To the words: “And this river cried with a great voice: Lazarus, come out.”

Is this why you crowd close to me, listeners, to force me to speak? Or is the hearing sealed, and therefore the tongue must be silent? Do you now thirst to taste the wine of teaching? Or should I stop and not dissolve the drink from the winepress of wisdom? “You who are thirsty, come to the water” (Is. 55:1), the prophet calls by the Spirit. He showed the thirsty where to find drink. The fountain of teaching flows from the pulpit for those who need it. He who is not thirsty should not touch the drink; our drink is not offered to anyone by force. If there is anyone here who is attached by love to the ghosts of this outer world, then let him go from here. I say that I don’t need such a listener. If there is someone here who turns away from everything Divine, then I am not obliged to tell him, just as he is not forced to listen to me. He who cannot tear himself away from the sight of vanity will not understand what he hears from me, and I do not know how to speak to him, because his love is in the networks of pagan voluptuousness. And should we listen to it? If he does come, what should he listen to? Anyone who is accustomed to hearing stories about many gods will not find my teaching pleasant, because I preach one God. Whoever loudly sings the praises of a crowd of goddesses, can he please that I preach the good news about the Virgin Mother? Let him who is not Christ’s tow not come close to the delivery of my word, because what I speak here is spirit, and I am looking for chosen vessels for myself. For you, Church, I wish to dissolve the drink so that you drink my words. I tell you, pure, because you are alien to all vanity. The teaching appears open on Wednesday to proclaim the truth to you; He doesn’t need alien covers in front of the audience. The truth is boldly proclaimed from the teaching pulpit, and is not hidden before the multitudes, because it is not condemned to remain hidden. Teaching appears on Wednesday in the clothing of truth; in this form, he proposes a question that is characteristic of truth, and in its own ways speaks about it and through it. If it intended to mislead, it would have dug a ditch for itself to hide in, but since it is true and the truth itself, it does not take on this or that form. If it were really dark, then a veil would be appropriate for it, but since it is radiant light, it appears open and in clear light on Wednesday. Now, with a frank face, the teaching stands before you, and you will open your ears to receive it purely. I will show you wonderful sights today, be attentive spectators of the miracle that will really appear before your eyes. I will present for Wednesday one of the miracles of Christ, which the prophets could not see and which one mind filled with faith can see. Cleanse the eye of your mind to look at the truth, and when it shows what it has in itself, give praise to God, because it is wonderful. Appear on Wednesday and you, Lazarus, the dead man raised from corruption, come and tell a wondrous story filled with miracles about yourself to the Church. Come, you, who are not held by the brusses entwined around you and who, bound by them, come out of the grave, announce a wonderful legend about yourself to this host, lover of the new. My voice trembles before you from the voice of the One who raises the dead. Listen in wonder, because this is a wonderful event. I’m talking about only the sign of Christ, and then I’ll say a few words. For they are all many wonders, and I am not able to depict even one of them. The Son, who raises the dead, is sent by the Almighty to preach resurrection to the human race with few examples. The Son of the Almighty Lord comes to the poor Adamic race to restore them from the fall by proclaiming life to those imprisoned in the tombs. The Son of the Kingdom is sent to take possession of the city of death, and He descends to plant His sign in it and make it a monument of His victory. With twelve leaders whom He chose to follow Him, the city of darkness, proud of its greatness, conquers. On the deceased Lazarus, who was already stinking, He wanted to show His power, that He actually raises the dead, and not just preaches resurrection in words. He did not resurrect anyone from distant or ancient generations, so that neighbors could not doubt and ask: “Who is he and whose son is he?” If He had raised Seth, or Enosh, or Adam himself, then one could doubt their resurrection, because no one knew them. On the contrary, he resurrects a modern dead man, of whom it was known whose son he was, so that the very ones who buried him would become witnesses to his resurrection. He snatched one from the jaws of death, He snatched another from her hands, and He brought Lazarus out of her all-destroying womb. The resurrector of the dead needed not only to resurrect these dead, but also to snatch these hostages from Sheol, to plant there the victorious Word and sign. He preached a comforting good hope to the entire human race. By the three witnesses whom He called to life, He