Reference: Lazarus
American
1. A friend and disciple of Christ, brother of Martha and Mary, with whom he resided at Bethany near Jerusalem. Our Savior had a high regard for the family, and often visited them; and when Lazarus was dangerously ill, word was sent to Christ, "Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." The Savior reached Bethany after he had lain four days in his grave, and restored him to life by a word, "Lazarus, come forth." This public and stupendous miracle drew so many to Christ, that his enemies sought to put both him and Lazarus to death, Joh 11; 12:1-11. The narrative displays Christ as a tender and compassionate friend, weeping for and with those he loved, and at the same time as the Prince of life, beginning his triumph over death and the grave. Happy are they who, in view of their own death, or that of friends, can know that they are safe in Him who says, "I am the resurrection and the life;" and, "because I live, ye shall live also."
2. The helpless beggar who lay at the rich man's gate in one of Christ's most solemn and instructive parables. The one, though poor and sorely afflicted, was a child of God. The other described as self-indulgent rather than vicious or criminal was living without God in the enjoyment of every earthly luxury. Their state in this life was greatly in contrast with their real character before God, which was revealed in the amazing changes of their condition at death, Lu 16:19-31. See ABRAHAM'S BOSOM. Our Savior plainly teaches us, in this parable, that both the friends and the foes of God know and begin to experience their doom immediately after death, and that it is in both cases unchangeable and eternal.
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"Once there was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and live in dazzling luxury every day. And a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been laid at his gate, read more. and he was always craving to get a square meal from the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Yes, the very dogs used to come and lick his sores. One day the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to be Abraham's bosom companion, and the rich man too died and was buried. And in Hades he looked up, in constant tortures as he was, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus his bosom companion. So he called and said, 'Father Abraham, take pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool off my tongue, because I am ceaselessly tortured in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'My child, remember that you received in full your blessings in your lifetime, and Lazarus his hardships in his, but now he is continuously comforted here, while you are continuously tortured there. Besides all this, between you and us there stands fixed a great chasm, so that those who want to cross from this side to you cannot, nor can they cross from your side to us.' Then he said, 'For this reason, I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house (for I have five brothers) to warn them, that they too may not come to this place of torture.' But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.' But he pleaded, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, they would repent.' Then he answered, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced, even if someone rises from the dead.'"
Easton
an abbreviation of Eleazar, whom God helps. (1.) The brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany. He was raised from the dead after he had lain four days in the tomb (Joh 11:1-44). This miracle so excited the wrath of the Jews that they sought to put both Jesus and Lazarus to death.
(2.) A beggar named in the parable recorded Lu 16:19-31.
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"Once there was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and live in dazzling luxury every day. And a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been laid at his gate, read more. and he was always craving to get a square meal from the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Yes, the very dogs used to come and lick his sores. One day the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to be Abraham's bosom companion, and the rich man too died and was buried. And in Hades he looked up, in constant tortures as he was, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus his bosom companion. So he called and said, 'Father Abraham, take pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool off my tongue, because I am ceaselessly tortured in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'My child, remember that you received in full your blessings in your lifetime, and Lazarus his hardships in his, but now he is continuously comforted here, while you are continuously tortured there. Besides all this, between you and us there stands fixed a great chasm, so that those who want to cross from this side to you cannot, nor can they cross from your side to us.' Then he said, 'For this reason, I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house (for I have five brothers) to warn them, that they too may not come to this place of torture.' But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.' But he pleaded, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, they would repent.' Then he answered, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced, even if someone rises from the dead.'"
Now a man was sick; it was Lazarus who lived in Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who poured the perfume upon the Lord and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. read more. So the sisters sent this message to Jesus, "Lord, listen! the one you love so well is sick." When Jesus received the message, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death but is to honor God, that the Son of God through it may be honored." Now Jesus held in loving esteem Martha and her sister and Lazarus. But when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed over for two days in the place where He was. After that He said to His disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." The disciples said to Him, "Teacher, the Jews just now were trying to stone you, and are you going back there again?" Jesus answered, "Does not the day have twelve hours? If a man travels in the daytime, he does not stumble, for he can see the light of this world; but if he travels in the nighttime, he does stumble, because he has no light." He said this, and after that He added, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him." The disciples said to Him, "Lord, if he has merely fallen asleep, he will recover." But Jesus had spoken about his death. However, they supposed that He was referring to falling into a natural sleep. So Jesus then told them plainly: "Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sake that I was not there so that you may come to have real faith in me. But let us go to him." Then Thomas the Twin said to his fellow-disciples, "Let us go too, and die with Him." When Jesus reached there, He found that Lazarus had been buried for four days. Now Bethany is only about two miles from Jerusalem, and a goodly number of Jews had come out to see Martha and Mary, to sympathize with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him, but Mary stayed at home. Then 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 God for He will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise at the resurrection, on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life myself. Whoever continues to believe in me will live right on even though he dies, and no person who continues to live and believe in me will ever die at all. Do you believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." On saying this she went back and called her sister Mary, whispering to her, "The Teacher is here and is asking for you." As soon as she heard it, she jumped up and started to Jesus, for He had not yet come into the village, but He was still at the place where Martha had met Him. So the Jews who were with her in the house sympathizing with her, when they saw Mary jump up and go out, followed her, because they supposed that she was going to the grave to pour out her grief there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw Him, she threw herself at His feet, and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." So when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping too, He sighed in sympathy and shook with emotion, and asked, "Where have you laid him?" They answered, "Lord, come and see." Jesus burst into tears. So the Jews said, "See how tenderly He loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not this man, who made that blind man see, have kept Lazarus from dying?" Now Jesus sighed again and continued to sigh as He went to the grave. It was a cave with a stone lying over the mouth of it. Jesus said, "Slip the stone aside." The dead man's sister, Martha, said to Him, "Lord, by this time he is offensive, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not promise you that if you would believe in me, you should see the glory of God?" So they slipped the stone aside. And Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you for listening to me; yes, I knew that you always listen to me. But I have said this for the sake of the crowd that is standing by, that they may come to believe that you have sent me." On saying this, He shouted aloud, "Lazarus, come out!" Then out came the dead man, his feet and hands tied with wrappings, and his face tied up with a handkerchief. Jesus said to them, "Untie him and let him go."
