THE GOSPELS
Jesus Raises the Widow's Son, The Daughter of Jairus, and Lazarus
"And presently he that had been dead came forth, bound feet and hands with winding bands . . . Jesus said to them: Loose him, and let him go."
—John 11:44
Like the first miracle of the dead being raised to life in the Old Testament, the first instance in the New Testament concerns a widow's son. But this time it was a grown man, apparently the only support of his mother.
After Our Lord had cured the Roman centurion's servant and praised the faith of that military captain, He went away from Capharnaum, over the high hills of His native Nazareth, to a town called Naim. There He met a funeral procession coming from the gate of the town. On the litter was the body of a man; as St. Luke sympathetically notes, "He was the only son of a mother, and she was a widow." The case must have touched the hearts of many, for Luke observes that a goodly number of townsfolk accompanied the sorrowing mother.
Did Our Lord then picture a mournful procession in Jerusalem wending its way toward Calvary not long hence? And a shorter one carrying His own Body from the cross to His borrowed tomb? Did He see His own Mother standing there—Stabat Mater!—the chief mourner?
St. Luke tells us that "being moved with mercy toward her, he said to her, 'Weep not.' " Then Jesus stepped forward and touched the stretcher; at this the bearers stood still.
Jesus said, "Young man, I say to thee, arise." "And he that was dead, sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother." (Luke 7:11-15).
One can imagine the happiness of that widowed mother, and the surprise and joy of her son! Picture the astonishment of the crowd at seeing this unexpected reunion, this return from the grave! But they were also full of fear, for the Gospel says, "and there came a fear on them all." But it was a healthy fear, for they began to praise and glorify God. And they understood, saying, "A great prophet is risen up among us, and God hath visited his people." That was a good description of the reality of miracles; the same thought would often be expressed years later concerning the saints. Through miracles God does visit His people, so that His people will listen to His word.
St. Luke, the physician evangelist, is the only Gospel writer to record the miracle of the widow's son. Sympathy for women is consistent throughout his Gospel, as is the inclusion of other incidents regarding women in the life of Our Lord. But Matthew and Mark also relate the next raising of the dead.
The daughter of Jairus was a young girl 12 years of age. She is the first known female to be brought back to life—but she is not necessarily the first female to be raised, because some time before this incident Jesus had told disciples of John the Baptist to report to John that "the dead rise," along with many other miracles. One could infer that other dead besides the widow's son had already been raised.
Be that as it may, to return to the young girl, her father, Jairus, was a man of prominence in Capharnaum. He is called a ruler of the synagogue, an official. After Jesus had called the tax collector Levi to become the Apostle Matthew, when Jesus was near Capharnaum, Jairus came up to Him and did Him reverence, saying, "My daughter is at the point of death; come, lay thy hand upon her, that she may be safe, and may live." (Mark 5:23).
Jesus and Jairus went off together, a large crowd following and pushing about Jesus. Undoubtedly there were many whose sympathy was aroused as they accompanied this pleading father who expressed such confidence in the Master. And the father was apparently a good man.
On the way, a woman troubled with a hemorrhage for a dozen years, having exhausted her doctors and her money, was convinced that she would be cured if she could but touch Jesus' cloak. In the pressing crowd she came from behind and touched a tassel on His cloak. She was instantly healed. Jesus had scarcely finished praising her faith when a messenger from Jairus' house arrived with news of the daughter's death. "Thy daughter is dead: why dost thou trouble the master any further?" But Jesus said to Jairus, "Fear not, only believe."
Jesus went on to Jairus' house, taking only Peter, James and John. They found the flute players and the crowd making a din, and the people wailing and lamenting. Jesus ordered the crowd to depart: "Give place, for the girl is not dead, but sleepeth." At this they "laughed him to scorn." But Jesus had said this to reassure them as He went in.
He entered with the child's parents and Peter, James and John. Inside the room where the little girl lay, Jesus took her hand and said, "Talitha, cumi," which means, "Damsel (I say to thee) arise!" "Talitha" immediately got up and began to walk around. Jesus, being very practical-minded, told her parents to give their child something to eat. It was as if He said, "Do not stand there in astonishment. What you have witnessed was real. Now make the girl feel at home." That, perhaps, was why He excluded the crowd. Two or three witnesses were sufficient to testify to what had happened. And the poor child, on coming back to life, might have been frightened to find a crowd pressing about her.
Reflecting on these two episodes, one sees that the people involved believed that Jesus could both cure illness and prevent death. But since the householders of the synagogue leader gave up when the girl died, it seems they did not believe Jesus could actually raise someone from the dead.
