did he grant favor? Did he not give to paralytics the ability to carry their beds? Did he not raise up again Lazarus who was four days dead? For this reason you wish to kill Lazarus again. Did you not roll away the stone, and in your unbelief are you hardened like stones? Did he not permit you to untie the burial wrappings, so that you would not lie, as in the case of the one blind from birth, that it was another who leaped out of the tomb? You always envy good things, O Pharisees, and you oppose the believing multitude. For this reason you plotted to murder Lazarus again, so that you might reap away the faith of the crowd. Let it be supposed 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 with effort, he raises with a word. Who tires more? Are we mistaken, O Pharisees, that we approached the Lord as a king? Seeing the colt, we were rather strengthened; wherefore we also recognize him as a mighty king and we have the scripture at our feet, so that you may learn with understanding that it is not we who are mistaken, but you who are deceived. You have the prophet Zechariah; open him up, fear his sickle of vengeance. Did not the prophet himself from many years ago, bringing good news to Judea, cry out, saying: 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 mistaken in reading the scripture and recognizing the king and benefiting ourselves and converting the doubters? You hold to the prophet and do not want to understand the one prophesied? Depart, therefore, O Pharisees; for the more you are vexed, the more you stir up our zeal. Wherefore we do not cease from crying out: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We know the name, O Pharisees; this name freed us from Egypt and has made the sea passable and has populated the desert and has settled us in a land flowing with milk and honey and has provoked the prophet to cry: 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 just heard the evangelist saying: But the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus also, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. Have you seen the madness of the chief priests? In order to cut off the faith of the multitude, they sought to kill Lazarus also, saying to themselves: If we kill only Jesus, but leave Lazarus alive, we gain nothing; seeing this one, they will believe in that one. So that, therefore, he might not become a stumbling block for us even after death for some to 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, who was about to accept a voluntary death for the sake of the world's immortality, was not about to abandon Lazarus in a tomb. Whence, having set up the invincible cross, they are not able from then on to destroy it nor to hide it; for through all of creation it is at work. For what house is there that does not have the cross as its foundation? What ship is not steered by the cross? What city does not have the cross as a garrison? What king is not crowned with the cross? What virgin does not have the cross as a staff? What church is not walled by the cross? What widow does not have the cross as a staff? What orphan does not have the cross as a helper? The cross gives light in the night, it bears a torch in the day, it puts a stop to winters of misfortunes, it calls the spring, it draws forth the summer, it binds together marriage, it rears orphans, it increases friendship, it works through all good things. What then does the evangelist say? For it is good also the head of the

