Resurrection of Lazarus.

(John 11:1-46).

Only Evangelist John tells of this event. It was during the time of the Lord’s stay at Perea that the news of His beloved friend Lazarus’ sickness reached Him. Lazarus lived in Bethany with his sisters Martha and Mary. This family was especially close to the Lord and it must be assumed, that whenever He was in Jerusalem, He would visit them in order to rest and get away from the noisy crowds that accompanied Him, as well as sly cross-examiners, Scribes and Pharisees. The sisters sent a message to the Lord: “he, whom You love is sick,” in the hope that the Lord Himself would hurry to them so as to cure Lazarus. However, the Lord no only didn’t hurry, but remained where He was for a further “two more days,” saying “this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” The Lord knew that Lazarus would die, and if He said that his sickness is not unto death, it is because He intended to resurrect him. It was only after two days since Lazarus’ death, did the Lord say to His disciples: “Let us go to Judea again.” The Lord doesn’t specify Bethany, but Judea as their point of destination, so as to bring out into the open, their fears (known to Him) that were alive within them of the dangers awaiting Him in Judea.

These words were used by the Lord to implant the idea of the necessity, and thereby the unavoidability, of their Teacher’s sufferings and death. The disciples indeed expressed their fear for Him, reminding Him that it was only recently that the Jews wanted to stone Him in Jerusalem. The Lord responded to the disciples’ apprehension with an allegorical sermon, based on the situation that He was in at the time. Probably, this took place in the early hours of the day, at sunrise: consequently, they had 12 hours of daylight for their travels.

During the currency of this period, it is possible to travel without any difficulties: it would be dangerous if it was necessary to travel after sunset — at night. However, there was no need for that as it was possible to reach Bethany before sunset. This means in a spiritual sense that: our time on earth is determined by the higher will of God. That’s why, while this time continues, we can go forward on our established path without fear, performing works to which we were called: we are safe because God’s will is protecting us from all dangers, just like the light from the sun protects those who travel in the daytime. There would be dangers if night overtook us during our works i.e. if contrary to God’s will, we decided to continue our activity: then we would stumble. In relation to Jesus Christ, it means that the life and works of the Lord Jesus Christ will not cease earlier than that established from above, and therefore, the disciples should not fear the dangers that are threatening Him. By following the path in the light of God’s will, God-Man cannot be subject to unforeseen dangers. Having explained this, the Lord points to the immediate aim for their travel to Judea: “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” The Lord called Lazarus’ death as sleep, just as He had done in other similar occurrences (see Mat. 9:24, Mark 5:29). To Lazarus, death was indeed like sleep because of its short duration. The disciples, bearing in mind His earlier words that the sickness was not for death, didn’t understand that the Lord was speaking about the death of Lazarus: they supposed that the Lord will come and cure him miraculously. “If he sleeps he will get well” was apparently said to dissuade the Lord from traveling to Judea: “There is no need to go as the illness had taken a turn for the better.”

Brushing aside all the objections of the disciples and wishing to underscore the unconditional necessity to go to Judea, the Lord plainly stated: “Lazarus is dead.” With this, the Lord adds that He is glad for the Apostles that He wasn’t in Bethany when Lazarus was ill, as a plain cure of Lazarus would not strengthen their faith in Him, as would the impending great miracle of his resurrection from the dead. Terminating the conversation, brought about by the disciples apprehension, the Lord declares: “let us go to him.” Although their indecisiveness was conquered, their anxiety was not erased, and one of them — Thomas, called the twin — expressed this anxiety in a very poignant manner: “Let us also go, that we may die with Him,” i.e. if we cannot divert Him from this journey, surely we will not leave Him? Then let us too go to our death with Him.

