4
The dead man heard the Master's command, and immediately broke the laws of death. Let the heretics be ashamed, and let them perish from the face of the earth. For the Word has shown that the prayer was not made for the resurrection of the dead man, but because of the weakness of the unbelievers then present. Lazarus, come forth. And why did he call the dead man by name? Why? Lest, having directed his voice unrestrained to the dead, he might raise all those in the tombs, for this reason he says, Lazarus, come forth. You alone for the present I am calling back in the presence of the crowd, so that through the part I might also demonstrate the power for the things to come; for I who have raised one man, raise the whole world. For I am the resurrection and the life. Lazarus, come forth. And the dead man came forth, bound with grave-clothes. O what paradoxical matters! He who loosed the soul from the bonds of death, He who broke down the gates of Hades, He who shattered the bronze gates and iron bars, and freed the soul from the bonds of death, was he not able also to loose the grave-clothes of the dead man?
Yes, he was able; but he commands the Jews to loose the grave-clothes, which they themselves had previously tightened when burying him, so that they might recognize the features of their own bindings, so that they might learn by experience, from what they themselves had done, that this is Lazarus who was buried by them, and this is Christ who came into the world according to the good pleasure of the Father, he who has authority over life and death. To him be the glory and the power with your beginningless Father and your all-holy and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
4
Ἤκουσε τοῦ δεσποτικοῦ προστάγματος ὁ νεκρὸς, καὶ εὐθέως τοῦ θανάτου τοὺς νόμους παρέλυσεν. Αἰσχυνέσθωσαν οἱ αἱρετικοὶ, καὶ ἀπολέσθωσαν ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς. Καὶ γὰρ ἀπέδειξεν ὁ λόγος, ὅτι οὐ διὰ τὴν τοῦ νεκροῦ ἀνάστασιν γέγονεν ἡ προσευχὴ, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν τῶν τότε παρόντων ἀπίστων ἀσθένειαν. Λάζαρε, δεῦρο ἔξω. Καὶ διὰ τί ὀνομαστὶ τὸν νεκρὸν ἐκάλεσε; ∆ιὰ τί; Ἵνα μὴ τὴν φωνὴν ἀπολελυμένην εἰς τοὺς νεκροὺς ἀποτείνας, πάντας τοὺς ἐν τοῖς τάφοις ἐγείρῃ, διὰ τοῦτό φησι, Λάζαρε, δεῦρο ἔξω. Σὲ μόνον ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος τέως ἀνακαλοῦμαι ὄχλου, ἵνα διὰ τοῦ μέρους καὶ τὴν τῶν μελλόντων ἐπιδείξω δύναμιν· ὁ γὰρ ἕνα ἐγείρας ἐγὼ, τὴν οἰκουμένην ἀνιστῶ· Ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι ἡ ἀνάστασις καὶ ἡ ζωή. Λάζαρε, δεῦρο ἔξω. Καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ νεκρὸς δεδεμένος κειρίαις. Ὢ τῶν παραδόξων πραγμάτων· ὁ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐκ τῶν δεσμῶν τοῦ θανάτου λύσας, ὁ τὰς πύλας τοῦ ᾅδου διαῤῥήξας, ὁ πύλας χαλκᾶς καὶ μοχλοὺς σιδηροῦς συντρίψας, καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐκ τῶν δεσμῶν τοῦ θανάτου ἐλευθερώσας, οὐκ ἠδύνατο καὶ τὰς κειρίας λῦσαι τοῦ νεκροῦ;
Ναὶ, ἠδύνατο· ἀλλὰ κελεύει τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις λῦσαι τὰς κειρίας, ἃς αὐτοὶ πρότερον ἐν-ταφιάζοντες ἔσφιγξαν, ἵνα τῶν οἰκείων δεσμῶν ἐπιγνώσωσι τὰ γνωρίσματα, ἵνα τῇ πείρᾳ μάθωσιν, ἐξ ὧν ἔπραξαν, ὅτι Λάζαρός ἐστιν ὁ παρ' αὐτῶν ἐνταφιασθεὶς, καὶ Χριστός ἐστιν ὁ κατ' εὐδοκίαν τοῦ Πατρὸς παραγενόμενος εἰς τὸν κόσμον, ὁ ζωῆς καὶ θανάτου τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἔχων. Αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος σὺν τῷ ἀνάρχῳ σου Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ παναγίῳ καὶ ζωοποιῷ σου Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.