Friday, March 12th

I AM Lazarus: I have seen the Light, and I want to glow!


When Moses came down from Mount Sinai his face was radiant (Exodus 34:29). On a high mountain, Jesus was transfigured so that His Face, “shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as light” (Matthew 17:2). People who have experienced the transforming power of God are often shown as glowing. In the picture of the Rising of Lazarus by Giotto di Bondone, we see Lazarus, Jesus and many of the people around them encased in light. An outer glowing is a reflection of an inner transformation. Those who have been transformed by God become “the sons of light“(John 12:36).

Our journey to Jesus is much like the Journey of Lazarus from the tomb to Our Lord: We begin in bondage to sin and death. We hear the voice of Jesus who calls us “come out”. We struggle to follow the leading of that voice. When we reach door of the tomb, we suddenly become aware of an awesome light. This light can be blinding and our eyes must adjust so that we can see. Then we see Jesus. Our faces are unveiled and we behold Him. We receive Him as Lord and Savior and are imbued with the presence of the Holy Spirit. Christ becomes the model, the ideal, the transforming figure which we seek to emulate. We then realize that the old self must be shed and a new self, formed in the image of Christ, must be put on. We know that by ourselves, we are unable to change, to become what God would have us become. But through Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit works in us to perfect us so that we may become like Him. “…he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior” (NIV Titus 3:5-6.) “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lords glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (NIV, 2 Corinthians 3:18). The journey to Jesus is a stumbling journey filled with repentances and renewals until we finally reach Him and are completely transformed by the power of God in mind, in spirit, and in body.

Lord, we ask you in every way and during every day to increase your presence in our lives. Change us through the Holy Spirit so that we may be more like You: that we may increase in love, increase in hope, increase in faith, and increase in the fruits of the Spirit so that we may more fully reflect You in our lives. Transform us Lord, so that the lights of our lives may so shine before men that they will glorify You. Amen

R.S.