Catechism Links
CCC 992-996: the progressive revelation of resurrection
CCC 549, 640, 646: raising a messianic sign prefiguring Christ’s Resurrection
CCC 2603-2604: the prayer of Jesus before the raising of Lazarus
CCC 1002-1004: our present experience of resurrection
CCC 1402-1405, 1524: the Eucharist and the Resurrection
CCC 989-990: the resurrection of the body
CCC:
Ez 37:1-14 715; Ez 37:10 703
Ps 130:3 370
Rom 8:2 782; Rom 8:3 602; Rom 8:9 693; Rom 8:11 632, 658, 693, 695, 989, 990
Jn 11 994; Jn 11:24 993, 1001; Jn 11:25 994; Jn 11:27 439; Jn 11:28 581; Jn 11:34 472; Jn 11:39 627; Jn 11:41-42 2604; Jn 11:44 640
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Reading 1
Ez 37:12-14
Thus says the Lord God:
O my people, I will open your graves
and have you rise from them,
and bring you back to the land of Israel.
Then you shall know that I am the Lord,
when I open your graves and have you rise from them,
O my people!
I will put my spirit in you that you may live,
and I will settle you upon your land;
thus you shall know that I am the Lord.
I have promised, and I will do it, says the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
R. (7) With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord;
Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to my voice in supplication.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
If you, O Lord, mark iniquities,
Lord, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness,
that you may be revered.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
I trust in the Lord;
my soul trusts in his word.
More than sentinels wait for the dawn,
let Israel wait for the Lord.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
For with the Lord is kindness
and with him is plenteous redemption;
And he will redeem Israel
from all their iniquities.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Reading 2
Rom 8:8-11
Brothers and sisters:
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
But you are not in the flesh;
on the contrary, you are in the spirit,
if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
But if Christ is in you,
although the body is dead because of sin,
the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
the one who raised Christ from the dead
will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit dwelling in you.
Gospel
Jn 11:1-45 or 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45
Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany,
the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil
and dried his feet with her hair;
it was her brother Lazarus who was ill.
So the sisters sent word to him saying,
“Master, the one you love is ill.”
when Jesus heard this he said,
“This illness is not to end in death,
but is for the glory of God,
that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
So when he heard that he was ill,
he remained for two days in the place where he was.
Then after this he said to his disciples,
“Let us go back to Judea.”
The disciples said to him,
“Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you,
and you want to go back there?”
Jesus answered,
“Are there not twelve hours in a day?
If one walks during the day, he does not stumble,
because he sees the light of this world.
But if one walks at night, he stumbles,
because the light is not in him.”
He said this, and then told them,
“Our friend Lazarus is asleep,
but I am going to awaken him.”
So the disciples said to him,
“Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.”
But Jesus was talking about his death,
while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep.
So then Jesus said to them clearly,
“Lazarus has died.
And I am glad for you that I was not there,
that you may believe.
Let us go to him.”
So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples,
“Let us also go to die with him.”
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus
had already been in the tomb for four days.
Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away.
And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary
to comfort them about their brother.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
she went to meet him;
but Mary sat at home.
Martha said to Jesus,
“Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.
But even now I know that whatever you ask of God,
God will give you.”
Jesus said to her,
“Your brother will rise.”
Martha said to him,
“I know he will rise,
in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus told her,
“I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
She said to him, “Yes, Lord.
I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
the one who is coming into the world.”
When she had said this,
she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying,
“The teacher is here and is asking for you.”
As soon as she heard this,
she rose quickly and went to him.
For Jesus had not yet come into the village,
but was still where Martha had met him.
So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her
saw Mary get up quickly and go out,
they followed her,
presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him,
she fell at his feet and said to him,
“Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping,
he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said,
“Where have you laid him?”
They said to him, “Sir, come and see.”
And Jesus wept.
So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.”
But some of them said,
“Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man
have done something so that this man would not have died?”
So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb.
It was a cave, and a stone lay across it.
Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him,
“Lord, by now there will be a stench;
he has been dead for four days.”
Jesus said to her,
“Did I not tell you that if you believe
you will see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone.
And Jesus raised his eyes and said,
“Father, I thank you for hearing me.
I know that you always hear me;
but because of the crowd here I have said this,
that they may believe that you sent me.”
And when he had said this,
He cried out in a loud voice,
“Lazarus, come out!”
The dead man came out,
tied hand and foot with burial bands,
and his face was wrapped in a cloth.
So Jesus said to them,
“Untie him and let him go.”
Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary
and seen what he had done began to believe in him.
Or Shorter Form
The sisters of Lazarus sent word to Jesus, saying,
“Master, the one you love is ill.”
When Jesus heard this he said,
“This illness is not to end in death,
but is for the glory of God,
that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
So when he heard that he was ill,
he remained for two days in the place where he was.
Then after this he said to his disciples,
+Let us go back to Judea.”
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus
had already been in the tomb for four days.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
she went to meet him;
but Mary sat at home.
Martha said to Jesus,
“Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.
But even now I know that whatever you ask of God,
God will give you.”
Jesus said to her,
“Your brother will rise.”
Martha said,
“I know he will rise,
in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus told her,
“I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
She said to him, “Yes, Lord.
I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
the one who is coming into the world.”
He became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said,
“Where have you laid him?”
They said to him, “Sir, come and see.”
And Jesus wept.
So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.”
But some of them said,
“Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man
have done something so that this man would not have died?”
So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb.
It was a cave, and a stone lay across it.
Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him,
“Lord, by now there will be a stench;
he has been dead for four days.”