ἐχαρίσατο; Οὐ παραλύτοις κλινοβασταξίαν ἔδωκεν; Οὐ τὸν τεταρταῖον Λάζαρον ἄνωθεν πάλιν ἐξήγειρεν; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο βούλεσθε πάλιν τὸν Λάζαρον ἀποκτεῖναι. Οὐχ ὑμεῖς τὸν λίθον ἀπεκυλίσατε, καὶ τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ ὡς λίθοι σκληρύνεσθε; Οὐχ ὑμῖν ἐπέτρεψε λῦσαι τὰ νεκροτάφια, ἵνα μὴ ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐκ γεννητῆς τυφλοῦ ἄλλον ἐξ ἄλλου τοῦ τάφου παρεκπηδήσαντα 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 θερίσητε. Κείσθω ὅτι φονεύετε τὸν Λάζαρον, οὐ δύναται πάλιν αὐτὸν ἀναστῆσαι; Ἴδωμεν τίς κοπωθήσεται, ἢ ὑμεῖς φονεύοντες ἢ αὐτὸς ἐγείρων. Ὑμεῖς κόπῳ φονεύετε, αὐτὸς λόγῳ ἀνίστησιν. Τίς μᾶλλον κοποῦται; Σφαλλόμεθα, ὦ φαρισαῖοι, ὅτι ὡς βασιλεῖ προσήλθαμεν τῷ κυρίῳ; Τὸν πῶλον θεωροῦντες μᾶλλον ἐνεδυναμώθημεν· διὸ καὶ βασιλέα κραταιὸν αὐτὸν γνωρίζομεν καὶ ἔχομεν τὴν γραφὴν παρὰ πόδας, ἵνα μάθητε συνετῶς ὅτι οὐχ ἡμεῖς σφαλλόμεθα, ἀλλὰ ὑμεῖς πλανᾶσθε. Ἔχετε τὸν προφήτην Ζαχαρίαν· ἀναπτύξατε τοῦτον, φοβήθητε αὐτοῦ τὸ δρέπανον τῆς ἐκδικήσεως. Οὐχὶ αὐτὸς ὁ προφήτης ἐκ πολλῶν τῶν χρόνων τὴν Ἰουδαίαν εὐαγγελιζόμενος κέκραγε λέγων· Χαῖρε σφόδρα, θύγατερ Σιών· ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι πρᾶος 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 γὰρ ἐπιτρίβεσθε, 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 ᾤκισε καὶ τὸν προφήτην βοᾶν ἠρέθισεν· Γνώτωσαν ὅτι ὄνομά σοι κύριος, σὺ μόνος ὕψιστος ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν. Καὶ ὅτι ὁ μὲν ὄχλος εὐπειθὴς ὑπῆρχεν, οἱ δὲ ἀρχιερεῖς ἀπειθεῖς, ἤκουες ἀρτίως τοῦ εὐαγγελιστοῦ λέγοντος· Συνεβουλεύσαντο δὲ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ἵνα καὶ τὸν Λάζαρον ἀπο κτείνωσιν, ὅτι πολλοὶ δι' αὐτὸν ὑπῆγον τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ ἐπίστευον εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν. Εἶδες τῶν ἀρχιερέων τὴν μανίαν; Ἵνα ἐκκόψωσι τοῦ πλήθους τὴν πίστιν, ἐζήτουν καὶ τὸν Λάζαρον ἀποκτεῖναι λέγοντες πρὸς ἑαυτούς· Ἐὰν τὸν Ἰησοῦν μόνον ἀποκτείνωμεν, καταλείψωμεν δὲ τὸν Λάζαρον ζῶντα, οὐδὲν ὠφελοῦμεν· τοῦτον ὁρῶντες εἰς ἐκεῖνον πιστεύσουσιν. Ὅπως οὖν μὴ καὶ μετὰ θάνατον πρόσκομμα ἡμῖν γένηται τοῦ πιστεύειν τινὰς εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ἀποκτείνωμεν τὸν Λάζαρον, ὅπως ἂν πάντῃ τὴν μνήμην αὐτοῦ ἐξαλείψωμεν. Ταῦτα δὲ ἔλεγον οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ὡς ἄνθρωποι ματαιόφρονες, μὴ συνιέντες ὅτι ὁ κύριος, ὁ μέλλων τὸν ἑκούσιον θάνατον καταδέχεσθαι ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου ἀθανασίας, οὐκ ἤμελλε τὸν Λάζαρον ἐν μνημείῳ καταλιμπάνειν. Ὅθεν στήσαντες τὸν σταυρὸν τὸν ἀκαταμάχητον, οὐ δύνανται τοῦ λοιποῦ τοῦτον πορθῆσαι οὔτε κρύψαι· διὰ πάσης γὰρ τῆς κτίσεως ἐνεργεῖ. Ποῖος γὰρ οἶκος ὁ μὴ ἔχων τὸν σταυρὸν θεμέλιον; Ποῖον πλοῖον τὸ μὴ πηδαλιουχούμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ; Ποία πόλις ἡ μὴ ἔχουσα τὸν σταυρὸν φρούριον; Ποῖος βασιλεὺς ὁ μὴ ἀναδεσμούμενος τὸν σταυρόν; Ποία παρθένος ἡ μὴ ἔχουσα τὸν σταυρὸν βακτηρίαν; Ποία ἐκκλησία ἡ μὴ τῷ σταυρῷ τετειχισμένη; Ποία χήρα ἡ μὴ ἔχουσα βακτηρίαν τὸν σταυρόν; Ποῖος ὀρφανὸς ὁ μὴ ἔχων ἀρωγὸν τὸν σταυρόν; Σταυρὸς ἐν νυκτὶ φωτίζει, ἐν ἡμέρᾳ λαμπαδουχεῖ, χειμῶνας συμφορῶν παύει, ἔαρ καλεῖ, θέρος ἐπισπᾶται, συζυγίαν συσφίγγει, ὀρφανοὺς ἀνατρέφει, φιλίαν αὔξει, διὰ πάντων τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐνεργεῖ. Τί οὖν ὁ εὐαγγελιστής; Καλὸν γὰρ καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τῆς