assured everyone of the resurrection. The Wise One chose and resurrected three dead men of three different ages - a girl, a youth and a man - to transform the ancient, middle and last generations. He wanted to assure of a single resurrection of the entire race - from Adam to the end; The resurrection of the near dead gave great hope to the distant ones. He represented the ancient dead in Lazarus, the middle dead in the youth, the last in the young woman, and preached one resurrection to all. He did not call anyone from past times and generations to life before an unfaithful people to be a witness of the resurrection, but Lazarus from Bethany, whose place of residence and house were known, whose sisters were alive and his relatives were close. In the days of bitter weeping and strong lamentation of friends about the deceased, when the synagogue opposing the truth was still discussing the event of his death, when in the hosts of the Jews the cry of those crying for him was still heard, when the news about the death of Lazarus was conveyed to each other, when the grief about him had not yet diminished and the rumor about his death had not yet ceased, when everyone came together to console the sisters about his brother, when the news about his death became undoubted, and the burial became known to many, when in the house of the deceased there was still mourning and his acquaintances were mourning, then the resurrector Lord comes to show His power, and not only to resurrect Lazarus, but also to confirm everyone in hope. In one dead man he gave the whole world the transformation of the resurrection; and in the region of the dead he placed a sign of life. First he allowed decay to touch the deceased, and only then came to raise him up, so that his stinking would assure everyone of his death, and his return to life - of the general resurrection. The deceased remained unharmed for three days in the land of death, and on the fourth day he plunged into the sea of ​​decay. Death led him through three battles and, when he passed through them, in the fourth field, as in the last, he concluded him in the abyss of decay. Jesus delayed until Lazarus descended to the end of the pit in order to extract him from the very depths of the pit and overcome the corruption of death. Death took and destroyed the buried one; The worm put his mouth on him, and his flesh gave way to corruption. He plunged into the ditch of the dead, was mired in the sheol of the buried, and was carried away and cast into the ocean of decay. The wind of death cast him into the abyss of destruction, so that those who were decaying in Sheol might rejoice at the resurrection he revealed. Jesus allowed him to fall into the depths of death and wallow in it, so that His resurrecting voice would descend there and step on the head of hell. Death kidnapped Lazarus from the monastery of the living, brought him into its stronghold, closed its strong gates and hoped that they would not be opened; but Jesus delayed and allowed corruption to take possession of the flesh, so that the stench from the dead man would clearly testify to his resurrection. The Omniscient informed his disciples: “Lazarus our friend has succeeded” (John 11:11). By what He said before He came there, He showed His omnipotence, and by what He delayed until the deceased began to stink, He increased the miracle of the resurrection. He brought the young woman back to life in the house and gave her to her father; he resurrected the young man when they carried him to the tomb; and he left Lazarus in the prison of the tomb until he began to succumb to corruption, so that His voice would penetrate into the dwelling of the mighty and resurrect the dead. In the house, on the way, and from the grave, He brought the dead back to life, so that along the entire road of death He could set a course, and sow the hope of life along the entire path of the dead: at the beginning, and in the middle, and at the end of it, to reveal the resurrection. For this reason, His friend Lazarus delayed when he died, so that when he had gone through the path of death to the end, from there he could call him to life. The Giver of Life followed her in the footsteps of death along the path of her dominion and watered her entire path from beginning to end with resurrection. “Lazarus our friend... I die, and I rejoice... because I was not dead” (John 11:11,14–15). He knew that Lazarus was already succumbing to decay and was slow to call him to life. When death had already held the dead man in its power for three days, and on the fourth day the worms began to destroy his image, then the Giver of Life came with His disciples to the entire (village) of the deceased and asked those who were burying him: “Where will you lay him?” (John 11:34). Of course, this gives rise to tricks (cunning inventions) of the daring questioners, but it is clearer than the sun that He had no need to ask. And by what he said; “Where do you put it?” - wanted to confirm that Lazarus was indeed buried. He asked not where the coffin was, but where they put the dead