John 11:43Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

"When He had said this, He cried with a loud voice." Why did He not say, "In the name of My Father, come forth"? Why did He not say, "Father, raise him"? Why, on the contrary, did He pass all this by, assume the appearance of one praying, and then show His own power?

This too belongs to His wisdom. In words He shows condescension, but in deeds He shows authority. Since they could accuse Him of nothing except that He was not from God, and by this they deceived the people, He makes this very point especially clear in His words. He does so in the manner required by their weakness.

He could have shown His agreement with the Father, and at the same time His own dignity, in another way. But the people could not rise so high.

"Lazarus, come forth," He says, in accordance with what He had said before: "the hour is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live" (Jn 5:25). Lest you think that He received power from another, He told you this beforehand, and then proved it by the deed itself.

He did not say, "Rise," but, "Come forth," addressing the dead man as one alive. What can be compared with such authority? But if He does this not by His own power, what more will He have than the apostles, who say, "Why do you look at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk" (Acts 3:12)?

If He does not act by His own power, and yet does not add what the apostles said about themselves, then in a certain way they would be more philosophic than He. For they turned glory away from themselves.

And elsewhere: "Men, why are you doing this? We also are men of like nature with you" (Acts 14:15). Thus the apostles, who did nothing by their own power, spoke in this way to persuade others of it.

Would He, then, knowing such an opinion about Himself, not have refuted it, if He truly acted not by His own authority? Who could say this? Yet Christ does the opposite, saying, "I said this for the sake of the people standing here, that they may believe." Thus, if they had believed, there would have been no need even for the prayer. See Jn 11:42.

Do you see that He prayed for no other reason than their unbelief?

Consider also this detail. He did not say, "Lazarus, live." What did He say? "Lazarus, come forth." He did this to teach those present that He is the One "who calls the things that do not exist as though they did" (Rom 4:17). He did it to show those present that He is the God of the living, and not of the dead.

He did it to show at the fitting time that there is no obstacle to the divine command. He reminded those standing by of Him who said: "Let there be a firmament," "Let the waters be gathered together into one place," "Let the earth bring forth grass," and "Let the waters bring forth creeping things, a living soul" (Gen 1:6, 9, 11, 20).

"Lazarus, come forth." This was for the increase and strengthening of the faith of those assembled. The grave-clothes and bands bore witness to death, while immediate obedience and unhindered awe proclaimed the authority of the Lord.

Lazarus, come forth. The one who had decomposed arose. The one who had decayed began to feel. The corpse obeyed. The bound man ran. The one being mourned leapt.

But why did the Savior use a loud cry here? The Evangelist says, "When He had said this, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth." By this cry He may have prefigured the future resurrection, for it is said, "The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised" (1 Cor 15:52).

I could say much more about this, but another subject draws me away. I am compelled to pass from one tomb to another. Indeed, it is timely to compare the tomb of Lazarus with other tombs. It seems not untimely that the death of women is celebrated at this very tomb.

There is a tomb there, and there is a tomb here. But the opened tomb of Lazarus reveals the power of Christ. The closed and active tomb of these women proclaims the grace of the Savior.

There a dead man comes forth from the tomb beyond nature. Here women run to tombs against nature. There is the sign of divine power. Here is the proof of a valiant will. There Lazarus [...] death [...] boldly enters.

There is restoration to life after death. Here there is life. There death is forcibly plundered. Here death is openly trampled underfoot.

Death lent Lazarus to life and soon took him back again. Or better, as it is said, "Women received their dead raised to life again" (Heb 11:35), according to the command of God.

But these women leapt from temporal life into endless life. They were the mother and daughters who have gathered us today: a pious mother who endured the pains of birth, and daughters who did not experience those pains.

A mother loosened virginity in order to give birth to virgins. A mother gave birth to purity. A mother gave birth to virgins according to the law of nature.

The tyrant waged war everywhere against the pious. He turned the sword of barbarous murders against those of one blood. The tyrant persecuted the invisible Christ. The tyrant thought to strike the Shepherd through the flock.

