Homily 1 on the Four Days of Lazarus

In the work of Rev. Hesychius of Jerusalem’s “1st Homily on the Four Days of Lazarus” contains a description of the hell in which Lazarus was, as well as a dialogue between Lazarus and the Old Testament patriarchs. St. Hesychius focuses on the fact that from the Ascension of Christ to the general resurrection, the salvation of people is accomplished in the Church. The “Church of the Gentiles” took the place of the Jewish synagogue, which “dissolved the [marriage] contract and tore its marriage tunic with its own hands.” The homily also points to the Divine and human natures of Christ: “...for as the first saw God in the flesh, coming from the womb, so the second saw God in the flesh, hanging on the tree.” *The title of the work in Greek is Λόγος εἰς τὸν τετραήμερον Λάζαρον. *The title of the work in Latin is Homilia I in resurrectionem Lazari. Behold, again Lazarus offers us today a sumptuous meal 1, a meal in which everything is amazing, multi-colored and brilliant, [everything] has truly divine generosity and a certain royal grandeur; for the Father sets the table, the Son pours the wine, the Spirit anoints the feast with myrrh; the angels stand guard over the bridal chamber, not allowing Judas to enter, not allowing Caiaphas to enter, driving out the hypocrites when they still appear in the distance, pushing out those who killed the Lord with some sharp and hard scourges, driving away the blasphemers with a [long] prepared sword 2, leading the thief under the arms 3, solemnly accompanying the harlot 4, joyfully receiving them for a meal the Magi 5, offering the publicans the first places in the bridal chamber 6. But who are the feasters? This is the essence of this word for us. ─ These are all the dead, each of whom is clothed in a certain pure wedding garment 7, together with Adam and Eve sharing their places. These and even greater benefits for [our] race are generously lavished by the Resurrection from the dead, the firstfruits of which was to be the great Lazarus, the lushly blooming field of virtues, the abundant vineyard of faith, the rose of the Kingdom of Christ; the firstborn, who was nourished by the voice of the Only Begotten 9; the language of the Word; trumpet of Wisdom; incessant pipe; the lyre played by the Father; the cithara, the strings of which God touches; the tympanum which God strikes; the psalter, which itself gives birth to harmony, born of God. What is this voice? ─ Lazarus! Come over there 10. Hearing him, the entire race of the dead took heart, death became numb with fear and, stumbling from horror, lay prostrate, trampled by its own captives. "Lazarus! come out, for now we need your coming.” “Let not the hosts of the dead come to Me yet,” says [Christ], “it is not yet time to proclaim freedom to all creation, it is not yet time for the [human] race to ascend before the Creator of the race descends.” "Lazarus! come out, we need you right now, so that the living will know how the dead tremble before the One who came from Mary; so that Pilate may know whose voice frees the dead, removes corruption, transforms tombs into bridal chambers. Lazarus! get out. Release yourself from the bonds and leave the darkness, enter the day and leave the night. Hurry to life, called by Life. Become a participant in the round dance 11 of joy, for the cause of sadness has been eliminated. Lazarus! get out. Do not think about bonds, for the chains have fallen. Do not think about the bolts 12, for they are broken. Do not beware of the gatekeepers, 13 for the gates of brass do not dare to hold you, who are called by Me. Lazarus! get out. May the heavens see you and tell you the glory of God even more brilliantly 14. May the earth see you and begin to guard the cave of Bethlehem more than the palaces of the kings 15 and extol the manger like the throne of the cherubim 16 . May the sun see you and illuminate you with even brighter rays. May Peter see you, listen to the rooster's crow, and shed warm tears of repentance 17. May Judas see you and enter into an agreement 18; knowing Whom he is betraying, he will not dare to keep the silver of betrayal; knowing Whom he betrays, he will testify that the One betrayed by him is God; knowing Whom he is betraying, he will resort to a noose and put a rope on himself to strangle him 19 . Thus it will become a strong muzzle 20 for blasphemers and, in justice, a harsh and terrifying rein for apostates. Lazarus! get out. Let [Christ] say, the Jewish synagogue, see you, and dissolve the [marriage] contract 21, tear apart his marriage tunic with his own hands, and dream of divorce, when the feathers have not yet been sharpened to confirm it. May the Church of the Gentiles 22 see you, and add faith to faith, zeal to zeal, hope to hope, love to love, and crown the marriage contract with this multiplication of virtues.” Hearing this sacred voice, Lazarus hurried to go to the Caller and, although he himself was in the midst of the host of the dead, he said: “Life is calling me and I cannot stay; I am drawn to the Word and voice of God, for my feet naturally rush to Him; The Creator commanded ─ and nature manages to do what is against nature. And you, do you want to say something to the Caller? I will intercede for you, that He may come to you, or that you who are below may go up to Him, or that He, who is above, will come down. He will endure everything, for He is Good. I will intercede for you, the righteous, but you, sinners, also send a request to Him through me. Speak first, you, Adam, for from you we must be taught. Aren't you concerned about the