Jesus said to her,
“Did I not tell you that if you believe
you will see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone.
And Jesus raised his eyes and said,
“Father, I thank you for hearing me.
I know that you always hear me;
but because of the crowd here I have said this,
that they may believe that you sent me.”
And when he had said this,
He cried out in a loud voice,
“Lazarus, come out!”
The dead man came out,
tied hand and foot with burial bands,
and his face was wrapped in a cloth.
So Jesus said to them,
“Untie him and let him go.”
Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary
and seen what he had done began to believe in him.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Ezekiel 37:12 – 14
The Lord says this: I am now going to open your graves; I mean to raise you from your graves, my people, and lead you back to the soil of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. And I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live, and I shall resettle you on your own soil; and you will know that I, the Lord, have said and done this – it is the Lord who speaks.
Responsorial Psalm 129 (130)
With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,
Lord, hear my voice!
O let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleading.
With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,
Lord, who would survive?
But with you is found forgiveness:
for this we revere you.
With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
My soul is waiting for the Lord.
I count on his word.
My soul is longing for the Lord
more than watchman for daybreak.
(Let the watchman count on daybreak
and Israel on the Lord.)
With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Because with the Lord there is mercy
and fullness of redemption,
Israel indeed he will redeem
from all its iniquity.
With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
People who are interested only in unspiritual things can never be pleasing to God. Your interests, however, are not in the unspiritual, but in the spiritual, since the Spirit of God has made his home in you. In fact, unless you possessed the Spirit of Christ you would not belong to him. Though your body may be dead it is because of sin, but if Christ is in you then your spirit is life itself because you have been justified; and if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then he who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in you.
Gospel John 11:1 – 45
There was a man named Lazarus who lived in the village of Bethany with the two sisters, Mary and Martha, and he was ill. – It was the same Mary, the sister of the sick man Lazarus, who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. The sisters sent this message to Jesus, ‘Lord, the man you love is ill’. On receiving the message, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will end not in death but in God’s glory, and through it the Son of God will be glorified’.
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, yet when he heard that Lazarus was ill he stayed where he was for two more days before saying to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judaea’. The disciples said, ‘Rabbi, it is not long since the Jews wanted to stone you; are you going back again?’ Jesus replied:
‘Are there not twelve hours in the day?
A man can walk in the daytime without stumbling
because he has the light of this world to see by;
but if he walks at night he stumbles,
because there is no light to guide him.’
He said that and then added, ‘Our friend Lazarus is resting, I am going to wake him’. The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he is able to rest he is sure to get better’. The phrase Jesus used referred to the death of Lazarus, but they thought that by ‘rest’ he meant ‘sleep’, so Jesus put it plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead; and for your sake I am glad I was not there because now you will believe. But let us go to him.’ Then Thomas – known as the Twin – said to the other disciples, ‘Let us go too, and die with him’.
On arriving, Jesus found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days already. Bethany is only about two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to sympathise with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you’. ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day’. Jesus said:
‘I am the resurrection.
If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,
and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?’
‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’
When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in a low voice, ‘The Master is here and wants to see you’. Hearing this, Mary got up quickly and went to him. Jesus had not yet come into the village; he was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were in the house sympathizing with Mary saw her get up so quickly and go out, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
Mary went to Jesus, and as soon as she saw him she threw herself at his feet, saying, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died’. At the sight of her tears, and those of the Jews who followed her, Jesus said in great distress, with a sigh that came straight from the heart, ‘Where have you put him?’
They said, ‘Lord, come and see’. Jesus wept; and the Jews said, ‘See how much he loved him!’ But there were some who remarked, ‘He opened the eyes of the blind man, could he not have prevented this man’s death?’ Still sighing, Jesus reached the tomb: it was a cave with a stone to close the opening. Jesus said, ‘Take the stone away’. Martha said to him, ‘Lord, by now he will smell; this is the fourth day’. Jesus replied, ‘Have I not told you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and said:
‘Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer.
I knew indeed that you always hear me,
but I speak for the sake of all these who stand round me,
so that they may believe it was you who sent me.’
When he had said this, he cried in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, here! Come out!’ The dead man came out, his feet and hands bound with bands of stuff and a cloth round his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, let him go free’.
Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what he did believed in him.
Alternative gospel John 11:3-7,17,20-27,33-45
The sisters sent this message to Jesus, ‘Lord, the man you love is ill.’ On receiving the message, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will end not in death but in God’s glory, and through it the Son of God will be glorified.’
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, yet when he heard that Lazarus was ill he stayed where he was for two more days before saying to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judaea.’
On arriving, Jesus found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days already. Bethany is only about two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to sympathise with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said:
‘I am the resurrection.
If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,
and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?’
‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’
Jesus said in great distress, with a sigh that came straight from the heart, ‘Where have you put him?’ They said, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept; and the Jews said, ‘See how much he loved him!’ But there were some who remarked, ‘He opened the eyes of the blind man, could he not have prevented this man’s death?’ Still sighing, Jesus reached the tomb: it was a cave with a stone to close the opening. Jesus said, ‘Take the stone away.’ Martha said to him, ‘Lord, by now he will smell; this is the fourth day.’ Jesus replied, ‘Have I not told you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and said:
‘Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer.
I knew indeed that you always hear me,
but I speak for the sake of all these who stand round me,
so that they may believe it was you who sent me.’
When he had said this, he cried in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, here! Come out!’ The dead man came out, his feet and hands bound with bands of stuff and a cloth round his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, let him go free.’
Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what he did believed in him.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
5th Sunday of Lent
From: Ezekiel 37:12-14
The dry bones
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[12] ["]Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open their graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel. [13] And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. [14] And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it, says the Lord."
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Commentary:
This remarkable vision of the bones being brought back to life sets the scene for the climax of the resurgence of Israel, the unification of the two kingdoms (cf. 37: 15-28). The dramatic contrast drawn here between death and life, bones and spirit, shows that the revitalization that God will bring about goes much further than material reconstruction or simply a return to the promised land; it implies, rather, a new beginning, both personal and social.
The vision itself (vv. 2-10) takes place on an immense plain (cf. 3:22-23) and it addresses the exiles' profound concern about their future: "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost" (v. 11). It is one of Ezekiel's most famous and most commented-on visions because it is very vivid and easy to understand. The prophet himself explains it as having to do with the destruction-restoration of Israel (vv. 11-14), though the Fathers of the Church see in it veiled references to the resurrection of the dead: "The Creator will revive our mortal bodies here on earth; he promises resurrection, the opening of sepulchers and tombs, and the gift of immortality […]. And in all this, we see that he alone is God, who can do all things, the good Father who from his endless bounty will give life to the lifeless" (St Irenaeus, Adversus haereses, 5, 15, 1). St Jerome writes in similar terms: "The image of the resurrection would not have been used to describe the restoration of the people of Israel if the future resurrection of the dead had not been foreseen, because no one can be led to draw a conclusion from an idea that has no basis in reality" (Commentarii in Ezechielem, 27, 1ff.
"I will put my Spirit within you" (v. 14). The spirit of the Lord is, at least, the power of God (cf. Gen 2:7) performing an act of creation. It is also the principle of life causing man to "become a living being" (Gen 2:7); and, certainly, it is the principle of supernatural life. The same God that created all things can revitalize his demoralized people in Babylon and can allow humankind to partake of his own life. This promise, like others found in the prophets (cf. 11:19; Jer 31:31-34; Joel 3:1-5) will find its complete fulfillment at Pentecost, when the Spirit descends on the apostles: "According to these promises, at the 'end time' the Lord's Spirit will renew the hearts of men, engraving a new law in them. He will gather and reconcile the scattered and divided peoples; he will transform the first creation, and God will dwell there with men in peace" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 715).
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From: Romans 8:8-11
Life in the Spirit
-----------------------
[8] And those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
[9] But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. [10] But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. [11] "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you." [12] So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--[13] for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.
Christians Are Children of God
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[14] For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. [15] For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" [16] it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, [17] and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
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Commentary:
1-13. After original sin man is pulled in two different directions: either he seeks God above all things and contends, with God's grace, against the inclinations of his own concupiscence; or else he lets himself be overwhelmed by the disordered passions of the flesh. The former lifestyle is "life in the Spirit", the latter, life "according to the flesh". "There are only two possible ways of living on this earth: either we live a supernatural life, or we live an animal life" (St. J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 200).
Sanctifying grace is the source of life "according to the Spirit". It is not a matter of simply being in the state of grace or of performing a number of regular pious practices. Life according to the Spirit--spiritual or supernatural life--means a living-according-to-God which influences everything a Christian does: he is constantly trying to bring his thoughts, yearnings, desires and actions into line with what God is asking of him; in everything he does he tries to follow the inspirations of the Holy Spirit.
Life according to the flesh, on the other hand, has its source in the triple concupiscence which is a consequence of original sin--"all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life" (1 Jn 2:16). In this present life it is not possible to kill concupiscence at its root: it is forever producing new growths. The Christian is freed from original sin through Baptism (chap. 6); the coming of Christ has set aside the ritualistic precepts of the Mosaic Law (chap. 7); but his life in Jesus Christ is threatened by concupiscence even after Baptism, which places him under the Law of the Spirit. "We need to submit to the spirit, to wholeheartedly commit ourselves and strive to keep the flesh in its place. By so doing our flesh will become spiritual again. Otherwise, if we give in to the easy life, this will lower our soul to the level of the flesh and make it carnal again" (St John Chrysostom, "Hom. on Rom", 13).
10-11. Once he is justified the Christian lives in the grace of God and confidently hopes in his future resurrection; Christ Himself lives in him (cf. Galatians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 15:20-23). However, he is not spared the experience of death, a consequence of Original Sin (cf. Romans 5:12; 6:23). Along with suffering, concupiscence and other limitations, death is still a factor after Baptism; it is something which motivates us to struggle and makes us to be like Christ. Almost all commentators interpret the expression "your bodies are dead because of sin" as referring to the fact that, due to sin, the human body is destined to die. So sure is this prospect of death that the Apostle sees the body as "already dead".
St. John Chrysostom makes an acute observation: if Christ is living in the Christian, then the divine Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, is also present in him. If this divine Spirit is absent, then indeed death reigns supreme, and with it the wrath of God, rejection of His laws, separation from Christ, and expulsion of our Guest. And he adds: "But when one has the Spirit within, what can be lacking? With the Spirit one belongs to Christ, one possesses Him, one vies for honor with the angels. With the Spirit, the flesh is crucified, one tastes the delight of an immortal life, one has a pledge of future resurrection and advances rapidly on the path of virtue. This is what Paul calls putting the flesh to death" ("Hom. On Rom.", 13).
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From: John 11:1-45
The Raising of Lazarus
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[1] Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. [2] It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. [3] So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." [4] But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified means of it."
[5] Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. [6] So when he heard that he was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. [7] Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go into Judea again." [8] The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were but now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?" [9] Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any one walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. [10] But if any one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." "Thus he spoke, and the he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awake him out of sleep." [12] The disciples said to him "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." [13] Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. [14] Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead; [15] and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." [16] Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him.
