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John 11:1. A certain Lazarus was sick from Bethany, from the village where Mary and Martha, her sister, lived. John alone tells this story. He tells us in order to teach us not to be tempted if any illness befalls diligent and God-loving people. For Lazarus was a friend of Christ, however, he was also sick. John 11:2. Mary, whose brother Lazarus was sick, was the one who anointed the Lord with myrrh and wiped His feet with her hair. You also need to know that this Mary, who anointed the Lord with chrism, was neither the harlot mentioned in the Evangelist Luke (Luke 7:37-50), nor the woman mentioned in the Evangelist Matthew (Matthew 26:7), but different, not a harlot, but honest, God-loving and zealous. For she cared about accepting Christ and served Him, as John himself later testifies (John 12:2). The Lord testifies about her that she chose the good part, as the Evangelist Luke notes (Luke 10:42). These sisters were so wonderful and venerable that Lazarus became more famous because of them. For Lazarus, it is said, was from Bethany, from the village of Mary and Martha. John 11:3. The sisters sent to tell Him: Lord! Behold, the one You love is sick. Why do they send to call Jesus, and do not go to Him themselves, like the centurion and the king’s husband? Because they firmly hoped in Christ, because they were weak women and it was not proper for them to leave the house, because they too were overcome with grief and were busy caring for their brother. And that they did so not out of negligence, this appears from what follows, for they show great honor and respect to Christ and offer firm prayer. “This is the one you love.” They say this in order to better incline the Lord to compassion in the name of friendship. This expression of these wives also reveals some of their faith. They are so confident in the greatness of the Lord’s power that it is surprising to them that illness touched a person loved by Him. For it somehow seems amazing that the one whom You, Lord, love, is sick. John 11:4. Jesus, having heard this, said: this disease is not for death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it. Since Jesus intended to stay in that place for two days, he says that “this illness does not lead to death,” although it served to cause death; He speaks in order to reassure the messengers and give them, as it were, some consolation, so that they do not insist and do not grieve. This is why he says: “This disease is not a disease that leads to death.” And otherwise. If you look carefully, this illness did not lead to death, such as many die, that is, to a long-term death, but temporary and lasting four days. Since on the fourth day Lazarus rose again, then, looking at the end of the matter, we say: this disease does not lead to death. “But to the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” You see, the Father and the Son have the same glory. For, having said “To the glory of God,” he added “may the Son of God be glorified,” for the glory of God, that is, the Father, differs in no way from the glory of the Son. Consequently, the Son is actually and truly God, just like the Father, for those who have one glory have one Being. May the Arians be ashamed of this saying. "Let him be glorified." Understand this not as a reason, but as an event and the end of the matter (which we have talked about more than once). For Lazarus was not sick so that God would be glorified, but an illness happened to Lazarus, and the Lord turned it to the glory of God. John 11:5. Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. John 11:6. When he heard that he was sick, he stayed for two days in the place where he was. “He stayed two days” so that Lazarus would die, so that no one could say that with him there was sound sleep, exhaustion and frenzy, and not death. That is why the Lord remains so long that decay has already begun, and the sister herself says that she “already stinks” (John 11:39). John 11:7. After this he said to the disciples: Let us go again to Judea. In other cases, the Lord never stated in advance where He intended to go, but only here announces ahead, it seems, because His disciples were very afraid to go to Judea. He announces ahead so that they would not be embarrassed by surprise if He suddenly led them to a country they were afraid to go to. John 11:8. The disciples said to Him: Rabbi! how long have the Jews been looking to stone you, and are you going there again? Since they were also afraid for Him, for they did not yet have perfect knowledge of Him and were afraid for themselves, they said to Him: “How long have the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?” John 11:9. Jesus answered: Are there not twelve hours in the day? whoever walks during the day does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world; John 11:10. And whoever walks at night stumbles because there is no light with him. The Lord encourages them and says: “Just as the one who sees the light does not stumble, but the one who walks at night stumbles, so the one who