Fausets
LAZARUS or ELEAZAR ("God helps".)
1. Of Bethany; brother of Mary and Martha (Joh 11:1). (See BETHANY.) The sisters were the better known, from whence they are put prominently forward here, and in Lu 10:38, etc., are alone named. Lazarus was "of (apo, 'belonging to at that time') Bethany, from (ek, implying his original settlement) the village of Mary and Martha" (still it is likely the same village is meant in both Luke 10 and John 11, namely, Bethany). Curiously, Ganneau found close to Bethany a tomb, probably of the first century, containing the names all together of Simon, Martha, and Lazarus. Lazarus' subordinate position at their feast in Christ's honour (Joh 12:2) makes it likely he was the youngest. Moreover, the house is called that of Simon the leper (Mt 26:6; Mr 14:3); who was probably therefore their father, but either by death or leprosy no longer with them, though possibly he too, as a leper healed by Jesus, was then one of that happy family.
Their friends from Jerusalem (Joh 11:19), according to John's use of "the Jews," were of the ruling elders and Pharisees. The feast; the costly ointment, the family funeral cave (compare Isa 22:16; 2Ki 23:6; Jer 26:23), all bespeak good social position. The sisters' warm attachment to Lazarus was strengthened by their common love to Jesus who loved all three (Joh 11:5). Lazarus had won the disciples' love too, for Jesus calls him "our friend" (Joh 11:11). At the time of Lazarus' sickness and the sisters' call, Jesus was in Peraea beyond Jordan, on His way to Jerusalem, two days' journey from Bethany. He delayed two days to give time for that death which He foresaw, and from which He was about to raise Lazarus. On proposing to go to Judea, His disciples remonstrated on the ground that He would be going into the very danger from which He had just escaped (Joh 10:39-40; 11:8-10).
He replied that while His appointed day yet lasted He was safe, and that He was going to awaken Lazarus out of sleep. He was "glad" that He had not been on the spot before, that Lazarus' death and rising might awaken the disciples out of the deadness of unbelief. The sisters grieved at His seeming neglect. God sees cause for joy where even His people see only cause for grief. Four days had elapsed after the call when He arrived. Martha went and met Him, while Mary sat in the house, in beautiful harmony with the character of each respectively, described in Lu 10:40-42. Martha's faith had now become stronger; so she says, "Lord, I know that even now whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee (more buoyant in spirit than Mary, and cherishing even now a vague hope of her brother's restoration) ... Yea, Lord, I believe that Thou art the Christ the Son of God ... the Resurrection and the Life." Upon Martha telling Mary of Jesus' arrival and "call" for her, either expressed or implied ("secretly," through fear of Jewish informers, see Joh 11:28,46), the latter also came "quickly" to Him.
The Jews her friends, not having heard Martha's communication, supposed Mary was gone to the tomb to weep, but found her as of old "at Jesus' feet." Her words were fewer, but her action more impassioned, than those of her sister. So the whole company, Jesus, His disciples, the sisters, and their sympathizers, were met at the grave. At the sight of their weeping, Jesus "groaned in spirit," and troubled Himself, but checked His emotion which would otherwise have choked utterance. "Where have ye laid him?" Sympathy with their sorrow, which He was instantly to relieve, at last found vent in tears: "Jesus wept" (compare Lu 19:41; Heb 4:15). "Behold. how He loved him," the Jews, His adversaries, were constrained to exclaim. Their unbelief, "could not this man which opened the eyes of the blind (John 9, they allude not to the raising of Jairus' daughter and the widow of Nain's son, which took place in Galilee, but to the miracle which made such a stir in Jerusalem; they never thought of His raising the dead) have caused that even this man should not have died?" made Him "groan again."
