Word 2 on the four-day Lazarus

In the work of Rev. Hesychius of Jerusalem “2nd Homily on the Four Days of Lazarus” (10 chapters) reveals the role of the resurrection of Lazarus in the economy of salvation. A characteristic feature of the exegetical texts of St. Hesychia is the use of fictitious dialogues. In this sermon, hell makes a speech, which, having seen that Lazarus leaves the underworld, expresses its indignation: “Hell below, giving up the dead man, probably shouted: “Who is this, who, with a voice as if sleeping, raises the dead from their graves? Apparently, the rod of my tyranny over people has disappeared. My prison of death has fallen into disrepair... My four-day body triumphs over me... From now on I am trampled upon when the deceased runs away from me along with the funeral shrouds. Who will now be afraid of me, defeated by the rotting corpse and who has become, as it were, a kind of guardian of the dead deposited for safekeeping? (chapter 5). To make the narrative of Holy Scripture extremely accessible, St. Hesychius uses different methods. He compares Lazarus lying in the tomb with a bank deposit deposited, his burial shrouds with seals: “For Lazarus was only, as it were, some kind of value placed in the tomb for safekeeping, like gold, which is returned back along with the seals with which it was deposited” (chapter 6). At the voice of the Savior, Lazarus “jumps out” from the coffin, “like a spurred horse”: “Like a horse struck by a conventional sign, so a dead one, at the voice of the Lord, immediately began to jump out of the coffin” (chapter 4). It is worth noting that the monk points out the meaning of the Sacrament of the Eucharist: “I love this place of the Church, which gathers this spiritual feast for me, for the feast of the Church of God is this meeting, watered by the Mystical Chalice, nourished by the Life-giving Lamb” (chapter 1). *The title of the work in Greek is Λόγος εἰς τὸν τετραήμερον Λάζαρον. *The title of the work in Latin is Homilia II in resurrectionem Lazari. 1. I love this place of the Church, which gathers this spiritual feast for me, for the feast of God’s Church is this gathering, watered by the Mystical Chalice, nourished by the Life-Giving Lamb. Since the King of Angels has settled on earth, feasts and pleasures are prepared for the faithful, and the sorrow of nature has turned against the ruler of sorrows since the Savior’s stay [on earth] began; for nature, as soon as it received the ability to sense the radiance of the Lord, was immediately filled with joy and leaping. Barren women gave birth to the forerunners of grace, babies who had not yet been born jumped for joy in their mother’s wombs, for the child in her womb leaped for joy (Luke 1:41). The Virgin was blessed for her virgin birth; the sky, through a star, called the Magi from above; the earth was filled with angels sharing joy with the inhabitants of the earth; demons let those they owned out of their hands; diseases left the bodies; at one end the paralytic ran, at the other the blind man rose and left seeing; there a leper was cleansed of leprosy, here a puddle of a profusely bleeding disease dried up (see Luke 8:43–56); this one turned from tongue-tied into verbose, the other, in order to hear, suddenly received ears that had previously been blocked from receiving words. 2. And what should be said about drinking wine made from ungrown grapes at a wedding (see John 2:1-11), about the dead jumping out of their tombs (see John 11:44)? For He said: Young man! I'm telling you, get up! (Luke 7:14), and the one who heard this sound started up, as if he was pretending to be dead and was not really dead. The coffin also released Lazarus, but he, thus summoned, hastened to draw everyone's attention to his flight: he, who, being wrapped in shrouds, had been decomposing in the coffin for four days, with his entrails mostly eaten away by worms, having lost all the harmonious integrity of his body, having as a witness of decay the stench of the coffin. But the fragrance of Life reforged the decaying entrails, and the tomb for him who lay [in it] became a mother’s womb, and, as one sown in the womb and not in the grave, created anew, Lazarus jumped out, the old and the new man. 3. Oh, a new miracle! For our sake, the coffin was carried in the womb of a person destined for life, in funeral clothes, as if some kind of baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes. The voice of the Lord, recognized by the deceased, pulled him out of the tomb along with the shrouds: Lazarus! says, “Come out” (John 11:43)! And following this word, the dead man quickly began to emanate, after his members were again united with each other in the grave: the eye returned to its place, the nose took its position, the cheeks hastened to take on their previous appearance, the neck grew to the shoulders and head, the two arms were preparing for their usual movement, the joints came into harmony, the arrangement of the fingers was formed, the nerves restored connections, the nature of the bones was clothed in its composition, together with arteries were stretched by veins, bone marrow was created again, leathery membranes were woven, hair was put in order. 4. I slowly imagined in the word the running of [his] members. Like a horse struck by a conventional sign, so a dead one, at the voice of the Lord, immediately began to jump out of the coffin, called, [re]composed, visible. Lazarus! get out. Before saying rise up, he orders you to come out! He urges the one still lying down to run! First commanded to stand up, Master, and immediately after this commanded the risen one to flee! Why do you order someone who is still lying down to come out before getting up? “Yes,” he says, “I command the one lying down to run, so that, by complicating the dead person with two commands, I do not delay the outcome. I tell him: get out so that he can run faster, since the same time has been assigned for him to rebel and run.” Immediately Lazarus, as if inspired, jumped out of the grave, sitting in the tomb more like a guard than a dead man. 5. Hell below, handing over the dead man, probably shouted: “Who is this, who, with a voice as if sleeping, raises the dead from their graves? Who is this One who abolishes the ancient laws of the dead? Who is this One who stirs up the dead to rebel against me? Who is this One who calls upon the dead to return to the top? Who is this One who introduces the custom of returning to life for those buried? Who is this One who so easily unties the bonds of my captives? Who is this One who snatched all my dead from me so that they could dance in a circle? Apparently, the rod of my tyranny over people has disappeared. My prison of death has become dilapidated. Elijah left, taking away my dead man to bring joy to the woman (see 1 Kings 17:23). After Elijah, when Elisha came, he twice organized the theft of the dead from me (see 2 Kings 4:35; 13:21). Now this, more cruel one, who came to the aid of the dead, came out in war against me, calling upon the already rotten dead as living, and from now on the threat loomed over me of no longer having power even over rotting corpses, for the dead man whom I subjected to decay was stolen from me. The four-day-old body triumphs over me, which, in funeral robes, dances in a circle with the living. From now on, I am trampled upon when the deceased runs away from me along with the burial shrouds. Who will now be afraid of me, defeated by the rotting corpse and who has become, as it were, a kind of guardian of the dead deposited for safekeeping? 