to kill again? Did you not roll away the stone, and in your unbelief are hardened like stones? Did he not permit you to loose the grave-clothes, so that you would not lie, as in the case of the one blind from birth, that he was another who had leaped out of another tomb? You are always envious of good things, O Pharisees, and you oppose the believing multitude. For this reason you plotted again to murder Lazarus, in order to cut off the faith of the crowd. Let it be that you murder Lazarus, is he not able to raise him again? Let us see who will grow weary, you in murdering or he in raising. You murder by deed and toil, he raises by a word. Who toils more? Is not a word lighter than a deed? Are we mistaken, O Pharisees, that we came to the Lord as to a king? Seeing the colt, we were rather strengthened; wherefore we also know a mighty king and have the scripture at our feet, so that you may learn and understand that we are not mistaken, but you are deceived. You have the prophet Zechariah; unfold his words, fear his sickle of vengeance, because this prophet for many years has cried out, evangelizing Judea: Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; behold, your king comes to you, gentle and quiet, sitting on the colt of a donkey, the foal of a beast of burden. Are we not mistaken in reading the scripture and knowing the king and benefiting ourselves and converting those who doubt? You hold to the prophet and do not wish to understand the one prophesied? Therefore, stand aside, O Pharisees; the more you press upon us, the more you arouse our zeal. Wherefore we do not cease crying out: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We know the name, O Pharisees; this is the name that freed us from Egypt and made the sea passable and populated the desert and settled us in a land flowing with milk and honey, it prepared the prophet to cry out: Let them know that your name is Lord, you alone are most high over all the earth. And that the crowd was obedient, but the chief priests disobedient, you heard just now the evangelist saying: And the chief priests took counsel that they might kill Lazarus also, because on account of him many of the Jews were going and believing in Jesus. Have you seen the madness of the chief priests? In order to cut off the multitude from faith, they sought to kill Lazarus, saying to themselves: If we kill Jesus, but leave Lazarus alive, we gain nothing; for seeing this man, they believe in that one. Therefore, so that after his death a stumbling block may not be created for us, that some might again believe in Jesus, let us kill Lazarus, so that we may completely wipe out his memory. But the chief priests said these things as men of futile minds, not understanding that the Lord, being about to accept a voluntary death for the sake of the world's immortality, was not about to leave to the world the memory of Lazarus alone and his resurrection, but also the invincible cross, which they will be able neither to destroy nor to hide nor to make void, showing the power of his energy throughout the whole world. For what house is there that does not have the sign of the cross, which is a trophy against demons and a guardian of souls? What then of the evangelist? For it is good also to touch upon the head of the whole pericope. You heard just now the evangelist saying: Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was whom he had raised from the dead. And what is this "Six days before" day? The present day, which characterizes John the forerunner. For just as John ran before the Lord, so also this day ran before the resurrection; and just as John, pointing to the Lord, said: Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the

