On Lazarus · §4 · Amphilochius of Iconium

The strategy of the raising and the proof of the wrappings

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Amphilochius is closing the homily by showing how Jesus' command to roll away the stone and then to unbind Lazarus was a deliberate strategy to make the onlookers witnesses of the raising, and he ends by calling the congregation to join the palm-bearing acclamation.

But as I said before, he was arranging everything wisely, as I said before, as strategy for advantage when he said to the Jews: "Roll away the stone," so that from the corpse-bearing stench itself they might learn that he had decayed and was not stolen. "Roll away the stone."

When those present rolled away the stone with grumbling—for the hard-to-control corpse-bearing stench was stinging them—immediately the Lord cried out: "Lazarus, come out (John 11:43)." The Master is the one calling; no one speaks against him. "Lazarus, come out; fully convince Martha your sister that I command and do not beg. Lazarus, come out. Before I go down, come out; in you is the pledge, but in me is the perfect thing. Lazarus, come out."

But you, friend, when you hear "Lazarus, come out," do not suppose that the Lord shouted many times. He spoke once and raised the one he had formed. For he did not weep as Elijah did, nor was he at a loss as Elisha was. With a single-sound voice he woke the one sleeping in his presence, saying: "Lazarus, come out." One word, and the wonders were various. The Lord only called out, "Lazarus, come out," and immediately the flesh was being filled out, the hair was being restored, the joints were being bound together, the veins were being refilled with pure blood. Hades, cut off from below, was sending Lazarus onward. The soul of Lazarus, being detained and comforted by the holy angels, was being remolded, the soul into its own body. And the most glorious thing of all was that he was bound everywhere, his feet and his face with burial bands, and he walked without hindrance.

Therefore the Lord also commanded the crowds present more effectively, saying: "Untie him and let him go." See the Lord's strategy and how he arranges everything wisely. For the full assurance of those present he said: "Untie him and let him go. As you rolled away the stone and showed the tomb and shared in the smell, untie the burial wrappings too; preserve the stone as a blessing, keep the burial wrappings as witnesses. If the chief priests and the Pharisees disbelieve that Lazarus has risen, show the burial wrappings; display the burial cloths as the paralytic carried his mat."

But let us, carrying the palm branches of the date palms, say: "Hosanna in the highest; blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord." To him be glory and power with the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Greek

Ἀλλὰ πάντα σοφῶς, καθὼς προεῖπον, πραγματευόμενος πρὸς λυσιτέλειαν ἔλεγεν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις· Ἀποκυλίσατε τὸν λίθον, ὅπως ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς

νεκροφόρου ἀποφορᾶς μάθωσιν ὅτι ἐσάπη καὶ οὐκ ἐκλάπη. Ἀποκυλίσατε τὸν λίθον. 2 Τῶν δὲ ἀποκυλισάντων μετὰ γογγυσμοῦ– ἐδρίμυττεν γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἡ νεκροφόρος δυσήνιος ἀποφορά–, ἀποκυλισάντων δὲ τῶν παρόντων τὸν λίθον, εὐθέως ἐβόησεν ὁ κύριος λέγων· Λάζαρε δεῦρο ἔξω. ∆εσπότης ὁ καλῶν, οὐδεὶς ὁ ἀντιλέγων. Λάζαρε, δεῦρο ἔξω· πληροφόρησον Μάρθαν τὴν ἀδελφήν σου ὡς κελεύω καὶ οὐχ ἱκετεύω. Λάζαρε, δεῦρο ἔξω. Πρὸ τοῦ κατέλθω, ἔξελθε· ἐν σοὶ τὸν ἀρραβῶνα, ἐν ἐμοὶ δὲ τὸ τέλειον. Λάζαρε, δεῦρο ἔξω. Σὺ δὲ ἀκούων, ὦ φίλε, Λάζαρε, δεῦρο ἔξω, μὴ οἴου τὸν κύριον πολλὰς φωνὰς βεβληκέναι. Ἅπαξ ἐλάλησε καὶ ὃν ἔπλασεν ἤγειρεν· οὔτε γὰρ ὡς Ἠλίας ἔκλαυσεν οὔτε ὡς Ἐλισσαῖος ἠπόρησε. Μονοφθόγγῳ φωνῇ διύπνισε τὸν παρ' αὐτῷ καθεύδοντα εἰπών· Λάζαρε, δεῦρο ἔξω. Εἷς ὁ λόγος καὶ διάφορα τὰ θαύματα. Μόνον ὁ κύριος ἐφώνησε· Λάζαρε, δεῦρο ἔξω, καὶ εὐθέως αἱ σάρκες ἀπεπληροῦντο, αἱ τρίχες ἀντεφυτεύοντο, αἱ ἁρμονίαι συνεδεσ μοῦντο, αἱ φλέβες καθαρῷ αἵματι ἀντεγεμίζοντο. Ὁ ᾅδης κάτωθεν κοπτόμενος τὸν Λάζαρον προέπεμπεν. Ἡ ψυχὴ Λαζάρου παρακρατουμένη καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων παρακαλουμένη τὸ ἴδιον εἰς τὸ ἴδιον μετεχωνεύετο. Καὶ τὸ πάντων ἐνδοξότερον ἦν ὅτι πανταχόθεν δεδεμένος ἦν τοὺς πόδας καὶ τὴν ὄψιν κηρίαις καὶ ἀνεμποδίστως ἐβάδιζεν. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ κύριος δραστικώτερον πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας ὄχλους παρεκελεύετο λέγων· Λύσατε αὐτὸν καὶ ἄφετε ὑπάγειν. Βλέπε τὴν τοῦ κυρίου πραγματείαν καὶ πῶς τὰ πάντα σοφῶς οἰκονομεῖ. Πρὸς πληροφορίαν τῶν παρόντων ἔλεγε· Λύσατε αὐτὸν καὶ ἄφετε ὑπάγειν· ὡς τὸν λίθον ἀπεκυλίσατε καὶ τὸν τάφον ὑπεδείξατε καὶ τῆς ὀσφρήσεως μετήσχετε, καὶ τὰ νεκροτάφια λύσατε· τὸ μὲν ὡς εὐλογίαν τηροῦντες, τὸ δὲ ὡς μάρτυρες φυλάττοντες. Ἐὰν ἀπιστήσωσιν οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ οἱ φαρισαῖοι ὡς οὐκ ἀνέστη Λάζαρος, δείξατε τὰ νεκροτάφια· ἐμφανίσατε τὰ σουδάρια ὡς ὁ παράλυτος τὸν κράβαττον. Ἡμεῖς δὲ τὰ βαΐα τῶν φοινίκων βαστάζοντες εἴπωμεν· Ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις· εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου. Αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος σὺν τῷ παναγίῳ καὶ ζωοποιῷ πνεύματι νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. 3

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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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