[17] Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. [18] Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, [19] and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. [20] When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary sat in the house. [21] Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. [22] And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." [23] Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." [24] Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." [25] Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, [26] and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" [27] She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, he who is coming into the world."
[28] When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying quietly, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." [29] And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. [30] Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. [31] When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. [32] Then Mary, when she came where Jesus was and saw him, fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you.had been here, my brother would not have died." [33] When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled; [34] and he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." [35] Jesus wept. [36] So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" [37] But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
[38] Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb; it was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. [39] Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." [40] Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" [41] So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted his eyes and said, "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. [42] I knew thou hearest me always, but I have said this on account of the people standing by, that they may believe that thou didst send me." [43] When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." [44] The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and Let him go."
The Sanhedrin Decides on the Death of Jesus
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[45] Many of Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him.
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Commentary:
1-45. This chapter deals with one of Jesus' most outstanding miracles. The Fourth Gospel, by including it, demonstrates Jesus' power over death, which the Synoptic Gospels showed by reporting the raising of the daughter of Jairus (Mt 9:25 and par.) and of the son of the widow of Nain (Lk 7:12).
The evangelist first sets the scene (vv. 1-16); then he gives Jesus conversation with Lazarus' sisters (vv. 17-37); finally, he reports the raising of Lazarus four days after his death (vv. 38-45). Bethany was only about three kilometers (two miles) from Jerusalem (v. 18). On the days prior to his passion, Jesus often visited this family, to which he was very attached. St John records Jesus' affection (vv. 3,5,36) by describing his emotion and sorrow at the death of his friend.
By raising Lazarus our Lord shows his divine power over death and thereby gives proof of his divinity, in order to confirm his disciples' faith and reveal; himself as the Resurrection and the Life. Most Jews, but not the Sadducees, believed in the resurrection of the body. Martha believed in it (cf. v. 24).
Apart from being a real, historical event, Lazarus' return to life is a sign our future resurrection: we too will return to life. Christ, by his glorious resurrection through which he is the "first-born from the dead" (1 Cor 15:2; Col 1:18; Rev 1:5), is also the cause and model of our resurrection. In this his resurrection is different from that of Lazarus, for "Christ being raised from the dead will never die again" (Rom 6:9), whereas Lazarus returned to earthly, later to die again.
2. There are a number of women in the Gospels who are called Mary. The Mary here is Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus (v.2), the woman who later anointed our Lord, again in Bethany, at the house of Simon the leper (cf. In 12:1-8; Mk 14:3): the indefinite or aorist "(she) anointed" expresses an action which occurred prior to the time of writing, but the anointing took place after the resurrection of Lazarus.
Were Mary of Bethany, Mary Magdalene and the "sinful" woman who anointed Jesus' feet in Galilee (cf. Lk 7:36) one, two or three women? Although sometimes it is argued they are one and the same, it seems more likely that they were all different people. Firstly, we must distinguish the Galilee anointing (Lk 7:35) by the "sinner" from the Bethany anointing done by Lazarus' sister (Jn 12:1): because of the time they took place and particular details reported, they are clearly distinct (cf. note on Jn 12:1). Besides, the Gospels give us no positive indication that Mary of Bethany was the same person as the "sinner" of Galilee. Nor are there strong grounds for identifying Mary Magdalene and the "sinner", whose name is not given; Mary Magdalene appears among the women who follow Jesus in Galilee as the woman out of whom seven demons were cast (cf. Lk 8:2), and Luke presents her in his account as someone new: no information is given which could link her with either of the two other women.
Nor can Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene be identified, for John differentiates between the two: he never calls Lazarus' sister Mary Magdalene, nor does he in any way link the latter (who stays beside the Cross--Jn 19:25--and who goes to the tomb and sees the risen Lord) with Mary of Bethany.
The reason why Mary of Bethany has sometimes been confused with Mary Magdalene is due (1) to identification of the latter with the "sinner" of Galilee through connecting Magdalene's possession by the devil with the sinfulness of the woman who did the anointing in Galilee; and (2) to confusing the two anointings, which would make Lazarus' sister the "sinner" who does the first anointing. This was how the three women were made out to be one, but there are no grounds for that interpretation. The best-grounded and most common interpretation offered by exegetes is that they are three distinct women.
4. The glory which Christ speaks of here, St Augustine says, "was no gain to Jesus; it was only for our good. Therefore, Jesus says that this illness is not unto death, because the particular death was not for death but rather for a miracle, which being wrought men should believe in Christ and thereby avoid the true death" ("In Ioann. Evang.", 49, 6).
8-10. Stoning was the form of capital punishment applying to blasphemy (cf. Lev 24:16). We have seen that people tried to stone Jesus at least twice: first, when he proclaimed that he was the Son of God and that he existed from eternity (by saying that he "was" before Abraham lived)--Jn 8:58-59; second, when he revealed that he and the Father were one (cf. Jn 10:30-3 1).
These attempts by the Jewish authorities failed because Jesus' 'hour' had not yet arrived--that is, the time laid down by his Father for his death and resurrection. When the Crucifixion comes, it will be the hour of his enemies and of "the power of darkness" (Lk 22:53). But until that moment it is daytime, and our Lord can walk without his life being in danger.