Take away the stone. Martha, retaining still remainders of unbelief (she believed in Lazarus' future resurrection, but she hardly dared to believe what she herself had hinted at in Joh 11:22, that Christ will raise him now), objected on the ground of the body's presumed decomposition by this time. He tells her to "believe, so she shall see the glory of God." With a preparatory thanksgiving to the Father for the already felt answer to His prayer, He said, "Lazarus, come forth," and he came forth bound hand and foot, the graveclothes and napkin about his face. "Loose him, and let him go"; contrast Jesus' resurrection, the graveclothes and the napkin folded separately, because, unlike Lazarus, He was to die no more (Joh 20:6-7). The same miracle which converted some Jews to belief furnished others only with materials for informing the Pharisees against Him. It brought the plots of the rulers and Caiaphas to a crisis (Joh 11:45-53).
The very sign which the Pharisees desired in the parable of Lazarus (Lu 16:27-30) is now granted in the person of one of the same name, but only stimulates them to their crowning sin, to kill Jesus, nay even to kill Lazarus too (Joh 12:10). The same sun that develops the fragrant violet strengthens the poison of the deadly nightshade. This is the crucial miracle of the truth of the Gospels. Spinosa said if this were true he would tear his system in pieces and embrace Christianity. As the Lord's Judaean ministry was not the subject of the first three evangelists, but the Galilean, they omit the raising of Lazarus. The Jews' consultation to kill Lazarus, and his own probable shrinking from publicity after such a mysterious experience, perhaps further influenced them in their omission of the miracle. By John's time of writing the brother and sisters were dead, and no reason for reserve any longer existed.
Tradition says that Lazarus' first question on coming back was whether he should die again; on learning he must, he never smiled again. Such an impression was made by this miracle that many Jews flocked to Bethany to see both Jesus and Lazarus. The eye witnesses bore record, and the people who heard of it from them met Him on His way to Jerusalem, and formed part of His retinue in His triumphal entry with the palmbearing multitude (Joh 12:12,17-18). E. H. Plumptre (Smith's Dictionary) identifies Simon the leper with Simon the Pharisee (Lu 7:36-40); Martha had the Pharisees' belief in the resurrection (Joh 11:24); Mary's gift of the ointment was after the example of the sinful woman in Simon's house; the leprosy came on subsequently.
Also he identifies Lazarus with the rich young ruler (Matthew 19; Mark 10; Luke 18); Jesus' words to him, "one thing thou lackest," answer to His words to Martha. "one thing is needful"; "Jesus beholding loved him" (Mark) is said also of Lazarus (Joh 11:5); Jesus' love at last wrought out his conversion, possible to God though not to man; a sharp Palestine fever is sent to discipline him; his death and rising through Jesus' power is accompanied by his spiritual resurrection (Joh 5:24-25). Judas and the eleven expected, that the feast in Joh 12:2 was the farewell feast of Lazarus, renouncing his former life and obeying Christ's command, "sell that thou hast, and give to the poor"; hence, Judas' bitter objection, "why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor?"
On the night of Christ's betrayal Lazarus, whose Bethany home was near and was Christ's lodging on the previous night, in the hasty night alarm rushed eagerly with "the linen cloth (the term applied to graveclothes always, the same which he had on when the Lord raised him from the grave (Joh 11:44), sindon) cast about his naked body" (Mr 14:51-52; 15:46), and was seized by the high priest's servants as a second victim (Joh 12:10), whereas they let the other disciples escape.
2. Lazarus in the parable, Lu 16:19-31. The one unknown on earth has a name with God; the rich man, well known as a great man among men, has no name with God (Re 3:1). The historic Lazarus (John 11-12) belonged to the richer classes. Yet it is not a rich Lazarus, but Lazar
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"Stop storing up your riches on earth where moths and rust make away with them, and where thieves break in and steal them. But keep on storing up your riches in heaven where moths and rust do not make away with them and where thieves do not break in and steal them. read more. For wherever your treasure is, there too your heart will be.
I tell you, many will come from the east and from the west and take their seats at the feast with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, 'in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be turned out into the darkness outside, where they will be weeping and grinding their teeth."
She said, "Yes, Lord, and yet the house dogs usually eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."
While He was in Bethany, He was a guest in the home of Simon the leper, and as He was sitting at table, a woman came in with an alabaster bottle of pure nard perfume, very costly; she broke the bottle and poured the perfume on His head.
And a young man was following Him, with only a linen sheet thrown about his body; and they seized him, but he left the linen sheet behind and fled away naked.
So he bought a linen sheet, then took Him down from the cross, wrapped Him in the linen sheet, and laid Him in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a boulder up to the doorway of the tomb.
Produce, then, fruit that is consistent with the repentance that you profess, and do not even begin to say within yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our forefather,' for I tell you, God can raise up descendants for Abraham even out of these stones.
Now one of the Pharisees invited Him to take dinner with him. So He came to the Pharisee's house and took His place at the table. There was a woman in the town who was a social outcast, and when she learned that He was taking dinner at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster bottle of perfume read more. and took her stand behind Him at His feet, continually weeping. Then she began to wet His feet with her tears, but she continued to wipe them off with the hair of her head, and she kept right on kissing His feet with affection and anointing them with the perfume. So when the Pharisee who invited Him saw it, he said to himself, "If He were really a prophet, He would know who and of what character the woman is who is clinging to Him -- that she is a social outcast." Then Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," said he, "go on and say it."
