From: John 11:1-45
The Raising of Lazarus
[5] Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. [6] So when he heard
that he was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. [7] Then
after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go into Judea again.” [8] The disciples
said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were but now seeking to stone you, and are you
going there again?” [9] Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day?
If any one walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of
this world. [10] But if any one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light
is not in him.” “Thus he spoke, and the he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has
fallen asleep, but I go to awake him out of sleep.” [12] The disciples said to him
“Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” [13] Now Jesus had spoken of his
death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. [14] Then Jesus told
them plainly, “Lazarus is dead; [15] and for your sake I am glad that I was not
there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” [16] Thomas, called the
Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.
[17] Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb
four days. [18] Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, [19] and many
of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their bro-
ther. [20] When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him,
while Mary sat in the house. [21] Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been
here, my brother would not have died. [22] And even now I know that whatever
you ask from God, God will give you.” [23] Jesus said to her, “Your brother will
rise again.” [24] Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resur-
rection at the last day.” [25] Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the
life, he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, [26] and whoever
lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” [27] She said to
him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, he who is co-
ming into the world.”
[28] When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying quietly,
“The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” [29] And when she heard it, she rose
quickly and went to him. [30] Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was
still in the place where Martha had met him. [31] When the Jews who were with
her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed
her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. [32] Then Mary,
when she came where Jesus was and saw him, fell at his feet, saying to him,
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” [33] When Jesus
saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply
moved in spirit and troubled; [34] and he said, “Where have you laid him?” They
said to him, “Lord, come and see.” [35] Jesus wept. [36] So the Jews said, “See
how he loved him!” [37] But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the
eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
[38] Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb; it was a cave, and a
stone lay upon it. [39] Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of
the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has
been dead four days.” [40] Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you would
believe you would see the glory of God?” [41] So they took away the stone. And
Jesus lifted his eyes and said, “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
[42] I knew thou hearest me always, but I have said this on account of the people
standing by, that they may believe that thou didst send me.” [43] When he had
said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” [44] The dead man
came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with
a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
The Sanhedrin Decides on the Death of Jesus
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Commentary:
1-45. This chapter deals with one of Jesus’ most outstanding miracles. The
Fourth Gospel, by including it, demonstrates Jesus’ power over death, which the
Synoptic Gospels showed by reporting the raising of the daughter of Jairus (Mt
9:25 and par.) and of the son of the widow of Nain (Lk 7:12).
The evangelist first sets the scene (vv. 1-16); then he gives Jesus conversation
with Lazarus’ sisters (vv. 17-37); finally, he reports the raising of Lazarus four
days after his death (vv. 38-45). Bethany was only about three kilometers (two
miles) from Jerusalem (v. 18). On the days prior to his passion, Jesus often visi-
ted this family, to which he was very attached. St John records Jesus’ affection
(vv. 3,5,36) by describing his emotion and sorrow at the death of his friend.
By raising Lazarus our Lord shows his divine power over death and thereby gives
proof of his divinity, in order to confirm his disciples’ faith and reveal himself as
the Resurrection and the Life. Most Jews, but not the Sadducees, believed in the
resurrection of the body. Martha believed in it (cf. v. 24).
Apart from being a real, historical event, Lazarus’ return to life is a sign of our fu-
ture resurrection: we too will return to life. Christ, by his glorious resurrection
through which he is the “first-born from the dead” (1 Cor 15:2; Col 1:18; Rev 1:5),
is also the cause and model of our resurrection. In this his resurrection is diffe-
rent from that of Lazarus, for “Christ being raised from the dead will never die
again” (Rom 6:9), whereas Lazarus returned to earthly life, later to die again.
2. There are a number of women in the Gospels who are called Mary. The Mary
here is Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus (v.2), the woman who later anoin-
ted our Lord, again in Bethany, at the house of Simon the leper (cf. Jn 12:1-8; Mk
14:3): the indefinite or aorist “(she) anointed” expresses an action which occurred
prior to the time of writing, but the anointing took place after the resurrection of
Lazarus.
