On Lazarus · §1 · Amphilochius of Iconium

The unslanderable raising of Lazarus

Amphilochius opens his homily by calling the congregation to look again at John's account of Lazarus, the firstfruits of the resurrection, and shows how the Jewish leaders could slander every other miracle but not this one.

Let us bring the evangelist John into our midst again, for it is good to contemplate the firstfruits of the resurrection. You heard him say just now: "Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom he had raised from the dead" (John 12:1). Did you see the firstfruits of the resurrection prefigured in Lazarus, which the faithful crowd recognized? The crowds recognized it, and the chief priests reviled the wonder-working, turning it into envy. They truly envied the resurrection of Lazarus, because after his resurrection, which you heard about, they plotted to kill him. Did you see the excess of envy? The one whom the Lord raised, they resolved to kill, not realizing that even if they killed him, it would again be easy for the Lord to raise his friend. They plotted to kill Lazarus. Nothing stung the Jews as much as the resurrection of Lazarus. This miracle alone they could not slander. They slandered the healing of the man born blind, saying, "This is he; no, it is not he; it is someone like him" (John 9:9). They slandered the raising of Jairus's daughter, saying that she had merely collapsed and had not been handed over to complete death. They slandered the resurrection of the widow's only son, saying that he had feigned death and had not been swallowed up by the tyranny of death. They slandered the withered fig tree, saying that it had been stripped by birds and not withered by the Lord's word. They slandered the changing of water into wine, saying that the dinner guests were already drunk and did not recognize the jest. Only the resurrection of Lazarus they could not slander. They knew Lazarus; the man was well known. They had followed the funeral procession, they had seen the tomb being sealed, they had consoled Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, according to custom, as at a funeral meal for the dead. They knew that he had lain in the tomb for exactly four days, and that he was a corpse four days dead, completely disjointed, his flesh wasted away, his bones loosened from their sockets, his sinews torn apart, his inward parts scattered, his belly dissolved. Knowing all this, when they suddenly saw the resurrection of Lazarus whole and complete, as from a lathe, gleaming with renewed life, they were thrown into confusion. They nearly fainted, finding no words of pretext for how they might slander the resurrection of Lazarus, since the Lord's strategy had arranged this. What does it mean that the Lord's strategy had arranged this? Listen briefly.

