Homily 2 on Lazarus of the Four Days #
-Venerable Isichiy (Hesychius) of Jerusalem
I love this place of the Church, which gathers here for me this spiritual banquet; for the banquet of the Church of God is this very assembly, made drunk with the Mystical Cup, nourished by the Life-giving Lamb. Since the King of Angels made His dwelling upon the earth, feasts and delights are prepared for the faithful, and the sorrow of nature has turned against the master of sorrows from the time the Saviour began His sojourn among us. For nature, once it became capable of perceiving the radiance of the Master, was at once filled with joy and leaping.
Barren women gave birth to heralds of grace; unborn infants leapt for joy within their mothers’ wombs—for the babe leapt in her womb for joy (Luke 1:41). The Virgin was called blessed for her virginal birth; the heavens summoned the Magi from on high by means of a star; the earth was filled with angels sharing gladness with those below; demons were letting slip those they once held; diseases fled from bodies—on one side a paralytic ran on foot, on the other a blind man rose up and departed with sight. There, a leper was cleansed of leprosy; here, the puddle of long-flowing blood was dried up (cf. Luke 8:43–56); this man became eloquent who had been tongue-tied, while that man suddenly received ears to hear, which before had been closed to words.
And what shall we say of the wine at the wedding feast, made from grapes never grown (cf. John 2:1–11)? Or of corpses leaping forth from tombs (cf. John 11:44)? For He said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise! (Luke 7:14), and the one who heard that sound stirred himself, as though he had only been pretending to be dead and had not truly died.
Even the grave let go of Lazarus, and the one thus summoned made haste to draw all eyes to his emerging: he who, wrapped in grave clothes, had been four days decaying in the tomb, whose entrails were for the most part devoured by worms, who had lost all the harmonious wholeness of his frame, who bore the stench of the grave as witness to his corruption. But the fragrance of Life reforged his decaying innards, and the tomb became a womb for him who lay therein. And as though sown into a womb rather than a grave, newly recreated, Lazarus leapt forth—a man both old and new.
O new marvel of wonders! The tomb bore within it, on our account, a man destined for life, wrapped in burial cloths like an infant swaddled in swaddling bands. The voice of the Master, recognized even by the dead, drew him out of the tomb with the grave clothes still upon him: Lazarus, He said, come forth! (John 11:43). And at that word, the dead man began to emerge in haste, once his limbs, in the tomb, had rejoined one another: the eye returned to its socket, the nose assumed its place, the cheeks hastened to recover their form, the neck was joined to the shoulders and head, the two hands prepared for their accustomed motion, the joints found harmony, the fingers were ordered, the sinews reknit themselves, the nature of the bones was clothed in its proper substance, the arteries were stretched along with the veins, the marrow was newly formed within the bones, the membranes wove themselves together again, and the hair was set in order.
I have been slowly portraying in words the running of his limbs. As a horse, struck at a signal, so too the dead man, at the voice of the Master, began at once to spring forth from the tomb—called, reassembled, made visible. Lazarus! come forth! Before saying “arise,” He commands him to come out! While still lying there, He hastens him to run! First, bid him arise, O Master, and only then command the resurrected to run! Why dost Thou command the one still lying down to come forth before commanding him to rise? “Yes,” He says, “I command him who still lies dead to run, so that, by burdening him with two commands, I may not delay his coming forth. I say to him, come forth, that he may run more quickly, since the same moment is appointed him both to rise and to run.” Immediately, Lazarus, as if winged, leapt from the tomb, sitting in the sepulchre more like a watchman than a corpse.
And Hades below, in giving up the dead man, surely cried out: “Who is This, that with His voice raises the dead from their tombs as though waking the sleeping? Who is This, that abolishes the ancient laws of the dead? Who is This, that stirs the dead to rise against me? Who is This, that calls the dead back to the world above? Who is This, that makes it a custom for the buried to return to life? Who is This, that so easily looses the bonds of my prisoners? Who is This, that has torn from me all my dead so they may form a chorus? Behold, the rod of my tyranny over men has perished. My prison-house of death has grown old and frail. Elijah departed, taking from me a dead man to gladden a woman (cf. 1 Kings 17:23). After Elijah, when Elisha came, he twice carried out thefts of the dead from my realm (cf. 2 Kings 4:35; 13:21). But now This One, more dreadful, has come to the aid of the dead, and has declared war against me, summoning even rotted corpses as though they were living—and now there hangs over me the threat that I may no longer have dominion even over decaying flesh! For one whom I had brought to corruption has been stolen from me. Triumphing over me is a body four days dead, which now, wrapped in grave clothes, dances in chorus with the living. I am now trampled underfoot, as the dead man escapes from me together with his burial wrappings. Who shall now fear me, when I am defeated by a corpse in decay, and made to seem nothing more than a caretaker of the dead left in my charge?”