Now as they were journeying on, He came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him to her house.
But Martha was getting worried about having to wait on them so much, so she came up suddenly and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the housework alone? Then tell her to take hold and help me." The Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and vexed about many things. read more. But there is actual need of few things, really of only one thing. For Mary has chosen the good portion which must not be taken away from her."
Then He said to them, "You are the men who exhibit your uprightness before the public, but God knows your hearts. For what stands high in the sight of men is detestable in the sight of God.
"Once there was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and live in dazzling luxury every day. And a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been laid at his gate, read more. and he was always craving to get a square meal from the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Yes, the very dogs used to come and lick his sores. One day the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to be Abraham's bosom companion, and the rich man too died and was buried. And in Hades he looked up, in constant tortures as he was, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus his bosom companion. So he called and said, 'Father Abraham, take pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool off my tongue, because I am ceaselessly tortured in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'My child, remember that you received in full your blessings in your lifetime, and Lazarus his hardships in his, but now he is continuously comforted here, while you are continuously tortured there. Besides all this, between you and us there stands fixed a great chasm, so that those who want to cross from this side to you cannot, nor can they cross from your side to us.' Then he said, 'For this reason, I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house
Then he said, 'For this reason, I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house
Then he said, 'For this reason, I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house (for I have five brothers) to warn them, that they too may not come to this place of torture.'
(for I have five brothers) to warn them, that they too may not come to this place of torture.'
(for I have five brothers) to warn them, that they too may not come to this place of torture.' But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.'
But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.'
But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.' But he pleaded, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, they would repent.'
But he pleaded, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, they would repent.'
But he pleaded, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, they would repent.'
But he pleaded, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, they would repent.' Then he answered, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced, even if someone rises from the dead.'"
Then he answered, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced, even if someone rises from the dead.'"
As He approached it, just as soon as He saw the city, He burst into tears over it,
"I most solemnly say to you, whoever listens to me and believes Him who has sent me possesses eternal life, and will never come under condemnation, but has already passed out of death into life. I most solemnly say to you, a time is coming -- indeed, it is already here -- when the dead will listen to the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen to it will live.
Once more they were trying to arrest Him, but He escaped from their hands. He again crossed the Jordan at the place where John at first used to baptize, and there He stayed.
Now a man was sick; it was Lazarus who lived in Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
Now Jesus held in loving esteem Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
Now Jesus held in loving esteem Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
The disciples said to Him, "Teacher, the Jews just now were trying to stone you, and are you going back there again?" Jesus answered, "Does not the day have twelve hours? If a man travels in the daytime, he does not stumble, for he can see the light of this world; read more. but if he travels in the nighttime, he does stumble, because he has no light." He said this, and after that He added, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him."
and a goodly number of Jews had come out to see Martha and Mary, to sympathize with them over their brother.
But even now I know that whatever you ask God for He will give you."
Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise at the resurrection, on the last day."
On saying this she went back and called her sister Mary, whispering to her, "The Teacher is here and is asking for you."
Then out came the dead man, his feet and hands tied with wrappings, and his face tied up with a handkerchief. Jesus said to them, "Untie him and let him go." Thus many of the Jews, who came to see Mary and who saw what Jesus had done, believed in Him; read more. but some of them went back to the Pharisees and told them what He had done.
but some of them went back to the Pharisees and told them what He had done. So the high priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and began to say, "What are we to do? For this man is certainly performing many wonder-works. read more. If we let Him go on this way, everybody will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and blot out both our city and nation." But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing about this; you do not take into account that it is for your own welfare that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should be destroyed." Now he did not say this on his own authority, but because he was high priest that year he uttered this prophecy from God, that Jesus was to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also to unite the scattered children of God. So from that day they plotted to kill Jesus.
So they gave a dinner there in honor of Jesus, and Martha was waiting on them, but Lazarus was one of the guests with Jesus.
So they gave a dinner there in honor of Jesus, and Martha was waiting on them, but Lazarus was one of the guests with Jesus.
But the high priests planned to kill Lazarus,
But the high priests planned to kill Lazarus,
But the high priests planned to kill Lazarus, for on account of him many of the Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus. read more. The next day the vast crowd that had come to the feast, on hearing that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem,
The crowd that had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of the grave and raised him from the dead, kept on talking about it. This is why the crowd went out to meet Him, because they had heard that He had performed this wonder-work.
He leaned back on Jesus' breast and said to Him, "Lord, who is it?"
His disciples said to Him, "Now you are talking plainly and not in allegory at all.
Then Simon Peter came running up behind him, and he went inside, and saw the bandages lying on the ground, but the handkerchief which had been over His face was not lying with the bandages, but was folded up by itself in another place.
He gave him no property in it, not even a foot of land, and yet He promised to give it to him and his descendants after him, as a permanent possession, although he had no child at that time.
Why is it considered incredible by all of you that God should raise the dead?