does good and walks in the deeds of the light will not suffer any trouble, but whoever does evil will suffer trouble; therefore you have no need to fear, for we have done nothing worthy of death.” Or another way: “If he who sees this light does not stumble, much less will he who abides with Me stumble, unless he himself lags behind Me. Therefore, you, being with Me, the True Light, fear in vain.” Others understand by “day” the time before suffering, and by “night” the time of suffering. So, he says, as long as the “day” continues, that is, until the time of suffering has come, you will not stumble, for you will not encounter persecution from the Jews or any other trouble. And when the “night” comes, that is, My suffering, then you will gather in one house, confused, for fear of the Jews. From that time on you will experience sorrows and illnesses, and a lot of anger and troubles. When I, the Light, no longer live with you physically, the night of sorrows will surround you. John 11:11. Having said this, he then said to them: Lazarus, our friend, fell asleep; but I'm going to wake him up. Since the Lord’s disciples were afraid to go to Judea, He tells them: “The Jews sought to stone Me because I refuted and denounced them. But now I go not to reprove them, but to visit My friend. Therefore there is no need to be afraid. I am not going after what I followed before, to expect danger from the Jews, but I am going to wake up a friend.” John 11:12. His disciples said: Lord! if he falls asleep, he will recover. The disciples, wanting to keep Him from traveling there, say: “It is enough if he fell asleep; if he falls asleep, he will recover; therefore we do not need to walk, for there is no need.” Although the Lord, speaking about Lazarus, added “My friend” to show the need to be there, the disciples claim that visiting Him is not necessary, since he can recover even because he fell asleep. John 11:13. Jesus spoke about his death, but they thought that He was talking about an ordinary dream. “Even more,” they say, “Your Coming is not only unnecessary, but also harmful for a friend. For if sleep, as we think, serves for his recovery, and You go and wake him up, then You will hinder his recovery. So, you don’t need to go and wake him up, because it’s harmful.” John 11:14. Then Jesus said to them plainly: Lazarus is dead; The Lord, seeing that His disciples still do not understand Him, directly says that Lazarus “died.” Why did He first express himself not directly, but covertly, and call death a “sleep”? For many reasons. Firstly, out of humility, for he did not want to seem boastful, but secretly called the resurrection an awakening from sleep. How would He have used this expression if He had not called death a sleep? And that this is fair, that is, that He expressed himself covertly out of humility, is clear from what follows. For, having said that Lazarus “died,” the Lord did not add, “I will go and raise him.” Do you see how He did not want to boast in words about what He intended to confirm in action? At the same time, the Lord teaches us that we should not be hasty in our promises. For if, at the request of the centurion (to heal his servant), the Lord made a promise, saying, “I will come and heal him” (Matthew 8:5-7), then He said this in order to reveal his faith. So, this is the first reason why the Lord called death a sleep. The other is the one to show us that all death is sleep and tranquility. The third is that although the death of Lazarus was death for others, for Jesus Himself, since He intended to resurrect him, it was nothing more than a dream. Just as it is easy for us to wake up a sleeping person, so, and a thousand times more, it is convenient for Him to resurrect the dead. John 11:15. And I rejoice for you that I was not there, so that you might believe; but let's go to him. “I rejoice,” he says, “for you,” that you can now be more confident in My Divine dignity from the fact that I was not there and am far from there, however, I tell you in advance that death followed in Bethany, and I say this, not based on hearing, but, like God, Himself seeing what happened at a distant distance. Some of the Lord’s words “I rejoice for you” were understood as follows: “The fact that I was not there will serve to confirm you in the faith. For if I had been there, I would have healed the sick. This would also be a miracle, but it would show little of My power. And now, when I was not there and the death of Lazarus followed, and I will go and resurrect him, you must be more established in your faith in Me. For you will see that I am able to do something that I have not yet demonstrated before, namely: to recreate and resurrect the dead, already decomposed and emitting a rotten smell.” And I ask you to notice that although Lazarus died, the Lord nevertheless said “let’s go to him,” as if to a living person. For for Christ, as God, Lazarus himself was alive. John 11:16. Then Thomas, otherwise called the Twin, said to the disciples: Let us go and die with Him. When the Lord said this and proved to the disciples the necessity of