Were Mary of Bethany, Mary Magdalene and the “sinful” woman who anointed
Jesus’ feet in Galilee (cf. Lk 7:37) one, two or three women? Although some-
times it is argued they are one and the same, it seems more likely that they
were all different people. Firstly, we must distinguish the Galilee anointing (Lk
7:38) by the “sinner” from the Bethany anointing done by Lazarus’ sister (Jn
12:1): because of the time they took place and particular details reported, they
are clearly distinct (cf. note on Jn 12:1). Besides, the Gospels give us no posi-
tive indication that Mary of Bethany was the same person as the “sinner” of
Galilee. Nor are there strong grounds for identifying Mary Magdalene and the
“sinner”, whose name is not given; Mary Magdalene appears among the women
who follow Jesus in Galilee as the woman out of whom seven demons were cast
(cf. Lk 8:2), and Luke presents her in his account as someone new: no informa-
tion is given which could link her with either of the two other women.
Nor can Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene be identified, for John differentiates
between the two: he never calls Lazarus’ sister Mary Magdalene, nor does he in
any way link the latter (who stays beside the Cross—Jn 19:25—and who goes to
the tomb and sees the risen Lord) with Mary of Bethany.
The reason why Mary of Bethany has sometimes been confused with Mary Mag-
dalene is due (1) to identification of the latter with the “sinner” of Galilee through
connecting Magdalene’s possession by the devil with the sinfulness of the woman
who did the anointing in Galilee; and (2) to confusing the two anointings, which
would make Lazarus’ sister the “sinner” who does the first anointing. This was
how the three women were made out to be one, but there are no grounds for that
interpretation. The best-grounded and most common interpretation offered by
exegetes is that they are three distinct women.
4. The glory which Christ speaks of here, St Augustine says, “was no gain to
Jesus; it was only for our good. Therefore, Jesus says that this illness is not un-
to death, because the particular death was not for death but rather for a miracle,
which being wrought men should believe in Christ and thereby avoid the true
death” (”In Ioann. Evang.”, 49, 6).
8-10. Stoning was the form of capital punishment applying to blasphemy (cf. Lev
24:16). We have seen that people tried to stone Jesus at least twice: first, when
he proclaimed that he was the Son of God and that he existed from eternity (by
saying that he “was” before Abraham lived)—Jn 8:58-59; second, when he
revealed that he and the Father were one (cf. Jn 10:30-31).
These attempts by the Jewish authorities failed because Jesus’ ‘hour’ had not
yet arrived—that is, the time laid down by his Father for his death and resurrection.
When the Crucifixion comes, it will be the hour of his enemies and of “the power
of darkness” (Lk 22:53). But until that moment it is daytime, and our Lord can
walk without his life being in danger.
16. Thomas’ words remind us of the Apostles saying at the last Supper that they
would be ready to die for their Master (cf. Mt 26:31-35). We have seen how the
Apostles stayed loyal when many disciples left our Lord after his discourse on
the Bread of Life (Jn 6:67-71), and how they remained faithful to him despite their
personal weaknesses. But when, after Judas Iscariot’ s betrayal, Jesus lets him-
self be arrested without offering resistance—in fact, forbidding the use of weapons
(cf. Jn 18:11)—they become disconcerted and run away. Only St John will stay
faithful in Jesus’ hour of greatest need.
18. Fifteen stadia, in Greek measurement: three kilometers (two miles).
21-22. According to St Augustine, Martha’s request is a good example of confi-
dent prayer, a prayer of abandonment into the hands of God, who knows better
than we what we need. Therefore, “she did not say, But now I ask you to raise
my brother to life again. [...] All she said was, I know that you can do it; if you
will, do it; it is for you to judge whether to do it, not for me to presume” (”In Ioann.
Evang.”, 49, 13). The same can be said of Mary’s words, which St John repeats
at v. 32.
