Lazarus: the story of a friend of Jesus Christ – Orthodox magazine “Thomas”

Dangerous journey

A few weeks earlier, Jesus and His disciples had left Jerusalem. Here the Jews wanted to kill Jesus because He called himself the Son of God.

After crossing the Jordan, Jesus and his disciples settled for a time in an area called Gilead. At this time, trouble happened, which the messenger hastened to inform Jesus about. A friend of Jesus named Lazarus became seriously ill. Seeing that no ordinary medicines were helping, Lazarus’ sisters urgently equipped a servant and sent him across the Jordan to Jesus. After all, he could heal any disease - he restored sight to the blind, cleansed lepers and raised the paralyzed to their feet. Of course, it is now dangerous for him to return to the outskirts of Jerusalem. But Lazarus is his friend! Will Jesus not come to the aid of the one he loves so much?

Only at noon did the tired messenger reach the village where Jesus and the disciples were staying. But when he conveyed his sad news about Lazarus' illness, Jesus behaved strangely. Instead of immediately dropping everything and going to save his friend, He just said:

- This disease is not for death, but for the glory of God. May the Son of God be glorified through her.

The messenger was fed, then given a supply of water for the journey, and he set off on his way back. But Jesus remained where he was. The disciples did not say anything to Him about this.

Everyone understood: going now to Bethany, which was located next to Jerusalem, was mortally dangerous, because the Jews had not forgotten their decision to stone Jesus. However, two days later Jesus suddenly said:

- Get ready, we are going to Judea again.

The stunned students did not know what to answer to this:

- Teacher, how long have the Jews wanted to kill you? And now you are going there again...

Jesus explained:

— Our friend Lazarus fell asleep. I'm going to wake him up.

- If he fell asleep, it means that things are getting better, and he will soon recover. Why should we go there?

The disciples did not know that Jesus had received his sight in the spirit. Immediately after the messenger left Bethany, Lazarus died. And when Jesus said, “Lazarus fell asleep,” he was talking about his death. But seeing that the disciples did not understand Him, he said directly:

- Lazarus died. And I am glad for you that I was not there. Now you will believe that I am truly the Son of God. But enough talk. It's time to go. The students froze in indecision. And then one of them, named Thomas, realizing the danger their Teacher was exposed to, said:

“Let us also go and die with Him.”

The decision was taken. The disciples loved their Teacher, believed Him and accompanied Him wherever the path lay. Now they went with Him to where they were all going to be killed.

Christ is crying

When they arrived in Bethany, they learned that Lazarus had been buried in a cave for four days (this is how the dead were buried in Judea). Many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to console them in their grief about their brother. Martha, hearing that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him. Maria was sitting at home. Having met Jesus on the way to the village, Martha said:

- God! If You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.

Jesus answered her:

- Your brother will rise again.

“I know that he will rise again on the general resurrection of the dead, on the last day.”

Jesus said to her:

- I am the resurrection and the life; He who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?

Martha did not fully understand what Jesus was saying. But she answered obediently:

- Yes, Lord! I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, coming into the world.

Having said this, she went and secretly called her sister Maria:

- The teacher is here and calling you.

The sisters did not want the Jews gathered with them to know about the coming of Jesus, because they were going to kill Him. Therefore, Mary, without explaining anything to anyone, hastily stood up and went to Him. But the Jews who were with her in the house and consoled her, seeing that Mary had gone out, followed her, believing that she had gone to the burial cave of Lazarus to cry there. Mary, coming to where Jesus was staying, fell at His feet and said to Him:

- God! If You had been here, my brother would not have died.

The Jews came after her, but when they saw Jesus, they did not attack him with stones. These were people who loved Lazarus very much and were now mourning their loss. Jesus, seeing the weeping Mary and the weeping Jews who came with her, Himself began to grieve and grieve. Addressing the sisters, He asked:

-Where did you put it?

The sisters replied:

- God! Come and see.

Then Jesus wept and went to the tomb of Lazarus.

The Jews, looking at Him, said:

- Look how He loved him...

However, some of them, even in such a difficult moment, could not restrain themselves from malice and said mockingly:

“Couldn’t this wonderworker, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have made sure that Lazarus did not die?”

Jesus, wiping away his tears, but continuing to grieve, came to the tomb. It was a cave, the entrance to which was blocked by a large stone.

Jesus, speaking to the Jews, said:

- Remove the stone.

The sister of the deceased, Martha, says to Him:

- God! There is no need to do this, because our brother has already died four days ago!

Jesus tells her:

“Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

The Jews were at first outraged by these words. But then we decided: we’ll do as He says. If He doesn’t work a miracle, then we’ll stone Him to death right here.

