Meaning of LAZARUS

(from the Hebrew «'El'azar»: «God has helped»).
Inhabitant of Bethany, brother of Martha and Mary. Much loved by his sisters and by Jesus, Lazarus had the great honor of being resurrected.

His sisters had told Jesus, who was at the time beyond the Jordan, that their brother was seriously ill; The Master did not act immediately. Two days later, Lazarus died, and Jesus set out for Bethany, where Martha went to meet him.

Declaring resurrection and life to Himself, the Lord appealed to Martha's faith. Accompanied by his two sisters and his friends, he went to the grotto that served as a tomb, according to Jewish custom. Jesus ordered the stone that closed the entrance to be removed and gave thanks to God, to show the attendees that his Father had sent him to perform that miracle.

Then he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had been dead came out (John 14:1-44). The greatness of this miracle was even greater for the Jews, because according to their conception the soul of the deceased remained close to the body until the third day.

Lazarus was resurrected on the fourth day of his death, which would make even the most stubborn among the spectators aware of the reality and the origin of the power of Jesus Christ.

This miracle unleashed enthusiasm as far as Jerusalem itself, but it also served to make the members of the Sanhedrin irrevocably decide on the death of him, whom the people wanted to proclaim king.

The Sanhedrin did not want this spiritual kingdom, and also feared an uprising against the Romans, to whom the main Jewish authorities owed the positions they held.

The leaders of the nation considered it preferable to suppress Jesus, guilty or not, to save the nation (John 11:45-53; 12:9-19). Lazarus attended the dinner that Simon the leper gave in honor of Jesus in Bethany, six days before the Passover (John 12:1, 2).

The Jews, beside themselves when they saw that this event had served to increase the popularity of Jesus, also plotted the death of Lazarus; He undoubtedly escaped the attack, and died a natural death. However, his later life is unknown.