The Prefigurement of Resurrection in Lazarus
A discourse by Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium, concerning the four-day Lazarus. Bring again the evangelist John into the midst, for it is good to observe the firstfruits of the resurrection. For you heard him recently saying: Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom he raised from the dead (John 11:1-44). Did you see the firstfruits of the resurrection prefigured in Lazarus, which the faithful crowd recognized?
The crowds recognized, and the chief priests turned the miracle into malice. Thus they acted with malice toward the resurrection of Lazarus, because after his resurrection, which you heard, they consulted to kill him. Did you see excessive malice? The one whom the Lord raised, they themselves resolved to kill, not realizing that even if they kill, the Lord would again lightly raise the friend. They consulted to kill Lazarus; nothing so unsettled the Jews as the resurrection of Lazarus. Only this miracle they were not able to slander.
They slandered the sight of the blind man born from birth, saying: 'This is he; this is not he; he is like him.' They slandered the raising of the daughter of Jairus, saying that he had fallen and was not delivered by a complete death. They slandered the resurrection of the son of the widow of the only one, saying that he had fashioned death and was not overcome by the tyranny of death. They slandered the withered fig tree, saying it had been harvested and not withered by a masterly word. They slandered the changing of water into wine, saying that those at the supper were already intoxicated and did not know the mixture. They were not able to slander the resurrection of Lazarus alone.
They mourned for Lazarus; the man was prominent. They followed the lamentation, saw the tomb being sealed, and comforted according to custom, as if at a funeral feast of death, Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus. They knew that he had been precisely four days in the tomb, having been laid there, and that a four-day corpse is everywhere decomposed, the flesh diminished, the bones exposed, the nerve-stability shattered, the entrails scattered, the stomach emptied. Realizing these things, when they saw the resurrection of Lazarus continuously whole, perfect as if from a potter, shining with re-living, they were disturbed.
They were quite despondent, not finding words of pretext, because this had prepared the reality of the Lord's resurrection to show how they would slander the resurrection of Lazarus. What is this, having prepared this for the reality of the Lord? Listen briefly. When Lazarus had naturally surrendered his present life, the Lord was not in Bethany present to the physical eyes.
Greek
In Lazarum Ἀμφιλοχίου ἐπισκόπου Ἰκονίου λόγος εἰς τὸν τετραήμερον Λάζαρον Φέρε πάλιν εἰς μέσον τὸν εὐαγγελιστὴν Ἰωάννην· καλὸν γὰρ τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τῆς ἀναστάσεως σκοπῆσαι. Ἤκουες γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἀρτίως λέγοντος· Πρὸ ἓξ ἡμερῶν τοῦ Πάσχα ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς βηθανίαν, ὅπου ἦν Λάζαρος, ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν. Εἶδες τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἐν Λαζάρῳ προτυπωθεῖσαν, ἣν ὁ πιστὸς ὄχλος ἐγνώρισεν; Οἱ ὄχλοι ἐγνώρισαν καὶ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ἐλοιδόρησαν τὴν θαυματουργίαν εἰς βασκανίαν μεταβαλόντες. Ὄντως ἐβάσκαναν τὴν ἀνάστασιν Λαζάρου, ὅτι μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν αὐτοῦ, ἣν ἤκουες, συνεβουλεύσαντο αὐτὸν ἀποκτεῖναι. Εἶδες βασκανίας ὑπερβολήν; Ὃν ὁ κύριος ἤγειρεν, αὐτοὶ ἀποκτεῖναι διενοήθησαν, μὴ συνειδότες ὅτι κἂν αὐτοὶ ἀποκτείνω σι, πάλιν κοῦφον τῷ κυρίῳ ἀναστῆσαι τὸν φίλον. Συνεβουλεύσαντο τὸν Λάζαρον ἀποκτεῖναι· οὐδὲν οὕτως ἐδρίμυττε τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ὡς ἡ ἀνάστασις τοῦ Λαζάρου. Τοῦτο μόνον τὸ θαῦμα οὐκ ἴσχυσαν συκοφαντῆσαι. Τὴν ἀνάβλεψιν τοῦ ἐκ γεννητῆς τυφλοῦ ἐσυκοφάντησαν λέγοντες· Οὗτός ἐστιν· οὐκ ἔστιν οὗτος· ὅμοιος αὐτοῦ ἐστιν. Τὴν ἔγερσιν τῆς θυγατρὸς Ἰαήρου ἐσυκο φάντησαν λέγοντες ὡς κατηνέχθη καὶ οὐ τελείῳ θανάτῳ παρεδόθη. Τὴν ἀνάστασιν τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς χήρας τοῦ μονογενοῦς ἐσυκοφάντησαν λέγοντες ὡς τὸν θάνατον ἐσχηματίσατο καὶ οὐχ ὑπὸ τῆς τυραννίδος τοῦ θανάτου κατεπόθη. Τὴν ξηρανθεῖσαν συκῆν ἐσυκοφάντησαν λέγοντες ὡς τρυγωνισθεῖσαν καὶ οὐχ ὡς δεσποτικῷ ῥήματι ξηρανθεῖσαν. Τὴν τοῦ ὕδατος εἰς οἶνον μεταβολὴν ἐσυκοφάντησαν λέγοντες ὡς ἤδη τῶν ἐν τῷ δείπνῳ μεθυσθέντων καὶ μὴ εἰδότων τὴν χλεύην. Τὴν ἀνάστασιν μόνην τοῦ Λαζάρου οὐκ ἴσχυσαν συκοφαντῆσαι. Ἤδεισαν τὸν Λάζαρον· ἐπίσημος ἦν ὁ ἀνήρ. Ἠκολούθησαν τῇ κηδίᾳ, εἶδον τὸν τάφον σφραγιζόμενον, παρεμυθήσαντο κατὰ τὸ εἰωθός, ὡς ἐν περιδείπ νῳ θανάτου, Μάρθαν καὶ Μαρίαν τὰς ἀδελφὰς Λαζάρου. Ἔγνωσαν ὅτι τέσσαρας ἡμέρας εἶχεν ἀκριβῶς ἐν τῷ μνημείῳ κατατεθείς, καὶ ὅτι τετραήμερος νεκρὸς πάντοθεν ἔξαρθρος, τῶν σαρκῶν μειωθέντων, τῶν ὀστέων ἐκγομφωθέντων, τῆς νευροστασίας διασπασθείσης, τῶν ἐνδοσθίων σκορπισθέντων, τῆς γαστρὸς ἐκχυθείσης. Ταῦτα συνειδότες ὡς εἶδον ἀθρόον τὴν ἀνάστασιν Λαζάρου σῶαν, ἀρτίαν ὡς ἀπὸ τόρνου, στίλβουσαν τῇ παλινβιωσίᾳ, ἐταράχθησαν. Μικροῦ δεῖν ἀπέψυξαν μὴ εὑρίσκον τες λόγους προφασιλογίας, τὸ πῶς συκοφαντήσουσι τὴν ἀνάστασιν Λαζάρου τῆς τοῦ κυρίου πραγματείας τοῦτο κατα σκευασάσης. Τί ἐστι, τῆς τοῦ κυρίου πραγματείας τοῦτο παρασκευα σάσης; Ἄκουε διὰ βραχέων. Ἡνίκα Λάζαρος τὴν παροῦσαν ζωὴν ἀπεδύσατο φυσικῶς, οὐκ ἦν ὁ κύριος ἐν Βηθανίᾳ παρὼν τοῖς σωματικοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς,
About this text
A bishop's powerful reflection on the resurrection of Lazarus and the faith that challenges doubt.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 39 (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.