To men, the one restoration—from death—seems a much more difficult accomplishment than restoration from sickness. But to God's power there is no difference. And if the touch of the hem of Christ's garment could cure, what then could the touch of His hand do? And what of His will? The simple truth is that it costs God no more "effort" to raise Lazarus from the tomb than it does for Him to heal a toothache or restore a withered arm. It is no more difficult for God to raise one Lazarus from the tomb than to raise a few billion or a hundred billion on Judgment Day. To think that God will have to work awfully hard on Judgment Day is an utter misconception. It is all effortless to the Almighty.
Our Lord may have worked an appreciable number of miracles around Jerusalem, but not as many have been recorded for that area as for around Galilee and other territories. One probable reason is that Jesus did not want to attract too much attention too often in the domain of His enemies.
Thus, Jesus reserved one of His greatest miracles for the latter days of His public ministry. He knew beforehand that it would be yet another occasion for His enemies to quicken their plots to destroy Him—another "death warrant" for the Author of Life. How foolish and blind men can be!
Jesus performed His greatest resurrection miracle—raising Lazarus from the dead—almost at the gates of Jerusalem in nearby Bethania. And not far off is the Valley of Josaphat, which is associated with the general Resurrection at the end of the world.
St. John is the only evangelist to record the miracle of the raising of Lazarus. Some scholars postulate that if the earlier Gospels had run such an account it might have reminded Jews hostile to the new way that Lazarus yet alive posed a threat to them. They had once plotted to kill Lazarus along with Jesus because the raising of Lazarus was a "super-miracle" right in their own front yard, that is, in Bethania, near Jerusalem, and it had greatly enhanced Our Lord's prestige among the people.
This miracle was one more sign to prepare the people for Christ's own pre-announced Resurrection. If Jesus could raise a man who had lain wrapped in a tomb for four days (along with all the other marvelous instances of His control over man and nature, life and death), certainly His own Resurrection would cause no difficulty. He is above nature; the one who could give life must be Life Itself—"I am the way, and the truth, and the life." (John 14:6).
Lazarus, it would seem, was a fairly young man. At any rate he was a good Jew and well-respected in the Jerusalem area. Lazarus was well-off, or at least sufficiently comfortable to be able to put up Jesus and His Apostles regularly (along with a number of others who traveled with Jesus). Another sign of some affluence was the fact that the family tomb was a large one, provided with a big closing stone. The prosperous Joseph of Arimathea would provide a similar one for Jesus' burial, but that would be several days hence and several miles away.
Lazarus' house was also a popular gathering place because of his two sisters—and future saints—Martha and Mary. Contemplative Mary had, sometime before, sat at the feet of Jesus, drinking of the waters of life, while Martha had busied herself as hostess. "Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister Mary, and Lazarus." (John 11:5). These words of John state beautifully the relationship of Jesus with these dear friends. So when the sisters sent messengers to Jesus, bearing their plea: ""Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick," the Apostles were amazed that Jesus did not stir. Rather, Jesus said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God: that the Son of God may be glorified by it." Jesus did not mean that Lazarus was not going to die; He meant that Lazarus' death was not going to end in death. And Jesus stayed on where He was for two days.
Imagine how Martha and Mary felt as the anxious days passed and Jesus did not arrive; then their brother died. And the Apostles also, must have been distressed, for they too were friends of Lazarus and his sisters. How typical this is of the way human beings wonder or complain at the way God handles things, or seems not to answer their prayers—and all the while the Lord is preparing something better.
Finally Jesus said to the Apostles, "Let us go into Judea again." (This would indicate that they were some distance from Jerusalem. And one can also surmise that Martha and Mary delayed Lazarus' burial as long as possible, hoping for Jesus' arrival.) "Rabbi," protested the Apostles, "the Jews but now sought to stone thee; and thou goest thither again?" The Apostles recognized that Jesus was again facing death for a friend. But Our Lord said, "Lazarus our friend sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep." At this the Apostles answered, "Lord, if he sleeps, he shall do well."
It is important to note here what St. John then observes, because it adds to the facts that prove Lazarus was really raised from the dead. St. John says, "But Jesus spoke of his death, and they thought that he spoke of the repose of sleep. Then therefore Jesus said to them plainly: 'Lazarus is dead. And I am glad, for your sakes, that I was not there, that you may believe: but let us go to him.' "
What Jesus was saying was that it was propitious that He had not been there when Lazarus was sick and still alive, because everyone would have expected Jesus to cure him. Note that Jesus told the Apostles that He was happy not to have been at Lazarus' side, because now He could give them a much greater sign, a resurrection that would almost demand belief in Him and in His own coming Resurrection.
When Jesus and His band arrived at Bethania they found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. At Lazarus' house the sisters learned that Jesus was on the way, and Martha went out to meet Him some distance from the house. Mary stayed home with her many guests, Jewish people who had come to console the two sisters.
When Martha met Jesus she exclaimed, "Lord, if thou hadst been here my brother had not died. But now also I know that whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee."
