Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead
Four days in the tomb, and a dead man called out by name.
When his friend Lazarus dies, Jesus deliberately waits, then comes to Bethany and weeps at the tomb. He declares to Martha, I am the resurrection, and the life, and calls into the grave, Lazarus, come forth — and the man dead four days walks out, still bound in his grave clothes.
What happened
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot.
What it means
This is the climactic sign of John's Gospel, and the one that most directly provokes the plot to kill Jesus — for a man who empties tombs cannot be tolerated by those whose power depends on death. Jesus waits two days after hearing Lazarus is ill, precisely so that the miracle will be undeniable: by the time he arrives, Lazarus has been dead four days, past any hope.
At the centre stands the shortest verse in the Bible — Jesus wept. He knew he was about to raise Lazarus, and still he cried, because death is an enemy worth weeping at and his friends were grieving. The one with power over the grave enters fully into the sorrow of it. Divine power and human tears meet at the tomb.
The miracle is an acted sermon on the words Jesus speaks to Martha: I am the resurrection, and the life. Lazarus raised is a preview — he will die again — but it points to the greater resurrection Jesus himself will secure. To call a four-days-dead man out of a sealed tomb by name is to show that in Christ, death does not have the last word.
Quick answers
- How long was Lazarus dead before Jesus raised him?
- Four days (John 11:39) — long enough that decomposition had begun, which made the miracle unmistakable and undeniable to the many witnesses.
- Why did Jesus weep if he was going to raise Lazarus?
- Because grief is real and death is an enemy. Even knowing the outcome, Jesus entered fully into the sorrow of his friends — a picture of a Saviour who feels our losses with us.