On Lazarus · §2 · Amphilochius of Iconium

Jesus' strategy in the raising of Lazarus

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Amphilochius is explaining how the Lord's strategy arranged the circumstances of Lazarus' raising so that the crowd would become unambiguous heralds of the resurrection.

When Lazarus put off this present life in the natural way, the Lord was not present in Bethany to bodily eyes, though in his divinity he is present everywhere and fills all things. For four days after Lazarus was buried, Jesus came to Bethany to enact the resurrection of his friend. So when the Lord arrived in Bethany, as soon as Martha, Lazarus' sister, heard of it, she ran, she hurried, she fell before him in supplication, offering a chosen plea. Falling before him, she said to the Lord: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died (John 11:21). And now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you (John 11:22)." But the Lord, being himself a sea of long-suffering, answered her: "What are you saying, Martha? You call me Lord, and you do not understand what Lord means? Was I not here? Wait a little while; for soon you will learn from your brother. Your brother will rise. I pardon you, Martha; for you are drunk with grief—as he said to her: a person who is drunk makes mistakes—when you sober up, then you will come to your senses. Your brother will rise." But Martha, still caught up in human words, answered the Lord: "I know that he will rise on the last day (John 11:24)." The Lord said to her: "Why do you stammer, Martha? Why do you shrink from the resurrection into distant hopes? The resurrection is speaking with you, and you speak about the resurrection? I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live (John 11:25)." While the Lord was saying these things, nearly the whole city of Bethany ran down to the Lord's arrival—not to marvel, but to laugh. For they had no hope that a man four days dead could rise. What then did the Lord do? When he saw such a crowd running down and that they were worthy and sufficient to bear witness to what was about to be raised by him, he answered them: "Where have you laid Lazarus?" Did the Master of the place not know the place? He knew the place, but he arranged the manner, so that all of them, compelled once again, would follow Jesus, so that receiving the resurrection with their own eyes they might become unambiguous heralds. "Where have you laid him?" Those who were asked said to him: "Come and see (John 11:34)." As the Lord walked and hurried to the tomb, the crowd following behind exchanged words among themselves, saying: "Why does this man want to see Lazarus' tomb? If he is the Son of God, he will raise him."

Greek

Ἡνίκα Λάζαρος τὴν παροῦσαν ζωὴν ἀπεδύσατο φυσικῶς, οὐκ ἦν ὁ κύριος ἐν Βηθανίᾳ παρὼν τοῖς σωματικοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς,

τῇ δὲ θεότητι πανταχοῦ παρὼν καὶ τὰ πάντα πληρῶν. Μετὰ γὰρ τέσσαρας ἡμέρας τοῦ ταφῆναι τὸν Λάζαρον, ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς Βηθανίαν τὴν ἀνάστασιν τοῦ φίλου κωμῳδῆσαι. Ὅθεν καὶ τοῦ κυρίου παραγενομένου ἐν Βηθανίᾳ, ὡς ἤκουσε Μάρθα ἡ ἀδελφὴ Λαζάρου, ἔδραμεν, ἔσπευσε, προσέπε σεν ἐν παρακλήσει αἱρετικὴν πρεσβείαν προσφέρουσα. Προσπε σοῦσα γὰρ ἔφασκε τῷ κυρίῳ λέγουσα· Κύριε, εἰ ἦς ὧδε, οὐκ ἂν ἀπέθανεν ὁ ἀδελφός μου. Καὶ νῦν οἶδα ὅτι ὅσα ἂν αἰτήσῃ τὸν θεόν, δώσει σοι ὁ θεός. Ὁ δὲ κύριος αὐτὸς πέλαγος ὢν μακροθυμίας ἀπεκρίνατο λέγων· Τί λέγεις, Μάρθα; Κύριον καλεῖς, καὶ κύριον οὐκ ἐννοεῖς; Οὐκ ἤμην ὧδε; Μικρὸν καρτέρησον· ἐν τάχει γὰρ παρὰ τοῦ 1 ἀδελφοῦ σου μαθήσῃ. Ἀναστήσεται γὰρ ὁ ἀδελφός σου. Συγγινώσκω σοι, Μάρθα· μεθύεις γὰρ τῇ λύπῃ–ὥσπερ αὐτῇ εἶπεν· καλῶν μεθύων τις σφάλλεται–, ὅτε ἐκνήψεις, τότε σωφρονισθήσῃ. Ἀναστήσεται γὰρ ὁ ἀδελφός σου. Ἡ δὲ Μάρθα καὶ οὕτως συμπεριενεχθεῖσα ἀνθρωπίνοις ῥήμασιν ἀνθυπένεγκε τῷ κυρίῳ λέγουσα· Οἶδα ὅτι ἀναστήσεται ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ. Ὁ δὲ κύριος πρὸς αὐτήν· Τί βαμβαίνεις, ὦ Μάρθα; Τί εἰς μακρὰς ἐλπίδας τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἀναδύῃ; Ἡ ἀνάστασίς σοι διαλέγεται, καὶ περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως διαλέγῃ; Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἀνάστασις καὶ ἡ ζωή· ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ κἂν ἀποθάνῃ ζήσεται. Ταῦτα τοῦ κυρίου διαλεγομένου μικροῦ δεῖν πᾶσα ἡ πόλις Βηθανία κατέδραμεν εἰς τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ κυρίου, οὐ θαυμάσαι ἀλλὰ γελάσαι. Οὐκ εἶχον γὰρ ἐλπίδα τετραήμερον νεκρὸν ἀναστῆσαι. Τί οὖν ὁ κύριος; Ὡς εἶδε τοσοῦτον πλῆθος καταδραμὸν καὶ ὅτι ἄξιοί εἰσι καὶ ἱκανοῦσι πρὸς μαρτυρίαν τοῦ μέλλοντος παρ' αὐτοῦ ἀνεγείρεσθαι, ἀποκριθεὶς πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἔφη· Ποῦ τεθείκατε Λάζαρον; Ἆρ' οὐκ ᾔδει τὸν τόπον ὁ τοῦ τόπου δεσπότης; Ἤδει τὸν τόπον, ἀλλ' ἐπραγματεύσατο τὸν τρόπον, ὅπως πάντες αὖθις ἀναγκασθέντες ἐπακολουθήσωσι τῷ Ἰησοῦ, ἵνα αὐτοψὶ δεξάμενοι τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἀναμφίβολοι κήρυκες γένωνται. Ποῦ τεθείκατε αὐτόν; Οἱ δὲ ἐπερωτηθέντες εἶπον πρὸς αὐτόν· Ἔρχου καὶ ἴδε. Τοῦ δὲ κυρίου βαδίζοντος καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν τάφον σπεύδοντος ὁ ἀκολουθῶν ὄπισθεν ὄχλος ἀντέβαλε πρὸς ἑαυτὸν λέγων· Τί θέλει οὗτος τὸν τάφον Λαζάρου θεάσασθαι; Εἰ υἱός ἐστι τοῦ θεοῦ, τοῦτον ἀναστήσει.

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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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