"Thy brother shall rise again," Jesus assured her. Martha answered, "I know that he will rise again, in the resurrection, at the last day."
One must note here the Jewish belief in the resurrection of the body. But Our Lord meant the words "rise again" to apply right then and there; the truth of the resurrection of the Last Day would be demonstrated immediately. Note Our Lord's next words very carefully: He then said, "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live; and every one that liveth, and believeth in me, shall not die forever. Believest thou this?"
Our Lord was telling Martha, and all of us, that the same power of resurrection as that of the Last Day would appear right before her. Our Lord was—Our Lord is—the Resurrection and the Life! Jesus was about to give a sort of preview of Judgment Day.
When they finally got to the house, Mary, Martha and the crowd of mourners all went to the tomb with Jesus. "Where have you laid him?" He asked.
"Lord, come and see."
"And Jesus wept." The Jews therefore said, "Behold how he loved him." Jesus was proving His human nature, His deep sorrow over a lost friend, but also over death itself and the sorrow of others at death—and the evil of sin that had brought death into the world in the first place.
Some of the Jews said, "Could not he that opened the eyes of the man born blind, have caused that this man should not die?" But the faith of such questioners does not go far enough. They were blind as to just what Jesus was permitting and just what He was about to do. Jesus' weeping showed that Lazarus was really dead. His purpose in not keeping Lazarus from dying was to manifest His power to defeat death. "Jesus therefore again groaning in himself, cometh to the sepulchre."
The tomb (representing death) was a cave with a big stone across it. Jesus ordered, "Take away the stone" (and also the stone of unbelief)! Martha, the practical one, cried out realistically, "Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he is now of four days."
Four days! That was just why Jesus had delayed. Jesus wanted all to know, and all history to know, that Lazarus was "plenty" dead. He couldn't be much "deader," having died and lain four days in a tomb, bound hand and foot with linen strips, his face wrapped in a cloth.
Our Lord said, "Did I not say to thee that if thou believe thou shalt see the glory of God?" So at Jesus' words they took away the stone. Jesus lifted up His eyes, prayed, and then cried out in a loud voice: "LAZARUS, COME FORTH!"
Those words of absolute authority were not just for Lazarus; they were for all the people there. Those words were for all of us, who on Judgment Day will rise from the great terrestrial tomb of earth. (The Valley of Josaphat, traditionally regarded as the site of the Last Judgment, was only a few miles away).
At Christ's words the dead man came out from his grave. Jesus said, "Loose him and let him go."
Unbind him! Untie him! Let Lazarus go free! Let all the dead be untied from death! Let the whole world be freed from death! The Resurrection, the Life of the world, was standing there before that crowd which represented the whole world.
Jesus had said earlier, "As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me." (John 6:58). He was speaking of the Holy Eucharist, which He would soon institute—that great Sacrament by which we receive the very life of God, and a pledge of eternal life in Heaven.
The great miracle of the raising of Lazarus from the dead led many Jews who had witnessed it to believe in Jesus. Others, however, reported the miracle to the Pharisees, and the Sanhedrin held a hurried session and definitely determined to put Jesus to death. At that meeting Caiphas the High Priest argued: "You know nothing. Neither do you consider that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not." (John 11:50). Caiphas did not realize that this was exactly what Jesus would do: die, one God-Man for all, so that the people would be able to receive redemption, salvation and eternal life.
Not many days later, when Jesus came back to Bethania, Lazarus and his sisters gave Jesus a banquet, and Mary used a costly perfume to anoint Jesus' feet. Perhaps Mary had an intuition (or maybe she had simply absorbed Jesus' repeated prophecies of His death) that her Lord would soon be in a tomb instead of the brother He had given back to her. When Judas complained about the "waste" of the precious nard, Jesus said, "Let her alone, that she may keep it against the day of my burial." (John 12:7).
Lazarus, having been raised from the dead, was of great interest to everyone in the area. Many Jews even came out from Jerusalem to see Jesus and Lazarus, so the chief priests planned to kill Lazarus too. What foolishness! As if anyone could keep someone dead if the Son of God wanted him kept alive! As if they could really destroy Life Itself! How inane poor mortals can be.
While there are more details to the story of Jesus and Lazarus in St. John's Gospel, this account is sufficient to show the tremendous importance of that historical event. Yet despite the tremendous impression it must have made, it was only a short time later at the time of Jesus' death and burial, that the Apostles had apparently forgotten His frequent prediction of His own Resurrection within three days. It would seem that the presence of Lazarus might have helped sustain their hope.
The Apostles must also have temporarily forgotten, in their grief, those other momentous words of Jesus: "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils: freely have you received, freely give." (Matt. 10:8). The Apostles knew the powers He had given them—including raising the dead—so why should they have worried about the Lord taking care of Himself? Why did they act as if He were not the Resurrection and Life Himself—the Alpha and the Omega!