

They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; ⁵  he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. ^{6  c}When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths^* there, ⁷  and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.^{d 8}  Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. ^{9  * e}For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples returned home.⁹

The garments of death are no longer needed. The clothes that death wore are folded up and laid aside. The home of death – the grave/tomb – is empty. Not only has death been overcome, but NEW life has burst into humanity and indeed all creation. Recall St Patrick’s Breastplate whose first lines are:

“ I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.

And the famous Athanasian formula:

“The Son of God became man so that we might become God (by grace).”¹⁰

Martha had hoped Jesus would prevent Lazarus’ death. And He does. But He comes with Life that is Resurrected life. As Martin Luther taught:

Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime,” ¹¹

Jesus demonstrates that He is the Lord of Life in raising Lazarus to his former life with Martha and Mary, and the community gathered around them. And He instructs the community of family, friends, and neighbours to “untie Lazarus” – this is to be their mission – He has given “Lazarus” back to them … but the Paschal Mystery of the Easter event will be entrusted to the Church as Sign and Sacrament of God’s ever-saving life-giving love. Over which death in all its forms is powerless. The crucified and risen One appeared to the Assembly on the First Day of the Week:

Peace be with you! As the Father sent me so I am sending you, ^{22 *}And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit …¹²

Mother Church is getting us ready, at the Table of the WORD, to enter the Easter Mystery sacramentally-Liturgically in the Sacred Triduum – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday.

We are to reenact and participate in untying those whom God has already raised from their deaths and graves. And here the Gospel writer offers a profound twist: the community itself experiences restored life precisely in the act of unbinding Lazarus. This is the Christian drama.¹³

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The Canticle of 1Peter 2 – John Michael Talbot

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1. Commentary available on UNIVERSALIS ↩︎
2. Moloney, Francis J. This is the Gospel of the Lord Year A: Reflections on the Gospel Readings (Function). Kindle Edition.  ↩︎
3. See: Fr Francis M Afu – Homily for 5th Sunday of Lent Year A 2026. To be published on QUAERENS 6am Friday March 20th 2026 – AESDT. ↩︎
4. Religion = re-ligere to bind/tie us again to our source. ↩︎
5. See Perplexity AI Report. ↩︎
6. Jn 11:21-26 … NB: Martha procaims the faith that Peter proclaims in Matt 16:13-20. ↩︎
7. Genesis 3:9. ↩︎
8. 1Kgs 19:9. ↩︎
9. John 20:4-9. ↩︎
10. He articulates this in On the Incarnation and the line is quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 460. ↩︎
11. See Perplexity AI Report. ↩︎
12. John 20:21-22. ↩︎
13. See Fr Francis M Afu – Homily for 5th Sunday of Lent Year A. To be published on Quaerens, Friday 20th March 2026 AEDT 6am. ↩︎