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Chapter 66MedVC.1.66

De resuscitatione Lazari

The Sisters' Message and the Lord's Delay

The chapter opens by inviting the reader into the scene of Lazarus's illness, the sisters' fearful message to Jesus, his deliberate two-day silence, and Martha's anguished greeting at Bethany.

Here is a miracle very famous and deeply solemn, presenting itself for devout meditation. So be attentive, as if you had been present for the things said and done here, and willingly enter into conversation—not only with the Lord Jesus and his disciples, but also with that blessed household, so devoted to the Lord and so beloved by him: namely Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. So when Lazarus fell sick, his sisters mentioned before—who were most intimate with the Lord—sent word to him at the place where he had withdrawn, namely across the Jordan, as was recounted in the earlier treatise: 'Lazarus, our brother, whom you love, is sick.'✦ And they said nothing more—perhaps because they were afraid to summon him to them, since they knew the leaders of the Jews were lying in wait for him and wanted him dead. But when the Lord Jesus heard the message, he was silent for two days. Afterward he said to his disciples, among other things: 'Lazarus is dead, and I rejoice for your sake that I was not there.'✦ See the wonderful goodness and love of the Lord, and his skillful care toward his disciples. They still needed greater strength and virtue; that is why he gladly worked for their progress. So they returned and came near to Bethany.✦ When Martha learned of it, she went out to meet him, and falling at his feet said: 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.'✦

Jesus Weeps with Those He Loves

Jesus confirms the resurrection to Martha, summons Mary, and is so moved by the sisters' grief that he himself weeps, inviting the reader to contemplate the scene with deep attention.

The Lord indeed confirms it. He answered that he would rise, and they discussed the resurrection with one another. Afterward, indeed, he sends her for Mary; for the Lord loved this one most especially. She herself, when she learned of it, quickly rose and came to him, and falling down she spoke words like Martha's. The Lord Jesus, however— Seeing his beloved one afflicted, tearful, and desolate over her brother, he himself could not hold back his tears either. And so Jesus wept.1 Look now, and look well — at him, at those women, and at the disciples too.

The Walk to the Tomb

Amid shared weeping, Jesus asks where Lazarus has been laid, is led to the tomb, and walks between the two sisters consoling them, while Mary Magdalene expresses her grief at his absence.

Don't you believe that they themselves also wept? After a short while, with everyone weeping, the Lord Jesus said, "Where have you laid him?"✦ He himself already knew this, but he spoke in a human way. Then those women said, "Lord, come and see."✦ And they led him to the tomb. So the Lord Jesus went, walking between the two sisters, consoling and strengthening them. They themselves indeed were then consoled by his presence, because they directed all their attention toward him alone, as if beyond all grief and every overwhelming circumstance. And so the three of them went along the way together, and Mary Magdalene said, "Lord, how hard it has been for you since the time you departed from us!"

Mary's Fear and the Stone Removed

Mary confesses her mingled joy and fear for Jesus's safety, the Lord reassures her with the Father's providence, they arrive at the tomb, Martha protests the stench of four days, yet Jesus has the stone removed despite her objection.

I felt a sharp grief over your departure, and now that I've heard you've returned, I was filled with great joy — but I was still afraid, and I'm very much afraid still. You know, after all, how much the leaders and elders of our people are plotting against you — and that's why we didn't dare send word for you to come. I'm glad you've come, but I beg you, for God's sake — be on your guard against their snares. But the Lord was answering them: Don't be afraid, because the Father will provide for all of this.✦ And so, talking with one another as they went, they came to the tomb.✦ Then the Lord Jesus ordered the stone that had been placed over the tomb to be lifted away. But Martha objected, saying, 'Lord, he stinks — he's been dead four days.'✦ O God, see the wonderful love of these sisters for the Lord Jesus: they didn't want the stench to reach his nostrils. Nevertheless — no, much more than that — the Lord had the stone lifted away.✦

The Prayer and the Raising of Lazarus

Jesus prays aloud to the Father for the sake of the onlookers, cries out with a loud voice calling Lazarus forth, and the dead man emerges still bound in burial cloths; the disciples unbind him, he gives thanks, and the miracle draws great crowds.