His march to Judea, then Thomas, who was more afraid than the others, said: “Come and we will die with Him.” For these words do not express cheerfulness, but fear and cowardice. In order to stop other fellow disciples, he reminds them of death and deliberately adds “we will die,” saying, as it were: “And we, stupid, insane and not caring about our salvation and life, will go to die with Him. Let Him value His life inexpensively; therefore, should we also be unreasonable?” Such speech is befitting of a fearful person. But look at him afterwards. He, as an apostle, was sacrificed for the truth. The grace of God “strengthened” him so much that the words of the Apostle Paul can be applied to him: “our ability is from God” (2 Cor. 3:5), and “not I, but grace” (1 Cor. 15:10). And Origen says about Thomas something similar to a dream: “Thomas,” he says, “having learned the prophecies about Christ and realizing that He would descend with his soul into hell to free souls, when he heard that the Lord was coming to awaken Lazarus, he thought that He could awaken him, that is, free his soul, only if He Himself laid aside the body and descended into hell. Therefore, as a sincere disciple of Christ, who does not want to lag behind his Teacher in this, he advises other fellow disciples and himself volunteers to lay down his body in order to descend into hell with Jesus, who, according to his concept, will lay down his soul in order to free the soul of his friend from hell.” I have added such a ridiculous explanation to shame those who extol everything Origen. For such an explanation of the sage is not obvious idle talk and a real dream? John 11:17. When Jesus arrived, he found that he had already been in the tomb for four days. The Lord deliberately delayed until Lazarus was four days old, then went to make the miracle free from slander on all sides. John 11:18. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs away; Why does the evangelist add that Bethany was fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem? In order to show that indeed many of the Jerusalemites came, for Bethany was not far away. John 11:19. And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to console them in their sorrow for their brother. The Jews consoled these women not because Christ loved them (for the Jews had already conspired to excommunicate from the synagogue the one who recognized Him as Christ (John 9:22)), but either because of the severity of the disaster, or because those who came were not from among the evil ones, which is why many of them believed. John 11:20. Martha, hearing that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him; Maria was sitting at home. Martha only goes forward to meet him, and does not take her sister with her, because she wanted to see Him alone and tell Him about what happened. When the Lord aroused good hope in her, then she leaves and calls her sister. Before, she did not tell her sister Mary about the coming of the Lord in order to hide it from those who were with her. For if Mary had heard that Jesus was coming, she would have immediately gone to meet Him, and the Jews who had come would have followed her, but Martha did not want them to know about the coming of Jesus. John 11:21. Then Martha said to Jesus: Lord! If you had been here, my brother would not have died. Martha had faith in Christ, but not complete, not proper. That’s why he says: “Lord! If You had been here, my brother would not have died.” She said this, no doubt, because she did not believe that He, if He wanted, even without being personally present, could have prevented the death of her brother. John 11:22. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. And then he reveals an even greater weakness of faith. For he says: “Whatever you ask God will give you.” You see, she considers Him to be some kind of person, virtuous and pleasing to God. For she did not say, “Whatever you want, you will do,” but, “whatever you ask, he will give you everything.” John 11:23. Jesus says to her: Your brother will rise again. The Lord, refuting this understanding of her, says: “Your brother will rise again.” He did not say to her, “Yes, I will ask God, and he will give it to Me,” nor agreed with her speech, but used a moderate expression. John 11:24. Martha said to Him: I know that He will rise again on the resurrection, on the last day. Since Martha did not yet believe and did not understand the meaning of the words “your brother will rise again,” she thought that he would rise on the last resurrection (and that there would be a last resurrection, Martha knew this partly from the Divine Scripture, and even more from Christ’s frequent conversations about the resurrection). John 11:25. Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life; He who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. And then he exposes His power and authority much more clearly: “I,” he says, “am the resurrection and the life.” So, since the woman remained still a woman, the Lord raises her up and awakens her faith, as if dead, saying more clearly: “You tell Me that God will give Me everything that I ask of Him. But I tell you clearly that I am the resurrection and the life, so that My power is not limited to a place, but I can equally heal, being present on the spot and in absentia. For I do not distribute good things on behalf of anyone else, but I myself am the resurrection and the life, I myself have the power to resurrect and give life.” John 11:26. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? “He who believes in Me, even if he dies this bodily death, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will not die a spiritual death. Therefore, do not be embarrassed. For although your brother is dead, he will live. And what am I saying about your brother? And you, if you believe in Me, will not die, but will be above spiritual death, which is much more terrible. And He who delivers from the most terrible death will all the more easily deliver your dead brother from a less terrible death.” “Do you believe this?” – the Lord asks Martha. And although she listened to such lofty speeches, she did not understand what the Lord told her. I think that she suffered from grief and lack of understanding. For the Lord asks something else, and she answers differently. The Lord asks if she believes that He is the resurrection and the life, and that whoever believes in Him will never die, whether you mean spiritual or physical death. For of the faithful, because of their hope of resurrection, it is rightly said that they do not die. John 11:27. She says to Him: Yes, Lord! I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, coming into the world. And what does Martha answer? “I am confident that You are the Christ, the Son of God, coming into the world.” Her answer is good and fair, but it does not answer the question. However, she received the benefit from this that the power of her grief was tamed and her sadness diminished. John 11:28. Having said this, she went and secretly called Mary, her sister, saying: The Teacher is here and is calling you. Martha “secretly” calls her sister; and she did it very wisely. For if the Jews who came to them had known that Mary was coming to meet Christ, they would have left them, and the miracle would have remained without witnesses. And now the Jews thought that Mary was going to the grave to cry, they went with her and, of necessity, became obvious witnesses of the miracle. Martha says to Mary, “The Teacher is calling you.” But the evangelist did not notice that the Lord was calling her. This can be explained in such a way that the evangelist kept silent, that the Lord commanded Martha to call her sister, or she considered the very coming of the Lord as an invitation and said that the Teacher is calling you. For when the Lord came, shouldn’t she have gone to Him? So, the coming of the Lord, which necessarily requires (from Mary) a meeting with Him, the evangelist called an invitation. “For the Teacher,” he says, “has come and is calling you”; and just as He came, His very coming serves as a call to you. For, as soon as He came, you also need to go to meet Him. John 11:29. She, as soon as she heard it, quickly got up and went to Him. Mary, as soon as she learned that Jesus had come, did not hesitate, but hastily stood up and went to Him. From this it is clear that Martha did not warn her before, although she knew that Jesus was coming. John 11:30. Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was at the place where Martha met Him. Jesus had not yet come to the village, for He walked slowly, so that they would not think that He Himself was asking for a miracle, but that He would perform it at their request. John 11:31. The Jews who were with her in the house and consoled her, seeing that Mary hastily got up and left, followed her, believing that she had gone to the tomb to cry there. And since the miracle that was about to take place was great, it was not performed many times, but was supposed to bring benefit to many, the Lord will arrange it so that many will become witnesses of the miracle. For the Evangelist says that the Jews who were with her in the house followed her. John 11:32. Mary, coming to where Jesus was and seeing Him, fell at His feet and said to Him: Lord! If you had been here, my brother would not have died. Mary came to Christ with greater ardor than her sister Martha. For, “having seen Him, she fell at His feet,” not ashamed of the people, not paying any attention to the fact that some of those who were there were hostile to Christ. In the presence of the Master, she abandoned all humanity and cared only about honoring Him. She says: “Lord! If You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Martha does nothing of the kind, for she does not fall before Him, but, on the contrary, when Christ gives good hope regarding her brother, she turns out to be an unbeliever. Although Mary is imperfect when she says, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died,” however, Christ does not say to her anything like what he said to her sister, because there were a lot of people here, and it was not the time