During His mortal ministry Jesus performed many miracles: he opened the eyes of the blind, cast out devils, cleansed lepers, calmed storms, walked on water, fed thousands with a few barley loaves and fishes and raised the daughter of Jairus and a widow's son from death. All of these acts of kindness and mercy were truly miraculous but none as meaningful as was the raising of Lazarus, whom Jesus loved. The death of Lazarus was not just another miracle but the final testament of Jesus' divine sonship through which He as the Son of God was glorified. It was also an act of faith, an act of love and an act which sealed his fate and sent Him to Golgotha.
Lazarus lived in the Judean town of Bethany, two miles east of Jerusalem. In this same village lived his beloved sisters, Mary and Martha. These particular siblings were devout disciples of Jesus who often offered Him refuge from rejection and surcease from toil and rest from his labours. It was in their company and in their homes that Jesus found acceptance and kindness which no doubt fed His sensitive soul and made His labours seem worthwhile. It was this Mary who anointed His head for His burial and His feet with costly spikenard and bathed them with her tears just before the Fourth Passover. Lazarus, Mary and Martha were three of the most intimate friends Jesus had on earth. As such friends,they knew of His whereabouts and where His ministry took Him from day to day for when Lazarus fell ill Mary and Martha sent for Jesus who was in Perea, which was a day's journey away. The message they sent was one of tenderness and supplication to the one they were sure would come and rescue them from imminent pain like He had done to so many others: "Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick" (John 11:3). Imagine then how they felt when Jesus showed no apparent concern and continued His labours in Perea for another two days without attempting to leave, knowing full well that Lazarus was dead by the time He received the summons.
Jesus knew why Lazarus got sick and He offered this explanation: "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby" (John 11:4). Lazarus had a special mission and purpose, to die so that Jesus could be glorified by raising him from the dead. This was not a matter of repelling death when it came knocking on one's door, this was a precursor of the power of resurrection which only the Saviour possessed. Lazarus was foreordained to die; it was part of the eternal plan that he should do so and remain in paradise until his tabernacle of clay began to decay, until corruption and decomposition were well under way so that his return from the dead would be a testament of Christ's power to resurrect us all and give us eternal life (Bruce R. McConkine,
Mortal Messiah Book 3, p 271) . It was likewise a witness of Christ's ability to raise Himself from death as He had foretold. Thus Lazarus became a witness of Jesus' divinity.
When Jesus returned to Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Running out of her house to meet Him was Martha who met Him not with words of accusation but words of faith: "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee" (John 11:21,22). Mary's salutation was not one of benign and flattering words but of such faith that can only come by the power of the Holy Ghost. That her salutation was born of the Spirit and not of her own faith is evidenced by the fact that she was subsequently reluctant for Jesus to enter Lazarus' tomb pointing out that Lazarus had been dead four days and the smell of decay had begun to set in (John 11:39). Up to this point in history, resurrection was only a principle in theory. The raising of Lazarus was akin to resurrection as his body had started to decay and was no longer fit for the habitation of his spirit which had already entered the spirit world where spirits who had ended their mortal probation resided. This Jesus confirmed by saying: "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:25). Lazarus was fully restored to mortality, to a body of flesh and blood. Jesus, however, was resurrected to a body of flesh and bone only thus making Him the first fruits of resurrection.
Surrounded by sorrow and grief Jesus displayed utmost tenderness towards those He loved and He himself wept as He proceeded to the tomb which would prove that Jesus indeed is the Christ, the Messiah, the Promised One who can grant life to all who believed. None but the Son of God could do what He was about to do. He had prayed and prepared for this moment and the Father had heard and granted His plea and thus 'with the hearts of Martha and Mary perfectly united with that of their beloved Lord; with the body of Lazarus lying in the dust, eaten by worms, every vital organ in process of rotting away; with the spirit of this man of divine destiny, in paradise, awaiting the Promised Voice - at this moment the Lord of Life spoke: LAZARUS, COME FORTH' (Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah Book 3, p 279). Not just anybody chosen for this most special of all moments of Christ's life, but Lazarus whom Jesus would love and who would love Him; Lazarus, whose faith and no doubt his valiance in his testimony of Jesus in the realms above, qualified him before this world was to be a special witness of Christ; Lazarus came forth from the tomb and glorified the Saviour of the world.
'The shock waves of the emergence of Lazarus from the tomb rolled from Bethany across the Mount of Olives, spanned the Kidron Valley, and beat against Caiaphas' Palace' (Ted Gibbons, NT Lesson 19: Thy Faith Hath Saved Thee). As Caiaphas, the high priest, and the Sanhedrin considered this most important of all miracles they concluded once and for all that He who subverted their Mosaic religion and ran counter to the tradition of elders had to die: "If we let him thus alone", they reasoned, "all men will believe on him and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation" (John 11:48). "Their dilemma was both religious and political. 'If this man's gospel is true, the day of Moses and the law is past, and we shall lose our prominence and power as rulers in Israel. The people will rally round him as their Messiah and Deliverer, and Rome will then destroy us with the sword" (Bruce R. McConkie,
Mortal Messiah Book 3, p 281). In a nutshell, better that one man die than a whole nation, even if it requires the death of a god.
When the morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy, you are I were among that happy throng giving praise to Him who would rescue us from the sting of death. Because of our faith in Father's Firstborn we knew we would not be eternally lost and alienated from home. We trusted He had the power to redeem us, to sanctify us, to make us whole and fit for exaltation. In return we promised our all. We promised we would glorify His name whilst in mortality through the life that we live. May we be faithful to that cause and when the time of resurrection comes may we be found amongst those who will hear the first trump sound and the beloved Saviour's voice saying: "Come forth".