The tyrant attempted to shoot arrows into heaven. The tyrant envied the spread of the kingdom of Christ. This tyrant was a man who pursued but was not joined. The unapproachable virgins, however, were joined in the struggle.

Their possessions were plundered. Their homeland was taken away. Impious soldiers dragged lovers of chastity and modesty like robbers, forcing them to worship the image of a spiritual Nebuchadnezzar.

But this Babylonian furnace did for the three martyrs what the ancient furnace did. It loosed the bonds of body and soul, and it let their souls fly freely to heaven.

The ancient serpent had pursued Eve in paradise. He ensnares simple and innocent souls. Seeing the river become a bloody font, and the stream filled with the divine Spirit, he pursued the blessed women as far as the river.

Yet he was driven back by waters mingled with spiritual fire. Concealing his pride within himself, he lamented the failure of his ancient cunning. He saw those women, formerly easily deceived and terrified, go forth confidently against death.

He watched the heel which he had been waiting to wound fly up from earth to heaven.

Having sufficiently praised these victorious women, and having everywhere joined useful observations to the subject of our discourse, we have adorned an ancient tomb with a new tomb. We have united an extraordinary restoration to life with patient death.

We have set before men and women examples of virtue and piety. We have shown death worthy of praise and the resurrection worthy of desire. Let us give thanks to Christ, who has authority over life and death. To Him be glory and dominion, with the Father and the Holy and Life-giving Spirit, unto ages of ages. Amen.

What, then, did Christ say? "Lazarus, come forth." When the prayer was completed, the dead man did not rise. But when He said, "Lazarus, come forth," then the dead man rose.

O power of death! O might of the force that holds the soul! O Hades! The prayer has been completed, and you do not release the dead man?

No, says Hades. Why? Because no command has been given me. I am the guard who holds the guilty one here. If I do not receive a command, I do not release him.

The prayer was not for me, but for the unbelievers who were present. Since I do not receive a command, I do not release the guilty one. I await the voice, so that I may free the soul.

"Lazarus, come forth." The dead man heard the Lord's command and immediately broke the laws of death.

Let the heretics be put to shame, and let them perish from the face of the earth. This saying proves that the prayer was not for raising the dead man, but because of the weakness of the unbelievers who were present.

"Lazarus, come forth." Why did Christ call the dead man by name? Why? So that, by directing His speech generally to the dead, He would not call all from the tombs. Therefore He says, "Lazarus, come forth."

I call you alone in the presence of this people, so that by a particular resurrection I may show the power of the future one. Since I have raised one, I shall raise the whole world. "I am the resurrection and the life" (Jn 11:25).

Then, after establishing faith and strengthening the thought of His hearers, He comes to the deed itself. "Lazarus, come forth." He does not repeat the words, so that only one may rise, and so that the whole multitude of the dead may not rush toward Him in disorder.

I am calling one dead man. Do not all come. The time has not yet come for that command, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of Man, and those who hear will live.

For now, let only one come here. Let one be freed, as the friend of the only-begotten One. I demand only one prisoner.

Let no inhabitant of the netherworld resist My command. Let neither the gatekeeper of darkness, nor the gloomy officer of the prison, nor the key-bearers of the netherworld resist. They wait impatiently for captives to come to them.

Let this be your first lesson in how to give back My own. And you, Hades, be silent. Shut your mouth. Do not marvel. Obey the Master. Do not hide behind anything. A man is already fleeing from your enclosures.

"Lazarus, come forth." Be the conqueror of death by the power of My command. Be the conqueror by depriving Hades of its prey. Here I am still bound, though already crowned as victor over death.

O power of the word! You tore Hades apart. You shattered the bronze gates. You broke the iron bars. You cast down the devil. You abolished death. You awakened the dead man.

O power of the word! You joined and renewed the members that had fallen apart. You returned nonbeing to being.

O power of the word! You awakened the four-days-dead man as from sleep. You brought him wrapped in burial cloths out of the tomb, as though he were a free and swift runner.

