On Lazarus

A sermon of Amphilochius, bishop of Iconium, on Lazarus, the man of four days.

Bring forth again the evangelist John; for it is good to consider the first-fruit of the resurrection. For you heard him just now saying: Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom he had raised from the dead. Did you see the first-fruit of the resurrection prefigured in Lazarus, which the faithful crowd recognized? The crowds recognized and the chief priests reviled, turning the miracle-working into envy. Truly they envied the resurrection of Lazarus, because after his resurrection, which you heard of, they conspired to kill him. Did you see the excess of envy? The one whom the Lord raised, they intended to kill, not realizing that even if they killed him, it would again be easy for the Lord to raise his friend.

They conspired to kill Lazarus; nothing so provoked the Jews as the resurrection of Lazarus. This miracle alone they were not able to slander. The restoration of sight to the man blind from birth they slandered, saying: This is he; it is not he; he is like him. The raising of the daughter of Jairus they slandered, saying that she had fallen asleep and had not been given over to a complete death. The resurrection of the only-begotten son of the widow they slandered, saying that he had feigned death and had not been swallowed up by the tyranny of death. The withered fig tree they slandered, saying that it had been blighted and not that it had been withered by a master's word. The change of water into wine they slandered, saying that those at the feast were already drunk and did not know the mockery. The resurrection of Lazarus alone they were not able to slander. They knew Lazarus; the man was well-known. They attended the burial, they saw the tomb being sealed, they consoled, as was customary, as at a funeral banquet of death, Martha and Mary the sisters of Lazarus. They knew that he had been laid in the tomb for exactly four days, and that a four-day-old corpse is everywhere dislocated, the flesh diminished, the bones disjointed, the sinew-structure torn apart, the inwards scattered, the belly poured out. Knowing these things, when they suddenly saw the resurrection of Lazarus whole, perfect as if from a lathe, shining with its return to life, they were thrown into confusion. They almost fainted, not finding words of excuse, how they might slander the resurrection of Lazarus, which the Lord's management had so arranged. What is this, "the Lord's management having prepared this"? Hear in brief. When Lazarus naturally put off this present life, the Lord was not present in Bethany to bodily eyes, but in his divinity he was present everywhere and filled all things.

For after Lazarus had been buried for four days, Jesus came to Bethany to stage the resurrection of his friend. Wherefore, when the Lord arrived in Bethany, as Martha the sister of Lazarus heard, she ran, she hastened, she fell down in supplication, offering a heretical petition. For falling down she spoke to the Lord, saying: Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. But the Lord himself, being an ocean of long-suffering, answered, saying: What are you saying, Martha? You call me Lord, and do not understand Lord? Was I not here? Wait a little; for soon from the

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In Lazarum

Ἀμφιλοχίου ἐπισκόπου Ἰκονίου λόγος εἰς τὸν τετραήμερον Λάζαρον

Φέρε πάλιν εἰς μέσον τὸν εὐαγγελιστὴν Ἰωάννην· καλὸν γὰρ τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τῆς ἀναστάσεως σκοπῆσαι. Ἤκουες γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἀρτίως λέγοντος· Πρὸ ἓξ ἡμερῶν τοῦ Πάσχα ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς βηθανίαν, ὅπου ἦν Λάζαρος, ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν. Εἶδες τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἐν Λαζάρῳ προτυπωθεῖσαν, ἣν ὁ πιστὸς ὄχλος ἐγνώρισεν; Οἱ ὄχλοι ἐγνώρισαν καὶ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ἐλοιδόρησαν τὴν θαυματουργίαν εἰς βασκανίαν μεταβαλόντες. Ὄντως ἐβάσκαναν τὴν ἀνάστασιν Λαζάρου, ὅτι μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν αὐτοῦ, ἣν ἤκουες, συνεβουλεύσαντο αὐτὸν ἀποκτεῖναι. Εἶδες βασκανίας ὑπερβολήν; Ὃν ὁ κύριος ἤγειρεν, αὐτοὶ ἀποκτεῖναι διενοήθησαν, μὴ συνειδότες ὅτι κἂν αὐτοὶ ἀποκτείνω σι, πάλιν κοῦφον τῷ κυρίῳ ἀναστῆσαι τὸν φίλον.

