Lazarus
My inquisitive nature must be on overdrive today. I just read about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead and wondered what happened to him. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
“Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 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.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 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.” - John 11:17, 23-27, 41-44 ESV
There is a little more about Lazarus in the next chapter:
“Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” - John 12:1-3
As far as I know, nowhere else in the Bible does it describe what happened to Lazarus. So, I did some Googling.
Below is what I found on www.gotquestions.org.
“The Bible gives us no further information about Lazarus. Any additional details stem from church history and may or may not be accurate. One tradition holds that, after Jesus’ ascension back into heaven, Lazarus and his sisters moved to Cyprus, where Lazarus became the bishop of Kition and died of natural causes in AD 63. Another theory claims Lazarus and his sisters moved to Gaul to preach the gospel, and Lazarus became the bishop of Marseilles, where he was beheaded under the tyranny of Emperor Domitian. Whatever truly happened to Lazarus is unknown. But we can be certain his physical body died a second time.”
It seems reasonable to me that if I were raised from the dead, I would want to share my story with as many people as would listen to me. In both oral-tradition accounts, Lazarus shared his story and eventually came to a position of influence in the early church.
Jesus clearly intended to use the raising of the dead to convince people of his nature as God and to heighten the paranoia of the Pharisees regarding their power base. That seems obvious to me.
What I’m also encouraged by is that Lazarus, after experiencing a magnificent miracle performed by our Lord, was determined not to waste it, but to share the good news with others.
God, please create in me the desire to share your good news with that kind of passion.