Attend, beloved, to what is said here, and you will be convinced. He who at the creation of the world said, "Let there be light," and there was light, and, "Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven," and they came to be (Gen 1:3, 14), is the very One who now said, "Lazarus, come forth."

The circulation of blood that had ceased in the body was restored. The fallen hair returned to its place and again began to grow as before on the proper parts of the body.

"Lazarus, come forth." The dead man arose, and the man four days dead was as though he had not died at all.

"Lazarus, come forth." The soul of the dead man is torn away from the netherworld. The devil does not dispute it. Death does not resist. With joy the soul returns to its dwelling.

Having learned from these wonders, beloved, the work of God, do not doubt the resurrection. Let Lazarus be a mirror for you. Seeing your own reflection in him, believe in your own rising.

The same voice that raised Lazarus will raise us all, as the Apostle also says in one place: "The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible" (1 Cor 15:52). This will be by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory unto ages of ages. Amen.

The Light set Lazarus free. At His summons Lazarus hastened so quickly that he came out of the tomb wrapped in burial cloths. He had spent four days in the tomb. He had been touched by corruption and was already becoming food for worms.

He had lost the fullness of bodily comeliness, and as a witness of corruption he brought a stench with him from the tomb. But the fragrance of life, when it breathed upon the dead man, halted the decomposition that had begun in him.

The tomb became for the one lying in it a spring of life. Lazarus came forth newly created, as though from a mother's womb and not from a tomb.

O wondrous miracle! The tomb brought forth for us unto life a man wrapped like an infant in swaddling bands. The word of the Master reached the ears of the dead man and drew him out of the tomb together with the burial cloths.

"Lazarus, come forth," the Savior cried. At once, following His word, the dead man arose. All the members of his body each resumed their functions.

The Lord, having given thanks to the Father rather than asked Him, cried with a loud voice, sovereign and lordly. As has been said, He had no need of prayer or of help from it, because He is equal in power to the Father.

He did not say, “In the name of My Father, Lazarus, come forth.” Nor did He say, “Father, raise him.”

Rather, as has been said, He spoke sovereignly, stopping the mouths of all who say that He is less than the Father.

For what could be found equal to such authority, that He speaks to the dead man as to one living: “Lazarus, come forth”?

Now the words were fulfilled in deed: “The hour is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (Jn 5:25).

O wonder! He brought forth from the tomb a dead man who stank, though four days had passed since his death. He made him walk while still wrapped and bound.

At once death fled, and the dead man came out. He was delivered from corruption, freed from the stench, and escaped from the gates of death. His bindings did not hinder his walking. Though the covering on his face deprived him of sight, he went unhindered toward Him who called him, recognizing the Master's voice.

This is truly a word befitting God and a royal command. It destroys death, abolishes corruption, and reveals a power beyond human reason.

Four days had already passed since the suffering. Everything customary had been performed for the departed, and the body was hidden in the tomb.

According to nature it had already begun to swell and was being destroyed by corruption. It was dissolving into earthly filth, and the corpse was necessarily falling apart.

The deed was terrifying and did violence to nature: to restore to life again what had turned into a stench.

Then, through an evident miracle, proof was given of the incredible work of the universal resurrection.

For no one rises from a severe sickness. No one at his last breath returns to life.

It is not merely a dead child who is brought to life, nor a young man being carried to the tomb who is freed from burial.

“Come forth. See, I stand beside you. I am your Lord. You are the creation of My hands.

Why did you not recognize Me? In the beginning I Myself formed Adam from the earth and gave him breath.

Open your mouth yourself, so that I may give you breath. Stand on your feet and receive strength, for I am the strength of all creation.

Stretch out your hands, and I will give them strength, for I am the straight rod. I command the stench to depart from you, for I am the fragrance of the trees of Paradise.

See, the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah will be fulfilled in you: ‘I will open your graves and bring you forth’” (cf. Is 25:8).

Do you press upon me, hearers, in order to make me speak? Or is your hearing closed, and therefore my tongue must be silent? Do you thirst today to taste the wine of teaching? Or should I cease and not mix the drink from the winepress of wisdom?

"You who thirst, come to the water" (Isa 55:1), the prophet cries by the Spirit. He showed the thirsty where to find drink. The spring of teaching pours from the pulpit for those who need it.

Let him who does not thirst not touch the drink. Our drink is offered to no one by force. If anyone here is bound by love to the phantoms of this outward world, let him depart.

I say that I have no need of such a hearer. If anyone here turns away from all that is divine, I am not obliged to speak to him, just as he is not compelled to listen to me.

Jesus Christ cried out with a loud voice to show that the soul of the dead man was not present there, but far away. Thus all who were present, hearing His authoritative command and then seeing its fulfillment, might hold a lofty and God-befitting understanding of Him. Jesus Christ did not say, “Rise,” but “Come forth,” addressing the dead man as living, for with God even the dead are alive. Here is, in part, the fulfillment of what Jesus Christ said: “The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (Jn 5:25). See:..

O power of the voice that raised the four-days-dead man as though from sleep, and summoned from the tomb one wrapped in burial cloths as though he were a swift and nimble runner. Listen, beloved, to this voice, and you will discover that the same Word sounded at the creation of the world. “Lazarus, come forth!” And the dead man rose, and the man four days dead was like one who had never died. “Lazarus, come forth!” And the soul was snatched up from the lower regions... and joyfully recognized its dwelling.

And so He invisibly rebuked the one who held the power of death, and visibly cried out to the one held by death. He accomplished the great sign of His almighty power and revealed the pledge of the universal resurrection.

Beloved, by that one voice of the Savior all the dead could have risen at once, had He not called one man by name. Therefore He said separately: “Lazarus! Come forth.” <...> Thus, as I said, He called a particular name, so that in a particular example we might see what must be understood generally concerning the future of all.

The voice awakened Lazarus, and the call raised from the earth the winged one, freed from bonds.

Therefore one must examine sins and only then use the authority to bind and loose. One must look at what guilt came before, or what repentance followed after guilt.

Thus the judgment of the pastor may absolve those whom Almighty God visits with the grace of contrition. For the absolution of the outward judge is true when it agrees with the mind of the inward Judge.

This is well expressed figuratively by the resurrection of the man four days dead. It shows that first the Lord called the dead man and brought him to life, saying, “Lazarus, come forth.”

Only afterward was the one who had come out alive loosed by the disciples, as it is written: “Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary and had seen what Jesus did believed in Him.”

Christ, who knew the thought of all, asked to learn the tomb of Lazarus. Coming to it, You awakened him who was four days dead.

O Almighty One, You had compassion in Your mercy on the tears of Mary and Martha.

Stopping the lamentation of Mary and Martha, the Lord swiftly changed it by awakening their brother. A marvel of marvels could be seen: one without breath was suddenly seen breathing.

When the voice descended, it shook the fastenings of the gates of Hades and crushed the bars of death. It raised again the corpse four days dead, having compassion in His mercy on the tears of Mary and Martha.

Then, when He commanded with His nod, Hades was shaken, together with the strength of Death and the insolence of the devil.

“When He had said this, He cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth.’ And at once the dead man came out, bound hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped with a cloth.”

He does not pray here. He does not say, “Father, raise him.” For such speech befits only those under authority and in dependence.

But He cries out, and He does not simply cry out, but with a loud voice. Why? To prefigure the last trumpet, which will summon the dead with a loud voice.

“Lazarus, come forth.” A masterly voice, a royal summons, an authoritative command.

“Come forth.” Leaving corruption, receive flesh from incorruption.

“Lazarus, come forth.” Let the Jews know that the hour is coming when those in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of Man, and hearing, will live.

“With a loud voice”: a loud voice expresses a decisive will, confident of unquestioning obedience. Here it is also like the rousing of one deeply asleep, for whose awakening a loud voice is needed. The simplicity and brevity of the saying, “Come forth,” forms a majestic contrast with the astonishing effect of the word.

The Lord calls His friend and beloved by name as a sign of the resurrection of those whom He calls friends, whom the Apostle calls the dead in the Lord. See Rev 14:13.