For we do not have a High Priest who is incapable of sympathizing with us in our weaknesses, but we have One who was tempted in every respect as we are, and yet without committing any sin.
These people all died victoriously as a result of their faith, although they did not receive the blessings promised; that is, because they really saw them in the far-off future and welcomed them, and so professed to be only foreigners and strangers here on earth.
"To the messenger of the church at Sardis write: 'The One who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars speaks as follows: "I know what you are doing; you have the reputation of being alive, but in reality you are dead.
Hastings
A common Jewish name, a colloquial abbreviation of Eleazar.
1. The brother of Martha and Mary, the friend of Jesus (Joh 11:3,11,36, where 'love' and 'friend' represent the same root in Greek). The family lived at Bethany, a village within two miles of Jerusalem just over the brow of Olivet. Lazarus was the subject of the greatest miracle of the Gospel story (Joh 11:1-44). In the last year of His ministry Jesus sojourned at Jerusalem from the Feast of Tabernacles in October to that of the Dedication in December; and, on being driven out by the violence of the rulers (Joh 10:31,39), He retired to 'Bethany beyond Jordan' (Joh 10:40; cf. Joh 1:28 RV). A crowd followed Him thither, and in the midst of His beneficent activities of teaching and healing tidings reached Him that His friend had fallen sick. He might have responded immediately to the sisters' appeal either by hastening to their home and laying His hand on the sick man, or by sending forth His word of power and healing him across the intervening distance of some twenty miles (cf. Joh 4:46-54; Mt 15:21-28 = Mr 7:24-30). But He did neither; He remained where He was for two days, until Lazarus was dead. He desired not only to manifest His power to His friends, but to make a signal appeal to impenitent Jerusalem, by working a miracle which would attest His Messiahship beyond all question.
At length He set forth. If the messenger started in the morning, he would reach Jesus the same evening. Jesus stayed two days, and setting out early would arrive on the evening of the fourth day. Thus on His arrival Lazarus had been dead four days (Joh 11:39). In that sultry climate burial followed immediately on death, and it sometimes happened that a swoon was mistaken for death, and the buried man came to life again. The Jewish belief was that the soul hovered about the sepulchre for three days, fain to re-animate its clay. On the fourth day decomposition set in, and hope was then abandoned. Jesus arrived on the fourth day, and there was no doubt of the reality of Lazarus' death and of the ensuing miracle. It was not a recovery from a trance, but a veritable resurrection. He went to the rock-hewn sepulchre, and in presence of the sisters and a large company of mourners, including many of the rulers who had come from the adjacent capital to testify their esteem for the good Lazarus and their sympathy with Martha and Mary (Joh 11:19), summoned the dead man forth and restored him, alive and well, to his home. It was a startling miracle. It made a profound impression on the multitude, but it only exasperated the rulers. They convened a meeting of the Sanhedrin and determined to put Jesus to death (Joh 11:47-53).
He retired to Ephraim near the frontier of Samaria, and stayed there until the Passover drew near; then He set out for Jerusalem to keep the Feast and to die. Six days before it began (Joh 12:1), He reached Bethany, and despite the Sanhedrin's decree He received a great ovation. He was honoured with a banquet in the house of one of the leading men of the village, Simon, who had been a leper and had probably been healed by Jesus (Joh 12:2-11 = Mt 26:6-13 = Mr 14:3-9). Lazarus was one of the company. The news of His arrival at Bethany reached Jerusalem, and next day the multitude thronged out and escorted Him in triumph into the city. It was the raising of Lazarus that excited their enthusiasm (Joh 12:3,17-18).
After this Lazarus appears no more in the Gospel story. Surely he of all men should have stood by Jesus at His trial and crucifixion; and the explanation of his absence is probably that he had been forced to flee. Observing the popular enthusiasm, the infuriated rulers had determined to put him also to death (Joh 12:10-11). He would withdraw more for Jesus' sake than for his own. His presence only increased the Master's danger.
2. The beggar in our Lord's parable (Lu 16:19-31).
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I tell you, many will come from the east and from the west and take their seats at the feast with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, 'in the kingdom of heaven,
Then Jesus left there and slipped away to the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. And a Canaanite woman of that district came out and pleaded, saying, "Do pity me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is suffering horrors from a demon." read more. But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came up and kept begging Him, "Send her away, for she keeps on screaming after us." But He answered, "I have been sent only to the lost sheep of Israel's house." But she came and bowed to Him, and kept praying, "Lord, help me!" He answered, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the house dogs." She said, "Yes, Lord, and yet the house dogs usually eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, wonderful is your faith! You must have what you want." And her daughter was cured at that very moment.
When Jesus came back to Bethany, to the home of Simon the leper, a woman with an alabaster bottle of very costly perfume came up to Him while He was at table and poured it upon His head. read more. When the disciples saw it, they were very indignant, and said, "Why such waste? Surely it could have been sold for a large sum and the money given to the poor." But Jesus, because He understood them, said to them, "Why do you embarrass the woman? She has done a good deed to me, for you always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. For in putting this perfume on my body she has done it to prepare me for my burial. I solemnly say to you, all over the world wherever this good news is proclaimed, the good deed that she has done will be told, in memory of her."