24-26. Here we have one of those concise definitions Christ gives himself, and
which St John faithfully passes on to us (cf. Jn 10:9; 14:6; 15:1): Jesus is the
Resurrection and the Life. He is the Resurrection because by his victory over
death he is the cause of the resurrection of all men. The miracle he works in
raising Lazarus is a sign of Christ’s power to give life to people. And so, by faith
in Jesus Christ, who arose first from among the dead, the Christian is sure that
he too will rise one day, like Christ (cf. 1 Cor 15:23; Col 1:18). Therefore, for the
believer death is not the end; it is simply the step to eternal life, a change of
dwelling-place, as one of the Roman Missal’s Prefaces of Christian Death puts
it: “Lord, for your faithful people life is changed, not ended. When the body of our
earthly dwelling lies in death, we gain an everlasting dwelling place in heaven”.
By saying that he is Life, Jesus is referring not only to that life which begins
beyond the gave, but also to the supernatural life which grace brings to the soul
of man when he is still a wayfarer on this earth.
“This life, which the Father has promised and offered to each man in Jesus Christ,
his eternal and only Son, who ‘when the time had fully come’ (Gal 4:4), became
incarnate and was born of the Virgin Mary, is the final fulfillment of man’s vocation.
It is in a way the fulfillment of the ‘destiny’ that God has prepared for him from
eternity. This ‘divine destiny’ is advancing, in spite all the enigmas, the unsolved
riddles, the twists and turns of ‘human destiny’ in the world of time. Indeed, while
all this, in spite of all the riches of life in time, necessarily and inevitably leads to
the frontiers of death and the goal of the destruction of the human body, beyond
that goal we see Christ. ‘I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me
...shall never die.’ In Jesus Christ, who was crucified and laid in the tomb and
then rose again, ‘our hope of resurrection dawned...the bright promise of immor-
tality’ (”Roman Missal”, Preface of Christian Death, I), on the way to which man,
through the death of the body, shares with the whole of visible creation the neces-
sity to which matter is subject” (John Paul II, “Redemptor Hominis”, 18).
33-36. This passage gives us an opportunity to reflect on the depth and tender-
ness of Jesus’ feelings. If the physical death of his friend can move him to tears,
what will he not feel over the spiritual death of a sinner who has brought about his
eternal condemnation? “Christ wept: let man also weep for himself. For why did
Christ weep, but to teach men to weep” (St Augustine, “In Ioann. Evang.”, 49,
19). We also should weep—but for our sins, to help us return to the life of grace
through conversion and repentance. We should appreciate our Lord’s tears: he is
praying for us, who are sinners: “Jesus is your friend. The Friend. With a human
heart, like yours. With loving eyes that wept for Lazarus.
“And he loves you as much as he loved Lazarus” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”,
422).
41-42. Through his sacred humanity Jesus is expressing himself as the natural
Son of God, that is, he is the metaphysical Son of God, not adopted like the
rest of men. This is the source of Jesus’ feelings, which helps us understand
that when he says “Father” he is speaking with a unique and indescribable in-
tensity. When the Gospels let us see Jesus praying, they always show him
beginning with the invocation “Father” (cf. the note on Lk 11:1-2), which reflects
his singular trust and love (cf. Mt 11:25 and par.). These sentiments should also
in some way find a place in our prayer, for through Baptism we are joined to
Christ and in him we became children of God (cf. Jn 1:12; Rom 6:1-11, 8:14-17),
and so we should always pray in a spirit of sonship and gratitude for the many
good things our Father God has given us.
The miracle of the raising of Lazarus, which really is an extraordinary miracle, is
a proof that Jesus is the Son of God, sent into the world by his Father. And so it
is, that when Lazarus is brought back to life, people’s faith in Jesus is increased
—the disciples’ (v. 15), Martha’s and Mary’s (vv. 26, 40) and that of the people at
large (36, 45).
43. Jesus calls Lazarus by name. Although he is really dead, he has not thereby
lost his personal identity: dead people continue to exist, but they have a different
mode of existence, because they have changed from mortal life to eternal life.