πάλιν ἀποκτεῖναι; Οὐχ ὑμεῖς τὸν λίθον ἀπεκυλίσατε, καὶ τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ ὡς λίθοι σκληρύνεσθε; Οὐχ ὑμῖν ἐπέτρεψε λῦσαι τὰς κειρίας, ἵνα μὴ ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐκ γεννητῆς τυφλοῦ ἄλλον ἐξ ἄλλου τάφου παραπηδήσαντα ψευδολογήσητε; Ἀεὶ ὑμεῖς τοῖς καλοῖς βασκαίνετε, ὦ φαρισαῖοι, καὶ τῷ πλήθει· πιστεύοντι ἐναντιοῦσθε. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο πάλιν τὸν Λάζαρον ἐβουλεύσασθε φονοκτονῆσαι, ἵνα τοῦ ὄχλου τὴν πίστιν ἐκκόψητε. Κείσθω ὅτι φονεύετε τὸν Λάζαρον, οὐ δύναται πάλιν αὐτὸν ἀναστῆσαι; Ἴδωμεν τίς κοπωθήσεται, ὑμεῖς φονεύοντες ἢ ἐκεῖνος ἐγείρων. Ὑμεῖς ἔργῳ καὶ κόπῳ φονεύετε, αὐτὸς λόγῳ ἀνίστησιν. Τίς μᾶλλον κοποῦται; Οὐχ ὁ λόγος τοῦ ἔργου κουφότερος; Σφαλλόμεθα, ὦ φαρισαῖοι, ὅτι ὡς βασιλεῖ προσήλθομεν τῷ κυρίῳ; Τὸν πῶλον θεωροῦντες μᾶλλον ἐνεδυναμώθημεν· διὸ καὶ βασιλέα κραταιὸν γνωρίζομεν καὶ ἔχομεν τὴν γραφὴν παρὰ πόδας, ἵνα μάθητε καὶ συνῆτε ὅτι οὐχ ἡμεῖς σφαλλόμεθα, ἀλλ' ὑμεῖς πλανᾶσθε. Ἔχετε τὸν προφήτην Ζαχαρίαν· τούτου τοὺς λόγους ἀναπτύξατε, φοβήθητε αὐτοῦ τὸ δρέπανον τῆς ἐκδικήσεως, ὅτι οὗτος ὁ προφήτης ἐκ πολλῶν τῶν χρόνων τὴν Ἰουδαίαν εὐαγγελιζόμενος κέκραγεν· Χαῖρε σφόδρα, θύγατερ Σιών· ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι πραῢς καὶ ἥσυχος, καθήμενος ἐπὶ πῶλον ὄνου υἱὸν ὑποζυγίου. Μὴ σφαλλόμεθα τὴν γραφὴν ἀναγινώσκοντες καὶ τὸν βασιλέα γνωρίζοντες καὶ ἑαυτοὺς εὐεργετοῦντες καὶ τοὺς ἀμφιβάλλοντας ἐπιστρέφοντες; Τὸν προφήτην κατέχετε καὶ τὸν προφητευθέντα νοεῖν οὐ θέλετε; Ἀπόστητε τοιγαροῦν, ὦ φαρισαῖοι· ὅσον ἡμῖν ἐπίκεισθε, τοσοῦτον μᾶλλον ἡμῶν τὸν ζῆλον διεγείρετε. ∆ιὸ οὐ παυόμεθα βοῶντες· Ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις, εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου. Γνωρίζομεν τὸ ὄνομα, ὦ φαρισαῖοι· τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἡμᾶς ἠλευθέρωσε καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν βατὴν πεποίηκε καὶ τὴν ἔρημον ἐπόλισε καὶ εἰς γῆν ῥέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι ἐνῴκισε, τὸν προφήτην βοᾶν παρεσκεύασεν· Γνώτωσαν ὅτι ὄνομά σοι κύριος, σὺ μόνος ὕψιστος ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν. Καὶ ὅτι μὲν ὁ ὄχλος εὐπειθὴς ὑπῆρχεν, οἱ δὲ ἀρχιερεῖς ἀπειθεῖς, ἤκουες ἀρτίως τοῦ εὐαγγελιστοῦ λέγοντος· Καὶ συνεβουλεύσαντο οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ἵνα καὶ τὸν Λάζαρον ἀπο κτείνωσιν, ὅτι πολλοὶ δι' αὐτὸν τῶν Ἰουδαίων ὑπῆγον καὶ ἐπίστευον εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν. Εἶδες τῶν ἀρχιερέων τὴν μανίαν; Ἵνα ἐκκόψωσι τῆς πίστεως τὸ πλῆθος , ἐζήτουν τὸν Λάζαρον ἀποκτεῖναι λέγοντες πρὸς ἑαυτούς· Ἐὰν τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀποκτείνωμεν, καταλείψωμεν δὲ τὸν Λάζαρον ζῶντα, οὐδὲν ὠφελοῦμεν· τοῦτον γὰρ ὁρῶντες εἰς ἐκεῖνον πιστεύουσιν. Ὅπως οὖν μὴ καὶ μετὰ θάνατον πρόσκομμα ἡμῖν γένηται τοῦ πιστεύειν πάλιν τινὰς εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ἀποκτείνωμεν τὸν Λάζαρον, ἵνα πάντῃ τὴν μνήμην αὐτοῦ ἐξαλείψωμεν. Ταῦτα δὲ ἔλεγον οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ὡς ἄνθρωποι ματαιόφρονες, μὴ συνιέντες ὅτι ὁ κύριος μέλλων τὸν ἑκούσιον θάνατον καταδέχεσθαι ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου ἀθανασίας, οὐκ ἤμελλε τὸν Λάζαρον μόνον καὶ τὴν τούτου ἔγερσιν μνήμην τῷ κόσμῳ καταλιμπάνειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν ἀκαταμάχητον σταυρόν, ὃν οὐ δυνήσονται οὔτε πορθῆσαι οὔτε κρύψαι οὔτε ματαιῶσαι, διὰ πάσης τῆς οἰκουμένης δεικνύντα τῆς ἐνεργείας αὐτοῦ τὴν δύναμιν. Ποῖος γὰρ οἶκός ἐστιν ὁ μὴ ἔχων τοῦ σταυροῦ τὸ σημεῖον, τρόπαιον κατὰ δαιμόνων καὶ φυλακτήριον ψυχῶν ὑπάρχον; Τί οὖν ὁ εὐαγγελιστής; Καλὸν γὰρ καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τῆς πάσης περικοπῆς ψηλαφῆσαι. Ἤκουες ἀρτίως τοῦ εὐαγγελιστοῦ λέγοντος· Πρὸ ἓξ ἡμερῶν τοῦ πάσχα ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς Βηθανίαν, ὅπου ἦν Λάζαρος ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν. Καὶ ποία αὕτη ἡ Πρὸ ἓξ ἡμερῶν ἡμέρα; Ἡ παροῦσα ἡμέρα, ἡ τὸν πρόδρομον Ἰωάννην χαρακτηρίζουσα. Ὥσπερ γὰρ Ἰωάννης προέδραμε τοῦ κυρίου, οὕτω καὶ αὕτη προέδραμε τῆς ἀναστάσεως· καὶ ὥσπερ ὁ Ἰωάννης δακτυλοδεικτῶν τὸν κύριον ἔλεγεν· Ἴδε ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ αἴρων τὴν