"I AM ANASTASIS AND LIFE"

On Saturday of the Sixth Week of Lent, our Holy Church has designated that we celebrate the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus. This is no accident. Because, first of all, this great and miraculous event coincides in time with the entry of our Lord into the holy city of Jerusalem. And secondly, that the fact of the resurrection of the Lord's friend from the dead is a powerful proof that our Christ is the Lord of life and death, that the one who raised Lazarus from the dead will also raise Himself, since He will conquer Hades and defeat death! According to the Gospel reading, Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary, who lived in the town of Bethany, had cordial friendly relations with the Lord. It seems that many times they had the supreme honor and joy of receiving and hosting Christ in their blessed home (Luke 10:38-42). Suddenly Lazarus became seriously ill. The two sisters sent a message to Jesus that His beloved friend Lazarus was sick. Christ assured the apostles that "this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified thereby" (John 11:4). But Lazarus died and was buried in a cave tomb, according to Jewish customs. After staying two days in the place where He was, Christ took His disciples and returned to Judea, heading for Bethany, even though His disciples warned Him of the danger of being stoned by the Jews. On the way, he assured them that "Lazarus our friend has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him." His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get well." Now Jesus spoke of his death; but they did not understand that he spoke of taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for our sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe" (John 11:12-15). The enthusiastic Martha, when she learned that Christ was coming to Bethany, immersed in mourning, ran to meet Him and with complete trust in Him said to Him: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." "But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you." Jesus tells her clearly: “Your brother will rise again” (John 11:24) and solemnly assures: “I am the resurrection and the life. "He who believes in me, even though he dies, will live; and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die" (John 11:26). Then he asked to be taken to the monument and the stone removed from the cave entrance. Then Mary warned him: "Lord, it is already morning; it is the fourth day." Christ said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:40). After they rolled away the stone, the Lord stood before the monument and raised his eyes to heaven and said: “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. "I knew not that thou always hearest me: but because of the people standing by I said it, that they may believe that thou didst send me" (John 11:41). Then he cried out in a loud voice: “Lazarus, come out!” The miracle happened, Lazarus lived and came out of the tomb bound in burial clothes. Christ commanded that he be untied and allowed to walk. This great event caused many to believe in Christ. Some others ran to the Pharisees and announced the miracle. Those hard-hearted and hypocritical people, along with the Jewish priesthood, not only were not moved and did not believe in the miracle and power of Jesus, but their hearts were hardened even more. The high priest Caiaphas said the following amazing thing: “You know nothing, nor do you discuss that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation perish,” and the holy evangelist comments: “This he did not say on his own, but being high priest that year prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but that he might gather into one the children of God who were scattered abroad” (John 11:49-52). The resurrection of Lazarus is the Lord's greatest miracle. This is also evident from the fact that He did not immediately rush with the news of His friend's death, but went to Bethany after four days so that the magnitude of the great miracle and the supreme power of God could be seen. The holy Chrysostom emphasizes that "He remained, so that (Lazarus) might breathe his last and be buried, so that no one might say, 'He raised him up,' that he was a chariot, that he was a deliverance, that he was a descent, and that he was not dead" (according to P. Trembelas (Memoir on the Gospel of John, Athens 1969, p. 401). Although the dead man began to decompose, Christ resurrected him, revealing the greatness of His divine power. He is the master of life, because he is life itself. No one ever dared to claim what He revealed to Martha: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, even though he dies, will live" (John 11:25). This assurance that our Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the source of life and our blessed resurrection is our great consolation and the ineffable power that enables us to overcome all the adversities of our earthly life. Thanks to Him we will never die, even if our perishable body is deposited on the earth and decomposes. This is a simple biological fact, which has no ontological implications for us believers in Christ. Our soul will continue to live even without our body, a life incomparably superior to earthly life. But not forever alone, for “the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (John 5:25). Our bodies will live and be reunited with our spirits to never be separated again, but to live eternally the true life and be glorified with Christ. The great miracle of the Resurrection of Lazarus clearly shows that just as Christ resurrected him with His mighty voice, in the same way He will resurrect us. With His resurrection He defeated death completely. Through the Resurrection of Christ, "the last enemy is abolished, death" (1 Cor. 15:26), the apostle Paul solemnly proclaims. This great feast functions as a spiritual upliftment in the souls of us believers, who journey with the Lord towards His voluntary passion and death on the cross. This is wonderfully conveyed by the holy troparion of the feast: “Believing in the common resurrection before your passion, you raised Lazarus from the dead, O Christ God; hence we, like children, carrying the symbols of victory, cry out to you, the conqueror of death: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”