This is why Jesus states that God “is not God of the dead, but of the living”, for
to him all are alive (cf. Mt 22:32; Lk 20:38).
This passage can be applied to the spiritual resurrection of the soul who has
sinned and recovers grace. God wants us to be saved (cf. 1 Tim 2:4); therefore
we should never lose heart; we should always desire and hope to reach this goal:
“Never despair. Lazarus was dead and decaying: ‘Iam foetet, quatriduanus enim
est. By now he will smell; this is the fourth day,’ says Martha to Jesus. “If you
hear God’s inspiration and follow it—’Lazare, veni foras!: Lazarus come out!’ —
you will return to Life” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 719).
44. The Jews prepared the body for burial by washing it and anointing it with
aromatic ointments to delay decomposition and counteract offensive odors; they
then wrapped the body in linen cloths and bandages, covering the head with a
napkin—a method very like the Egyptians’, but not entirely extending to full em-
balming, which involved removing certain internal organs.
Lazarus’ tomb would have consisted of a subterranean chamber linked to the
surface by steps, with the entrance blocked by a slab. Lazarus was moved out
to the entrance by a supernatural force. As happened in the case of the raising
of Jairus’ daughter (Mk 5:42-43), due to their astonishment no one moved until
our Lord’s words broke the atmosphere of silence and terror which had been
created.
St Augustine sees in the raising of Lazarus a symbol of the sacrament of
Penance: in the same way as Lazarus comes out of the tomb, “when you con-
fess, you come forth. For what does ‘come forth’ mean if not emerging from what
is hidden, to be made manifest. But for you to confess is God’s doing; he calls
you with an urgent voice, by an extraordinary grace. And just as the dead man
came out still bound, so you go to confession still guilty. In order that his sins
be loosed, the Lord said this to his ministers: ‘Unbind him and let him go’. What
you will loose on earth will be loosed also in heaven” (St Augustine, “In Ioann.
Evang.”, 49, 24). Christian art has used this comparison from very early on; in
the catacombs we find some one hundred and fifty representations of the raising
of Lazarus, symbolizing thereby the gift of the life of grace which comes through
the priest, who in effect repeats these words to the sinner: “Lazarus, come out.”
45-48. Once again, as Simeon had predicted, Jesus is a sign of contradiction
(cf. Lk 2:34; Jn’ 7:12, 31, 40; 9:16; etc.): presented with the miracle of the raising
of Lazarus some people believe in Jesus (v. 45), and some denounce him to his
enemies (cf. vv. 46-47)—confirming what is said in the parable of the rich man:
“neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead” (Lk 16:31).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
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First reading |
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Ezekiel 37:12-14 © |
The Lord says this: I am now going to open your graves; I mean to raise you from your graves, my people, and lead you back to the soil of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. And I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live, and I shall resettle you on your own soil; and you will know that I, the Lord, have said and done this – it is the Lord who speaks.
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Psalm |
Psalm 129:1-8 © |
With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,
Lord, hear my voice!
O let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleading.
With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,
Lord, who would survive?
But with you is found forgiveness:
for this we revere you.
With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
My soul is waiting for the Lord.
I count on his word.
My soul is longing for the Lord
more than watchman for daybreak.
(Let the watchman count on daybreak
and Israel on the Lord.)
With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Because with the Lord there is mercy
and fullness of redemption,
Israel indeed he will redeem
from all its iniquity.
With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
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Second reading |
Romans 8:8-11 © |
People who are interested only in unspiritual things can never be pleasing to God. Your interests, however, are not in the unspiritual, but in the spiritual, since the Spirit of God has made his home in you. In fact, unless you possessed the Spirit of Christ you would not belong to him. Though your body may be dead it is because of sin, but if Christ is in you then your spirit is life itself because you have been justified; and if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then he who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in you.