whole [human] race? Being yourself the father of all the fallen, do you care about the fallen, or do you pity only the elect, or do you want only those who have kept the mark of the image 23 pure to be liberated? But be careful lest there be a great loss to the Potter 24 from so many discarded vessels. See to it that you, too, are thrown out because of disobedience along with the rest of the sinners. But speak quickly, Adam, for circumstances cannot tolerate delay. I am afraid that I might be reproached for such negligence [at the sound] of such a great Trumpet. So, say what you want, for I will say to the One who speaks the voice: “Do not be angry, Lord. We need [your] generosity in this call, for I need to return what the worms have eaten, I need to collect the remains scattered on the ground and decomposed into dust. Being imperfect, can I ascend to the Perfect, can I leave one thing in the ground and accept another in order to ascend to the Caller and appear to the One who hastens to raise Adam unharmed? Moreover, death has many gates; I passed through all of them when I entered, and on my way out I must pass through them again.” After these words, Lazarus soared from the earth. The dead, each approaching, kissed Lazarus, for he, as it seemed to them, was in a hurry to leave, and they told him, as if they were some kind of messenger, their troubles. And Abel was the first to say: “Tell the Deliverer: what is the use for me to speak after death, since the bonds of corruption have not been removed?” And Noah, lamenting, reproached: “Why have you entrusted to me such a great and spacious ark 25? Now I am confined to a cramped and dark dwelling, unclean and gloomy, having as many cubits in size as a coffin.” Abraham was indignant in the same way, saying: “I brought the Creator my only begotten son, 26 and he looks with indignation at me, who has been bound in these sorrowful bonds for so long.” Isaac was indignant: “Having become the image of the immortal Sacrifice, I carry the cruel chain of death everywhere.” Jacob reproached him for the fact that he, who was able to fight with God 27, did not have the strength to fight against unfortunate death. Joseph, daring in holiness, confident in his purity, 28, inflamed with dreams, 29, indignant, threatened to break the bonds, but, not having the strength to resist death, he uttered a piercing groan, not receiving relief. Moses exclaimed: “Why am I, the lawgiver, sitting here as a captive?! Why am I held together with Pharaoh, whom I threw into the sea 30? Why, with this Egyptian army, which I intoxicated in the predatory abyss of the waves, do I share this bitter ditch of local corruption and the mud of blood?” David, taking the lyre, said to Lazarus: “Tell the One born of the Virgin: if You are not in a hurry, then we are in a hurry, forced by horrors. If You hesitate, then we cannot resist. If You Yourself do not descend, then we will hastily ascend to You. I want to play the cithara for the living; I've been playing dead for quite some time now. I want to explain to those who live on earth the mysteries of the cithara and say how the heavens preach the glory of God, how the firmament proclaims the works of His hands, what it means that day communicates speech to day, what night reveals knowledge to the night, what it means there is no tongue, and there is no dialect where their voice is not heard, why their sound spread throughout the whole earth, and to the ends of the universe their words, what it means He set His dwelling in the sun, Who is it like a bridegroom coming out of His palace and will rejoice like a giant, to run the race, as His departure from the end of the heavens, and His procession to their end 31. The heavens preach the glory of God when He who comes from them descends to earth and is not deprived of the highest blessings. The firmament proclaims the work of His hands, when He who transformed Adam raises him up with glory not even the firmament, after the bonds - unenslaved, after corruption - incorruptible, after death - immortal. Day to day conveys speech, the day of the Lord's Nativity ─ the day of the Royal Cross, for, as the first saw God in the flesh, coming from the womb, so the second saw God in the flesh, hanging on a tree 32. And the night reveals knowledge to the night, the night of betrayal ─ the night of the Resurrection: for the first announces the fall of Judas, the second ─ the rebellion of Adam. There is no language, and there is no dialect where their voice is not heard, it is obvious that the voices of angels, the voices that they addressed to the myrrh-bearing women 33 and which passed into the entire generation of words. Every ear was touched by this speech, and every intelligent tongue was gifted by God, when their sound spread throughout the whole earth, and to the ends of the universe their words - the words of Peter and John, Andrew and Thomas and the face of other illiterate 34, the holy detachment of simpletons 35 whom Wisdom hired to become messengers of Her words. He set His dwelling place in the sun, the Father ─ in the Son, for He rose for us as the Sun of Truth 36, for in Him dwells all the fullness of the Divinity bodily 37. And He, like a bridegroom, comes out of His palace. Dressed in white robes, god-like, radiant, He emerged from the heavenly palace ─ from the chamber of the royal tomb. He will rejoice, like a giant, to run the race when, like a winner, he ran from earth to heaven, and the clouds received Him as a victorious man risen from the dead. From the end of heaven was His departure, and His procession to the end of