16. Thomas' words remind us of the Apostles saying at the last Supper that they would be ready to die for their Master (cf. Mt 26:31-35). We have seen how the Apostles stayed loyal when many disciples left our Lord after his discourse on the Bread of Life (Jn 6:67-71), and how they remained faithful to him despite their personal weaknesses. But when, after Judas Iscariot' s betrayal, Jesus lets himself be arrested without offering resistance--in fact, forbidding the use of weapons (cf. Jn 18:11)--they become disconcerted and run away. Only St John will stay faithful in Jesus' hour of greatest need.
18. Fifteen stadia, in Greek measurement: three kilometers (two miles).
21-22. According to St Augustine, Martha's request is a good example of confident prayer, a prayer of abandonment into the hands of God, who knows better than we what we need. Therefore, "she did not say, But now I ask you to raise my brother to life again. [...] All she said was, I know that you can do it; if you will, do it; it is for you to judge whether to do it, not for me to presume" ("In Joann. Evang.", 49, 13). The same can be said of Mary's words, which St John repeats at v. 32.
24-26. Here we have one of those concise definitions Christ gives himself, and which St John faithfully passes on to us (cf. Jn 10:9; 14:6; 15:1): Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. He is the Resurrection because by his victory over death he is the cause of the resurrection of all men. The miracle he works in raising Lazarus is a sign of Christ's power to give life to people. And so, by faith in Jesus Christ, who arose first from among the dead, the Christian is sure that he too will rise one day, like Christ (cf. 1 Cor 15:23; Col 1:18). Therefore, for the believer death is not the end; it is simply the step eternal life, a change of dwelling-place, as one of the Roman Missal's Prefaces of Christian Death puts it: "Lord, for your faithful people life is changed, not ended. When the body of our earthly dwelling lies in death, we gain everlasting dwelling place in heaven".
By saying that he is Life, Jesus is referring not only to that life which begins beyond the gave, but also to the supernatural life which grace brings to the soul of man when he is still a wayfarer on this earth.
"This life, which the Father has promised and offered to each man in Jesus Christ, his eternal and only Son, who 'when the time had fully come' (Gal 4:4), became incarnate and was born of the Virgin Mary, is the final fulfillment man's vocation. It is in a way the fulfillment of the 'destiny' that God has prepared for him from eternity. This 'divine destiny' is advancing, in spite all the enigmas, the unsolved riddles, the twists and turns of 'human destiny' in the world of time. Indeed, while all this, in spite of all the riches of life time, necessarily and inevitably leads to the frontiers of death and the goal of the destruction of the human body, beyond that goal we see Christ. 'I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me ...shall never die.' In Jesus Christ, who was crucified and laid in the tomb and then rose again, 'our hope of resurrection dawned...the bright promise of immortality' ("Roman Missal", Preface of Christian Death, I), on the way to which man, through the death the body, shares with the whole of visible creation the necessity to which matter is subject" (John Paul II, "Redemptor Hominis", 18).
33-36. This passage gives us an opportunity to reflect on the depth and tenderness of Jesus' feelings. If the physical death of his friend can move him to tears, what will he not feel over the spiritual death of a sinner who has brought about his eternal condemnation? "Christ wept: let man also weep for himself. For why did Christ weep, but to teach men to weep" (St Augustine, "In Joann. Evang.", 49, 19). We also should weep--but for our sins, to help us return to the life of grace through conversion and repentance. We should appreciate our Lord's tears: he is praying for us, who are sinners: "Jesus is your friend. The Friend. With a human heart, like yours. With loving eyes that wept for Lazarus.
"And he loves you as much as beloved Lazarus" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 422).
41-42. Through his sacred humanity Jesus is expressing himself as the natural Son of God, that is, he is the metaphysical Son of God, not adopted like the rest of men. This is the source of Jesus' feelings, which helps us understand that when he says "Father" he is speaking with a unique and indescribable intensity. When the Gospels let us see Jesus praying, they always show him beginning with the invocation "Father" (cf. note on Lk 11:1-2), which reflects his singular trust and love (cf. Mt 11:25 and par.). These sentiments should also in some way find a place in our prayer, for through Baptism we at joined to Christ and in him we became children of God (cf. Jn 1:12; Rom 6: 1-11 8:14-17), and so we should always pray in a spirit of sonship and gratitude for the many good things our Father God has given us.
The miracle of the raising of Lazarus, which really is an extraordinary miracle, is a proof that Jesus is the Son of God, sent into the world by his Father. And so it is, that when Lazarus is brought back to life, people's faith in Jesus is increased --the disciples' (v. 15), Martha's and Mary's (vv. 26,40) and the of the people at large (36, 45).
43. Jesus calls Lazarus by name. Although he is really dead; he has not thereby lost his personal identity: dead people continue to exist, but they have a different mode of existence, because they have changed from mortal life to eternal life. This is why Jesus states that God "is not God of the dead, but of the living", for to him all are alive (cf. Mt 22:32; Lk 20:38).
This passage can be applied to the spiritual resurrection of the soul who has sinned and recovers grace. God wants us to be saved (cf. 1 Tim 2:4); therefore we should never lose heart; we should always desire and hope to reach this goal: "Never despair. Lazarus was dead and decaying: 'Iam foetet, quatriduanus enim est. By now he will smell; this is the fourth day', says Martha to Jesus.
"If you hear God's inspiration and follow it--'Lazare, veni foras!: Lazarus come out! '--you will return to Life" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 719).
44. The Jews prepared the body for burial by washing it and anointing it with aromatic ointments to delay decomposition and counteract offensive odors; they then wrapped the body in linen cloths and bandages, covering the head with a napkin--a method very like the Egyptians', but not entirely extending to full embalming, which involved removing certain internal organs.
