It was an indubitable miracle. In the sultry East it was necessary that the dead should be buried immediately (cf. Ac 5^-^), and it sometimes happened that a swoon was mistaken for death, and the man awoke. Tiie JeMish fancy was tliat for tliree days after deatii the soul hovered about the sepulchre, fain to re-enter and reanimate its tenement of clay ; and the bereaved were wont to visit the sepulchre to see if haply their dead had come to life. After three days decomposition set in, and wlien they saw its ghastly disfigurement on the face, they abandoned hope.f Had Jesus arrived within three days after Lazarus' death, it migiit liave been pronounced no miracle ; but He arrived on tlie fourtli day, when decomposition would have already set in (v ^^).
If anything could have conquered the unbelief of tile rulers, this miracle must have done it ; but they hardened their iiearts, and all tlie more that the people were profoundly impressed. The San- hedrin met under the ))residency of Caiaphas the higii priest, and resolved to put Jesus to death, at the same time publisliing an order tliat, if any knew where He was, they should give information for His arrest. He did not venture into the city, but retired northward to Ephraim, near the Samaritan frontier. There He remained until the Passover was nigh, and then He went up to keep the Feast
* Lightfoot, ii. p. 424. t Lightfoot on Jn 11^9.
and to die. Six daji-s before the Feast began, He reached Bethany, and in defiance of the San- liedrin's order received an ovation from the towns- folk. They honoured Him with a banquet in the house of Simon, one of their leading men, who had been a lepei', and had perliaps been healed by Jesus (see art. Anointing, i. 2.). Lazarus of course was present. The news that Jesus was at Bethany reached Jerusalem, and next day a great multitude thronged out to meet Him and escorted Him with Messianic honours into the city. It was the raising of Lazarus that had convinced them of the claims of Jesus (Jn 12'^- ^*). The Triumphal Entry is a powerful evidence of the miracle. Without it such an outburst of enthusiasm is unaccountable.
It might be expected that Lazarus of all men should have stood by Jesus during the last dread ordeal ; but he never appears after the banquet in Simon's house. His name is nowhere mentioned in the story of the Lord's Passion. What is the explanation ? Enraged by the impression which the miracle made and the support which it brought to Jesus, the high priests plotted the death of Lazarus (Jn 12'"- ^^) ; and it is probable that, ere the final crisis, he had been compelled to withdraw from the vicinity of Jerusalem.
It was a stupendous miracle, the greatest which Jesus ever wrought ; yet it is not the supreme miracle of the Gospel - story. The Lord's own Resurrection holds that place, and one Avho is per- suaded of His claims will hardly hesitate to be- lieve in the raising of Lazarus. ' He raised the man,' says St. Augustine,* ' who made the man ; for He is Himself the Father's only Son, througli whom, as ye know, all things were made. If, therefore, all things were made through Him, what wonder if one rose from the dead througli Him, when so many are daily born through Him ? It is a greater thing to create men than to raise them.'
Naturalistic criticism, however, has assailed the miracle. Much has been made of tlie silence of the Synoptists, who must, it is alleged, have re- corded it had they known of it, and must liave known of it had it occurred. Their silence in this instance, however, is merely part of a larger problem — their silence regarding the Lord's Juda'an ministry generally, and tlieir peculiar reticence regarding the family of Bethany.
It is no exaggeration to affirm that the desperate- ness of the assaults wliich have been directed against it constitute a powerful apologetic for the miracle. (1) The earlier rationalists (Paulus, Ven- turini), in spite of the Evangelist's specific testi- mony to the contrary, supposed that Lazarus had not really died but only fallen into a trance. He had been buried alive, and lie awoke to conscious- ness througli the combined influences of the cool- ness of the cave, the pungent odour of the burial spices (cf. Jn 19*'), and the stream of warm air wiiich rushed in when the stone was removed. Jesus, looking in, perceived that he was alive, and bade him come forth.
(2) According to Strauss, the story, like tlie two earlier stories of resuscitation (Mt Q^^- '''•-^■-^= Mk 5J1-24. 35-43^ 1^1^ j^4o-42. 49-56 . 711-17)^ ij^ ^ myth, Originat- ing in the desire of the primitive Church that the Messiali should not only rival but surpass His great prototypes in the OT. Elijali and Elislia had wrought miracles of resuscitation (1 K IT'""^-, 2 K 4^"^-), and Jesus must do the like in a more wonderful manner.
(3) Renan regarded the miracle as an imposture. ' Tired of the cold reception which the Kingdom of God found in the capital, tlie friends of Jesus wisiied for a great miracle which sliould strike powerfully the incredulity of the Jerusalemites.'