They rolled the stone away from the cave where the deceased lay and began to wait to see what would happen next.

Holy Fathers on the Resurrection of the Dead

St. Justin Martyr

He clearly teaches in the Dialogue:

“If you meet people who call themselves Christians, but do not recognize this [the resurrection of the dead], and even dare to blaspheme the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, do not recognize the resurrection of the dead and think that their souls are taken to heaven immediately after death , then do not consider them Christians .

Tatian

in “Speech against the Hellenes” he teaches:

“You should not call it [the soul] immortal, for if it is immortal, then it is beginningless,” he calls, for if the soul is immortal, then it is beginningless, that is, not created, and then it is God. “The soul itself is not immortal, Hellenes, but mortal. However, she may not die. A soul that does not know the truth dies and is destroyed along with the body, and receives death through endless punishment. But if it is enlightened by the knowledge of God, it does not die, although it is destroyed for a while.”

Athenagoras

in the essay “On the Resurrection of the Dead” - one of the best and first texts on this topic - he teaches about the bodily-spiritual unity of man:

“The being that has received mind and reason is a man, and not a soul in itself; therefore, man must always remain and consist of soul and body; and it is impossible for him to remain like this unless he is resurrected. For if there is no resurrection, then the nature of men as men will not remain.”

John Chrysostom

Christians struggle with death for the sake of the flesh, the saint teaches in his “Conversation on the Resurrection of the Dead”:

“[The Apostle Paul] deals a mortal blow to those who degrade the physical nature and reproach our flesh. The meaning of his words is as follows. It is not the flesh, as he says, that we want to lay off, but corruption; not the body, but death. The other is the body and the other is death; the other is the body and the other is corruption. Neither the body is corruption, nor is corruption the body. True, the body is perishable, but it is not corruption. The body is mortal, but it is not death. The body was the work of God, and corruption and death were introduced by sin. So, I want, he says, to remove from myself what is alien, not mine. And what is alien is not the body, but corruption and death attached to it.”

Resurrection

Jesus had never been in such a position before. Very often performing miracles, He performed them, one might say, casually. And the more amazing they were, the less He collected witnesses for them and even sometimes forbade talking about them.

But now He had to perform the greatest miracle in front of a multitude of people. The beneficial impression from the previous miracles of Jesus could weaken over time, obscured by evil gossip spread by His opponents. On the other hand, the friends and admirers of Jesus were soon faced with the greatest temptation—His approaching suffering and death on the cross. Jesus knew that within just a few days He would die. How will His disciples take this? Won't they lose heart? Will they not disbelieve everything that He taught them for three years? Therefore, Jesus wanted to give his disciples a strong foundation of faith and a guarantee of hope that all things are possible with the Son of God. A tense silence hung in the air. The stone was rolled away, the black opening of the burial cave gaped like the mouth of some monster that had devoured Lazarus four days ago. And there was a crowd of Jews standing around, waiting to see what would happen next.

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:

- Father! I thank You that You heard Me. I knew that You would always hear Me; but I said this for the sake of the people standing here, so that they might believe that it was You who sent Me.

Having said this, he called out in a loud voice:

- Lazarus! get out.

Sounds were heard from the tomb, as if someone was moving there. A moment later, the deceased Lazarus came out from there, wrapped in burial shrouds on his arms and legs, with his face bandaged with a scarf. Everyone present gasped and recoiled at this incredible sight. Horror and joyful admiration alternated between each other on their faces. Jesus turned to the astonished Jews and said:

- Untie him, let him go.

After this, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus had done believed in Him. And now popular rumor bears testimony to what happened from house to house, from village to village throughout the land of Judea. The history of their people carefully preserves cases when great prophets raised the dead. But no one has yet been able to resurrect a four-day old, already stinking corpse. Not otherwise, this Galilean preacher is truly the Son of God!

And at the same time, the Jewish high priests gathered for a council, deciding to kill along with Jesus Lazarus, whom He had resurrected...

***

Everyone went their own way in those days. Lazarus had to escape the insidious plan of the Jews, flee to the island of Cyprus, become a bishop there and die again in old age. Jesus walked towards suffering, death on the cross and the eternal glory of His Resurrection. His enemies are to the same eternal shame. Easter was approaching.

Take our short test and find out how well you remember the story of one of the most famous miracles of Jesus Christ - the resurrection of Lazarus!

Quiz

Test: How well do you remember the gospel story of Lazarus, Jesus' friend?

Start Quiz

Where was Lazarus, Jesus' friend, from?

