“Lazarus, Come Forth!”
Lazarus Saturday
Hebrews 12:28-29; 13:1-8; John 11:1-45
Although hundreds and thousands of people listened to Jesus' sermons and followed him, and although his twelve closest disciples were always with him, he had a particularly friendly family who lived near Jerusalem in the village of Bethany, where he visited with his disciples.
Two sisters, Martha and Mary, lived with their brother Lazarus. When Lazarus became seriously ill, the sisters sent messengers across the Jordan to ask Jesus to come and heal their brother. But Jesus stayed beyond the Jordan for two more days after that news, and when Lazarus died, He went to Bethany.
From the Gospel account, we know that when Jesus came to the tomb of Lazarus, the sisters told him that Lazarus had been dead and buried for four days. (John 11:39) But we should note that when Jesus approached, Martha ran out first and said to Jesus in tears:
"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died..." (John 11:21)
The same conviction was later expressed by her sister Mary. (John 11:32) Both sisters believed in the resurrection of the dead, but in the "resurrection at the last day." (John 11:24) The sisters did not expect Jesus to raise Lazarus on the same day He arrived.
That is why the sisters wept so hard and regretted that Jesus was not with them when their brother was very sick. Jesus also wept for Lazarus because He loved that pious man. No one around them expected Jesus to make an exception and raise Lazarus straight away, in the presence of many people.
But clearly, Jesus came out from beyond the Jordan with the intention of bringing Lazarus back to life, for He told His closest disciples:
"Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up." (John 11:11).
When Jesus, in the presence of many people, called out,
“' Lazarus, come forth!’ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes…" (John 11.43),
this had a tremendous impact on the people.
Those hundreds of people, pilgrims and residents of Bethany, spread the news of the resurrection of Lazarus throughout all the surrounding area. The miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead had a tremendous impact on many thousands of people who were traveling to Jerusalem on the approach of the Jewish Passover. This miracle obviously had an impact on the Jerusalemites themselves. The very next day, thousands of people lined the road to Jerusalem and welcomed Jesus, the conqueror of death and, as most people thought, the Messiah King of Israel, who was coming to take the throne of King David.
Although mistakenly, many people believed in the power of Jesus, and a great spiritual upsurge was created among the population.
But those positive spiritual developments towards Jesus Christ actually hastened the actions of His sworn enemies, as the Gospel says:
“Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, ‘What shall we do? For this Man works many miracles. If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, then all will believe in him...'" (John 11:47-48).
The fact that all people might believe in Jesus was the greatest despair of the chief priests and Pharisees, for they wanted to rule over the people in the name of God -- but they resolved to destroy the Son of God:
"Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death." (John 11:53)
And, as the Gospel goes on to say,
"Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him." (John 11:57)
So, here was opening an area of activity and opportunity for Judas and others like him.
Thus, we can affirm that the day of Lazarus' resurrection was a day marking a great turning point, a great spiritual shift of people toward Jesus, but at the same time, from that day on, the Jewish elders--the chief priests and Pharisees--passed a death sentence on Jesus Christ and thus proved themselves to be the greatest hypocrites and deniers of God. We can conclude that the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus glorified the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and at the same time brought His earthly suffering and death on the cross closer.
Amen.
Very Rev. Fr. Taras Slavchenko
Taras Slavchenko was born on March 8, 1918 in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine. After graduating from school and the Pedagogical College, he entered the language and literature faculty of the Scientific Pedagogical Institute. Having successfully completed it in 1938, he served as a teacher in a secondary school.