for such speeches. He is even more condescending, clearly showing Human nature in Himself and revealing its properties. For listen to what the evangelist says. John 11:33. When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, He Himself was grieved in spirit and indignant Since Mary and those who came with her were crying, Human nature was inclined to tears and was embarrassed. The Lord suppresses the shock in the spirit, that is, by the Spirit he curbs the confusion and holds it back, and asks the question without revealing any tears. But as the Lord grieved, for He was truly a Man and wanted to confirm the reality of His Human nature, He allowed it to do its thing. At the same time, He limits the flesh, forbids it by the power of the Holy Spirit; but the flesh, unable to bear the prohibition, is embarrassed, sighs and gives in to sadness. The Lord allows His Humanity to experience all this, partly in order to confirm that He was a Man in truth, and not by providence, and partly in order to teach us to set the limits and measure of sadness and carelessness. For it is characteristic of animals not to have sympathy and tears, but to shed many tears and indulge in much sadness is characteristic of women. And since “the Lord took upon Himself our flesh and blood” (Heb. 2:14), He takes part in what is characteristic of man and nature, and shows us the measure in both. John 11:34. And he said: where did you put it? "Where did you put it?" - the Lord asks, not because he does not know (for, being in another place and far away, He knew that Lazarus had died), but so that they would not think that He was volunteering on His own behalf to perform a miracle. He wants to find out everything from them and perform a miracle at their request in order to free it from all suspicion. They say to Him: Lord! come and see. And since there was still no hint of the resurrection of Lazarus and it did not occur to anyone that He was coming to resurrect him, and not just to cry, then they say to Him: “Lord! Come and see." John 11:35. Jesus shed tears. John 11:36. Then the Jews said: Look how He loved him. John 11:37. And some of them said: Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have ensured that this one would not die? And the crafty Jews, despite the fact that there is great misfortune before their eyes, and despite all this, do not abandon their malice, They say: “Couldn’t He, who opened the eyes of the blind man, prevent this one from dying?” They say this in disparagement of the miracle performed on the man born blind (John 9:1–11). They should have been surprised by that miracle, but regarding the death of Lazarus, they raise doubts about its reality and, without waiting for the end of the matter, they pronounce an offensive sentence in advance. Thus envy corrupted their minds. John 11:38. Jesus, again grieving internally, comes to the tomb. Why does the evangelist again notice that Jesus wept and grieved out of sympathy? So that we know that He has truly taken on our nature. John, compared with other evangelists, proclaims the highest teaching about the Lord and theologizes something great; therefore, from His bodily deeds he tells about those who are more humble. Therefore, in the Lord’s sorrow he finds much that is human and thereby proves the truth of His flesh, so that you may know that the Lord was God and at the same time Man. For just as Luke demonstrated by the struggle, sorrow and sweat of the Lord (Luke 22:44), so John proves through His tears that He bore true flesh. It was a cave, and a stone lay on it. Why didn’t the Lord raise Lazarus when the stone was still on the tomb? For He who raised a dead body with one word and animated one that had already begun to decompose, could much more conveniently roll away the stone with a word. John 11:39. Jesus says: take away the stone. “Take away the stone,” says the Lord, in order to make them witnesses of the miracle, so that they cannot, as before about the man born blind, say: “This is him; this is not him” (John 9:9). For being present at the very place and taking away the stone with your own hands should have stopped the mouths of ill-intentioned witnesses to the miracle. The sister of the deceased, Martha, said to Him: Lord! already stinks; for he has been in the tomb for four days. “It already stinks; for he has been in the grave for four days,” said Martha out of unbelief, because she considered it impossible for her brother to be resurrected after so many days had passed after his death. So she was still not very high in faith! John 11:40. Jesus says to her: Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? Christ, reminding her of His conversation with her and, as if reproaching her for forgetfulness, says: “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” The Lord tells His disciples that Lazarus died in order that through this He might be glorified as the “Son of God” (John 11:4), and He says to Martha “you will see the glory of God,” meaning the Father. He uses different expressions about the same thing - due to the weakness of the listeners. There were Jews here. The Lord found it inappropriate to tell Martha that you would see the glory of the “Son of God,” because He would be considered vain. And now, having spoken about the glory of the Father, He made the speech moderate and acceptable. John 11:41. So they took the stone away from the cave where the dead man lay. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said: Father! I thank You that You heard Me. John 11:42. I knew that You would always hear Me; but I said this for the sake of the people standing here, so that they might believe that You sent Me. Why does the Lord pray, or rather, take the form of prayer? Listen to how He Himself says: “For the people standing here, I said this, so that they would believe that You sent Me, that is, so that they would not consider Me an adversary to God, so that they would not say that I am not from God, in order to prove to them that this deed was done by Me according to Your will.” And what exactly for this reason, and not for another reason, appears to those praying, that is, for those who are coming, pay attention to the prayer itself. “Father! I thank You that You heard Me.” It is clear that this is not prayer, but only the position and type of prayer. And that He does not need prayer is evident from the fact that He did many other things without prayer. For example: “I’m telling you, demon! come out of him” (Luke 4:35); still “I want, be cleansed” (Matthew 8:3); also: “your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2), and this is most important; and “to the sea: be silent, cease” (Mark 4:39). So, in order for those present here to believe that He is from heaven, and not an adversary to God, the Lord prays. For if, with such deeds of His, with comprehensive evidence of His unanimity with the Father, they said that He was not from God, what would they not have said if He had not done anything like that? John 11:43. Having said this, He cried out with a loud voice: Lazarus! get out. The Lord, having thanked the Father more than asking (for, as it is said, He did not need prayer and help from it, because He was equal to the Father), cried out with a loud voice, autocratic and sovereign. For he did not say, “In the name of My Father, Lazarus, go away”; not like that - “Father! resurrect him"; but - as it is said, autocratically, blocking the lips of all who say that He is less than the Father. For what could be found equal to such power that He says to the dead as if alive: “Lazarus, get out?” And now the words “the time is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and, having heard, will live” have come true (John 5:25). Lest anyone think that Christ received such power from another, He foretells in advance what He had to prove by deed. The loud voice of the Savior, who raised Lazarus, serves as an image of the great trumpet that will sound at the general resurrection (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Sol. 4:16). The Lord called loudly in order to block the lips of the Hellenes, who were talking idle talk that the soul was in the tomb (along with the body), for He called it loudly, as if it were far away. Just as this particular one happened, so the general resurrection will be “suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52). John 11:44. And the dead man came out, entwined on his hands and feet with burial cloths, and his face was tied with a scarf. “He came out,” it is said, “dead, bound hand and foot.” To the bound one, it seemed no less miraculous to get out, as it was to be resurrected. So, to the miracle of the resurrection was added another miracle - that the completely bound one moved. Jesus says to them: Untie him, let him go. The Lord commands to untie him, so that those who approach and touch him will see that it is he. “Let him,” he says, “go.” This is out of dislike for glory. For He does not lead him out, nor commands him to walk with Him, in order to appear. John 11:45. Then many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus had done believed in Him. John 11:46. And some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. When the miracle happened, some of those who saw it believed, while others announced it to the Pharisees, no doubt with the aim of discrediting Him, who had done something unrighteous, since He ordered the excavation of the buried man. John 11:47. Then the chief priests and Pharisees held a council and said, “What should we do?” This Man does many miracles. One had to be amazed and amazed at the Lord when He performed such miracles; the Pharisees, on the contrary, draw up advice on how to destroy Him. What utter madness! The One who overcomes death in other bodies is thought to be put to death in order to hide His glory; and after so many miracles they consider Him a simple man. “What do they say we should do? This “Man” does many miracles.” And what is the crime if He works miracles? In this case, one must believe in Him, worship Him, and not consider Him a simple person. John 11:48. If we leave Him like this, then everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take