Then He left there and went into the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. He went into a house and wanted no one to know that He was there. But He could not escape public notice. On the contrary, a woman, whose little daughter had a foul spirit, at once heard about Him and came and flung herself at His feet. read more. She was a heathen who spoke Greek and had been born in Syro-Phenicia. And she kept begging Him to drive the demon out of her daughter. But He was saying to her, "Let the children first eat all they want, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it out to the house dogs." But she answered Him, "Yes, Lord, and yet the house dogs under the table usually eat the crumbs the children drop." Then He said to her, "Because you have said this, go home; the demon has gone out of your daughter." She went home and found her daughter lying in bed, and the demon gone out.
While He was in Bethany, He was a guest in the home of Simon the leper, and as He was sitting at table, a woman came in with an alabaster bottle of pure nard perfume, very costly; she broke the bottle and poured the perfume on His head. But some of the guests were indignantly saying to themselves, "Why was such a waste of the perfume made? read more. It might have been sold for more than sixty dollars, and the money have been given to the poor." So they kept on grumbling at her. But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you embarrass her? She has done a good deed to me. For you always have the poor among you, and whenever you please you can do them good, but you will not always have me. She has done all she could; she has beforehand perfumed my body for my burial. I solemnly say to you, all over the world wherever this good news is proclaimed, the deed that she has done will also be told, in memory of her."
So I tell you, make friends by the right use of your money, which so easily tends to wrongdoing, so that when it fails, your friends may welcome you to the eternal dwellings.
"Once there was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and live in dazzling luxury every day. And a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been laid at his gate, read more. and he was always craving to get a square meal from the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Yes, the very dogs used to come and lick his sores. One day the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to be Abraham's bosom companion, and the rich man too died and was buried. And in Hades he looked up, in constant tortures as he was, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus his bosom companion. So he called and said, 'Father Abraham, take pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool off my tongue, because I am ceaselessly tortured in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'My child, remember that you received in full your blessings in your lifetime, and Lazarus his hardships in his, but now he is continuously comforted here, while you are continuously tortured there. Besides all this, between you and us there stands fixed a great chasm, so that those who want to cross from this side to you cannot, nor can they cross from your side to us.' Then he said, 'For this reason, I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house (for I have five brothers) to warn them, that they too may not come to this place of torture.' But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.' But he pleaded, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, they would repent.' Then he answered, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced, even if someone rises from the dead.'"
This took place at Bethany on the farther side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
So He came back to Cana in Galilee where He had turned the water into wine. Now there was at Capernaum an officer of the king's court whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus had come back from Judea to Galilee, he went to Him and began to beg Him to come down and cure his son, for he was at the point of death. read more. Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders, you will never believe." The king's officer pleaded with Him, "Sir, come down at once before my child is dead!" Jesus said to him, "You may go; your son is going to live." The man believed what Jesus said to him and started home. While he was still coming down, his slaves met him and told him, "Your boy is going to live." So he asked them at what hour he began to get better, and they said to him, "Yesterday at one o'clock the fever left him." Then the father knew that that was the very hour when Jesus had said to him, "Your son is going to live." So he and his whole household believed in Jesus. This is the second wonder-work that Jesus performed after He had come back from Judea to Galilee.
The Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.
Once more they were trying to arrest Him, but He escaped from their hands. He again crossed the Jordan at the place where John at first used to baptize, and there He stayed.
Now a man was sick; it was Lazarus who lived in Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who poured the perfume upon the Lord and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. read more. So the sisters sent this message to Jesus, "Lord, listen! the one you love so well is sick."
So the sisters sent this message to Jesus, "Lord, listen! the one you love so well is sick." When Jesus received the message, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death but is to honor God, that the Son of God through it may be honored." read more. Now Jesus held in loving esteem Martha and her sister and Lazarus. But when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed over for two days in the place where He was. After that He said to His disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." The disciples said to Him, "Teacher, the Jews just now were trying to stone you, and are you going back there again?" Jesus answered, "Does not the day have twelve hours? If a man travels in the daytime, he does not stumble, for he can see the light of this world; but if he travels in the nighttime, he does stumble, because he has no light." He said this, and after that He added, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him."
He said this, and after that He added, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him." The disciples said to Him, "Lord, if he has merely fallen asleep, he will recover." read more. But Jesus had spoken about his death. However, they supposed that He was referring to falling into a natural sleep. So Jesus then told them plainly: "Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sake that I was not there so that you may come to have real faith in me. But let us go to him." Then Thomas the Twin said to his fellow-disciples, "Let us go too, and die with Him." When Jesus reached there, He found that Lazarus had been buried for four days. Now Bethany is only about two miles from Jerusalem, and a goodly number of Jews had come out to see Martha and Mary, to sympathize with them over their brother.
and a goodly number of Jews had come out to see Martha and Mary, to sympathize with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him, but Mary stayed at home. read more. Then 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 God for He will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise at the resurrection, on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life myself. Whoever continues to believe in me will live right on even though he dies, and no person who continues to live and believe in me will ever die at all. Do you believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." On saying this she went back and called her sister Mary, whispering to her, "The Teacher is here and is asking for you." As soon as she heard it, she jumped up and started to Jesus, for He had not yet come into the village, but He was still at the place where Martha had met Him. So the Jews who were with her in the house sympathizing with her, when they saw Mary jump up and go out, followed her, because they supposed that she was going to the grave to pour out her grief there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw Him, she threw herself at His feet, and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." So when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping too, He sighed in sympathy and shook with emotion, and asked, "Where have you laid him?" They answered, "Lord, come and see." Jesus burst into tears. So the Jews said, "See how tenderly He loved him!"
