Central Christian Church - Lampasas

Lazarus (a shortened form of Eleazer) of Bethany was a friend of Jesus and the brother of Mary and Martha (John 11:1–3). Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after he had been in the tomb for four days to show the glory of God. Lazarus was at the Passover celebration in Bethany six days later. He became a target for murder by the chief priests because of his celebrity. Some believe Lazarus to be the “disciple whom Jesus loved” based on John 11:3 and 21:20–22. He is not mentioned in the other Gospels.

They were among Jesus’ most intimate friends (Jn 11:3, 5, 36). On several occasions, he visited in their home, which also served as his headquarters during passion week (Mt 21:17; Lk 10:38–42; Jn 11:1–12:11). Lazarus was at the banquet in Jesus’ honor when Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with costly ointment (Jn 12:1–3).

A loud voice - Greek, “A great voice.” Syriac: “A high voice.” This was distinctly asserting his power. He uttered a distinct, audible voice, that there might be no suspicion of charm or incantation. The ancient magicians and jugglers performed their wonders by whispering and muttering. Jesus spoke openly and audibly, and asserted thus his power. On the day of judgment, he will call the dead with a great sound of a trumpet,

He cried with a loud voice - In John 5:25, our Lord had said, that the time was coming, in which the dead should hear the voice of the Son of God, and live. He now fulfils that prediction, and cries aloud, that the people may take notice, and see that even death is subject to the command of Christ.

Jesus Christ omitted nothing to save Lazarus: he underwent the fatigue of a journey, he wept, he prayed, he groaned, he cried with a loud voice, and commanded the dead to come forth.

Lazarus, come forth.—He addresses him as we should address a friend whom we wished to arouse from sleep, by his name, the most familiar of all sounds, and marking his personality.

But Jesus' raising of Lazarus after 4 days was far more miraculous. It wasn’t a near death experience or being declared dead for an hour.

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life—“The whole power to restore, impart, and maintain life, resides in Me.” (See on Jn 1:4; Jn 5:21).What higher claim to supreme divinity than this grand saying can be conceived? The believer’s death shall be swallowed up in life, and his life shall never sink into death. As death comes by sin, it is His to dissolve it; and as life flows through His righteousness, it is His to communicate and eternally maintain it (Ro 5:21).

The raising of Lazarus, climax of the signs in John’s Gospel, receives the fullest treatment of Jesus’ miracles. It produced three notable results:

1. Many Jews in the vicinity of Jerusalem believed in Jesus (Jn 11:45) and some weeks later escorted him into the city (Jn 12:17, 18);
2. The Jewish leaders, hardened in their rejection of Jesus, resolved that he must die (Jn 11:53);
3. Those leaders also plotted Lazarus’ death (Jn 12:10, 11). The miracle not only showed Jesus’ power over death but set the stage for his own resurrection.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus performs seven significant miracles that John refers to as “signs.” These signs form the backbone of the first half of the book, and each sign is meant to reveal something about the person of Jesus.

The Central Role of the Signs

In John 20:30-31, the signs are clearly assigned a fundamental role in respect to the purpose of the gospel.

The seven signs are:
1. Changing water into wine at Cana in John 2:1-11 - "the first of the signs"
2. Healing the royal official's son in Capernaum in John 4:46-54
3. Healing the paralytic at Bethesda in John 5:1-15
4. Feeding the 5000 in John 6:5-14
5. Jesus walking on water in John 6:16-24
6. Healing the man blind from birth in John 9:1-7
7. The raising of Lazarus in John 11:1-45

Archaeologists have recovered the remains of four ancient churches in Bethany (Ware, Archaeology of the Jerusalem Area, 259–61). The earliest church dates back to the fourth century and was built to honor the site where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (Ware, Archaeology of the Jerusalem Area, 259). Lazarus’ tomb can still be found in Bethany, and the village’s modern-day name el-Azariah (“the place of Lazarus”) demonstrates the significance of this biblical event.

The following words are inscribed on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier: “HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD.”

If America remembers her unknown soldiers, think of the celebration that awaits countless servants of God who are relatively unknown on earth when they reach Heaven’s gates.