From Jerusalem

From Bethany

From Nazareth

From Capernaum

Lazarus was born in Bethany. Christ stayed in this city on the eve of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and there the Savior performed a well-known miracle - he resurrected his friend.

What were the names of Lazarus' sisters?

Martha and Mary

Eve and Judith

Anna and Rachel

Sarah and Hagar

Martha and Mary are the sisters of Lazarus and are one of the most famous characters in the New Testament. Jesus Christ stayed in the house of these sisters. Both women witnessed the resurrection of their brother, performed by Christ at their request.

Where was Lazarus buried?

At the top of the Mount of Olives

In a cave

On the shore of Lake Gennesaret

In the Jerusalem Temple

Lazarus was buried in a cave according to Jewish custom. The entrance to the cave was covered with a large stone: “they took the stone away from the cave where the deceased lay. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said: Father! I thank You that You heard Me. I knew that You would always hear Me; but I said this for the sake of the people standing here, so that they might believe that You sent Me. Having said this, He cried out with a loud voice: Lazarus! get out. And the dead man came out, entwined on his hands and feet with burial cloths, and his face was tied with a scarf. Jesus says to them: Untie him, let him go” (Gospel of John, chapter 11).

How many days had Lazarus been dead when Christ came to him to resurrect him?

a week

Month

Four days

Three days

Lazarus of Bethany is also called Lazarus the Four Days (“Jesus came and found him already four days in the tomb”).

What is the future fate of Lazarus?

He was executed in 80, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Titus.

Preached Christianity in India and China

Became a bishop in Cyprus and died in old age

Became a preacher in Thessalonica and resurrected a little boy who died from a snake bite

After the Resurrection of Christ, Lazarus was forced due to persecution to leave Judea and move to Cyprus. He served as bishop there for 18 years. After his resurrection, he lived for another thirty years, and then died a second time in Cyprus in 63.

Quiz

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Our article about this famous miracle of Christ is very short, but very significant for the entire gospel history. We advise you to re-read it again!

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Humanity still remembers the miracles of Christ, although two thousand years have passed since that time. You answered all our questions correctly! Congratulations!

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Cassian (Bezobrazov), bishop. The Resurrection of Lazarus and the Resurrection of Christ. Magazine "Path" No. 16

Author: Cassian (Bezobrazov), bishop

Among the historical questions facing the New Testament researcher, one of the most difficult is the question of the resurrection of Lazarus (John, XI). As you know, only John narrates about the resurrection of Lazarus, and the weather forecasters do not even mention this event. The silence of the weather forecasters is puzzling not only because none of the miracles of Christ told by the weather forecasters can compare with the miracle of the resurrection of a decomposing corpse, but also because the fourth Evangelist directly testifies to the decisive influence this miracle had on the outcome of Christ’s earthly ministry Savior: for John, the resurrection of Lazarus is the closest reason for the Jewish leaders to rebel against the Lord, which ended with His death on the cross (XI, 47-53, 57, XII, 10, 11, 17-19).

Left criticism, noting this difference, solves it simply. — The miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus does not belong to history. It was invented by the author of the fourth Gospel, for whom it has a purely symbolic meaning. At best, this miracle with the consequences flowing from it can be understood as the development of the motif of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus by ancient Christian tradition. At Lazar four days

the words of Abraham to the rich man are fulfilled (Luke XVI, 31) - The dead man has risen, but they did not believe him either.

This negative solution to the question is associated with the general assessment of the fourth Gospel as historically unreliable; an assessment that even today has staunch defenders among liberal scientists. But the progress of science shows that even for liberal researchers this general assessment is not as indisputable today as it was in the 19th century, and serious considerations can also be made in defense of the historical authenticity of the resurrection of Lazarus.*)

If the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus is not mentioned by the weather forecasters, then there are miracles told by the weather forecasters that are not found in John. And, above all, this applies to the miracles of resurrection. John does not talk about the miracle of the resurrection of Jairus’s daughter, which all three weather forecasters talk about (Matt. IX, 18-26, Mark V, 22-43, Luke VIII, 41-56), nor about the more amazing miracle of the resurrection carried to burial the son of the widow of Nain, about whom Luke tells (VII, 11-16). The choice of material is the right of the writer, and the reasons for the choice are not always clear to us. The reservation of John, who, according to his testimony, described only part of the miracles of Christ (XX, 30, cf. XXI, 25), also applies to the weather forecasters - first of all, because each of the three forecasters, in addition to general miracles, also has miracles omitted in parallel narratives (cf., for example, Mo. IX, 27-33, Mark VII, 32-36, Luke.