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Gospel Acclamation |
Jn11:25, 26 |
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in me will never die.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
EITHER:
|
Gospel |
John 11:1-45 © |
There was a man named Lazarus who lived in the village of Bethany with the two sisters, Mary and Martha, and he was ill. It was the same Mary, the sister of the sick man Lazarus, who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. The sisters sent this message to Jesus, ‘Lord, the man you love is ill.’ On receiving the message, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will end not in death but in God’s glory, and through it the Son of God will be glorified.’
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, yet when he heard that Lazarus was ill he stayed where he was for two more days before saying to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judaea.’ The disciples said, ‘Rabbi, it is not long since the Jews wanted to stone you; are you going back again?’ Jesus replied:
‘Are there not twelve hours in the day?
A man can walk in the daytime without stumbling
because he has the light of this world to see by;
but if he walks at night he stumbles,
because there is no light to guide him.’
He said that and then added, ‘Our friend Lazarus is resting, I am going to wake him.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he is able to rest he is sure to get better.’ The phrase Jesus used referred to the death of Lazarus, but they thought that by ‘rest’ he meant ‘sleep’, so Jesus put it plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead; and for your sake I am glad I was not there because now you will believe. But let us go to him.’ Then Thomas – known as the Twin – said to the other disciples, ‘Let us go too, and die with him.’
On arriving, Jesus found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days already. Bethany is only about two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to sympathise with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said:
‘I am the resurrection and the life.
If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,
and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?’
‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’
When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in a low voice, ‘The Master is here and wants to see you.’ Hearing this, Mary got up quickly and went to him. Jesus had not yet come into the village; he was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were in the house sympathising with Mary saw her get up so quickly and go out, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
Mary went to Jesus, and as soon as she saw him she threw herself at his feet, saying, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ At the sight of her tears, and those of the Jews who followed her, Jesus said in great distress, with a sigh that came straight from the heart, ‘Where have you put him?’ They said, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept; and the Jews said, ‘See how much he loved him!’ But there were some who remarked, ‘He opened the eyes of the blind man, could he not have prevented this man’s death?’ Still sighing, Jesus reached the tomb: it was a cave with a stone to close the opening. Jesus said, ‘Take the stone away.’ Martha said to him, ‘Lord, by now he will smell; this is the fourth day.’ Jesus replied, ‘Have I not told you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and said:
‘Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer.
I knew indeed that you always hear me,
but I speak for the sake of all these who stand round me,
so that they may believe it was you who sent me.’
When he had said this, he cried in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, here! Come out!’ The dead man came out, his feet and hands bound with bands of stuff and a cloth round his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, let him go free.’
Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what he did believed in him.
OR:
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Alternative Gospel |
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John 11:3-7,17,20-27,33-45 © |
Mary and Martha sent this message to Jesus, ‘Lord, the man you love is ill.’ On receiving the message, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will end not in death but in God’s glory, and through it the Son of God will be glorified.’
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, yet when he heard that Lazarus was ill he stayed where he was for two more days before saying to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judaea.’
On arriving, Jesus found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days already. Bethany is only about two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to sympathise with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said:
‘I am the resurrection and the life.
If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,
and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?’
‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’
Jesus said in great distress, with a sigh that came straight from the heart, ‘Where have you put him?’ They said, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept; and the Jews said, ‘See how much he loved him!’ But there were some who remarked, ‘He opened the eyes of the blind man, could he not have prevented this man’s death?’ Still sighing, Jesus reached the tomb: it was a cave with a stone to close the opening. Jesus said, ‘Take the stone away.’ Martha said to him, ‘Lord, by now he will smell; this is the fourth day.’ Jesus replied, ‘Have I not told you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and said:
‘Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer.
I knew indeed that you always hear me,
but I speak for the sake of all these who stand round me,
so that they may believe it was you who sent me.’
When he had said this, he cried in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, here! Come out!’ The dead man came out, his feet and hands bound with bands of stuff and a cloth round his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, let him go free.’
Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what he did believed in him.