When this was done, the Lord Jesus himself, with eyes raised toward heaven, said: "I give you thanks, Father, because you have heard me."✦ "I knew that you always hear me; but I say this for the sake of these people, so that they may know that you sent me."✦ Look now carefully at him praying this way, and consider his zeal for the salvation of souls. Then he cried out with a loud voice, saying: "Lazarus, come out!"✦ And he came back to life at once and came out — still bound, however, just as he had been buried.✦ The disciples, at the Lord's command, untied him.✦ Once he was unbound, he found the sisters kneeling and gave thanks to the Lord Jesus for so great a kindness, and they led him to their home. Those who had been there and had seen these things were astonished, and the miracle was spread abroad — so much so that a great multitude came from Jerusalem and the surrounding regions to see Lazarus.✦

The Plot Against Lazarus

The Jewish leaders, confounded by the miracle, conspire to kill Lazarus.

And the leaders of the Jews, seeing themselves confounded, plotted to kill him.

Read the original Latin

Praesens miraculum valde celebre, muUumqne solemne cum devoUone meditandi occurrit; et ideo sic te attentam exhibeas, ac si praesens fuisseshis, qure hic dicta, velfactafaerunt, et Ubenter converseris, non solum cum Domino Jcsu et discipuUs ejus, sed etiam cum ista benedicta famiUa sic Domino devota et a Domino dilecta, sciUcet Lazaro, Martha et Maria. Languente igitur Lazaro ^, sorores ejus praedictae, quae famiUarissimae Domino erant, ad eum miserunt ad locum in quem recesserat, sciUcet trans Jordanem, ut in superiori tractatu conUnetur, dicentes: Lazarus frater noster, quem amas, infirmatur. Et ampUus non dixerunt, vel quia hoc Umebant ipsum ad se vocare, cum scirent majores Judaeorum insidiari eidem, et cupere mortem ejus. Dominus autem Jesus, audito nuntio, siluit per duos dies, et post dixit discipuUs inter aUa: Lazarus mortuus est, et gaudeo propter vos, quia non eram ibi. Vide mirabilem bonitatem, et dilecUonem Domini, ac solertiam circa discipulos suos. Indigebant adhuc majori robore et virtute: unde ipse lihenter operabatur eorum profectum. Redierunt igitur, et venerunt prope Bethaniam. Martha vero cum scivit, exivit ei obviam, et procidens ad pedes ejus, dixit: Domine, si fuisses hic, frater meus non fuisset mortuus.

Dorainus vero comprobat. respondit quod surgeret, et de resurrectione ad invicem tractaverunt. Postea vero mitlit eam pro Maria: hanc enim Dominus singularissime diligebat. Ipsa vero ut scivit, feslina surrexit^ et venit ad eum et procidens similia verba Marthce dicebat. Dominus autem Jesus. videns dilectam suam afflictam, lacrymosam et desolatam de fratre suo, non potuit etiam ipse lacrymas continere. Unde tunc lacrymaius esc Jesus. Conspice nunc bene ipsum, et illas, et etiam discipulos.

Annon credis, quod et ipsi fuerunt lacrymati? Post aliquam morulam, sic ploranlibus cunctis, dixit Dominus Jesus: TJbi posuistis eum? Ipse enim hoc sciebat; sed more humano locutus est. Tunc illae dixerunt: Domine, veni, et vide. Et dacebant eum ad sepulcrum. Vadit igitur Dominus Jesus medius inter duas sorores, consolans et confortans eas. Ipsae vero tunc de sua preesentia consolabantur, quod quasi omnis doloris et omnis rei obhtae, in eum solummodo intendebant. Curaque sic intercederent tres simul per viam, dicebat Magdalena: Domine, quaUter fuit vobis, ex quo recessistis a nobis?

