Lazarus Saturday.
Hebrews 12:28-13:8; John 11:1-45.
Read John 11:1-45
As we complete the forty-day fast, we now turn to Holy Week. Linking these two sacred times are Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday. Today, we are reminded that Christ does not only come to Bethany to console Mary and Martha, as they face the death of their brother, but he comes to exercise authority over death. He comes to start a seismic change in human history: when Christ declares, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), he identifies life as his own being, which is communicated to humanity. Lazarus is only one of the first to experience this, but soon it will be open to all who hear his voice.
St. John Chrysostom observes the deliberateness of Christ’s delay: “He permitted him to die, that He might raise him, and by the miracle show His power more clearly” (Homilies on John, 62). By allowing Lazarus to die, Jesus exposes the limits of death and the possibility of reversal of corruption. If Jesus can do this for Lazarus, he can do it for all of humanity.
St. Augustine of Hippo reminds us that Lazarus’s raising is not only a physical healing, but it extends to the soul, as a sinner bound by sinful habits: “He was already four days dead… yet the Lord raised him; no one should despair, however great the decay” (Tractates on John, 49). The sign extends beyond physical death to spiritual slavery.
This miracle also points to the Church’s participation in the continual movement of the raising up of bound and decaying souls. Lazarus is called forth from the tomb, yet others are commanded, “Unbind him, and let him go” (John 11:44). Divine power restores life, and the Church community participates in liberation. The miracle establishes a present pattern, not just a future reality of the universal resurrection: resurrection is initiated by Christ, and unfolded within the Church.
We can read this text as a historical confirmation of the divinity of Christ, which creates hope in the universal resurrection of all. Let us consider that Christ’s power to give life and raise the dead is actively present and dynamic. This power is dynamically acting wherever His command penetrates what is bound in chains of sin and death. The question is not whether Christ can give life, but whether we remain within hearing distance of His call.