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Today I want to look at many questions involving Jesus's friend Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead. There are a lot of intricacies in this story that you- and I- don't see at first glance.
First, we have a skeptic's question. This was undoubtedly Jesus's biggest miracle before His own death and resurrection. So why is it that three Gospels skip it, and only John tells it? Well, first off, Not every Gospel tells every story- four different men at four different times, four different relationships to Jesus. Of 37 recorded miracles of Jesus, three were told by Matthew alone, one by Mark, 6 by Luke, and 6 by John. Second, the commentators agree that since the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew Mark and Luke) were written presumably in the renewed lifetime of Lazarus, they left it out because the Pharisees were after him as it was...
Joh 12:9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
Joh 12:10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well,
Joh 12:11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
Which brings us to a second question of the curious- how long did Lazarus live after his raising? Well, despite Wiki's best efforts to cloud the issue, let's look at the dates the Gospels were probably written. If we go by Church Father Eusebius, Matthew was written in 41 AD; Mark is generally accepted as being a source for, and thus before the writing of, Luke's Gospel. One source that looked at the question felt that evidence in the text showed that Acts was written during Paul's imprisonment but not after his execution; as Luke had to be written before Acts, this source placed it no later than 60 AD, which puts Mark not much later than 55 AD. Tradition says Lazarus lived 30 years from one death to the next, putting his second death some time after 63 AD. This would have Lazarus still alive at the time of their writing. Add to that that the only one of the three probably there at the time- Matthew- wrote his (according to Eusebius) just 9 years after the fact, and that seems reasonable.
John, though, is assumed to have been written while he was on Patmos, which would push it several decades after Lazarus's second death.
Thirdly, an "understanding the plot" question. Was this Lazarus the same as the one in the Parable about Lazarus and the rich man? Some people do think so, but I think they aren't paying attention. First of all, if the beggar Lazarus had 2 sisters that loved him that much, would they not take care of him rather than letting him beg a rich man's scraps? Second, the pitiable condition of beggar Lazarus contrasts with the quick illness and death of the other one. Why would Jesus bring a man who had suffered so much on earth as the beggar back for what wouldn't be much better? Just to prove a point to his knucklehead Disciples? Which leads to...
But now, here comes my foundational question- Why was it necessary? I'm not trying to be cruel to the poor guy, but listen to what Jesus said about the death of Lazarus:
Joh 11:14 Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died,
Joh 11:15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."
So Jesus let him die for the sake of these knuckleheads. Why knuckleheads? This would be the THIRD time they would watch him raise someone from the dead- well, the second for everyone but John, James, and Peter. The first had died fairly recently when Jesus saw them carry him out on a bier, followed by his grieving widowed mother, who would now be left to die in poverty. His name was left out (though his hometown of Nain was mentioned- and this is a story I may get back to later), thus Luke- and Luke alone- tells it, to set up part of what happens next. See, right after, word got to John the Baptist, stuck in Herod's prison, and sent his people to ask if Jesus were the One (and after the fact of Jesus's baptism, I think this may have been John's way of getting his boys to stop waiting around for him, in a jail he'd never leave). And Jesus answered:
Luk 7:22 And he answered them, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.
Luk 7:23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me."
(NOTE: It goes on to say that John's disciples then left, presumably to relay the message. At which point John prolly told them, "SO WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?" But, that's speculation...)
The second time was Jairus's daughter, and all three of the Synoptics tell that story, presumably because Jairus was a high official and could take care of himself.
So now, they've seen Jesus raise someone from the dead. And yet, Peter objects every time Jesus tries to tell them that He will be killed and raised up on the third day. And yet, when Jesus says, "Let's go check things out", He has to hear this:
Joh 11:7 Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."
Joh 11:8 The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?"
Joh 11:9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
Joh 11:10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."
Joh 11:11 After saying these things, he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him."
Joh 11:12 The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover."
Joh 11:13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.
Joh 11:14 Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died,
Joh 11:15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."
Joh 11:16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."
"Let's go die with Him." Because they still don't think that His talk of dying and rising again is any more than one of the Parables He tells everyone else- DESPITE the fact He told them:
Mat 13:10 Then the disciples came and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"
Mat 13:11 And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
So now they gather around and watch him raise someone, not just dead, not less than a day dead- but FOUR DAYS in the grave. They have the testimony of the sisters and the whole town that he's dead four days. Everyone is braced for the smell when the rock is rolled away (John 11:39).
"LAZARUS, COME OUT!" And out he comes, bound head to toe.
This was Jesus giving the Knuckleheads every last little chance to BELIEVE what He was about to do before He did it. And yet....
The very last important thing about Lazarus is this little bit everybody forgets...
Joh 11:44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
Now Jesus had just wept at the thought of the man, his friend, having died. Wouldn't you think of helping this guy out yourself, rather than giving an instruction and walking away? Consider this: No matter the seed the human preacher, the human father, the human friend, plants in you, it is the Spirit who leads you to accept Christ as savior; afterwards, it is YOUR job, then to disciple them, to take the rags of death and ignorance off the newly reborn believer so that they can clearly see.
Jesus NEVER wastes an action.
But the summation backtracks- are you a knucklehead? How many times do YOU have to hear what Jesus did for you before you will believe what He WILL DO for you? I ask myself that all the time.
And one final thought- Lazarus was reborn- but still lived in Bethany. The world didn't change- but I sure bet HE did.