When they neared Bethany, it turned out that Lazarus had already been in his coffin for 4 days. Bethany was situated close to Jerusalem, some 2 miles or 30-minute walk away. This is mentioned in order to explain how so many people were present at the house of Martha and Mary, in a sparsely populated village. Upon hearing of the Lord’s coming, Martha, being noted for her lively character, hurried to meet Him without even telling her sister Mary, who was “sitting in the house” in great sorrow and receiving condolences from many mourners. With great sadness and not rebuking the Lord, but expressing regret that this had happened, she exclaims: “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Faith in the Lord had established in her an assurance, that even now all is not lost. Although she doesn’t state directly that there still could be a miracle, she declares: “I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give you.” The Lord responds to this directly: “Your brother will rise again.” As though checking herself to see if she is not wrong in her thinking, and induce the Lord to let her understand clearly about which resurrection He is talking about — the one He intends to perform now, or general resurrection at the last day — Martha utters: “ I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Martha expressed her faith in that God will fulfill every request from Jesus: consequently, she didn’t have faith in Jesus Himself as the Almighty Son of God. That’s why the Lord elevates her toward this faith by concentrating her faith on His own personage, saying: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” The meaning of these words is: I have revivification and eternal life: consequently, if I want to, I can resurrect your brother before the general resurrection. “Do you believe this?” asks the Lord, and receives an affirmative answer from Martha, that she believes Him to be the Messiah-Christ that had come into the world.

At the Lord’s behest, Martha went to fetch Mary and bring her to Him. Because Mary was summoned secretly, the commiserating Jews didn’t know where she was heading, and thinking that she was going to the tomb “to weep there,” followed her. Weeping, Mary fell to her knees before Jesus, exclaiming the same words that Martha uttered previously. Probably because of their grief, the sisters often spoke among themselves that if the Lord and Teacher was with them, their brother would not have died. Now, without any prior agreement, they both express their hope on the Lord in identical words. In the face of the spectacle of sorrow and death, the Lord “groaned in the spirit and was troubled.” Bishop Michael supposes that the Lord’s grief and distress is explained by the presence of the Jews, weeping insincerely while burning with hatred against Him, Who was preparing to perform this great miracle. The Lord wanted to perform this miracle so as to give His enemies an opportunity to rethink, repent and believe in Him, before His imminent sufferings: but instead, they became even more consumed with hatred toward Him, and pronounced a decisive formal death sentence on Him. Having overcome this groaning of the spirit, the Lord asks: “Where have you laid him?” The question was directed at the sisters of the deceased. “God-Man knew where Lazarus was buried, but in dealing with people, acted humanly” (Blessed Augustine). The sisters replied: “Lord, come and see.” “Jesus wept” — this, of course, is attributed to His human nature. The Evangelist goes on to describe what impression these tears made on those present. Some were moved, while others gloated, saying: “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” They thought that, of course He couldn’t, because as He loved Lazarus, He would not have permitted him to die. But as Lazarus did die, He obviously was incapable of stopping this and that’s why He is now crying. Overcoming His feelings of sorrow over the hatred of the Jews, the Lord approached the tomb and asked for the stone to be rolled away. The tombs in Jerusalem were shaped as caves, the entrances to them blocked by huge stones.

These entrances were opened only in extreme circumstances, and even then, shortly after internment and not when the corpse had started to decompose. Decomposition of cadavers in the warm climate of Jerusalem began very quickly, and as a consequence, the Jews buried their dead on the same day of their death. On the fourth day, the decomposition must have reached such a stage that even faithful Martha could not refrain from protesting to the Lord: “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Reminding Martha as to what was said to her previously, the Lord states: “ Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” When the stone was rolled away, the Lord raised His eyes to heaven and exclaimed: “ Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.” Knowing that His enemies ascribe His healing powers to the powers of darkness, the Lord wanted to show through this prayer, that He performs this miracle through His power of full unity with God the Father. The soul of Lazarus returned to its body, and in a loud voice, the Lord commanded: “Lazarus, come forth!” Here, the loud voice was meant either as an expression of a decisive will, which was certain of absolute submission, or the awakening from a deep sleep. There was another miracle attached this miracle of resurrection: bound hand and foot with burial bandages, Lazarus could still emerge by himself from the cave, after which the Lord directed that they be removed. The outlined detail of this event attests to the fact that it was written by an eyewitness. As a result of this miracle, the usual division occurred among the Jews: many believed, but others headed to the Pharisees — the Lord’s worst enemies — with apparent animosity and bad intentions, so as to relate to them what had transpired.