Christological Homily on Lazarus

Homily on Lazarus, Mary, and Martha§1

1A Christological homily by our holy and confessing father Eustathius, Bishop of Antioch, concerning the dinner of Lazarus and concerning Mary and Martha his sisters. Let us listen, beloved; for the sacred trumpet of the gospels proclaims the Gospel to the Church of God even now. And what has been added to the joy of the faithful? For let us make this a crown of the word and a guide toward the things that follow.

John the evangelist, the son of the thunder, says, having drawn up the unutterable mysteries from the all-bearing field of the wisdom of the Lord's heart: 'Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus, the one who had died, whom he raised from the dead, was. So they made a dinner for him; and Martha was serving, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him.' (John 12:1-2).

Well does the foster-child of the truth speak of the one lately bound in Hades' prison, leaping forth and breaking the bonds of death by death's defeat.

The Miracle of Lazarus at the Meal§2

The Miracle of the Wine§3

The Statue and the Divine Will§4

The Fire of Salvation§5

5Longing for our salvation, he cried out elsewhere, saying, 'I came to cast fire upon the earth' (Luke 12:49), the one who desires mercy, the one who thirsts to thirst, the one who swore by himself, 'not to desire the death of the sinner, but that he might turn back and live.' The Savior came to cast fire upon the earth, which he fashioned with his own hands and sanctified with the divine breath. The Savior came to cast fire upon it to rekindle its self-power, which was honored by him from the beginning, but which the finder of evil and deceit took away from it and enslaved in passions of dishonor.

The Savior came to cast fire upon it, that illuminating fire, the life-giving fire, the fire of the knowledge of God, the consumer of the thorns of impiety, the increaser of the seeds of the pious, the destroyer and uprooter of that which is against nature, and the planter and farmer of those good things which are according to nature, so that just as man was voluntarily joined to deceit and arbitrarily seized the death forewarned through disobedience, so again, having been cleansed from hardness of heart, he may know what is necessary, and through ransom and through drawing near to Him, may be made to belong to God.

This divine and illuminating fire was kindled and kindled up toward the salvation of the Jews and in Lazarus the Lord, as providing them a sense worthy of faith for the sake of being saved. For to the unbelieving, signs are always given, and not to the believing is the occasion of salvation given. For while they were contradicting and fighting against the truth, he manifested himself through God-powered works to be God irrefutably, just as he says: 'If you do not believe me, believe my works, so that you may know that the Father is in me and I in the Father' (John 10:38).

This is like the radiance of the sun in the sun and like the sun in a ray, indivisibly and unalterably, because of the consubstantiality and self-strength; and elsewhere: 'He who has seen me has seen the Father' (John 14:9), just as the tree is known by its fruit; and elsewhere: 'I and the Father are one' (John 10:30), demonstrating equality and equal power; but let us return to what is before us.

“They made a dinner for him,” he says, “and Lazarus was one reclining with him” (John 12:2). This is a magnificent way toward true faith in the invisible resurrection of the saved; for so also the Lord, after his salvific resurrection, manifested himself to his genuine disciples, having taken and eaten in their eyes according to the law of human nature.

Because of this, even now, having conquered the master's command of the law of nature and death, he who dined with the Master, the one raised rejoiced with the one who raised him, the clay sat with the potter, the one fleeing the darkness rejoiced with the light, the one falling in chains joined with the one loosening them, the one in those pangs of death—I say indeed to the unlearned—having easily deceived the harsh gale, was attentive to the Lord who raised him.

But I will say to you: open to us, O divine head, John, your holy tablets; for we are unable to traverse the immense depth of the wonder. Yes, he says, Lazarus reclined with Jesus, the old and new man, whom he called out of corruption through the word of the living and almighty one into life; the newborn reclined as if he were presenting to the new birth of men a command; for it is the law for the offspring of the Jews to recline together, being filled with joy. “For when a woman gives birth, she has pain because her hour has come; but when she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the distress because of the joy that a human being was born into the world” (John 16:21).

So also our Lord, intending to raise Lazarus from Hades, the one who loves his household wept and was moved with compassion, seeing human nature decaying and grieving with those who came together, and he inwardly rebuked the death that holds him and visibly called out to the one being held, the greatness of the household...

Martha's Confession and the Two Witnesses§6

6He performed a sign of power, revealing the down payment of the general resurrection. Because of this, he was moved with the one who was acted upon, rejoicing, as one who confirmed through works that he is 'our life and resurrection.' For this too had been previously prophesied by him through the prophet: 'I will be rejoiced in doing good with them.'

By this wonder and by their own feast, the sisters of the Savior and of the risen one were serving as honorable learners, the one providing the things of hospitality and the other the things of devotion. For Martha was indeed a hostess like Abraham, but a lover of the poor like Job, and a lover of Christ in her confession like Peter, having the door of loving hospitality opened to everyone coming. Therefore, she did not receive the angels in ignorance or without knowing, as Lot of old did, but in good knowledge and disposition, she received under her roof the creator and lord of the angels. And Martha was such and so great and in such great things.