So the Jews said, "See how tenderly He loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not this man, who made that blind man see, have kept Lazarus from dying?" read more. Now Jesus sighed again and continued to sigh as He went to the grave. It was a cave with a stone lying over the mouth of it. Jesus said, "Slip the stone aside." The dead man's sister, Martha, said to Him, "Lord, by this time he is offensive, for he has been dead four days."
Jesus said, "Slip the stone aside." The dead man's sister, Martha, said to Him, "Lord, by this time he is offensive, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not promise you that if you would believe in me, you should see the glory of God?" read more. So they slipped the stone aside. And Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you for listening to me; yes, I knew that you always listen to me. But I have said this for the sake of the crowd that is standing by, that they may come to believe that you have sent me." On saying this, He shouted aloud, "Lazarus, come out!" Then out came the dead man, his feet and hands tied with wrappings, and his face tied up with a handkerchief. Jesus said to them, "Untie him and let him go."
So the high priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and began to say, "What are we to do? For this man is certainly performing many wonder-works. If we let Him go on this way, everybody will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and blot out both our city and nation." read more. But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing about this; you do not take into account that it is for your own welfare that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should be destroyed." Now he did not say this on his own authority, but because he was high priest that year he uttered this prophecy from God, that Jesus was to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also to unite the scattered children of God. So from that day they plotted to kill Jesus.
Now six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus lived, whom He had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner there in honor of Jesus, and Martha was waiting on them, but Lazarus was one of the guests with Jesus. read more. Then Mary took a pound of expensive perfume, made of the purest oil, and poured it on Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair; and the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
Then Mary took a pound of expensive perfume, made of the purest oil, and poured it on Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair; and the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was going to betray Him, said, read more. "Why was this perfume not sold for sixty dollars and the money given to the poor?" He said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and as the carrier of the purse for the Twelve he was in the habit of taking what was put into it. Then Jesus said, "Let her alone; let her keep it for the day of my funeral, for you always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." A goodly number of the Jews learned that He was at Bethany, and so they came there, not only to see Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. But the high priests planned to kill Lazarus,
But the high priests planned to kill Lazarus, for on account of him many of the Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus.
for on account of him many of the Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus.
The crowd that had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of the grave and raised him from the dead, kept on talking about it. This is why the crowd went out to meet Him, because they had heard that He had performed this wonder-work.
One of the disciples, whom Jesus specially loved, was sitting very close to Jesus at His right.
One of the disciples, whom Jesus specially loved, was sitting very close to Jesus at His right.
himself will have to drink the wine of God's vengeance, poured unmixed into the cup of His wrath, and be tortured with fire and brimstone before the eyes of the holy angels and the Lamb.
Morish
Laz'arus
1. Brother of Martha and Mary, and a resident at Bethany. Jesus loved them all, and He spoke of Lazarus as 'our friend.' Very little is recorded of him except the striking fact that he was raised from the dead by the Lord Jesus, which manifested the glory of God and glorified the Son of God. When his sisters made the Lord a supper at Bethany, Lazarus was one of those who sat with Him. He was a living witness of the power of the Son of God over death, and as such he was in danger of being killed by the Jews, on account of many believing on the Lord because of him. Joh 11:1-43; 12:1-17.
2. The poor man in the parable of Luke 16. His circumstances are related
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"Once there was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and live in dazzling luxury every day. And a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been laid at his gate, read more. and he was always craving to get a square meal from the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Yes, the very dogs used to come and lick his sores. One day the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to be Abraham's bosom companion, and the rich man too died and was buried. And in Hades he looked up, in constant tortures as he was, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus his bosom companion. So he called and said, 'Father Abraham, take pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool off my tongue, because I am ceaselessly tortured in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'My child, remember that you received in full your blessings in your lifetime, and Lazarus his hardships in his, but now he is continuously comforted here, while you are continuously tortured there. Besides all this, between you and us there stands fixed a great chasm, so that those who want to cross from this side to you cannot, nor can they cross from your side to us.' Then he said, 'For this reason, I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house (for I have five brothers) to warn them, that they too may not come to this place of torture.' But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.' But he pleaded, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, they would repent.' Then he answered, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced, even if someone rises from the dead.'"