heaven, for from where He descended, there He was, but to where He was, He ascended again in the flesh, Descending to us and Abiding with the Father, Ascending for us and ending up with the Father, along with the firstfruits of our [nature] 38.” The voice hurried Lazarus, and the call, freeing him from his shackles, lifted him up from the ground, as if on wings. And like a deer, he jumped out of the coffin, and like a chamois from the grave, dead, blind, bound, for he was still covered with swaddling clothes, his eyes were still covered by the sir, his eyes were still covered with cloth. The pupils were decomposed and had no shine; they could not perceive the sun's rays under the shrouds. The ears were stopped, the breathing was obstructed, the tongue had a belt 39 and a bridle, the lips retained the knot tied by those who buried them, the neck was braided with straps, the shoulders were tied in shrouds intertwined to the hips, so that they could not be separated from each other, the legs were one next to the other, like a log next to a log. And he was like a kind of pure pillar, a visible monument to those held in hell. And, behold, he came out and confused the Jews, scattered the Pharisees, forced the Sadducees, struck by fear, to rush to each other, but he pleased his relatives and friends, and worshiped with great care and haste the Resurrected One, and proclaimed to Life the mysteries of hell. Christ said to the crowd of Jews standing around: Untie him, let him go 40, allow him who does not require permission; untie the one who walks with his feet tied; untie the one who is held back by burial shrouds, but walks orderly, without hesitating in the least; untie the one who sees, although his eyes are closed; the one who hears without hindrance, although his ears are stopped; one who, with stopped nostrils, smells the fragrance of life. Untie it to make your fingers themselves witnesses of the miracle; so that you no longer deny the sign, ashamed of your own hands; so that when you try to hide the trophy erected against death, the shrouds you have accepted will become proof of your folly. Untie him, let him go, for I have appointed a dead man as a messenger of Life. He who came out of hell will announce the One who descended from heaven; the one who rose from the grave will announce to the nations about the One born from the womb of the Father 41; who has crumbled into dust will clearly tell about the Creator of the human race from the beginning; he who has risen from the dust will become a reassurance, showing to the clay vessels like himself the Potter 42 Who molds anew. Let him go, let him not silently accept the sign that has taken place, let no fear force him to become ungrateful to his Benefactor, let him not be persuaded by his passion for wealth, let his desire for glory not shake him, and let his addiction to worldly pleasures not make him sluggish. He learned a lesson from suffering in the place where he descended. There he experienced the decay, powerlessness, and fragility of this world. What was underground convinced him not to care about earthly things, and not to count on them as being able to remain permanently. Let him go to tell Caiaphas and testify before Pilate; to present to the servants the One whom they intend to beat with a stick 43 ; to establish the disciples, overthrow the tempters, and command the wives to prepare myrrh 44 . Let him go, for when he goes, the synagogue shakes, the crowd of Sadducees comes into confusion, the whole circle of the earth trembles, the vault of heaven shines under a heap of clouds, a host of stars comes into admiration, the sky rises, seeing the power of Him who descended from him and who abides on him; to Him be glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. Perhaps an allusion to John. 12:1-2: “Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was dead, whom He raised from the dead. There they prepared a supper for Him (δεῖπνον).” Further St. Hesychius uses images that contain an allusion to the parable of the wedding feast (Matthew 22:1–14): he speaks of the “bridal chamber” (νυμφών), the “wedding garment” (στολὴ νυμφική), in which the dead righteous, led by Adam and Eve. See Matt. 20, 16. Mk. 10, 31. OK. 13, 30. Verb.: Lazarus was entrusted (κατεπιστώθη) with the firstfruits of the resurrection. χορευτὴς τοῦ χοροῦ – choreographer, participant in a round dance. See Matt. 27, 5; Acts 1, 18. See Matt. 5, 31; 19, 7; Deut.24, 1; Is. 50, 1 ; Jer. 3, 8. The image of a marriage contract and a letter of divorce is used by St. Hesychius for the contrast between the Jewish synagogue and the church of the pagans, which is so relevant for Jerusalem Christians. We find similar vocabulary in some homilies of Asterius the Sophist (Hom. VI et VIII in Ps. 5) and Leontius, presbyter of Constantinople (Hom. II in Pascha, 5). See M. Harl. "Cadeaux de fiançailles et contrat de mariage pour l'épouse du "Cantique des Cantiques", selon quelques commentateurs grecs", dans Mélanges d'histoire des religions offers à H.-Ch. Puech. Paris, 1974, pp. 243–261. See Prem. 15, 7; Rome. 9, 21. See Gen. 40, 12, 18; 41, 25. A short digression concerns the interpretation of Ps. 18, 2–7, which, as is often found in the homilies of St. Hesychia is presented in the form of short glosses accompanying the direct speech of a biblical character, in this case the prophet David. The main motive of the interpretation is the incarnation of Christ and His redemption of Adam. Gal. 3, 13; see Acts. 5, 30; Deut. 21, 23. τῶν ἰδιωτῶν – simple, ordinary people. See Ps. 31, 9, verbatim: muzzle (on a horse).