Lazarus' tomb would have consisted of a subterranean chamber linked to the surface by steps, with the entrance blocked by a slab. Lazarus was moved out to the entrance by a supernatural force. As happened in the case of the raising of Jairus' daughter (Mk 5:42-43), due to their astonishment no one moved until our Lord's words broke the atmosphere of silence and terror which had been created.
St Augustine sees in the raising of Lazarus a symbol of the sacrament of Penance: in the same way as Lazarus comes out of the tomb, "when you confess, you come forth. For what does 'come forth' mean if not emerging from what is hidden, to be made manifest. But for you to confess is God's doing; he calls you with an urgent voice, by an extraordinary grace. And just as the dead man came out still bound, so you go to confession still guilty. In order that his sins be loosed, the Lord said this to his ministers: 'Unbind him and let him go'. What you will loose on earth will be loosed also in heaven" (St Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.", 49, 24). Christian art has used this comparison from very early on; in the catacombs we find some one hundred and fifty representations of the raising of Lazarus, symbolizing thereby the gift of the life of grace which comes through the priest, who in effect repeats these words to the sinner: "Lazarus, come out."
45-48. Once again, as Simeon had predicted. Jesus is a sign of contradiction (cf. Lk 2:34; Jn'7:12, 31,40; 9:16; etc.): presented with the miracle of the raising of Lazarus some people believe in Jesus (v. 45), and some denounce him to his enemies (cf. vv. 46-47)--confirming what is said in the parable of the rich man: "neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead" (Lk 16:31).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
Commentary from the Jerome Biblical Commentary:
JBC: Ezekiel 37:12-14
78 (Ezekiel) O My People, Rise from Your Graves (37:1-14). The episode takes place in Babylon, and Ezekiel is led out by the spirit into a plain (on which may have remained unburied the bones of those who had fallen in battle). This mystical experience symbolizes his mission to the exiles; through his prophesying, they will receive a new spirit that will enable them to rise from their lost hope (v. 11) and to lead a new life in the land of Israel (v. 12). 1. bones: The bones are often associated with the stamina a man needs to stand up to difficulties (Jb 4:14; Pss 6:3; 101:4; Is 38:13). 2. how dry: These bones have long been lifeless. 9. come, O spirit: The one Hebr word, rûah, means: "wind," "breath," and "spirit"-thus the remarkable play on words in this passage. 10. One of the most imaginative and unusual scenes in all literature. iii. The explanation of the vision is given: "these bones are the whole house of Israel." The discouragement of the people ("our bones are dried up") is to be met by the powerful word of God who alone knows (v. 3) that they can live. 12. The metaphor shifts from "bones" to "graves." 14. The aim of the prophecy is to give the captives new spirit to rise from their captivity (cf. Hos 6:2). There is no reference here to the resurrection of individuals (cf. Is 26:)9; Dn 12:2), but the passage shows that this concept is not far removed. The question, "Can these bones live?" as Jacob points out (Jacob, op. cit., 301), is understood with difficulty if only the nation is meant, inasmuch as this was never questioned. The answer, "you alone know," places resurrection ii) the hands of the living God. Ezekiel's emphasis on individual responsibility as a key to life with the God whose ways are fair (18:25ff.) provides a motive; the Lord can do it-he should do it. As Jacob observes (Jacob, op. cit., 301), there is a development from Hos 6:1-2.
JBC: Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
46. Psalm 130. An individual lament. Structure: 1-2, a cry for forgiveness; 3-4, trust is adduced as a motif for mercy; 5-6, an affirmation of confidence; 6-7, an exhortation to the community. Greatly distressed by his sinfulness, the psalmist humbly and trustfully requests forgiveness for both himself and the community (8). But if one might possibly understand the perfect tense in 1, 5, 6 as past time, it could be a thanksgiving song for deliverance from sin, in which the psalmist associates the bystanders and the people in God's mercy (e.g., Weiser). This Ps is one (the sixth) of the traditional seven penitential Pss. 1. depths: Chaos and the sphere of death and the nether world, away from God. 3. This poignant question underlines God's "forgiveness," which is his gift to those who fear him ("that you may be revered"). 5. word: Perhaps the oracle of the priest, indicating forgiveness. 6-7. The comparison to the watch of "sentinels" is expressive. The admonition to Israel is also a confident claim that she will be redeemed.
JBC: Romans 8:8-11
8. cannot please God: Paul chooses a neutral way of expressing the goal of man's life: to please God. It is a goal that is aimed at by both Jew and Christian (cf. 2 Cor 5:9). Yet it cannot be reached by a mail who is dominated by self ("in the flesh"); he implies that one must be "in the Spirit" (live "according to the Spirit," 8:5).