Greek

In Lazarum Ἀμφιλοχίου ἐπισκόπου Ἰκονίου λόγος εἰς τὸν τετραήμερον Λάζαρον Φέρε πάλιν εἰς μέσον τὸν εὐαγγελιστὴν Ἰωάννην· καλὸν γὰρ τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τῆς ἀναστάσεως σκοπῆσαι. Ἤκουες γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἀρτίως λέγοντος· Πρὸ ἓξ ἡμερῶν τοῦ Πάσχα ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς βηθανίαν, ὅπου ἦν Λάζαρος, ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν. Εἶδες τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἐν Λαζάρῳ προτυπωθεῖσαν, ἣν ὁ πιστὸς ὄχλος ἐγνώρισεν; Οἱ ὄχλοι ἐγνώρισαν καὶ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ἐλοιδόρησαν τὴν θαυματουργίαν εἰς βασκανίαν μεταβαλόντες. Ὄντως ἐβάσκαναν τὴν ἀνάστασιν Λαζάρου, ὅτι μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν αὐτοῦ, ἣν ἤκουες, συνεβουλεύσαντο αὐτὸν ἀποκτεῖναι. Εἶδες βασκανίας ὑπερβολήν; Ὃν ὁ κύριος ἤγειρεν, αὐτοὶ ἀποκτεῖναι διενοήθησαν, μὴ συνειδότες ὅτι κἂν αὐτοὶ ἀποκτείνω σι, πάλιν κοῦφον τῷ κυρίῳ ἀναστῆσαι τὸν φίλον. Συνεβουλεύσαντο τὸν Λάζαρον ἀποκτεῖναι· οὐδὲν οὕτως ἐδρίμυττε τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ὡς ἡ ἀνάστασις τοῦ Λαζάρου. Τοῦτο μόνον τὸ θαῦμα οὐκ ἴσχυσαν συκοφαντῆσαι. Τὴν ἀνάβλεψιν τοῦ ἐκ γεννητῆς τυφλοῦ ἐσυκοφάντησαν λέγοντες· Οὗτός ἐστιν· οὐκ ἔστιν οὗτος· ὅμοιος αὐτοῦ ἐστιν. Τὴν ἔγερσιν τῆς θυγατρὸς Ἰαήρου ἐσυκο φάντησαν λέγοντες ὡς κατηνέχθη καὶ οὐ τελείῳ θανάτῳ παρεδόθη. Τὴν ἀνάστασιν τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς χήρας τοῦ μονογενοῦς ἐσυκοφάντησαν λέγοντες ὡς τὸν θάνατον ἐσχηματίσατο καὶ οὐχ ὑπὸ τῆς τυραννίδος τοῦ θανάτου κατεπόθη. Τὴν ξηρανθεῖσαν συκῆν ἐσυκοφάντησαν λέγοντες ὡς τρυγωνισθεῖσαν καὶ οὐχ ὡς δεσποτικῷ ῥήματι ξηρανθεῖσαν. Τὴν τοῦ ὕδατος εἰς οἶνον μεταβολὴν ἐσυκοφάντησαν λέγοντες ὡς ἤδη τῶν ἐν τῷ δείπνῳ μεθυσθέντων καὶ μὴ εἰδότων τὴν χλεύην. Τὴν ἀνάστασιν μόνην τοῦ Λαζάρου οὐκ ἴσχυσαν συκοφαντῆσαι. Ἤδεισαν τὸν Λάζαρον· ἐπίσημος ἦν ὁ ἀνήρ. Ἠκολούθησαν τῇ κηδίᾳ, εἶδον τὸν τάφον σφραγιζόμενον, παρεμυθήσαντο κατὰ τὸ εἰωθός, ὡς ἐν περιδείπ νῳ θανάτου, Μάρθαν καὶ Μαρίαν τὰς ἀδελφὰς Λαζάρου. Ἔγνωσαν ὅτι τέσσαρας ἡμέρας εἶχεν ἀκριβῶς ἐν τῷ μνημείῳ κατατεθείς, καὶ ὅτι τετραήμερος νεκρὸς πάντοθεν ἔξαρθρος, τῶν σαρκῶν μειωθέντων, τῶν ὀστέων ἐκγομφωθέντων, τῆς νευροστασίας διασπασθείσης, τῶν ἐνδοσθίων σκορπισθέντων, τῆς γαστρὸς ἐκχυθείσης. Ταῦτα συνειδότες ὡς εἶδον ἀθρόον τὴν ἀνάστασιν Λαζάρου σῶαν, ἀρτίαν ὡς ἀπὸ τόρνου, στίλβουσαν τῇ παλινβιωσίᾳ, ἐταράχθησαν. Μικροῦ δεῖν ἀπέψυξαν μὴ εὑρίσκον τες λόγους προφασιλογίας, τὸ πῶς συκοφαντήσουσι τὴν ἀνάστασιν Λαζάρου τῆς τοῦ κυρίου πραγματείας τοῦτο κατα σκευασάσης. Τί ἐστι, τῆς τοῦ κυρίου πραγματείας τοῦτο παρασκευα σάσης; Ἄκουε διὰ βραχέων.

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About this text

A bishop's sermon on the raising of Lazarus, and on faith that answers doubt.

Amphilochius of Iconium (c. 340–c. 395) was a fourth-century bishop in Cappadocia, in what is now Turkey. He governed the church of Iconium from about 374 until his death. This homily on the raising of Lazarus was delivered as a liturgical address to a Christian congregation.

The sermon takes its occasion from the Gospel of John, where Jesus raises his friend Lazarus after four days in the tomb. Amphilochius presents this event as the firstfruits of the resurrection, a public pledge of the general resurrection to come. He emphasizes that Lazarus was a well-known man whose death and burial were witnessed by many, so that no one could dismiss the miracle as a private or staged affair.

A reader will meet Lazarus, his sisters Martha and Mary, Jesus, and the evangelist John. The homily quotes Martha and Jesus in direct speech, and it refers to the chief priests and Pharisees as hostile onlookers. Amphilochius argues that Jesus arranged the timing, questions, tears, and commands deliberately, as a strategy to make the crowd unambiguous witnesses. He also cites Elijah, Enoch, and Elisha as earlier examples of preserved life or of struggling to raise the dead. The author follows the Gospel of John and alludes to Old Testament figures without always explaining them, so a reader should know that Enoch was taken up alive and that Elisha struggled when raising the dead.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 39 (Greek)

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