Now a man was sick; it was Lazarus who lived in Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who poured the perfume upon the Lord and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. read more. So the sisters sent this message to Jesus, "Lord, listen! the one you love so well is sick." When Jesus received the message, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death but is to honor God, that the Son of God through it may be honored." Now Jesus held in loving esteem Martha and her sister and Lazarus. But when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed over for two days in the place where He was. After that He said to His disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." The disciples said to Him, "Teacher, the Jews just now were trying to stone you, and are you going back there again?" Jesus answered, "Does not the day have twelve hours? If a man travels in the daytime, he does not stumble, for he can see the light of this world; but if he travels in the nighttime, he does stumble, because he has no light." He said this, and after that He added, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him." The disciples said to Him, "Lord, if he has merely fallen asleep, he will recover." But Jesus had spoken about his death. However, they supposed that He was referring to falling into a natural sleep. So Jesus then told them plainly: "Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sake that I was not there so that you may come to have real faith in me. But let us go to him." Then Thomas the Twin said to his fellow-disciples, "Let us go too, and die with Him." When Jesus reached there, He found that Lazarus had been buried for four days. Now Bethany is only about two miles from Jerusalem, and a goodly number of Jews had come out to see Martha and Mary, to sympathize with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him, but Mary stayed at home. Then 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 God for He will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise at the resurrection, on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life myself. Whoever continues to believe in me will live right on even though he dies, and no person who continues to live and believe in me will ever die at all. Do you believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." On saying this she went back and called her sister Mary, whispering to her, "The Teacher is here and is asking for you." As soon as she heard it, she jumped up and started to Jesus, for He had not yet come into the village, but He was still at the place where Martha had met Him. So the Jews who were with her in the house sympathizing with her, when they saw Mary jump up and go out, followed her, because they supposed that she was going to the grave to pour out her grief there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw Him, she threw herself at His feet, and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." So when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping too, He sighed in sympathy and shook with emotion, and asked, "Where have you laid him?" They answered, "Lord, come and see." Jesus burst into tears. So the Jews said, "See how tenderly He loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not this man, who made that blind man see, have kept Lazarus from dying?" Now Jesus sighed again and continued to sigh as He went to the grave. It was a cave with a stone lying over the mouth of it. Jesus said, "Slip the stone aside." The dead man's sister, Martha, said to Him, "Lord, by this time he is offensive, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not promise you that if you would believe in me, you should see the glory of God?" So they slipped the stone aside. And Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you for listening to me; yes, I knew that you always listen to me. But I have said this for the sake of the crowd that is standing by, that they may come to believe that you have sent me." On saying this, He shouted aloud, "Lazarus, come out!"
Now six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus lived, whom He had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner there in honor of Jesus, and Martha was waiting on them, but Lazarus was one of the guests with Jesus. read more. Then Mary took a pound of expensive perfume, made of the purest oil, and poured it on Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair; and the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was going to betray Him, said, "Why was this perfume not sold for sixty dollars and the money given to the poor?" He said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and as the carrier of the purse for the Twelve he was in the habit of taking what was put into it. Then Jesus said, "Let her alone; let her keep it for the day of my funeral, for you always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." A goodly number of the Jews learned that He was at Bethany, and so they came there, not only to see Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. But the high priests planned to kill Lazarus, for on account of him many of the Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus. The next day the vast crowd that had come to the feast, on hearing that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, took palm branches and went out to meet Him, and kept on shouting: "Blessings on Him! Blessed be He who comes in the name of the Lord; Blessings on the King of Israel!" Then Jesus found a young donkey and mounted it, doing as the Scripture says: "Cease from fearing, Daughter of Zion; See, your King is coming mounted on an ass's colt!" His disciples at the time did not understand this, but after Jesus was glorified, they remembered that this had been written about Him and that they had fulfilled it in His case. The crowd that had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of the grave and raised him from the dead, kept on talking about it.
Smith
Laz'arus
(whom God helps), another form of the Hebrew name Eleazar.
1. Lazarus of Bethany, the brother of Martha and Mary.
Joh 11:1
All that we know of him is derived from the Gospel of St. John, and that records little more than the facts of his death and resurrection. The language of
Joh 11:1
implies that the sisters were the better known. Lazarus is "of Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister Martha." From this and from the order of the three names in
Joh 11:5
we may reasonably infer that Lazarus was the youngest of the family. All the circumstances of John 11 and 12 point to wealth and social position above the average.
2. The name of a poor man in the well-known parable of
Lu 16:19-31
The name of Lazarus has been perpetuated in an institution of the Christian Church. The leper of the Middle Ages appears as a lazzaro. The use of lazaretto and lazarhouse for the leper hospitals then founded in all parts of western Christendom, no less than that of lazaroni for the mendicants of Italian towns, is an indication of the effect of the parable upon the mind of Europe in the Middle Ages, and thence upon its later speech.
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Now a man was sick; it was Lazarus who lived in Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
Now a man was sick; it was Lazarus who lived in Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
Now Jesus held in loving esteem Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
Watsons
LAZARUS, brother to Martha and Mary. He dwelt at Bethany with his sisters, near Jerusalem; and the Lord Jesus did him the honour sometimes of lodging at his house when he visited the city. See the account of his resurrection related at large in Joh 11:5, &c.
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Now Jesus held in loving esteem Martha and her sister and Lazarus.