83 9. since the Spirit of God dwells in you: Paul makes it clear that the Spirit is "of God," for the new principle of Christian vitality is derived from the same source as all the other divine manifestations of salvation. The baptized Christian is not only "in the Spirit," but the Spirit is now said to dwell in him. Such expressions of the mutual relationship of the "spiritual" mail and the Spirit forestall any facile interpretation of man's participation in divine life in a too local or spatial sense. For both express the same reality; the Spirit suffuses man's being and directs his conduct. At the beginning of the verse Paul uses the conj. eiper, which we have translated "since," but which call also mean "if, as is really the case." Christ's Spirit: Note how Paul interchanges the "Spirit of God," "the spirit of Christ," and "Christ" in these verses as he tries to express the multifaceted reality of the Christian experience of a participation in divine life for the implications of this in Trinitarian theology, - Pauline Theology, 79:75), does not belong to him: Attachment to Christ is only possible by the "spiritualization" of man. This is no mere external identification with the cause of Christ, nor even a grateful recognition of what he once did for man. Rather, the Christian who belongs to Christ is the one who has been enabled to “live for God" (6:10) through the vitalizing power of the divine Spirit. 10. if Christ is in you: Or the Spirit (cf. 8:9; Gal 2:20; 2 Cor 5:17). though the body is dead because of sin: Paul plays oil the possible meanings of the word pneuma. In 8:9 it clearly meant the "Spirit of God," but he is aware of its sense as a part of man that can be contrasted with "flesh" (— Pauline Theology, 79:121). Without the Spirit, the source of Christian vitality, man's "body" is like a corpse because of Sin's influence (5:12). But in union with Christ man's spirit lives, for the Spirit resuscitates the dead being of man through the gift of uprightness. (Cf. F. Leenhardt, Romans, 209; M. Dibelius, SBU 3 [1944] 8-14.) 11. the Spirit of him who raised Jesus: As in 8 :9 the pneuma is the Spirit of the Father, to whom the efficiency of the resurrection is again ascribed (see comments on 4:24; 6:4). The power that vivifies the Christian is thus traced again to its ultimate source in the Father, for the Spirit is the manifestation of his presence and power in the world since the resurrection and through it. Just as Sin once dwelled in unregenerate man (7:20), so now the Spirit indwells. will give life to your mortal bodies: The fut. tense expresses the role of the vivifying Spirit in the eschatological resurrection of Christians. At the resurrection Christ became through the glory of the Father (6:4) the principle of the resurrection of Christians (see Phil 3:21; 1 Thes 4:14; 1 Cor 6:14; 2 Cor 4:14; — Pauline Theology, 79:71). through his Spirit: Modern editors of the Gk NT read dia with the genitive, which expresses the instrumentality of the Spirit in mail's resurrection (so mss. S, A, C). Another strongly attested reading is dia with the accusative, which would stress the dignity of the Spirit (so mss. B, D, G, Vg, etc.), "because of his Spirit." In either case "his" would refer to Christ (GrBib § 210; Bl-Deb-F § 31, 1), for it is the Spirit as related to the Risen Christ that is the vivifying Principle.
JBC: John 11:1-45
122 (D) The Last Journey to Jerusalem (11:1 -12:50). At least as he finally constituted it, John has concluded the first part of his Gospel with this section, in which we find the last and greatest of Jesus' special "signs," together with several episodes that serve to introduce themes that will be featured in the Gospel's second part.
123 (a) DEATH AND LIFE: THE SEVENTH SIGN
(11:1-44). In the narration of this miracle Jn gives at one and the same time a supreme proof of the Lord's life-giving power and a visualization of the doctrine contained in the conversation of vv. 23-27. The miracle literally fulfills the words of Jesus in 5:28; it is a sign, therefore, both of the final resurrection and of the rising from sin to grace that takes place in the soul of the believer. Some scholars question the literal history of the story, not because they disbelieve in miracles or in Jesus’ ability to perform them, but because an event of magnitude is not mentioned in the Syn. The discrepancy however, is not as significant as it might seem, given divergent aims of the Syn and the Johannine traditions (→ 17-27 above); moreover, the Syn tradition makes fairly frequent reference to similar miracles (cf. N'- 5:35-43; Mt 11:5; Lk 7:11-17,22). There are certain affinities between this narrative and the parable of Lord related in Lk 16:19-31; however, relatively few scholars have tried to maintain that the Johannine story is simply an expansion of the Lucan.
124 1. Lazarus: A common name of the time (Hebr Eleazar), found elsewhere in the NT only in LK16:19-31. Bethany: The modern el-Azariyeh (an Arabic corruption of the name "Lazarus"), less than 2 mi. SE of Jerusalem, separated from it by the Mt. of Olives. Jn identifies it as "the village of Mary and her sister Martha known from the Syn tradition, to distinguish it from the other Bethany, beyond the Jordan, implicit in 10:40 above. 2. This verse has often been misunderstood. John refers to an event that he supposes his readers know well, though he himself has not yet mentioned it. He speaks of the anointing at Bethany (12:3); there no reason to think that he attempted to identify Mary, the sister of Lazarus, with the unnamed Galilean woman in the similar narrative recounted only by Lk 7:37f. (however, see comment on 12:3). 3. The sisters send a message simply stating the facts: Their request, like Mary's, Cana (2:3), is implicit in their words. The resemblance is not superficial. At first Jesus apparently rejects the request, as he did at Cana, but the narrative ends, as at Cana in a miracle that is a manifestation of his glory for those who believe (cf. vv. 4, 40 and 2:11). the one whom you love: In keeping with the character of this miracle as a sign, Lazarus appears throughout, not merely as an historical figure but also as one representing the Christian, the believer in Christ, even as does the disciple “whom Jesus loved" (→ 3 above). 4. this sickness is not to end in death: To the casual eye, it might have appeared Jesus was making light of Lazarus' illness and of sisters' message, since in fact the sickness was a fatal one (v. 17). But as so often, there is a deeper meaning in the Savior's words: Not death, but the glory of God will be served through this illness. that the Son may be glorified, See comments on 1:14; 2:11. 5-6. John is careful to point out that it was not lack of love for Lazarus and sisters that caused him to delay going to him. Jesus already explained his reason for the delay, as will be made manifest by what happens. 7-8. When at last Jesus does propose that he and his disciples return to Judea, they remind him of the hostility that had caused their recent departure (10:31,39). 9-10. Jesus' reply bears some resemblance to his words in 9:4. Now is the time for his appointed work, before the coming of the time of darkness (see comment on 1:5). For the "hour" of Jesus, see 2:4; 4:23; 5:25. 11-14 The pattern of the Johannine dialogue (→30 above) is followed: The disciples first misunderstand Jesus' reference to the "sleep" of death (cf. Mk 5:39; 1 Thes 4:14; 5:10), thinking only of the health-giving sleep that often follows illness, and un-consciously speak the teaching of this passage for Christian believer, (literally) "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be saved." 15. I am happy for your sake: Jesus rejoices not at Lazarus' death, obviously (cf. v. 35f) but because it has given an occasion to confirm the faith of the disciples. so that you may come to have faith: The disciples, of course, already have faith acquired on another occasion of the manifestation of Christ's glory (cf. 2:11). But this passage, and indeed the entire Gospel, bears its message for all Christians of all time (cf. 20:30f), and John constantly bears this in mind in his formulation of Jesus' words. 16. Thomas: This disciple, mentioned by the Syn only in their lists of the Twelve (Mt 10:3; Mk 3:18; Lk 6:15; Acts 1:13), emerges in Jn's Gospel especially in connection with the great mysteries of Christ's glorification (cf. 14:5; 20:24-29; 21:2). let us go too that we may die with him: Thomas says more than he realizes. He is thinking of the present danger to Christ in Judea (v. 8) and expressing his willingness to share this peril; but his words sum up the common destiny of all Christians, which is to be dead with Christ and alive with him in his resurrection (cf. Gal 2:19f).