For Lazarus was like a precious deposit placed in the tomb for safekeeping—like gold returned with the very seals it was laid away with. Bound in burial bands, he had been laid in the tomb, and then was returned to life with the grave cloths still upon him.
And the assembly of Jews, unbelieving and doubting in the face of such a great miracle, now said of Lazarus as they had once said of the man born blind who had been healed (cf. John 9:8–9): “It is he”; “It is not he.” Therefore, just as one intending to return a deposit placed in their care, foreseeing suspicion from the depositor, carefully guards the seals upon the item so that the appearance of the seals may convince the owner; so also the Master Christ, returning Lazarus to the Jews—a precious deposit laid among the dead for four days—brings him forth along with the tokens of the grave-cloths, as with certain seals, that those unbinding him might themselves see that this was not some other man, but the very one whom they had buried.
But the blindness of their unbelief remained uncorrected, for, having recognized the dead man, they hated him on account of the miracle and began to devise blind counsels: The chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death, because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus (John 12:10–11).
O wicked counsel! Tell me, O priests, was the miracle real, or was it false? For if it was real, then you devise in vain to slay one who can rise again. But if the miracle was counterfeit, then why do you attribute such importance to it? If the event was merely a rumor, then let the man remain alive, so that all who come to him might learn from the living that he did not rise from the dead. But if you kill him, you lend support to the rumor, having removed the very evidence that could have disproved it. Thus from either side, your plot is shown to be full of doubt.
O affliction worthy of many lamentations! The healing of those envied brings wounds to the envious; the benefactor is hated, as if he were a bringer of harm; the one who saves is treated as an enemy, as though he were a murderer. They should have rejoiced, not grieved, at the rising of the dead.
A dead man has risen—you have been given cause for joy, having found a Physician who applies healing balm even to corpses. Man, you now possess an effective remedy for those who suffer!
Have you a sick son? Call upon Him who raised the dead, to cure the disease. Is your daughter vexed by a demon (cf. Mark 7:25–30; Matt. 15:22–28)? You have the medicine for that affliction. Is one of your household near death (cf. Matt. 8:5–13; Luke 7:1–10; John 4:46–54)? The One who delivers the dead from death’s grip is near to you. How many gifts have you distributed in search of a helper in your suffering? Yet now you have found One freely, and you turn your eyes away from the treasure!
Well then, if you delight in losses, pass the profit to those who desire it; resign yourself to the fact that Lazarus remains alive; do not become more cruel than death itself to those whom This One has delivered, while you would hand them over to the grave. Let not your companionship in life bring more despair than the tomb. This dead man had hope of life even while in the grave, and returned to life without even losing his grave clothes—yet now, living among you, he fears lest he lose the gift he obtained while buried. But why should I devote this discourse to the wickedness of the Jews, when the resurrection of Lazarus draws me toward remembrance of the general Resurrection?
When tombs are shaken, compelled to yield up their dead; when the earth is confounded, trembling with dread; when the sound of trumpets rings from heaven in the ears of men—for it is written: The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:52). The Judge descends, casting lightning from heaven; the angelic hosts precede Him, trembling with awe at the events, for it is said: The powers of heaven shall be shaken (Matt. 24:29); the righteous are caught up to meet the Lord in the clouds (cf. 1 Thess. 4:17); the demons weep, being dragged to judgment; the devil is in sorrow, led in chains; tyrants are hauled forth to give terrible answers; the plundering of the rich is punished; crowns are given to the patience of the poor; the conspiracies of kings are laid bare; the lives of priests are examined; the chaste assemblies of virgins are honored; hidden fornications are exposed to the light; the modesty of the pure is praised; the wantonness of adulterers is condemned; the meekness of the long-suffering is crowned; the slanderers are rebuked without need of proof; the assemblies of the sincerely repentant are blessed; the hypocrisy of pretenders is scourged.
This is not my own teaching; you have all heard Paul, crying out to all: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10). Therefore, let each one set his life in order, remembering these words: extinguish pleasure, O lover of pleasures, for it is the fuel of the fire of Gehenna. Discipline the belly, O indulgent one, for gluttony is an easily ignited material; rebuking this, the prophet cried out to the Sodomites: Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread, and abundance (Ezekiel 16:49). Do not allow yourself to fall into excess, O rich man, for it is the straw for the unquenchable flame. Be joined to patience, O poor man, for godly endurance is the cooling balm against Gehenna. Cease from ungodliness, O heathen, for only thorns are fit for the fire. Arise from the graves of heretical doctrines, O heretic, before that voice comes which cries out to the dead: Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him (Matthew 25:6)—even Christ our God, who shall judge the living and the dead (1 Peter 4:5).