The
Raising of Lazarus
By John A. Tvedtnes
[Supplement to Gospel Doctrine
New Testament lesson 19]
Lazarus
is a Greek form of the Old Testament Hebrew name Eleazar,
meaning “God helps.” Lazarus is named only in the gospel
of John (see John 12:2, 9-10, 17), but his sisters are
mentioned in Luke 10:38-42 in a story not recorded by
John.
Mary
derives from the Hebrew name Miriam, which may mean “their
rebellion,” while Martha is a Greek name evidently meaning
“she was rebellious.” We can only guess why their parents
so named them, but we should note that Greek names began
to be introduced among the Jews beginning in the third
century B.C. Both Greek and Hebrew/Aramaic names were
common in Jesus’ day.
The
modern name for Lazarus’ village of Bethany is al-Ayzariah, from the name Eleazar — with the suffix
–iah, meaning “belonging to, pertaining to.” The
Arabs, who conquered the region in the early seventh century
A.D., misunderstood the Hebrew element El (“God”)
and took it to be the Arabic definite article al.
The
village of Bethany is situated on the eastern slope of
the mount of Olives, about fifteen furlongs (nearly two
miles) from Jerusalem (see John 11:18), [1] while Jerusalem is west of the
mount, from which it is separated by the Kidron valley.
Jesus seems to have spent his nights with his friends
in Bethany whenever he came to Jerusalem for the festivals. [2] Luke 21:37 indicates that he
spent his nights on the Mount of
Olives.
Jesus was in Perea, east
of the Jordan River, when he learned
that Lazarus was ill. He waited two days before heading
east to Bethany (John 11:6) by which time Lazarus was
dead. At the edge of town, he was met by Martha, who said,
“Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died”
(John 11:21), which was subsequently repeated by her sister,
Mary (John 11:32). The disciples had often seen Jesus
heal sick people, and they had even seen him raise people
from the dead shortly after they died (Matthew 9:18-19,
23-25; Mark 5:22-23, 35-42; Luke 7:11-15; 8:42-43, 49-56).
Lazarus, however, had already
been four days in the tomb (John 11:17, 39). Jewish tradition
held that the spirit remained in the tomb with the body
for three days, after which it departs. To provide for
its exit, rock-cut tombs of Christ’s time included a small
opening called a nephesh (meaning “soul”), by which
the spirit would exit the tomb. The odor of the decomposing
corpse was seen as evidence that the spirit was no longer
present.
Some of the Old Testament
prophets had raised recently-deceased people from the
dead (1 Kings 17:17-23; 2 Kings 4:18-35; 8:5), as had
Christ, but since the spirit had already departed, one
would not expect such a miracle. Christ’s raising of Lazarus
made it easier for his disciples to believe in his own
resurrection after three days in the tomb. Knowing this,
we can understand why the Savior delayed traveling to
Bethany when
he learned of Lazarus’s illness.
“Jesus Wept”
When Jesus arrived in Bethany
and Mary “weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came
with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled”
and “Jesus wept” Those present assumed that his weeping
indicated sorrow at the death of his close friend, but
this was not the case.
Jesus wept because he realized
that these people did not believe that he could raise
Lazarus from the grave. They lamented that he who was
known for opening the eyes of the blind [3] could have prevented
Lazarus’ death had he come earlier (John 11:33-38). [4]
Despite the fact that those
present in Bethany
had all seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the tomb, some of
them still did not acknowledge Jesus as God’s envoy. Consequently,
“then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council,
and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.” [5]
Matthew 26:3-6 also indicates
that, while Jesus was in Bethany, a council was held at the high priest’s home and it was decided
to kill Jesus. [6] But neither Matthew nor any of
the synoptic gospels tell us of the raising of Lazarus
that prompted the calling of this council.
[7]
From this point on, the Jewish
leaders in Jerusalem
sought to arrest Jesus and execute him. [8] Because of this, Jesus removed
to a place called Ephraim and waited until Passover to
come back to Jerusalem
for the last time (John 11:49-57).
The believers, on the other
hand, rejoiced at the raising of Lazarus and realized
that Christ truly was the one who would bring the resurrection.
This is best expressed by the Savior’s conversation with
Martha:
