Coptic Orthodox Answers

In name Father and Son, the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.

Welcome to Coptic Orthodox Answers Deep Dive. We're currently studying together the Gospel of John, chapter 11. We are at verse 33. Today, we're about to tackle the actual resurrection of Lazarus.

However, we saw, last time, why Christ lingered another couple of days before going to see Lazarus and Mary and Martha. And we said because the Jews at the time thought that the soul, after death, lingers around the body for about 3 days, so Christ wanted to arrive after 4 days. That way, people would understand that He's bringing the soul of Lazarus back from the dead, the land of the dead, which is Hades in their understanding.

And therefore, this becomes a huge miracle as it demonstrates that Christ has authority over Hades, authority over the soul, and He's resurrecting also the body, because He is recreating the organs, the heart, the mind and so on, because at this point, they're completely dead. So let us move on to verse 33.

Verse 33:

'' 33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.'' (John 11:33)

So obviously, Christ here, He sees Mary weeping. He sees also the Jews. So, He groans in the spirit and He is troubled, because He looks at the current human condition, that humanity whom He created, you know, to live, to enjoy His presence, to extend His love towards them and them, they extend their own love towards each other... that life that was meant to be very joyful has now turned into weeping, because there's death, there's pain and there's suffering.

So here, Christ groans. And groaning here, when we look into the Greek, it implies a holy anger, an anger at the enemy, which is the devil; an anger at the state that humanity is in, right? So, Christ looks at this scenario and at this humanity and He feels compassion towards that humanity.

'' 34 And He said, ''Where have you laid him?'' [Then] They said to Him, ''Lord, come and see.'' 35 [And] Jesus wept.'' (John 11:34-35)

So, we find also a difference between how Christ wept and how Mary wept. So, Mary was very emotional in her approach in that specific story, right?, and she was weeping out loud,

but Christ was composed, right? So, when He dealt with pain and He had compassion over others, He still kept His composure. And because He was able to keep His composure, obviously because He is God in the flesh, He's able to react properly, you know, in this case and every other scenario he's put in.

Now, in verse 34, Christ asked the Jews: Where have you laid him? So, the Jews told Him: come and see, right? And there's a parallel between this come and see and the one in John 1:46 when it says:

'' 46 And Nathanael said to him, ''Can anything good come out of Nazareth?'' Philip said to him, ''Come and see.'' '' (John 1:46)

So here, Philip was draggin' in Nathanael to come find the Messiah. He told him: we found Him, the one who is, the being, the one who is the source of life. So, the first come and see in John 1, it's about Nathanael and Philip coming to see that source of life. And then the same author here, which is John the evangelist, he brings in John 11, right?, Christ, who is the source of life to come and see something else. That something else is Lazarus in the tomb.

But it's beyond Lazarus. It's more than Lazarus what He's going to see. He's going to meet death itself. Lazarus, again, has been dead for 4 days. So, the idea here is as if this source of life is going to meet death and there's about to be a confrontation between life and death. But in reality, it's not really a confrontation, because life swallows up death. When Christ dies on the cross, right?, for others, He embraces death out of His love for us and He kills it in the process, because He is the source of life; He's the antidote to death. And therefore He gives us life as well.

So, this come and see in John 11 is a parallel, probably, to the one in John 1:46 to explain to us that, although the human condition is currently in that state of death and pain and suffering, this death has been met by the source of life and the source of life was Christ resurrected and conquered death. And therefore we ought to believe in His promises and to follow in His footsteps if we also want to enjoy that eternal life.

Going back again to verse 34, it says: and Christ said: Where have you laid him?, talking here about Lazarus. So, many can ask where... why is Christ asking? Does He not know where Lazarus is? The Fathers do say that Christ knew, but He wanted to raise the attention of the people for them to expect something, expect a miracle.

But there's also more to it than this. Again, Lazarus here symbolizes humanity as a whole. And if you go back to Adam, when Adam ate of the tree, he died on the spot spiritually and he died physically later on. When he died spiritually, you know, God came and was walking in the garden and God asked Adam: Where are you? And Adam said: I'm hiding, because I'm naked. How are you naked? And so on and so forth, right?

So, God did ask Adam who was dead spiritually at the time: Adam, where are you? Here He asks: Where have you laid him?, again, where is the dead? So, in Genesis 3 and in John 11, the question's pretty much is: Where's the dead? So here, there is, again, a parallel between Genesis 3 and John 11 where Christ wants to say: enough death already! I have compassion on you. I am the source of life. Again, I will come to meet death and resurrect you from the dead.

Verse 36:

'' 36 Then the Jews said, ''See how He loved him!'' [, because, again, Christ is weeping.] 37 And some of them said, ''Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?'' '' (John 11:36-37)

The implication of this verse is that these people do not understand who Christ is. The implication is this: had He come before Lazarus died and he was only sick, He could have healed Him. Had He come, you know, a couple of days earlier before the soul was in Hades, He could have probably resurrected Him, but now it's too late. They don't understand who He is.

'' 38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, ''Take away the stone.''...'' (John 11:38-39)

And that, here, is a head scratcher. Why? Because Christ is about to raise Lazarus from the dead. He's about to show His authority over death and that He's the source of life. Why is He not taking the stone away Himself? And the answer's actually quite simple. Christ created humanity with... with an authority over the creation and with a mind, with a will, with a choice to do what is good, what is right. And therefore Christ asks us to do whatever we are capable of doing.

So here, He says: I understand you cannot raise someone from the dead, therefore I will take that task on. But you can move away the stone, so move it. And that has tremendous applications in our lives, because we work in synergy with God; we work with Him. So, whatever we can do in our own personal lives and in serving others, we ought to do. It is what God expects of us. It is our responsibility. Whatever we cannot do, He does for us.