And this one's sister Mary also, 'having taken a pound of ointment of nard of faithful preciousness, anointed the feet of Jesus and with her hair wiped his feet, and the house was filled from the fragrance of the ointment.' The holy women, breathing the myrrh of piety, filled the house with the fragrance of myrrh, Martha through confession and Mary through work. Martha is a second Peter; for grace also breathed upon her, and for this reason she surpassed the faith of the one at the top.

She heard: 'he who believes in me even if he dies, shall live,' and she recognized the provider of life and, using a loud voice, cried out: 'I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God coming into the world.' For it was necessary for the feminine nature to recognize and confess the Creator and God. First Peter confesses by divine teaching, second Martha exclaims by divine inspiration, third John theologizes divinely and uniquely in the letters. Peter and Martha say: 'you are the Christ, the Son of the living God'; John says: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.' Pay attention, beloved, to the light of truth; flee the darkness of error.

“You are the Christ,” he says; yet not a mere human Christ, but the Son of the living God, the Word who became flesh and remains unchanging for us, the only Son of the living God, the Word who became flesh. He is not one of the Jewish Christs, nor one of the Jewish and written-of Christs, but you are, according to Paul, “the one Lord, blessed above all unto the ages of ages, Amen” (Romans 9:5). You alone are Christ and the only-begotten Son of the living God. “We beheld,” says the evangelist, “his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). You are the firstborn and the only-begotten and alone, consubstantial and co-honorary and equal-power to the One begotten, without beginning and co-existing with God the Father. You are the Christ, not one of your invisible and liturgical powers created under you, but naturally the Son of the living God. “For not an elder nor an angel, but the Lord himself, says, as Isaiah said, saved us, saved them” (Isaiah 63:9); so the angels are not Christs. You are the Christ, that is, not a human Christ, but a God Christ, a God having become man, not a man having become divine, but having anointed his own and voluntary incarnation with his own divinity, for which reason it is said, “your name emptied of myrrh,” and “we run toward the fragrance of your myrrh.” You are the Christ, worshipped by all creation, as one Lord and God, as one Son, as one Master with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Again, let us bring the word back to the most excellent brotherhood of the pious and faithful brothers. O the unbroken branch of the inward love of the friends and genuine servants of Christ Jesus, one of the uncreated and consubstantial Trinity. Not even the unsevered seed of the inward love of these, of the teacher and master, was torn apart: neither the unbelief of Jews, nor the disobedience of Pharisees, nor the violence of Sadducees, nor the scandals of priests, but having once planted the vine in faith, they remained fruitful, unshakeable by every assault and invincible, knowing God and the Christ.

Mary's Faith and the Living Temple§7

7Confessing the Son of God undividedly and without confusion as both God and man, proclaiming Emmanuel. And then Martha said to him, «I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God» (John 11:27). Lazarus confirmed this within himself, joined by this faith and hope; for even while he was living and dwelling with the ever-present One, his sisters prayed for him, saying, «Lord, see him whom you love is ill» (John 11:3). Mary, through whom the sister's confession and the brother's faith were united, and the piety of the household was made plain.

For having taken the ointment, she did not anoint a lifeless stone for the house of God, as Jacob did when he was being wrested away from Esau, but she anointed God, the Creator and Maker of all things, with a living temple united to the Theotokos the Virgin; she was not merely saving a mimicry of the intimacy toward Jacob as a truthful daughter, but was much more surpassing the patriarch in faith and work. Just as he fashioned the shadow, she herself felt the reality and worshiped.

Thus Jacob appears to have done this twice: once in being wrested away from the envy that was bound to murder, and once in having the divine vision in Bethel (Genesis 28). But even so, he is not equalized to the daughter's piety in this respect; for he learned nothing more than to anoint a stone as a type of the cornerstone, but she not only felt and anointed the holy, living, and God-created temple of the Creator and Eternal God, but also, worshiping the God who is unchangeably in it and through it, she confessed one indivisible Lord, perceiving the invisible glory in the seen beauty, and in the felt flesh, she was discerning the unutterable and untouchable God the Word.

For His condescension toward us did not diminish the glory of the invisible God in their eyes, nor did the lowliness of His reflection insult the majestic authority of God in their eyes; nor did the weak enclosure of the flesh diminish the criterion of their intellect against the unapproachable eminence; nor did the love, which has been emboldened toward His descent, strike down the fear and trembling of the unshakeable power; rather, being led toward the invisible by the visible signs, they marveled exceedingly at the paradox of His voluntary poverty, and being enlightened in intellect by the wonders performed word by word, and being instructed in the authoritative nature of His Lordship, they surpassed all in more intense, man-loving humanity; and they worshiped a God who works and strikes out unhindered from His own treasury, providing the charge of miracles through the touch of the hem, and they were astonished beyond measure, understanding the resurrection of the dead through the communion with mortals in death.