_________________

*) On the formulation of the problem and the possibility of solving it cf. article by A. Plummer'a Lazarus of Bethany in Dictionary of the Bible Hastings᾽a vol. III. The newest interpretation of Lock᾽a in “A New Commentary on Holy Scripture” under the general editorship of Bishop Gore᾽a (London, 1928), emphasizing the historical authenticity of the fourth Gospel (cf. pp. 240 et seq.), does not refuse to recognize it in the story of the resurrection of Lazarus (p. 260) .

XVII, 11-19). There is no need to exaggerate the influence that John attributes to the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus on the events of Holy Week. “This Man does many miracles,” this is how, according to the testimony of John (XI, 47), the Jewish leaders understood the state of affairs. The resurrection of Lazarus was only the last straw. It would not have caused a speech by the Jewish leaders if Christ had not previously performed other miracles. But that was the last straw. And the question posed remains valid: “What made John attribute such significance to precisely that miracle that the weather forecasters ignored?”

This article should answer this question. But you can answer it only by forming a general idea of the symbolic nature of the fourth Gospel.

Let's start with what is self-evident. A whole series of facts mentioned in John found their place in the Gospel, undoubtedly because these facts reveal a higher spiritual meaning. The miracle of the feeding of the five thousand (John VI, 1-14), evoking in the memory of the people (VI, 31) the Old Testament manna in the desert, is the starting point for Christ’s teaching about the animal bread that came down from heaven, in which the deepest essence of the Christian Eucharist is revealed ( VI, 26-64). The mention of Easter (VI. 4) and certain details (cf. VI. 12 and Num. IX. 12) make this connection especially clear. On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Christ speaks of streams of living water, and the Evangelist interprets these words as the promise of the Holy Spirit (VII, 37-39). The Savior teaches Nicodemus about birth from water and the Spirit (III, 5). The connection between water and the Spirit also follows from the Lord’s conversation with the Samaritan woman (IV). Christ heals the blind man

(IX, 1-7) and, denouncing the stiff-necked Jews who are seduced by this miracle, speaks of those who do not see who will see, and those who see who will become blind (IX, 39-41). Physical blindness is an image of spiritual blindness. One could also give examples of equally obvious symbolism. Other cases are not so obvious at first glance, but any careful reading shows that in each of these cases, what is important for the Evangelist is not so much the fact itself as its symbolic meaning. When at the last supper Judas accepted a piece from the Lord, he went out, and the Evangelist adds: “it was night” (XIII, 30). In his previous teachings, Jesus Christ spoke of Himself as the light of the world (VIII, 12, IX, 5); He called on the Jews to walk in the light while there was light (XII, 35, 36), and foresaw the coming of night, when no one knows where he is going (ibid., cf. IX, 4, XI, 9, 10). The night when the betrayal took place was not only a physical night. The cleansing of the temple at the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus Christ (John II, 13-16) - and not at the end, as with the weather forecasters (cf. Matt. XXI, 12-13 and parallels) - leads the Savior to mysterious words about the destruction of the temple and his three-day recreation, which the disciples, according to the testimony of the Evangelist, understand only subsequently in the Light of the Resurrection (II, 19-22). It is clear that the cleansing of the temple has some deep symbolic meaning. The same applies to the miracle in Cana of Galilee (II, 1.11), as the first miracle performed by Jesus, and to the flow of blood and water from His pierced side (XIX, 33-37). John places special emphasis on this last fact. Why? Is it only because the Scriptures were thus fulfilled? We know from 1 John (V, 6-8) that water and blood in John's Christology

belonged to a large place. But the interpretation of these symbols in all their depth is not given by John. It is presented to the Christian reader of the Gospel in the light of the general teaching of the Church of Christ and its special refraction in the Johannine writings of the New Testament. This symbolism forces us to look for symbolic meaning in other facts preserved by the fourth Gospel.

However, a caveat is necessary here. If the facts reported by John have the meaning of symbols, then this symbolic interpretation does not exclude their historical authenticity. Here is a significant difference between the proposed understanding and the understanding of liberal science. For liberal scholars, John's facts-symbols often do not have any historical reality behind them. This opinion is completely unfounded. John, of course, did not set himself historical goals. But the weather forecasters, not even Luke, did not care about historical accuracy, as we understand it. From different sides they sought to approach the mystery of the Incarnation and contemplated the Eternal, which appeared in time. Hence the apparent contradictions. But this understanding of the Gospel does not at all give us the right to deny the historical reality of the facts described in the Gospel, as such. In this respect, John is essentially no different from the weather forecasters. If the facts of the Gospel history had a symbolic meaning for John, then we most often guess the symbolic meaning of this or that fact by the emphasis that John places on this fact, and which relates, first of all, to the fact itself, to its factual reliability. This is very clear from the same example of the flow of blood and water from the body of the crucified Lord. The Gospel of John is the Gospel of Testimony.