125 17. four days in the tomb: John may be underlining the reality of Lazarus' death, in view of a contemporary Jewish belief that the soul of the dead remained in the vicinity of the body for three days and afterward departed (cf. Str-B 2, 544f.). Another possibility is that, like the first manifestation of Christ's glory at the end of "the week of new creation- (see comments oil 1:19-2:11), this filial sign also takes place oil the seventh day after Jesus' announcement of Lazarus' sickness (cf. vv. 4, 6). 18-19. Because Bethany was near Jerusalem, many Jerusalemites are present at the mourning rites, which usually extended seven days from the time of death. 20. The disparate characters of Martha and Mary, the former the more active, the latter the more intense (cf. v. 32f. and 12:2f.), are strikingly confirmed by the account of the sisters in Lk 10:38-42. 21-22. As in v. 3, Martha's words only imply a request of the Lord, since she recognizes his special relationship to God. 23-24. Jesus' words of greeting are at first taken by Martha simply as a conventional reference to the final resurrection, a doctrine held by Pharisaic Judaism in Jesus' day and generally by the NT as well. 25. I am the resurrection: Jesus affirms Martha's belief in a resurrection to come, with the significant addition that its power is to be found in himself even if he should die: Physical death is the common lot of mankind, Christians included, but faith in Christ will bring the believer to life again in the resurrection (cf. 6:40). 26. Furthermore, for the believer the effects of this resurrection already take place in "realized eschatology" (→25 above). everyone who is alive and believes in me: Since the believer already possesses true or eternal life, physical death can never really affect him. 27. Martha confesses her faith in these Christian truths, using the formulas with which she was familiar from OT expectation. She still has not been told that Lazarus will rise here and now as a sign.
126 28-32. We are not told why Jesus remained outside the village and why, therefore, Mary was summoned to him by Martha. John doubtless intends that we should see in Martha's words before the resurrection of Lazarus the summons that every Christian must obey with Mary's alacrity: "The Master is here [parestin = the parousia] and calls for you." Mary's greeting is almost the same as Martha's. 33. he trembled: To accompany this verb Jn uses another (embrimasthai, also in v. 38), variously translated, that indicates some intense emotion. In classical authors and in the LXX (also in Mk 14:5) the verb connotes anger; however, a source of anger in the present episode would be difficult to find. Elsewhere when the verb is applied to Jesus (Mt 9:30; Mk 1 :43) it is also in the context of a miracle (cf. also Mk 141 orgistheis, the "more difficult" reading), and perhaps we may take the reference of Heb 5:7 to his sacrifice in the same sense. The works of the public life were a subject of intense emotional involvement for the God-Man, and that their consequence was to be his death he fully understood. 34-36. The Jews rightly perceive Jesus' love for Lazarus, though they do not as yet realize the measure of his love. 37-38. The words ascribed to the Jews do not express skepticism; they more or less repeat those of the sisters. Therefore Jesus' emotional reaction is not directed against unbelief, but at the need of performing this work with all its consequences (cf. vv. 45ff.). 39. The practical Martha remonstrates over what she takes to be Jesus' desire to look upon the features of his departed friend. 40. once you believe, you will see God's glory: Jesus now tells Martha that the truth (v. 26) in which she had placed her faith is now to be exemplified in what he is about to do. 41. I thank you because you heard me: Jesus has already requested the Father to raise Lazarus from the dead. No such prayer has been mentioned, and in view of v. 42 it is not necessary to suppose that there was a formal request at any specified time, since the will of the Father and the Son are always at one. 42. I spoke because of the crowd: Jesus is not playacting. His visible thanksgiving to the Father, however, is necessary to bring out the truth that in his works lie is not simply a man endowed with wonder-working power but the emissary of the Father of life (cf 5:19-30). 43-44. At the sound of Jesus' voice (cf. 3:28f.) Lazarus emerges from the tomb still wrapped in the burial cloths. As is usual in the Gospels, this narrative of the marvelous is brought to a matter-of-fact conclusion with no attempt to satisfy idle curiosity about incidental details.
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