6. For Lazarus was only a kind of valuable thing placed in a tomb for safekeeping, like gold that comes back along with the seals with which it was placed: tied with funeral ribbons, he was laid in the tomb and then brought back to life along with the shrouds. The crowd of Jews, unbelievers and doubters before the greatness of the miracles that had taken place, now spoke about Lazarus, as they once did about the healed man born blind (see John 9:8–9): “It is he; it's not him." Therefore, just as someone, intending to return a value entrusted for safekeeping and anticipating the suspicion of the entruster, carefully guards the seals on this value, so that the appearance of the seals assures the depositor; in the same way, the Lord Christ, returning Lazarus to the Jews, a treasure placed among the dead for four days, brings him out along with the signs of burial shrouds, like some kind of seals, so that those who will untie him will see for themselves that it is not someone else, but the one whom they buried. 7. But the blindness of [their] unbelief remained uncorrected, for, having recognized the dead man, they hated him because of the miracle and formed blind councils: They decided to kill Lazarus also, because for his sake many of the Jews came and believed in Jesus (John 12:10-11). Oh, wicked advice! Is what has happened true, O priests, or is it false? For if it is true, then it is in vain that you deliberate to put to death someone who can rise again. If the miracle was a forgery, then in vain you attach high importance to this miracle. If what happened is a [false] rumor, then let the one about whom they falsely spread rumors that he has risen remain alive, so that all who approach him will learn from the living that he has not risen from the dead. If you kill him, you will do a service to the rumor by losing evidence against the rumor, so your plan is doubtful on both sides. 8. Oh, a disease worthy of much lamentation! Healing those who are envied causes wounds to the envious; a benefactor is an object of hatred, as if he were a pest; the one who saves is considered an enemy, as if he were a murderer. It was proper to rejoice and not be sad when the dead rise. The dead man has risen: you have a reason to rejoice by finding a Physician who applies a healing plaster to the dead. Man, you have an effective remedy for delivering the suffering! Is your son sick? Call against the disease the One who raised the dead. Is your daughter troubled by a demon (cf. Mark 7:25–30; Matt 15:22–28)? You have the cure for this passion. Is someone in your family struggling with death (cf. Matt. 8:5–13; Luke 7:1–10; John 4:46–54)? You are close to snatching the dead from the clutches of death. How many gifts have you given away, thinking of finding help in your suffering? This is what you found for nothing and turn your eyes away from the find! Well, since you love to bear losses, give the profits to those who want them; accept that Lazarus will live; do not become more cruel than death for the people whom He has freed, while you are reducing them to it; Don’t let life with you be filled with more despair than the grave. This dead man in the tomb had hope of life, and he returned to life without even losing his shrouds, but living with you, he is afraid of losing the gift that he acquired in the tomb. 9. But why do I devote this word to the wickedness of the Jews, while the raising of Lazarus draws me to the memory of the Resurrection? When the tombs shake, forced to bring back the dead, when the earth is troubled, trembling with fear, when the sounds of trumpets sound from heaven in the ears of people, for it is said: The trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible (1 Cor. 15:52). Throwing lightning from the sky, the Judge descends; the army of angels precedes the Judge, struck with fear from what is happening, for it is said: The powers of heaven will be shaken (Matthew 24:29); meeting of the righteous in the clouds in the air (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:17); the cry of demons being dragged to judgment; the devil, sad and led in chains; tyrants dragged to give a terrible answer; punishable robberies of the rich; crowns of patience for the poor; confessed conspiracies of kings; the lives of priests explored; venerable hosts of virgins; secret fornications exposed in public; the revered sedateness of the chaste; the punished licentiousness of adulterers; the crowned complacency of the long-suffering; denunciation of slanderers, which does not require evidence; pleasing hosts of sincerely repentant; the scourged pretense of hypocrites. 10. This is not my teaching; You have all heard Paul crying out to everyone: We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what he has done while in the body, whether good or bad (2 Cor. 5:10). So, everyone, put your life in order, remembering these words: extinguish pleasure, lover of pleasure, for it is the substance for the fire of Gehenna. Punish the belly, you pampered one, for gluttony is a highly flammable commodity; condemning this, the prophet cried out to the Sodomites: “However, this is the iniquity of Sodom: in pride and the abundance of bread and abundance” (Ezek. 16:49). Do not allow yourself to indulge in excess, rich one, for it is straw for an unquenchable flame. Be attached to patience, poor one, for godly patience is the cooling of hell. Forget about wickedness, pagan, only thorns are useful to fire. Rise from heretical dogmas, as from the graves, heretic, before that voice comes, crying to the dead: Behold, the Bridegroom comes, come out to meet Him (Matt. 25:6), Christ our God, who is to judge the living and the dead (1 Pet. 4:5). Let us glorify Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.