possession of both our place and our people. Look at the impudence of the Pharisees! Trying to outrage the people, they spread the rumor that all Jews are in danger and death from the Romans on suspicion of stealing the supreme power. “If,” they say, “we leave Him, many people will follow him, attracted by the appearance of miracles, and, finally, the Romans will suspect us all of stealing the supreme power, they will take our cities and destroy them.” So they spoke with slyness. So that it does not seem that they are building feats against Christ out of envy, they present a common danger, stirring up the people against Christ as the future culprit of their destruction. Understand, perhaps, this is a miracle in relation to the inner man. Our mind is a friend of Christ, but is often overcome by the weakness of human nature, falls into sin and dies a spiritual and most pitiful death, but on the part of Christ worthy of regret, for the deceased is His friend. Let the sisters and relatives of the deceased mind - flesh, like Martha (for Martha is more bodily and more substantial), and soul, like Mary (for Mary is more pious and reverent), come to Christ and fall before Him, leading with them the thoughts of confession, like those of the Jews. For Judas means confession. And the Lord, without a doubt, will appear at the grave, the blindness lying in the memory will command to be taken away, as if some stone, and will bring future blessings and torment to memory. And he will cry with the great voice of the gospel trumpet: “Get out of the world, do not bury yourself in worldly amusements and passions”; just like He said to His disciples, “You are not of the world” (John 15:19), and the Apostle Paul said, “And we will go out to Him outside the camp” (Heb. 13:13), that is, the world, and thus will resurrect from sin the deceased, whose wounds smelled of malice. The deceased gave off a smell because he was four days old, that is, he died for the four meek and bright virtues and was idle and motionless towards them. However, although he was motionless and bound hand and foot, compressed by the bonds of his own sins and seemed completely inactive, although his face was covered with a handkerchief, so that when the carnal covering was applied he could not see anything divine, in short, he was in the worst position both “in activity”, which is indicated by hands and feet, and “in contemplation”, which is indicated by a covered face - so, although he is in such a distressed position, he will hear: “Untie his good angels or priests serving salvation and give him forgiveness of sins, let him go and begin to do good.” Some by “Martha” meant the Jewish Church, and by “Mary” the Church of the Gentiles. The Jewish Church is concerned about many things, for there are many commandments of the law and they are difficult to fulfill, and the Church of the pagans does not need many commandments, but a few, which contain “the whole law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40), the commandments about love. By their brother, resurrected from the dead, they meant the souls of people descending into hell for their sins, according to what is written, “let sinners return to hell” (Ps. 9:18), but the Lord resurrects these souls. John 11:49. One of them, a certain Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them: you know nothing, Among the Jews, by the way, the high priestly dignity was also distorted. For from the time when positions of authority became purchasable, high priests no longer served as priests their entire lives, but only for a year at a time. However, even with such corruption of this dignity, the Holy Spirit still acted in the anointed. And when they raised their hands to Christ, then grace completely left them and passed on to the apostles. John 11:50. And don’t you think that it is better for us that one person should die for the people, than that the whole people should perish. While some, in the form of an opinion, proposed to put Christ to death, the high priest was so bloodthirsty that he boldly and nakedly pronounced a sentence on Christ. He even blames others for not understanding what is proper and not caring to see what is useful. “You,” he says, “know nothing, do not want to understand and will not think that it is better for One to die and the whole people to be saved.” He said this with an evil intent. For the grace of the Spirit used his lips to predict the future, although it did not touch his bad heart. John 11:51. But he did not say this on his own, but, being high priest that year, he predicted that Jesus would die for the people, Notice the power of the high priestly dignity, how it is full of the grace of the Spirit, although those who bear it are unworthy. And I ask you, honor the high priests according to the merit of the grace that dwells in them, and not according to their arbitrariness. Not only Caiaphas prophesies, but many other unworthy people knew the future, for example, Pharaoh about harvests and failures (Gen. 45:17–32), Nebuchadnezzar about kingdoms and Christ (Dan. 2:28–45), and