The testimony is of the spiritual, and the Gospel is spiritual, but the spiritual is revealed in factual history. Facts could not serve as symbols if they were not actual facts.

Now we can return to the raising of Lazarus. The entire structure of chapters XI and XII undoubtedly indicates that in the eyes of John, the resurrection of Lazarus actually took place as an immutable fact of gospel history. On the other hand, it is equally certain that the immediate context not only allows, but imperiously demands his interpretation of the symbolic. — Having learned about Lazarus’s illness, the Lord tells his disciples that “illness does not lead to death, but to the glory of God, that through it the Son of God may be glorified” (XI, 4), and does not answer the call (v. 6). Two days later, announcing to the disciples the death of Lazarus, He adds: “I rejoice for you that I was not there, so that you might believe” (v. 15). The Lord, with all his love for Lazarus and his sisters (XI, 5), clearly allows his death. He goes to wake him up (XI, 11). The purpose of the resurrection is the faith of the disciples. The previously posed question about the reasons for the exceptional emphasis that John places on a miracle not mentioned by the weather forecasters now receives a more specific form. —What symbolic meaning is revealed for John in the resurrection of Lazarus, as a historical fact?

A symbolic interpretation of the miracle is given in the dialogue between the Savior and Martha. Martha greets the Teacher with the exclamation: “Lord! If you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you” (XI, 21-22). She hopes for a miracle, but does not dare to directly ask for it. And the Lord answers her: “Your brother will rise again” (23). How to understand His words? The Lord raised Lazarus

The resurrection of the deceased showed Martha that these words could be taken literally. But Martha does not dare to take it literally: “I know that he will rise again on the resurrection of the last day” (24). An objection can be heard in the Lord’s response. The Lord does not directly tell her that He will resurrect him. He says something else: “I am the resurrection and the life; He who believes in me, even if he dies, will live” (25). The word “will come to life” is translated into Russian by the Greek verb ζήσεται. The translator was thinking about the resurrection of Lazarus. But ζήσεταιcan mean not only “will come to life,” but also—in an imperfect form—“will live.” Death has been overcome - in faith, and the Lord continues his thought precisely in this direction: “... everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? (26). Martha confesses her faith: “Yes, Lord! ἐγώπεπίστευκα - I believed and now believe” - this is the exact meaning of the Greek perfect form - “that You are the Christ, the Son of God, coming into the world” (27).

Martha's answer contains a direct reference to the teaching of Christ, which came to us in the fourth Gospel in the Lord's conversations with Nicodemus (III) and with the Samaritan woman (IX) and in his speech to the Jews in Jerusalem (V). - Christ is the beginning of life. Communion into life occurs through faith in Christ. The giving of life is the work of the Son, as well as the work of the Father. The Jews, seduced by the healing of the sick on the Sabbath day, are confronted by the Lord with the mystery of the divine-filial relationship: Jesus is the Son of God, and therefore the source of life and salvation. But the gift of life cannot be understood purely spiritualistically. “As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whomever he will” (V, 21). “The time is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who created will come out

good into the resurrection of life, and those who did evil into the resurrection of condemnation” (V, 28-29, cf. also VI, 39-40). From faith in Jesus Christ, as the Beginning of life, flows faith in the coming resurrection.

Christ objects to Martha in word and deed. In a word, He shows her that in this case we are not talking about the coming resurrection, but about the manifestation of the life-giving power of the Son of God. In fact, He resurrects Lazarus. The objection in word and the objection in deed coincide: in the resurrection of Lazarus, the appearance of Christ takes place as the source of life and resurrection.

The purpose of the miracle is the faith of the disciples (XI, 15), and then of the people present at the miracle (XI, 42, cf. 45, 48, XII, I, 19). The word “people” is translated in Russian from the Greek word όχλος - crowd. These were Jews who came from Jerusalem, most of them unbelieving and hostile. But the students? Didn't they also believe? However, faith has different degrees and different contents. And Martha confesses her faith. She proves it, concluding from the general to the particular: everyone will be resurrected, and Lazarus will also be resurrected. This conclusion already presupposes faith in Christ as the Beginning of life, with all the consequences arising from it. And, nevertheless, at the tomb of Lazarus, when she warns the Lord about the inevitability of the coming decay (XI, 39), the Lord calls her to faith (40). Why? The emphasis here is on the power of faith. Whoever truly believes in Jesus, for him there is no difference between death and sleep (XI, 11-15). The Lord calls us to this all-conquering faith. This is the faith of the Evangelist. Not only the unbelieving crowd needs strengthening of faith, Martha needs it, the disciples need it. On the other hand, in the dialogue of the Lord with Martha, the content of faith is established, as it follows from the general context of the Gospel.