Therefore, having overcome fear through affection, they possessed an insatiable longing, and the ministry of the one who is both God and perfect man was poured out into the hearts of the like-minded and like-believing ones; the one Christ worked the human things through His condescension toward us, while the other [the soul/devotion] brought the more God-pleasing and fragrant fruit with haste, pouring out fragrance like upon the altar of His life-giving temple. And this, not as a triviality but as a diligent loving, and kissing the sanctity through the natural enclosure, placed a crown of glory upon her own head, not composed of corruptible and earthly matter, but the glimmerings of divine splendor flashing forth.

If, then, according to Moses, 'everyone who touches the altar shall be sanctified' (Exodus 29:37), what can anyone say concerning her who has touched the Lord, the altar; with what words shall we adorn the unity of these brothers? Indeed, the works of these surll praise. It is enough for you, Martha, the confession of Christ, as a crown of glory; it is enough for you, Lazarus, to be called the friend of Christ, as an inheritance of glory; it is enough for you, Mary, the vote from God. For Mary, it is said, 'has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her' (Luke 10:42).

Mary's Vision and the Witness of Jacob§8

8Mary, the lover of stillness, the peculiar bee, who remains hovering near the remains of divine contemplations, having become a resident and a migrant from a shackled life to encounter a divine life that is undisturbed and peaceful. 'Where the breeze is thin, there also is the Lord' according to the oracle of Elijah, from which knowledge of both divine and human matters flows, just as it is written: 'Be still, and know that I am God.' The pure dove, having spread her wings in the desert and having rested in the quiet and happy harbor of serenity, through whom the prophets were instructed and the desires of the righteous were known. Jacob, fleeing, encountered a turbulent spear by a chance of God, and a pillar of remembrance, as it has been said many times; and Mary, having most greatly been separated from the swarms of thoughts and the violent storms of a fleeing mind, a cell most distinct of both intellect and reason, she heard the unwearied beatings of God's blessings, and was made worthy to hold the uncontrolled through the flesh.

But the Jew in blindness leaps upon the word and says: 'Do not blaspheme, Christian, for it is written: No one shall see my face and live, says the Lord.' On the contrary, O fool, in your own law it is written that Jacob said: 'I saw God face to face, and my soul was saved'; for the life of man is vision. And since these things are so, I will neither invalidate yours, nor will I leave my own witness unstated; for to comprehend the essence of God is impossible and helpless, but for God to be made known to men is easy for Him, the All-Powerful, who manifests Himself to the worthy as He wills, for it is written: 'I have multiplied visions and was made like unto the hands of the prophets.'

Jacob indeed saw God, and he did not lie, and he saw how the one seen pleased to be seen; for God knows how to manifest Himself as He wills, and there is no obstacle or interruption to His purpose, even if even the highest cannot bear His extreme glory. So also Mary saw God having become man, and she scattered a libation of sweet fragrance upon His holy and worshipful temple; that is to say, this is something she holds within herself, for the union is undivided, the mystery of piety is unmixed, and the confession to the one Lord Jesus Christ of the Trinity is indissoluble.

But you, beloved, do not be surprised by hearing something strange and loud from the strangers of the truth; for they are brothers to the blind and traitorous Judas, who foolishly allowed the goddess to remain with such an intention at the banquet. But what is this unseemly vote against this one? It exposes Judas as a thief, but accepts her as a lover of God; it proclaims the completed act as a benefit and opposes those coming against her, and says even these things through Matthew the evangelist: 'Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful work for me' (Matthew 26:10). And I weigh against the love of such a work the eternal memory: 'For wherever this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world, it shall be spoken, and what she did shall be for her memorial' (Matthew 24:14).

And Mary's sowing and harvest are worthy, worthy of the good intention and the fruitfulness; she hastened to fulfill the scripture, having been foreordained by the descending divine grace; she learned the things sung in the prophets, and recognized the timely outcome of the prophecy; she heard Solomon singing how 'he whose king is in his reclining, gave the scent of nard' (Song of Solomon 1:12); and she understood the king of those reigning and lord of those ruling, foretold by the servant king.

Therefore, having hesitated in no work, she completed the learning, and having brought to pass the preordained things without regret, she carried away the glorious and beyond-calculation vote; by which vote may we all become one and know and worship the Lord, having been born from eternity consciously and in unison, and unreservedly and unspeakably from the Father, that is, from the uncreated essence, and at the end, unchangeably and without confusion through the thought and word having been made flesh by the immaculate Virgin, to obtain from him the blessing in mercy and in infinite life, because to him belongs the glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.