Balaam about Christ (Num. 24:17). And not everyone who prophesies can be called a prophet, but every prophet prophesies. Just as not everyone who does something medical is already a doctor, but whoever does something medical according to the rank of a doctor can be a doctor. Likewise, the righteous is not the one who does something just, but the one who does the truth according to what is said, “Perishe the righteous” (Deut. 16:20). This is how Caiaphas prophesies, but not in the prophetic mood of the Spirit, and therefore not a prophet. Look at the power of the Spirit! She arranged it in such a way that from the evil heart came the words containing a wonderful prophecy. For when Christ died, all the people who believed were delivered from great and eternal punishment. John 11:52. And not only for the people, but to gather together the scattered children of God. And He died not only for the Jewish people, but in order to gather together the rest of the children of God, that is, the pagans. He calls the pagans children of God and calls them this way either in relation to the future, because they must become children of God, as in another place he says, “I have other sheep” (John 10:16), calling them so in relation to the future, or because He is the Father of all, who gave birth to us in a creative way, and because He honored us by creating us in His image and likeness, just as The Apostle Paul, according to the book of Acts (Acts 17:29), in a conversation with the Athenians says: “So we, being the race of God.” So, since man is a higher and God-like living being, everyone is called a child of God. So, Christ brought us, scattered (for Satan separated people from each other and from God in various ways, inciting each one to rage against his neighbor for the love of wealth and glory), gathering us into one Church and under one yoke and making one body those near and far, so that whoever is in Rome would consider the inhabitants of India as his members and confess Christ as the one Head of all. John 11:53. From that day on they decided to kill Him. This means that from that day they were especially and finally confirmed in this intention. They had been planning murder before, but weakly, and the matter was more a question than a decision, and now the final trial and decisive verdict took place. And before, “they sought to kill Him” (John 5:18), and He Himself, denouncing them, said, “Why are you seeking to kill Me?” (John 7:19). John 11:54. Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, The Lord withdraws from the judgment of the Jews not out of fear, but to teach us not to run into danger ourselves, even for the sake of piety, but if we are captured, to stand courageously, and if we are not captured, not to voluntarily throw ourselves into danger because the end of the matter is unknown. and went from there to a country near the desert, So, the Lord moves away from them decently. For the word of God, proclaimed by the prophets, formerly clearly circulated among the Jews, but now no longer, but withdrew into the wilderness - the Church of the Gentiles, about which it is said that “the empty one has many more children than the one who has a husband” (Is. 54:1). to a city called Ephraim, and there he remained with his disciples. Nearby is Ephraim, the very desert. Ephraim means “fruit-bearing”, Ephraim was the younger brother; Manasseh is the eldest. Manasseh means “oblivion.” So, the Jewish people were the eldest son of God, for it is said, “My son is the firstborn Israel” (Ex. 4:22), but God forgot him; and the Lord made Ephraim, that is, the fruitful one from the pagans, the second son. So, the Word, leaving Judea, went out into the wilderness of Ephraim - the Church of the Gentiles, fertilized by the Gospel. John 11:55. The Passover of the Jews was approaching, and many from the whole country came to Jerusalem before Passover to cleanse themselves. Look how foolish the intention of the Jews is. Even during the holiday they do not restrain themselves from the rage of murder, but they decide to commit murder and ascend for purification. Those who sinned, willingly or unwillingly, did not celebrate Passover before they were cleansed according to custom through washing, fasting, circumcision and making legal sacrifices. John 11:56. Then they looked for Jesus and, standing in the church, said to each other: What do you think? won't He come to the festival? And they, the best, who create purification, form a council against the Lord and say: “What do you think? won’t He come to the holiday?” That is, He will certainly fall into our hands, and if nothing else, then it’s time to bring Him into our networks. What wickedness! While open criminals should have been released for the holiday, they are plotting against the Innocent. John 11:57. The high priests and Pharisees gave orders that if anyone knew where He would be, they would announce it in order to take Him. And if only simpletons did this, their addiction would seem to be a matter of ignorance, otherwise the Pharisees give the order to announce Him and seize Him.