Establishing the content is essential for understanding the place of the resurrection of Lazarus in terms of the book.

In the Fourth Gospel there is another miracle that reveals Christ as the Beginning of life. This is a miracle of healing of the son of a Capernaum courtier (IV, 46-54). It symbolically completes the teaching of the Savior, set forth in conversations with Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman. But only in the subsequent speech of Jesus Christ to the Jews in Jerusalem (V) is this teaching revealed from the side of its dogmatic foundation - the unity of the Father and the Son - and the consequences arising from it - the coming resurrection of the dead. It is in this form that it is assumed to be symbolic of the resurrection of Lazarus. Here is the difference in the symbolic meaning of the resurrection of Lazarus and the healing of the Capernaum youth.

Not only this. Resurrection in itself, as a return to life, is more significant than healing, even if one is overcome by an incurable illness. - We are moving to the other side of the problem.

It was noted above that the betrayal of Judas marks the onset of night for John. But the closeness of night is felt even earlier. The Passion of Christ becomes clear against the background of the sharp contrast between Christ the Savior and the world, which is revealed in chapters VI-XII. The Lord resurrects Lazarus in the light of day. But after the assassination attempt by the Jews who did not accept the teachings about the Church (chapter X), Jesus Christ returns to the place where John had previously baptized (X, 40-42). The people remember and accept the testimony of John, who had long since given way to the Bridegroom, and the narrative thus returns to its starting point. The circle closes. With the resurrection of Lazarus in ch. XI something new begins

The resurrection of Lazarus is not yet night, but a precursor to night. If in the Passion of Christ, as John clearly indicates (cf. XII, 23-33, XIII, 31-32, XVII, 1 et seq.), the glorification of the Lord is accomplished - glorification in humiliation and death - then Martha at the tomb of Lazarus Christ foreshadows the manifestation of the glory of God (XI, 40, cf. v. 4).

Furthermore. When Mary hurried to the call of the Teacher (XI, 28-29), the Jews who came to the sisters thought that she had gone to cry at the tomb. And on the joyful day of the Resurrection, another “Mary stood at the tomb and wept” (XX, 11). Women at the tomb of Lazarus and women at the tomb of the Crucified One. The entrance to the grave cave of a friend and to the grave cave of the Teacher is closed with a stone (XI, 38 et seq. cf. XIX, 41 - XX, 1). And when the Lord called to Lazarus, “the dead man came out, entwined on his hands and feet with burial shrouds, and his face was tied with a scarf” (XI, 44). In the Teacher’s tomb, Peter also saw “the linen cloths lying and the cloth that was on His head” (XX, 6-7). The Russian word “plat” corresponds to the Greek word “σουδάριον”. In the story of the resurrection of Lazarus, it is also translated by the word “handkerchief”. This parallelism deserves the most serious attention. The resurrection of Lazarus takes place on the eve of the Passion, and what happens at the tomb of Lazarus involuntarily reminds the Christian reader of the Gospel of certain details of the Resurrection of Christ. This coincidence cannot be accidental.

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ presupposes His death. Death is overcome in Resurrection. The Western world places primary emphasis on death, the Eastern world on resurrection. This emphasis often suffers from one-sidedness. In the West, they sometimes do not see the Resurrection behind the Calvary sacrifice. Some

modern Orthodox writers, the joy of the Resurrection leaves almost no room for the mystery of the Cross. And yet: “We worship Your Cross, Master, and we glorify Your Holy Resurrection.” The Troparion to the Cross testifies to the inextricable connection between the Cross and the Resurrection in the consciousness of the Orthodox Church. This connection is affirmed in the Gospel.