man? He knew the stubbornness of the Jews with which they denied His glorious deeds, and He connected with His question: “Where did they lay the dead man?” He didn’t ask about where Lazarus was laid or where he was buried, but, “Where will you lay him?” Show Me this yourself, unbelievers. And the Father offers similar questions, and many talk about it, but I glorify Him in silence, without entering into perverse research. The truth stands for itself; elegant words are not strong enough to overcome faith. Simplicity, with an open face, sees the truth as it is, and stands for it without verbal disputes, without competition and refined research. What is more important: knowing where the coffin is? or resurrect the stinking one? Since He also knows the hidden, before He came, He said to His apostles: “Lazarus is our friend.” And he asked those who were being buried as unbelievers: “Where will you lay it?” - in order to receive from them a certificate of his burial and then call him to life. The Wise One bound them with their own testimony that they really betrayed Lazarus to the tomb, so that when he calls and raises the dead, they too would become witnesses to his resurrection. “Where do you put it?” - He asked, and they answered: “Come and see” (John 11:34). The question bound them so that they could not argue. The Son is no less than the Father, because he asked about the tomb. With His tears over Lazarus He assured of His humanity. He cried and shed sweat, but sweat and tears are characteristic of His human nature and do not humiliate Him before the Father, because He is also the resurrector of the dead, like the Father. He wept to assure His humanity; called the dead to life to bind the unbelievers; prayed to express His agreement with the Father. And this prayer on the tomb does not humiliate Him before the Father. From this very thing that He said while praying, we can understand that He had no need for prayer: “For the sake of the people standing around, I prayed that they might have faith, because You sent Me” (John 11:42). By this He healed the spirit of the people ahead, because the spirit of these people was weak and they clearly doubted that Jesus was the Son of the Most High. For this reason, He wrote down all His deeds (attributed them to) the Father, in order to show that He is the Lord and Life-Giver not by robbery. In the humiliations to which He subjected Himself, the intelligent should see His love. But I don’t intend to talk about that here. The truth itself is clear from the story of Jesus Christ, it is clear even without our word. The Son is perfect, just like His Father. The Only Begotten is wonderful, as is He who sent Him. He is the same resurrector of the dead as the Father, for whoever cried, he also raised. We could say a lot about this if you wished and if it were clear that the seed of our word does not remain unvegetated in your hearing. But even if you began to reject, I would not stop sowing. Do not be a stone, a highway, or a thorn to my word. Let the field of Christ be cleared, and let no tares grow on it. It was cultivated with the plowshare (plough) of the Cross, and the thorns were completely eradicated from it. The blessed ones of God mysteriously prepared this field for cultivation; the apostles cleared it of thorns by their death and stoning. The Son of God, through His sufferings, prepared a tool for its cultivation, in order to cleanse it from the chaff with the yoke of the Cross. He crushed the hard stones that were on it with nails piercing His hands, so that not a single part of it would remain unbearing the fruits of the Cross. The only venerable one disgraced the false gods, which, like thorns, grew on the earth, sent flames to them - the apostles, and burned them. These bitter weeds were eradicated by the sufferings of the Cross. Oh, if Satan did not sow them again in absurd wisdom! Mortals of every generation long for the resurrection of the dead, and here, from the pulpit, the resurrection of the dead is preached daily. Earthly dust, to which God's bounties gave a human form, corruptible man, what is more pleasant for you to hear than the news of your resurrection? Here, in word and deed, the teaching of your renewal is taught to you, and at the spectacles of the infidels you see only the fictions of paganism. Listen to me again, I will offer you a little more from the legend of Lazarus, full of hopes of resurrection and comforting for you, mortal. Attentively incline your ear to the wonderful story about Christ, for you will see His great and wondrous power in the resurrection of the dead. The mighty Son of the Almighty Lord descended from His country to establish the resurrection of the dead in the hope that He preached to those imprisoned in the tombs. He asked, and went to the tomb of Lazarus, as we heard about it, and saw a strong city of death, where there were thousands of dead. The walls of this kingdom of the dead are high, no one alive could cross them; the gates of darkness are closed for all the dead; Strong locks were put in place so that none of those who entered could get out. This great city is full of buried dead; this stronghold of death is invincible; there is no access for resurrection there. Thousands of dead people enter, but not one comes out. Death is confident that no giant will take over its area. And the word about life is far from this city of prisoners; captives from all generations are crowded into the halls of death. Bound, imprisoned, they remain in darkness. But suddenly, in an abyss full of prisoners, resurrection appeared: the Lord brought one out of it, and gave them hope to everyone. And this deceased was immersed in the depths of all the dead, entangled in the captives of death, imprisoned in the monastery of the buried, condemned to silence, cast down into the sorrowful Sheol. bound hand and foot with the fetters and bonds of death, his composition turned to dust, his flesh emitted a stench, and the stench of his decay was felt by all who buried him. The sisters mourned their dead brother, who had already begun to stink, and many Jews gathered to console his sisters. And then Jesus commanded that the stone be rolled away from the door of the tomb. And this was done by Him according to His unsearchable (incomprehensible) wisdom. For this reason, he allowed the unbelieving Jews to open the coffin, so that, having rolled away the stone from the coffin, they would be struck by the smell of death. And the stench from the dead man struck them for this reason after the stone was taken away from the tomb, so that while the stench remained on their clothes, they would see the miracle of the resurrection. The Savior stood at the tomb, and the gloomy abode of the dead shook, the walls of the city filled with dead bodies shook, and its stronghold came close to falling. The strong visors were torn apart, the high gates were opened, all the locks were broken, his abodes were shaken. The voice of resurrection was heard - and the walls fell. The roar of a young lion was heard in Sheol, and horror seized death. The beautiful tree stepped on the serpent’s hole, and he gave himself up to flight. The heavenly eagle announced with its cry the nest of hawks, and they scattered. Death heard the new voice of life, thundering at its gates, and hastened to break the bonds and free the prisoners, released its prisoners from the hands, without holding back those going out. The Most High descended from His height so that people would receive resurrection from Him, took away the dominion of death so that resurrection could reign over them - and death, struck by horror, gave freedom to the entire multitude of its captives. But she hears the voice of Jesus: not “come,” but “come... Lazarus, come out” (John 11:43), Jesus said. The word applied only to one and did not apply to everyone; He only resurrected one, but through him alone the hope for the day of general resurrection was affirmed. If instead of: “Come out,” Jesus had said: “Come out,” the whole multitude of the dead would have come out of the tombs along with Lazarus. But He limited His proclamation because He demanded only Lazarus, leaving the resurrection of all others until the end of time. If even now he wanted to cry: not “come,” but “come,” then Lazarus would not come out alone, but all the dead would appear. For this reason, He proclaimed differently and called one out of many, so that the others would not, by their resurrection, forestall the last times when it was determined for them to rise again. The voice of resurrection aroused and raised up the prostrate dead man. He is clearly called by his own name, because he had to go out alone. Skimen (the strongest) of the lions of Judah filled the vale of the dead with his roar, and His voice invaded the host of the dead, fed and destroyed the only one who pleased Him. At His voice the dead man arose, and the bonds of Sheol did not restrain him. The breath of life blew, and the dead man rose up. It was said: “Lazarus, get out,” and he goes out; word was followed by deed. According to the voice, the resurrection appeared, and the rise of the dead did not slow down. The breath of resurrection took him from among all the dead. As soon as the breath of command breathed upon him, he rose from the coffin, even bound. His feet were tied, but he walked with correct and quick steps before his feet were freed from the bindings. “Abandon him and let him go” (John 11:44). You see that he came out of the coffin when he was not yet released, but bound, entwined, with his face covered, he walked without hesitation. The Giver of Life freed him from death, but not from the shrouds (shrouds) that bound him, so that the same arms that wrapped around the dead during burial would free him and not quarrel. Very wondrous are the deeds of our Savior, beloved! For the sake of our salvation, He did everything and created everything according to the will of Him who rules in heaven and on earth. Praise be to Him and to Him who sent Him, and to the Holy Spirit praise, worship and glorification, and on us, poor sinners, may His mercies abide forever! You might be interested in: