ACC ~ John 11 v1 - 5

OVERVIEW:

In the raising of Lazarus, whose name means “helped” (ISIDORE), the Lord accomplishes one of his greatest miracles as he, the Creator, raises his own creation (AUGUSTINE). John mentions not only Lazarus by name, but also his sisters Mary and Martha, whose tears for Lazarus become the focus of the Orthodox liturgy for Lazarus Saturday, which precedes Palm Sunday (ROMANUS). John focuses at the beginning on Mary’s anointing of Jesus as a testament to her piety and her attachment to him (CYRIL). This makes it all the more important to note that the Mary mentioned here is not Mary the harlot mentioned in Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts (CHRYSOSTOM), although John does seem to confirm Luke’s account in other details (AUGUSTINE). Since Jesus, the Life, was absent from Lazarus and his sisters, death had room to do its work through the agency of disease (GREGORY OF NYSSA). Mary and Martha’s report to Jesus of their brother and his friend’s illness reminds us that even friends of Christ suffer (CHRYSOSTOM).

The raising of Lazarus is unique among the resurrections Jesus performed in the Gospels because rather than leaving immediately at the request of Lazarus’s sisters, Jesus had allowed death to have full reign so that in Lazarus, the sign of the resurrection would be shone in all its fullness (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). Lazarus’s sisters, nevertheless, demonstrate great faith in approaching Jesus to heal Lazarus since they were convinced that Jesus is not one who loves and then abandons those he loves (AUGUSTINE). Although Lazarus’s death is for the glory of God, God does not cause Lazarus’s illness (CYRIL). The resurrection of Lazarus is for the glory of the Father and the Son since the glory of the Father and the Son is one. We should also note that Jesus’ glory is the consequence, not the cause, of Lazarus’s death (CHRYSOSTOM). Mary, Martha and Lazarus are loved by the one who can bring them true comfort and healing (AUGUSTINE).

11:1 | Lazarus, Mary and Martha

LAZARUS SIGNIFIES “HELPED

” ISIDORE OF SEVILLE Lazarus means “helped,” [1] referring to him who was [helped] when raised from the dead. ETYMOLOGIES 7.10.5. [2]

[1] “Lazarus” is a shortened form of “Eleazar,” meaning “God has helped.” Origen Fragments on the Gospel of John 77 explores the possibility that the Lazarus mentioned in Luke 16 is the same as here but ultimately dismisses the idea.

[2] Cetedoc 1186, 7.10.5.

THE MAKER RAISES HIS CREATION

AUGUSTINE Among all the miracles done by our Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrection of Lazarus holds a prime place in preaching. But if we consider attentively who did it, our duty is to rejoice rather than to wonder. A man was raised up by him who made humankind. He is the only one of the Father by whom, as you know, all things were made. And if all things were made by him, why is anyone amazed that one was raised by him when so many are daily brought into the world by his power? It is a greater deed to create men and women than to raise them again from the dead. Yet he decided both to create and to raise again; to create all, to resuscitate some. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.1. [1]

THE TEARS OF MARY AND MARTHA

ROMANUS MELODUS

Let us all, with love, hurry to Bethany to see Christ there, weeping for His friend.

For wishing all things to be ordained by law, He controls all things in His dual nature.

He suffers as son of David; as Son of God,

He redeems the whole world from all the evil of the serpent,

And on the fourth day, He raised up Lazarus, taking pity on

The tears of Mary and Martha.

Together sustained by faith, the two announced to Christ and God the death

Of their brother, saying, “Hasten, come, Thou who art always present in all places,

For Lazarus whom Thou dost love is ill: if Thou come near,

Death will vanish, and Thy friend will be saved from corruption,

And the Jews will see that Thou, the Merciful One, hast taken pity on

The tears of Mary and Martha.”

KONTAKION ON THE RAISING OF LAZARUS 15.2-3. [2]

[1] NPNF 1 7:270**; CCL 36:419.

[2] KRBM 1:151-52. More of the sermon follows below.

11:2 | Mary, Who Anointed the Lord

EDIFYING DESCRIPTION OF THE SISTERS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA The Evangelist has a purpose in mentioning the names of the women, showing that they were distinguished for their piety, which is why the Lord loved them. And of the many things that probably had been done for the Lord by Mary, he mentions the ointment, not in a haphazard way but in order to show that Mary had such a thirst for Christ that she wiped his feet with her own hair, seeking to fasten to herself in a more real way the spiritual blessing that comes from his holy flesh. Indeed, she often appears with much warmth of attachment, sitting close to Christ without being distracted by any interruption and to have been drawn into a close relationship of friendship with him. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7. [1]

[1] LF 48:110*.

MARY IS NOT THE HARLOT MENTIONED IN LUKE

CHRYSOSTOM First we are to observe that this was not the harlot mentioned in Matthew [1] or Luke, [2] but a different person. Those mentioned in Matthew and Luke were harlots full of many vices, but she was an honest woman, who treated our Lord with marked reverence. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.1. [3]

[1] Mt 26:7.

[2] Lk 7:37.

[3] NPNF 1 14:227**. However, Augustine (see below), Origen (Fragment 78) and a number of others identify Lazarus’s sister Mary as the “notorious sinner” of Lk 7.

JOHN CONFIRMS LUKE’S ACCOUNT

AUGUSTINE John here confirms the passage in Luke, where this is said to have taken place in the house of one Simon a Pharisee: Mary had done this act therefore on a former occasion. That she did it again at Bethany is not mentioned in the narrative of Luke, but it is in the other three Gospels. HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 2.79.154. [1]

[1] CSEL 43:261; NPNF 1 6:174**.

11:3 | The One You Love Is Ill

DEATH HAS ROOM TO WORK

GREGORY OF NYSSA One of the Lord’s companions and friends is ill (Lazarus is the sick man’s name). The Lord refuses any visiting of his friend, though far away from the sick man, that in the absence of the Life, death might find room and power to do his own work by the agency of disease. ON THE MAKING OF MAN 25.11. [1]

[1] NPNF 2 5:416*.

FRIENDS OF CHRIST DO SUFFER

CHRYSOSTOM Many are offended when they see any of those who are pleasing to God suffering anything terrible. There are those, for instance, who have fallen ill or have become impoverished or have endured some other tragedy. Those who are offended by this do not know that those who are especially dear to God have it as their lot to endure such things, as we see in the case of Lazarus, who was also one of the friends of Christ but was also sick. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:227**.

CONQUERING DEATH MORE IMPORTANT

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS Our Lord had raised up the daughter of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue. [1] Although he restored life to the dead girl, he left the law of death still in force. He also raised the widow’s only son. [2] He halted the bier, forestalled the young man’s burial, arrested the onset of physical decay. But the life he restored had not completely fallen in to the power of death. The case of Lazarus was unique. His death and resurrection to life had nothing in common with the other two. Death had already exerted its full power over him, so that in him the sign of the resurrection shone out in all its fullness. I think it is possible to say that if Lazarus had remained only three days in the tomb it would have deprived our Lord’s resurrection of its full significance, since Christ proved himself Lord by returning to life after three days, whereas Lazarus, as his servant, had to lie in the grave for four days before he was recalled. However, let us see if we can verify this suggestion by reading the Gospel text further.

“His sisters sent a message to Jesus saying, Lord, the friend whom you love is sick.” By these words they appeal to his affection, they lay claim to his friendship, they call on his love, urging their familiar relationship with him to persuade him to relieve their distress. But for Christ it was more important to conquer death than to cure disease. He showed his love for his friend not by healing him but by calling him back from the grave. Instead of a remedy for his illness, he offered him the glory of rising from the dead. SERMON 63.1-2. [3]

[1] See Mk 5:37-43; Lk 8:49-56.

[2] See Lk 7:11-15.

[3] JFA 44-45; PL 52:376.

LOVE DOES NOT ABANDON

AUGUSTINE But what was the message sent by his sisters? “Lord, behold, he whom you love is ill.” They did not say, “Come,” for the intimation was all that was needed for one who loved. They did not venture to say, “Come and heal him,” nor did they venture to say, “Command there, and it shall be done here.” And why would it be any different with them if, on these very grounds, the centurion’s faith was commended? For he said, “I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof. But only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.” [1] These women said nothing like this, but only, “Lord, behold, he whom you love is ill”—as if to say: It is enough that you know. For you are not one that loves and then abandons. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.5. [2]

[1] Mt 8:8.

[2] NPNF 1 7:272**; CCL 36:422.

11:4 | For the Glory of the Son of God

GOD IS NOT THE CAUSE OF LAZARUS’S ILLNESS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA Jesus saw that in the end, Lazarus’s illness and death would be for the glory of God. This is not to say that the sickness came on Lazarus so that God should be glorified, for it would be silly to say this, but rather, since the sickness had come upon Lazarus, Jesus foresaw the wonderful conclusion to Lazarus’s illness. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7. [1]

[1] LF 48:111**.

THE GLORY OF FATHER AND SON IS ONE

CHRYSOSTOM Observe how he again asserts that his glory and the Father’s is one. For, after saying “of God,” he has added, “that the Son of God might be glorified.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:227*.

JESUS’ GLORY IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF LAZARUS’S DEATH

CHRYSOSTOM The word “that” [which is in the phrase “that the Son of God may be glorified,”] here signifies not the cause but the consequence. The sickness sprang from other [natural] causes, but he turned it to the glory of God. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:227**.

11:5 | Jesus’ Love for Mary, Martha and Lazarus

LOVED BY THE COMFORTER AND HEALER

AUGUSTINE Lazarus is sick, his sisters are sorrowful, all of them are loved. But [they had hope because the] one who loved them was the healer of the sick—even more, he was the raiser of the dead and the comforter of the sorrowful. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.7. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:272**; CCL 36:422-23.