Teaching his apostles the mystery of the suffering Messiah, the Lord warned them not only about his passions: rejection by the world, reproach and death, but also about the resurrection on the third day (Mark VIII, 31, IX, 31, X, 32-34 and parallel.) . After the first prediction, at the turning point of Gospel history, the Lord appeared to his closest disciples in the glory of the Transfiguration. And Luke testifies that Moses and Elijah, who appeared to Him, “spoke about His exodus, which He had to accomplish in Jerusalem” (IX, 21). And the first two weather forecasters preserved the memory that, descending from the mountain, the Lord commanded the disciples not to tell anyone about the vision, “until the Son of Man rises from the dead” (Matthew XVII, 9, Mark IX, 9). At the last supper (Matt. XXVI, 32, Mark XIV, 28), a reminder of the resurrection follows a terrible warning in the words of the prophet Zechariah: “I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.” The initiation of the disciples into the death of the Savior on the cross takes place in the sacrament of the Eucharist, but the sacrament of the Eucharist is also a foretaste of a new meal in the kingdom of the Heavenly Father (Matt. XXVI, 29, Mark XIV, 25). And the image of the coming glorification stands before the spiritual gaze of the Sufferer. — At the trial of the high priests, in a moment of extreme reproach and humiliation, the Lord predicts to His judges that they will see “the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

(Matt. XXVI, 64, Mark XIV, 62). Another great detail. — All Evangelists associate Peter’s denial with the crowing of a rooster (Matt. XXVI, 34, 74, 75, Mark XIV, 30, 68, 72, Luke XXII, 34, 60-62, John XIII, 38, XVIII, 26) . According to Mark (XIV, 72), the third renunciation took place before the second roosters. With Peter, the last one falls away from the Lord. The crowing of a rooster is a sign of falling away. The usual designation of time by the crowing of a rooster here undoubtedly has a symbolic meaning.*) Calling his disciples to stay awake, the Lord reminds them that they cannot know “when the owner of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at the crowing of the roosters, or in the morning "(Mark XIII, 35). ᾽Αλεκτοροφωνία - roosters crowing - it’s not morning yet, but it’s no longer midnight. Morning is near. This is the longing for light in darkness: light and darkness together. For ancient Christians, the rooster was a symbol of resurrection. In the depths of the Middle Ages, the first images of a rooster appeared in the West on church spiers.**) The rooster is established on the cross, death and resurrection are combined in one symbol.

The close connection between the Cross and the Resurrection emerges with even greater clarity from the Gospel of John. We have already noted that the second part of the Gospel is symbolically depicted as night (XIII 30). It begins with the washing of the feet, which is also a symbolic act. In washing his feet, the Lord figuratively teaches love, which he then speaks about at length in the Farewell Discourse and calls on the Father in the High Priestly

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*) The symbolic meaning of this detail is clearer among the weather forecasters than among John. In John, Peter's falling away is contrasted with the faithfulness of his beloved disciple (cf. John XVIII, 15-17. XIX, 26), and there is no contrast between the light of the resurrection and the darkness of the passions (see below).

**) Wed. N. Leclercq. Coq. article in Dictionnaire d᾽archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, publir par Cabrol et Leclercq, t. III, 2 part. Paris. 1914 (col. 2886 study special symbols).

prayer: symbol and its disclosure. The High Priestly Prayer is the prayer of the High Priest and the Sacrifice, the Offerer and the Offered: it precedes the Passion. And the Farewell Conversation is farewell because it presupposes separation, and its task is to explain to the students the meaning of the moment: the temptation of the Cross is approaching. Everything is connected in one continuous chain. What applies to washing the feet applies to the entire chain. “During the supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Simon Iscariot to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given everything into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from the supper...” (XIII, 2- 4). The following is a story about foot washing. But these few words with which it is introduced have a greater meaning: they indicate the essence of the coming night, as John understood it. - The betrayed uprising of the world reaches its goal (cf. XIII, 1). Jesus goes to the Father. But, since “the Father gave everything into His hands,” the ascension of the Son to the Father presupposes the elevation by the Son to the Father of those who believed in the Son and loved Him. The approaching night is revealed from three sides for John: the rebellion of the world against Christ, His ascension to the Father and the raising of the disciples to the Father. It is essential for understanding the internal connection between the Passion and the Resurrection that for John the night does not end with the Resurrection. Unlike the weather forecasters (cf. Matt. XXVIII, 1, Mark XVI, 2), Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb “while darkness is still present” (XX, 1): σκοτίαςἐτιοὔσης. The term σκοτία is one of the characteristic John terms. It is also used in a figurative sense to designate the darkness of the sinful world, opposing the light (for example, I, 4-5). The symbolic meaning of the indication XX, 1 is beyond doubt. It is supplemented by the words of the Risen Mary Magdalene

(v. 17): “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father, but go to My brothers and say to them: I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.” If in the Fourth Gospel the night depicts not only the revolt of the world against Christ, but also His ascension to the Father, then it is now clear to us that in the symbolism of John the night is not limited to the temptation of the Cross. She hugs Resurrection too. Further conclusions follow from this. We have seen that, according to the teaching of John, in the Passion of Christ the manifestation of the Glory of God, the Glory of the Father and the Son, takes place. This formula now allows for clarification. The connection between the Cross and the Resurrection - in John’s case is especially close - shows that the glorification of God is accomplished, according to the teaching of the fourth Evangelist, not only through the Passion, but also through the Resurrection of Christ, in the mysterious unity of the Passion and Resurrection.