Συνεβουλεύσαντο τὸν Λάζαρον ἀποκτεῖναι· οὐδὲν οὕτως ἐδρίμυττε τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ὡς ἡ ἀνάστασις τοῦ Λαζάρου. Τοῦτο μόνον τὸ θαῦμα οὐκ ἴσχυσαν συκοφαντῆσαι. Τὴν ἀνάβλεψιν τοῦ ἐκ γεννητῆς τυφλοῦ ἐσυκοφάντησαν λέγοντες· Οὗτός ἐστιν· οὐκ ἔστιν οὗτος· ὅμοιος αὐτοῦ ἐστιν. Τὴν ἔγερσιν τῆς θυγατρὸς Ἰαήρου ἐσυκο φάντησαν λέγοντες ὡς κατηνέχθη καὶ οὐ τελείῳ θανάτῳ παρεδόθη. Τὴν ἀνάστασιν τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς χήρας τοῦ μονογενοῦς ἐσυκοφάντησαν λέγοντες ὡς τὸν θάνατον ἐσχηματίσατο καὶ οὐχ ὑπὸ τῆς τυραννίδος τοῦ θανάτου κατεπόθη. Τὴν ξηρανθεῖσαν συκῆν ἐσυκοφάντησαν λέγοντες ὡς τρυγωνισθεῖσαν καὶ οὐχ ὡς δεσποτικῷ ῥήματι ξηρανθεῖσαν. Τὴν τοῦ ὕδατος εἰς οἶνον μεταβολὴν ἐσυκοφάντησαν λέγοντες ὡς ἤδη τῶν ἐν τῷ δείπνῳ μεθυσθέντων καὶ μὴ εἰδότων τὴν χλεύην. Τὴν ἀνάστασιν μόνην τοῦ Λαζάρου οὐκ ἴσχυσαν συκοφαντῆσαι. Ἤδεισαν τὸν Λάζαρον· ἐπίσημος ἦν ὁ ἀνήρ. Ἠκολούθησαν τῇ κηδίᾳ, εἶδον τὸν τάφον σφραγιζόμενον, παρεμυθήσαντο κατὰ τὸ εἰωθός, ὡς ἐν περιδείπ νῳ θανάτου, Μάρθαν καὶ Μαρίαν τὰς ἀδελφὰς Λαζάρου. Ἔγνωσαν ὅτι τέσσαρας ἡμέρας εἶχεν ἀκριβῶς ἐν τῷ μνημείῳ κατατεθείς, καὶ ὅτι τετραήμερος νεκρὸς πάντοθεν ἔξαρθρος, τῶν σαρκῶν μειωθέντων, τῶν ὀστέων ἐκγομφωθέντων, τῆς νευροστασίας διασπασθείσης, τῶν ἐνδοσθίων σκορπισθέντων, τῆς γαστρὸς ἐκχυθείσης. Ταῦτα συνειδότες ὡς εἶδον ἀθρόον τὴν ἀνάστασιν Λαζάρου σῶαν, ἀρτίαν ὡς ἀπὸ τόρνου, στίλβουσαν τῇ παλινβιωσίᾳ, ἐταράχθησαν. Μικροῦ δεῖν ἀπέψυξαν μὴ εὑρίσκον τες λόγους προφασιλογίας, τὸ πῶς συκοφαντήσουσι τὴν ἀνάστασιν Λαζάρου τῆς τοῦ κυρίου πραγματείας τοῦτο κατα σκευασάσης. Τί ἐστι, τῆς τοῦ κυρίου πραγματείας τοῦτο παρασκευα σάσης; Ἄκουε διὰ βραχέων. Ἡνίκα Λάζαρος τὴν παροῦσαν ζωὴν ἀπεδύσατο φυσικῶς, οὐκ ἦν ὁ κύριος ἐν Βηθανίᾳ παρὼν τοῖς σωματικοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς, τῇ δὲ θεότητι πανταχοῦ παρὼν καὶ τὰ πάντα πληρῶν.

Μετὰ γὰρ τέσσαρας ἡμέρας τοῦ ταφῆναι τὸν Λάζαρον, ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς Βηθανίαν τὴν ἀνάστασιν τοῦ φίλου κωμῳδῆσαι. Ὅθεν καὶ τοῦ κυρίου παραγενομένου ἐν Βηθανίᾳ, ὡς ἤκουσε Μάρθα ἡ ἀδελφὴ Λαζάρου, ἔδραμεν, ἔσπευσε, προσέπε σεν ἐν παρακλήσει αἱρετικὴν πρεσβείαν προσφέρουσα. Προσπε σοῦσα γὰρ ἔφασκε τῷ κυρίῳ λέγουσα· Κύριε, εἰ ἦς ὧδε, οὐκ ἂν ἀπέθανεν ὁ ἀδελφός μου. Καὶ νῦν οἶδα ὅτι ὅσα ἂν αἰτήσῃ τὸν θεόν, δώσει σοι ὁ θεός. Ὁ δὲ κύριος αὐτὸς πέλαγος ὢν μακροθυμίας ἀπεκρίνατο λέγων· Τί λέγεις, Μάρθα; Κύριον καλεῖς, καὶ κύριον οὐκ ἐννοεῖς; Οὐκ ἤμην ὧδε; Μικρὸν καρτέρησον· ἐν τάχει γὰρ παρὰ τοῦ

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