In both cases, what we can and cannot do, we always ask God in prayer that He may do on our behalf and that He may help us and give us strength and courage and grace, you know, through His Spirit, to do what He wants us to do, right? That always needs to be the case. However, there are certain things where we cannot do anything about and this is when the entire load, you know, is on Him. And we need to have faith, you know, with deep prayers and God does the wonders, like He's about to do in this case.

'' 39 (...) Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, ''Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.'' 40 Jesus said to her, ''Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?'' '' (John 11:39-40)

In verse 40, Christ told Martha: if you would believe you would see the glory of God, right? Then He told them: Did I not say that to you before?, right? So, the idea here is that He's reminding her of her confession that He is the Messiah, the Son of God, which she confessed in verse 27. And He tells her, in other words: you need to endure that stench if you want to see the glory of God, right? Believe me, I am the source of life. Come enjoy that glory.

Verse 41:

'' 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ''Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. [He's referencing here a prior prayer that is not necessary written in the text.] 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.'' '' (John 11:41-42)

So, one of the purposes of this prayer is for the people to understand that the Son is sent by the Father, which is a common message in the Gospel of John. So, in other words, the Pharisees keep on saying that He works miracles by the power of the devil, but obviously here, it's not by the power of the devil, because He just prayed to the Father.

'' 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, ''Lazarus, come forth!'' 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ''Loose him, and let him go.'' '' (John 11:43-44)

So, we notice a couple of things here. First, that Lazarus grave clothes was the same as Christ's when He was buried. But more importantly, if you notice in Christ's prayer to the Father, He never asked the Father to raise Lazarus. That's not what the prayer was about. And the objective here is to demonstrate that He Himself, the Son of God, is the source of life and has this authority in Himself. So, He does not pray to the Father that the Father may raise Lazarus. He commands Lazarus: Lazarus, come forth! I have this authority. I am one of the Trinity. I am the source of life.

Verse 45:

'' 45 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him [very naturally].

46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did.'' (John 11:45-46)

So, many people were unhappy, although this miracle was beyond their imagination. Unfortunately, in many cases, Christ's action or actions lead to division. It's definitely not Christ's purpose. He does not want to divide. It's quite the contrary. He wants to assemble people, to unite people. But many people are not able to handle the truth. And Christ is the truth. Many have their own agendas. They pursue their own pockets, the fame, the ego, you know... People have their own desires and it is still very clear in this case here.

'' 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, ''What shall we do? [So, the council, here, is probably not a Sanhedrin council, because they do not have the authority to gather that council on their own.] For this Man works many signs.'' (John 11:47)

But, I mean, you should be happy if there were... if the man works many signs, right? Aren't you looking for an earthly Messiah, a man that does miracles, that will liberate you from the Romans? Isn't that what you're looking for? Well, here He is! Obviously, that's not what Christ... who Christ is. However, that specific event is linked to their understanding of the Messiah, so what's the problem?

'' 48 If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him [they don't want that], and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.'' (John 11:48)

What they care about is that... is their place, right? And they do talk about the nation. So, again, that... that ego, these earthly passions that continually lead people astray when the truth is present. We have to personally seek the truth wholeheartedly, seeking God in deep prayer wholeheartedly and He will continually reveal Himself to us.

Verse 49:

'' 49 And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, ''You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.'' (John 11:49-50)

So, what he means here's that it is better that we kill Jesus rather than the entire Jewish nation would perish, in his own understanding.

'' 51 Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.'' (John 11:51-52)

So, in the last verse here, St. John the evangelist emphasizes the idea that not only Jews will be saved, the Gentiles as well, and all of these people will be gathered together as children of God. Obviously here, in verse 51, St. John talks and says that Caiaphas is prophesying and he's prophesying about verse 50, right?, because in verse 50, again, he says: it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people.

Obviously, what St. John is saying here is that Caiaphas unknowingly and unwillingly prophesied that Christ will die and because He dies, He dies for the people, for the nation, for the body of Christ, and therefore we do not need to die anymore. So, the whole nation will not perish, right? The whole nation now will be alive, because Christ will die on their behalf. That's the message here that he... that he is saying.

Regarding the prophesying of the high priest, both St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom say similar things. St. John Chrysostom here says:

''Do you see the great power in the high priest's authority? (...) Even though he was unworthy of the office of the high priest, he prophesied, although he did not know what he was saying. Divine grace merely made use of his mouth, without touching his corrupt heart... See how great the power of the Spirit is. It was able to bring forth a marvellous prophecy even from an evil imagination.'' (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on John 11)

Verse 53:

'' 53 Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.'' (John 11:53)

So, the Pharisees considered on many occasions putting Christ to death, but at this point, it was getting very serious and they were planning how to put Him to death for them to actually execute the plan.

'' 54 Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.'' (John 11:54)

So, Christ knew, so he's waiting for the fulfilment of time. So, He takes, you know, a step backwards or He goes to the country near the wilderness, awaiting the fulfilment of time, because He has to be crucified, you know, on the day of Passover to fulfill the prophecies and the typologies in the Old Testament.

'' 55 And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves. [The purification rituals could take several days.]

56 Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, ''What do you think—that He will not come to the feast?'' 57 Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him.'' (John 11:55-57)

Now notice that the last step that pushed the Pharisees to actually kill Christ is the raising of Lazarus. How ironic, right? But it's not really ironic, because that's actually the message of John 11. Christ wanted to give life to Lazarus who symbolizes humanity. And to give life to humanity, Christ Himself has to die. And therefore the Pharisees went ahead with their plan, triggered by the resurrection of Lazarus.

Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith. And glory be to God forever and ever. Amen.

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Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith.