Lazarus
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Lazarus of Bethany (Greek: Λάζαρος Lazaros; Hebrew: אֶלְעָזָר Elʿazar "God has helped") was, according to the testimony of John's Gospel, the brother of Martha and Mary of Bethany and, with them, belonged to Christ's closest circle of disciples.
In Luke's Gospel, the parable of the rich man and the poor Lazarus (Luke 16:20–31) is reported, but he is not identical with the Lazarus from Bethany.
Of the canonical Gospels, only the Gospel of John describes the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1–45). A similar but somewhat extended account of the raising of Lazarus is also found in the so-called Secret Gospel of Mark, but its authenticity is disputed.[1]
In Bethany (Hebrew: בית עניה bait 'oni "house of poverty" or also "house of death"; from Hebrew: עֹנִי 'oni "poverty"), which was later called Lazarion and is today called Arabic العيزرية, a tomb of Lazarus, where the resurrection is said to have taken place, was named as early as the 4th century.
The raising of Lazarus
- The Death of Lazarus
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 does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus 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 to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 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 has died, 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 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
- I Am the Resurrection and the Life
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 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But 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 on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who 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, who is coming into the world.”
- Jesus Weeps
28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “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 into 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 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she 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 had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly 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 also have kept this man from dying?”
- Jesus Raises Lazarus
38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against 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 believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
- The Plot to Kill Jesus
45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. 54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples. 55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. 56 They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” 57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.
Literature
- Peter Tradowsky: Johannes der Täufer und Lazarus-Johannes. Vom Quell der Entwicklung, Verlag am Goetheanum, Dornach 1995, ISBN 978-3-7235-0922-7
- Reinhard Nordsieck: Johannes: Zur Frage nach Verfasser und Entstehung des vierten Evangeliums, Neukirchener Verlag 1998, ISBN 978-3788716707
- Hella Krause-Zimmer: Christian Rosenkreutz: Sich kreuzende Lebenswege mit Johannes dem Täufer zum Inkarnationen-Kreuz, Verlag am Goetheanum, Dornach 2015, ISBN 978-3-7235-1547-1
- Christiane Haid, Wolf-Ulrich Klünker, Mechtild Oltmann: Johannes-Lazarus: Die Geistselbstberührung des Ich, Verlag am Goetheanum, Dornach 2016, ISBN 978-3-7235-1554-9
- Sergej O. Prokofieff: Zwei Johannes-Gestalten an der Zeitenwende: Johannes der Täufer und Johannes der Evangelist. Eine esoterische Betrachtung, Verlag am Goetheanum, Dornach 2017, ISBN 978-3-7235-1543-3
- Rudolf Steiner: Das Christentum als mystische Tatsache und die Mysterien des Altertums (GA 8) English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
- Rudolf Steiner: Zur Geschichte und aus den Inhalten der ersten Abteilung der Esoterischen Schule 1904 bis 1914, GA 264 (1987), ISBN 3-7274-2650-0 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
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References
- ↑ The Secret Gospel of Mark is an expanded textual variant of the canonical Gospel of Mark that survives only in two fragments found in a letter attributed to Clement of Alexandria, but which is preserved only in an 18th century copy. This copy was discovered by Morton Smith (1915-1991) in the monastery of Mar Saba near Jerusalem and published in 1973. The authenticity of the document is not considered certain, but philological investigations suggest that Clement's authorship is quite possible. The passage in question is said to be inserted between LUT and 35 and reads:
- "And they came to Bethany, and a certain woman, whose brother was dead, was there. And coming near, she prostrated herself before Jesus, and said unto him, 'Son of David, have mercy on me.' But the disciples rejected her. And Jesus, being enraged, went with her into the garden where the tomb was, and immediately a loud cry was heard from the tomb. And coming nearer, Jesus rolled away the stone from the entrance of the sepulchre. And straightway he went in where the young man was, and put forth his hand, and took hold of the young man's hand, and drew him up. But the young man, when he looked upon him, loved him, and began to beseech him that he might be with him. And they went out of the sepulchre, and came into the young man's house, for he was rich. And after six days Jesus told him what he should do, and in the evening the young man comes to him, wearing a linen cloth over [his] naked [body]. And he stayed with him that night, for Jesus taught him the mystery of the kingdom of God. And from there he arose and went back to the other side of the Jordan." [1]
- "And the sister of the young man whom Jesus loved, and his mother, and Salome [Zebedee's wife and John's mother] were there, and Jesus received them not".