On Lazarus · §3 · Amphilochius of Iconium

The crowd's doubt and Jesus' strategic tears

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The crowd following Jesus to Lazarus' tomb is speaking among themselves, and Martha now approaches Jesus as he walks toward the tomb.

The crowd said among themselves: "For those who had died recently, the ones he raised, we do not know. How then can we know whether they were handed over to a complete death? He will raise this man, and we will know that he truly is the Son of God."

Carried along with these words, Martha herself came to the Lord and said: "Where are you going, Master? Why do you want to see Lazarus' tomb? Why do you stir up our pain again? Why do you rouse our mourning? Why do you want to see the tomb? It will do no good, Master. He already stinks, for he has been four days dead."

But the Lord said to Martha: "Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God (John 11:40)? You say to me, 'He already stinks.' Your sister gives off fragrance, and you reek of smoke with unbelief? I want to see the tomb of my friend."

After saying these things, the Lord went to the tomb. And when he drew near the tomb and saw the monument, he immediately wept. What need was there to weep for the one he was about to raise? He wept. Why? Listen carefully. The Lord arranged everything as strategy. He wept at the tomb so that he might make public the opinion of those who followed him, what suspicion they held about him.

So when the crowds following him saw him weeping, they again felt human things and began to exchange words among themselves, saying: "See how he loved him (John 11:36). The one who raised the dead and gave sight to the blind, could not have kept this man from dying, if he loved him so?"

But the Lord, when he saw them still speaking human things, answered them: "It would have been easy for me to preserve the life of Lazarus, as also of Elijah and Enoch, but none of you knew that by my will the life of Lazarus was being preserved. For this reason I allowed him to be swallowed by death, so that you might learn precisely that I have authority over life and death."

And immediately the Lord said to them, as you all clearly know: "Roll away the stone (John 11:39)." He commanded the Jews there: "Roll away the stone." See how he arranged everything as strategy, making them precise witnesses of Lazarus' resurrection. "Roll away the stone." He permitted his disciples to move mountains by a word, and did he himself not roll away the stone?

Greek

Τῶν γὰρ προσφάτως

τελευτησάντων, ὧν ἤγειρεν, οὐκ ἐπιστάμεθα. Πόθεν οὖν ἴσμεν, εἰ τελείῳ θανάτῳ παρεδόθησαν; Τοῦτον ἀναστήσει, καὶ γνῶσιν λαμβάνομεν ὅτι ἀληθῶς θεοῦ υἱός ἐστιν. Ὅθεν καὶ ἡ Μάρθα τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις συμπεριενεχθεῖσα προσῆλθε τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ αὐτὴ λέγουσα· Ποῦ πορεύῃ, δέσποτα; Τί θέλεις τὸν τάφον ἰδεῖν Λαζάρου; Τί τὴν ὀδύνην ἡμῶν ἀναζέεις; Τί τὸ πένθος ἐπεγείρεις; Τί θέλεις τὸν τάφον ἰδεῖν; Οὐδὲν γὰρ ὀνήσεις, δέσποτα· ἤδη ὄζει, τετραήμερος γάρ ἐστιν. Ὁ δὲ κύριος πρὸς τὴν Μάρθαν· Οὐκ εἶπόν σοι ὅτι ἐὰν πιστεύσῃς ὄψῃ τὴν δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ; Ἐμοὶ λέγεις· Ἤδη ὄζει. Ἡ ἀδελφήσου μυρίζει, καὶ σὺ καπνίζῃ τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ; Θέλω τὸν τάφον ἰδεῖν τοῦ φίλου μου. Ταῦτα εἰπὼν ὁ κύριος ἐπὶ τὸν τάφον ἐπορεύετο. Καὶ πλησιάσας τῷ τάφῳ μόνον εἶδε τὸ μνημεῖον, εὐθέως ἐδάκρυσε. Τίς ἡ χρεία δακρύειν ὃν ἤμελλεν ἐγείρειν; Ἐδάκρυσε. ∆ι' ὅ; Ἄκουε συνετῶς. Πάντα ὁ κύριος σοφῶς ἐπραγματεύσατο· ἐδάκρυσε γὰρ ἐπὶ τὸν τάφον, ὅπως τῶν ἀκολουθησάντων τὴν γνώμην δημοσιεύσῃ, οἵαν ἔχουσι περὶ αὐτοῦ τὴν ὑποψίαν. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὡς εἶδον αὐτὸν δακρύσαντα, ἀνθρώπινα πάλιν παθόντες οἱ ἀκολουθοῦντες ὄχλοι ἤρξαντο πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς ἀντιβάλλειν καὶ λέγειν· Ἴδε πῶς ἐφίλει αὐτόν. Ὁ νεκροὺς ἐγείρας καὶ τυφλοὺς ὀμματώσας οὐκ ἠδύνατο ποιῆσαι ἵνα καὶ οὗτος μὴ ἀποθάνῃ, εἰ ἄρα οὕτως ἐφίλει αὐτόν; Ὁ δὲ κύριος ὡς εἶδεν αὐτοὺς ἔτι ἀνθρώπινα λαλοῦντας, ἀπεκρίνατο πρὸς αὐτούς· Κοῦφον μὲν ἦν μοι παρακατασχεῖν τὴν ζωὴν Λαζάρου ὡς καὶ τοῦ Ἠλία καὶ τοῦ Ἐνώχ, ἀλλ' οὐδεὶς ὑμῶν ἐγίνωσκεν ὅτι τῇ ἐμῇ θελήσει ἡ ζωὴ Λαζάρου παρακατέχεται. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο συνεχώρησα ὑπὸ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτὸν καταποθῆναι, ὅπως ἀκριβῶς μάθητε ὅτι ζωῆς καὶ θανάτου τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἔχω. Καὶ εὐθὺς πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὁ κύριος, καθὼς ἴστε πάντες σαφῶς· Ἀποκυλίσατε τὸν λίθον. Ἰουδαίοις ἐπέτρεπεν· Ἀποκυλίσατε τὸν λίθον. Βλέπε πῶς πάντα σοφῶς ἐπραγματεύσατο μάρτυρας ἀκριβεῖς τῆς ἀναστάσεως Λαζάρου καθιστῶν. Ἀποκυλίσατε τὸν λίθον. Τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἐπέτρεπεν ὄρη μετάγειν λόγῳ, καὶ αὐτὸς λόθον οὐκ ἀπεκύλιεν;

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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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