Dolor vehemens fuit mihi de vestro recessu; et nunc cum vos redisse audivi, magnum gaudium habui; sed nihilomiuus timui, et multum timeo. Scitis enim, quanta machinaotur adversum vos principes et majores nostri, et propterea non fuimus ausse mittere, ut veniretis. Gaudeo quod venislis, sed rogo vos pro Deo, ut caveatis vobis ab illorum insidiis. Dominus autem respondebat: Non timeatis, quia Pater super his providebit. Et sic colloquendo ad invicem, venerunt ad monumentum. Tunc jussit Dominus Jesus elevari ex eo lapidem superpositum; sed contendebat Martha, dicens: Domine, fostet, quatriduanus enim est. 0 Deus, vide mirabilem amorem istarum sororum erga Dominum Jesum: nolebant enim quod foetor tangeret nares ejus. Nihilominus tamen, imo multo magis Dominus fecit lapidem elevari.

Quo facto, ipse Dominus Jesus ehvatis oculis in ccElum, dixit: Gratias tibi ago, Pater, quoniam audisti me. Ego autem sciebam quia semper me audis; sed propter istos dico, ut sciant, quia tu me misisti. Aspice nunc bene ipsum sic orantem, et considera zelum ejus ad animarum salutem. Deinde clamavit voce magna, dicens: Lazare, veni foras. Et statim revixit, et prosihit foras, ligatus tamen, sicut luerat sepultus. Discipuli vero ad Domini praeceptum solverunt eum. Qui solutus, et etiam praedicfee sorores genuflectentes, gralias egerunt Domino Jesu de tanto beneficio, et duxerunt eum ad domum suam. Stupuerunt autem, qui ibi fuerant, et haec viderant; et divulgatum fuit miraculum, adco ut multitudo magna a Hierusalem et aliis partibus venirent ad videndum Lazarum.

Et principes Judaeorum se confusos reputantes, de ipso occidendo cogitaverunt

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩John.11.3 — So the sisters sent word to him, saying, 'Lord, the one you love is ill.'
  2. ↩John.11.6-John.11.15 — So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. John.11.7 — After this, he said to the disciples, 'Let us go to Judea again.' John.11.8 — The disciples said to him, 'Rabbi, just now the Jews were seeking to stone you, and you are going back there again?' John.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." John.11.10 — But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. John.11.11 — He said these things, and after this he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going to wake him up." John.11.12 — His disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be saved." John.11.13 — Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about the sleep of rest. John.11.14 — Then Jesus told them plainly, 'Lazarus has died. John.11.15 — And I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.
  3. ↩John.11.17-John.11.18 — So when Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. John.11.18 — Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away.
  4. ↩John.11.21 — Then Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.'
  5. ↩John.11.34 — And he said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to him, 'Lord, come and see.'
  6. ↩John.11.34 — And he said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to him, 'Lord, come and see.'
  7. ↩Matt.6.25-Matt.6.34 — Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat [or what you will drink], nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Matt.6.26 — Look at the birds of the air: they do not reap, nor gather into barns, nor store away grain — and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth far more than they? Matt.6.27 — And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his lifespan? Matt.6.28 — And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they do not toil, nor do they spin. Matt.6.29 — Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these. Matt.6.30 — If God so clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Matt.6.31 — Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' Matt.6.32 — For all these things the Gentiles seek after. For your Father who is in heaven knows that you need all of these things. Matt.6.33 — But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matt.6.34 — Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
  8. ↩John.11.17-John.11.20 — So when Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. John.11.18 — Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away. John.11.19 — Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. John.11.20 — So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed in the house.
  9. ↩John.11.39 — Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by now there is a foul smell, for it has been four days."
  10. ↩John.11.41 — So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, 'Father, I thank you that you have heard me.'
  11. ↩John.11.41 — So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, 'Father, I thank you that you have heard me.'
  12. ↩John.11.42 — I knew that you always hear me, but I said this because of the crowd standing around, so that they may believe that you sent me.
  13. ↩John.11.43 — And after he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!'
  14. ↩John.11.44 — The dead man came out, his feet and hands bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Unbind him, and let him go.'
  15. ↩John.11.44 — The dead man came out, his feet and hands bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Unbind him, and let him go.'
  16. ↩John.11.45-John.11.46 — Many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen what he did, believed in him. John.11.46 — But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The Latin forms 'lacrymaius esc' are corrupt/uncertain; normalized reading supplies the most plausible intended sense ('lacrymavit est' → 'he wept'). Translation follows the corrected sense.

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