The excursion we have made into the area of the New Testament teaching about the Resurrection allows us to continue the interrupted comparison of the Gospel stories about the resurrection of Lazarus and the Resurrection of Christ a little further.

According to the teaching revealed in the Gospel of John, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ - together with His Passion - is His ascension to the Father. According to the testimony of the Apostle Peter, Jesus Christ was resurrected because death “could not restrain Him” (Acts II, 25). On the other hand, the Apostle Peter in the same speech (Acts II, 25, 32) and the Apostle Paul in his Epistles and in the sermons preserved in the book of Acts (I Cor., VI, 14, XV, 15, Philip., II , 9, Acts, xiii, 30, etc.), they say that the Father raised the Crucified Lord. These parallel testimonies reveal the Johannine formula and reveal the unity in the Resurrection of Christ

Father and Son. The resurrection of Lazarus by the life-giving power of Christ also testifies to the unity of Jesus Christ and the Father. Martha’s confession (XI, 27) and the Savior’s prayer at the tomb of his deceased friend speak about him (XI, 41, 42).

Little of. Anticipating the Resurrection of Christ, the resurrection of Lazarus is also the immediate cause of the Passion, thus testifying to the inextricable connection between the Passion and the Resurrection. The unity of the Passion and Resurrection is anticipated in the resurrection of Lazarus and the manifestation of the glory of God.

Against the background of theological analogy, factual coincidences take on special significance.

But this is one side. The undoubted parallelism is opposed by a significant difference. — The resurrection of Lazarus is the return of the deceased to temporary life here on earth. The high priests are plotting the murder of the resurrected Lazarus (XII, 10). The Resurrection of Christ is the divine victory over death. This duality of relationship - obvious parallelism and equally obvious incommensurability - can be understood as the relationship between the prototype and what it represents. What is represented is the fulfillment of the type, and in the glory of the fulfillment the type fades. In what sense can the Resurrection of Christ be understood as the fulfillment of the prototype, the resurrection of Lazarus? If the resurrection of Lazarus actually reinforces the teaching about Jesus Christ as the beginning of life, which also includes the promise of the coming Resurrection, then the Resurrection of Christ, as the fulfillment of the prototype, is the beginning of our resurrection comments. We have seen that, according to the teachings of John, in the unity of the Passion and Resurrection not only the ascension of Jesus Christ to the Father is thought of, but also the ascension of the disciples to the Father.

The resurrection of Lazarus entails the revolt of the world against Christ. The world is under the control

the identity of the devil, the prince of the world, who was a liar and “a murderer from the beginning” (VIII, 44). The revolt of the world against Christ, as a result of the resurrection of Lazarus, is a revolt of lies and death against Truth and Life. The symbolic meaning of the resurrection of Lazarus makes the uprising inevitable and explains the significance that John attributes to this miracle. The silence of the weather forecasters is losing its poignancy. They revealed the Gospel of Christ from other sides.

The Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church has preserved the symbolic meaning of the resurrection of Lazarus. The church celebration of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem corresponds to the chronological instructions of the fourth Gospel (XII, 1, 12). And therefore it deserves special attention that by attributing the memory of the Righteous Lazarus to the Sabbath, the John chronology is clearly violated (cf. John XI, 54 et seq.). This violation, bringing closer - and in time - the resurrection of Lazarus and the Solemn Entry, emphasizes the internal connection of both events, of which the second is revered by the Church as the Forefeast of the Resurrection of Christ. Vaii - palm branches - an image of the Resurrection. The Resurrection of Christ made our resurrection possible. But more than that. — In the liturgical hymns dedicated to the resurrection of the righteous Lazarus, the Church again draws the attention of believers to the close internal connection between the resurrection of Lazarus and the Resurrection of Christ (cf., for example, Pyatok Bai, Great Compline, canon, canto 9, Saturday Bai, Morning, canon, songs 1 and 9) and sings in the troparion: “Assuring the general resurrection before Your Passion, you raised Lazarus from the dead.” Only through the Passion of Christ: death conquered by life, did the general resurrection become possible, but the mystery of the resurrection - in all its ineffability - was revealed to people even before the Passion in the resurrection of the four-day-old Lazarus.

S. Bezobrazov.

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