Bible Verses and Early Church Commentary | Historical Christian Faith

¹ Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. ² (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) ³ Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. ⁴ When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. ⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. ⁶ When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. ⁷ Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again. ⁸ His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again? ⁹ Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. ¹¹ These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. ¹² Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. ¹³ Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. ¹⁴ Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him. ¹⁶ Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. ¹⁷ Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off: ¹⁹ And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. ²⁰ Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house. ²¹ Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. ²² But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. ²³ Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. ²⁴ Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. ²⁵ Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: ²⁶ And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? ²⁷ She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. ²⁸ And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. ²⁹ As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him. ³⁰ Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him. ³¹ The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. ³² Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. ³³ When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, ³⁴ And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! ³⁷ And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? ³⁸ Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. ³⁹ Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. ⁴⁰ Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? ⁴¹ Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. ⁴² And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. ⁴³ And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. ⁴⁴ And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. ⁴⁵ Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him. ⁴⁶ But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. ⁴⁷ Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. ⁴⁸ If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. ⁴⁹ And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, ⁵⁰ Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. ⁵¹ And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; ⁵² And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. ⁵³ Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death. ⁵⁴ Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples. ⁵⁵ And the Jews' passover was nigh at hand: and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves. ⁵⁶ Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think ye, that he will not come to the feast? ⁵⁷ Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take him.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:1

1. Many men, when they see any of those who are pleasing to God suffering anything terrible, as, for instance, having fallen into sickness, or poverty, and any other the like, are offended, not knowing that to those especially dear to God it belongs to endure these things; since Lazarus also was one of the friends of Christ, and was sick. This at least they who sent said, Behold, he whom You love is sick. But let us consider the passage from the beginning. A certain man, It says, was sick, Lazarus of Bethany. Not without a cause nor by chance has the writer mentioned whence Lazarus was, but for a reason which he will afterwards tell us. At present let us keep to the passage before us. He also for our advantage informs us who were Lazarus' sisters; and, moreover, what Mary had more (than the other), going on to say, It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment. Here some doubting say, How did the Lord endure that a woman should do this? In the first place then it is necessary to understand, that this is not the harlot mentioned in Matthew Matthew 26:7, or the one in Luke Luke 7:37, but a different person; they were harlots full of many vices, but she was both grave and earnest; for she showed her earnestness about the entertainment of Christ. The Evangelist also means to show, that the sisters too loved Him, yet He allowed Lazarus to die. But why did they not, like the centurion and the nobleman, leave their sick brother, and come to Christ, instead of sending? They were very confident in Christ, and had towards Him a strong familiar feeling. Besides, they were weak women, and oppressed with grief; for that they acted not in this way as thinking slightly of Him, they afterwards showed. It is then clear, that this Mary was not the harlot. But wherefore, says some one, did Christ admit that harlot? That He might put away her iniquity; that He might show His lovingkindness; that you might learn that there is no malady which prevails over His goodness. Look not therefore at this only, that He received her, but consider the other point also, how He changed her. But, (to return,) why does the Evangelist relate this history to us? Or rather, what does he desire to show us by saying,

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:1-5

(Greg. Hom. lxii. 1) First we are to observe that this was not the harlot mentioned in Luke, but an honest woman, who treated our Lord with marked reverence.

(Hom. lxii. 1) They hope to excite Christ's pity by these words, Whom as yet they thought to be a man only. Like the centurion and nobleman, they sent, not went, to Christ; partly from their great faith in Him, for they knew Him intimately, partly because their sorrow kept them at home.

(Hom. lxii. 1) That here signifies not the cause, but the event. The sickness sprang from natural causes, but He turned it to the glory of God.
Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

(Hom. lxii non occ. v. lxii. 3.) Wherein the Evangelist instructs us not to be sad, if sickness ever falls upon good men, and friends of God.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:1

1. Among all the miracles wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrection of Lazarus holds a foremost place in preaching. But if we consider attentively who did it, our duty is to rejoice rather than to wonder. A man was raised up by Him who made man: for He is the only One of the Father, by whom, as you know, all things were made. And if all things were made by Him, what wonder is it that one was raised by Him, when so many are daily brought into the world by His power? It is a greater deed to create men than to raise them again from the dead. Yet He deigned both to create and to raise again; to create all, to resuscitate some. For though the Lord Jesus did many such acts, yet all of them are not recorded; just as this same St. John the evangelist himself testifies, that Christ the Lord both said and did many things that are not recorded; but such were chosen for record as seemed to suffice for the salvation of believers. You have just heard that the Lord Jesus raised a dead man to life; and that is sufficient to let you know that, were He so pleased, He might raise all the dead to life. And, indeed this very work has He reserved in His own hands till the end of the world. For while you have heard that by a great miracle He raised one from the tomb who had been dead four days, the hour is coming, as He Himself says, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth. He raised one who was putrid, and yet in that putrid carcass there was still the form of limbs; but at the last day He will by a word reconstitute ashes into human flesh. But it was needful then to do only some such deeds, that we, receiving them as tokens of His power, may put our trust in Him, and be preparing for that resurrection which shall be to life and not to judgment. So, indeed, He says, The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

2. We have, however, read in the Gospel of three dead persons who were raised to life by the Lord, and, let us hope, to some good purpose. For surely the Lord's deeds are not merely deeds, but signs. And if they are signs, besides their wonderful character, they have some real significance: and to find out this in regard to such deeds is a somewhat harder task than to read or hear of them. We were listening with wonder, as at the sight of some mighty miracle enacted before our eyes, in the reading of the Gospel, how Lazarus was restored to life. If we turn our thoughts to the still more wonderful works of Christ, every one that believes rises again: if we all consider, and understand that more horrifying kind of death, every one who sins dies. But every man is afraid of the death of the flesh; few, of the death of the soul. In regard to the death of the flesh, which must certainly come some time, all are on their guard against its approach: this is the source of all their labor. Man, destined to die, labors to avert his dying; and yet man, destined to live for ever, labors not to cease from sinning. And when he labors to avoid dying, he labors to no purpose, for its only result will be to put off death for a while, not to escape it; but if he refrain from sinning, his toil will cease, and he shall live for ever. Oh that we could arouse men, and be ourselves aroused along with them, to be as great lovers of the life that abides, as men are of that which passes away! What will a man not do who is placed under the peril of death? When the sword was overhanging their heads, men have given up every means of living they had in reserve. Who is there that has not made an immediate surrender of all, to escape being slain? And, after all, he has perhaps been slain. Who is there that, to save his life, has not been willing at once to lose his means of living, and prefer a life of beggary to a speedy death? Who has had it said to him, Be off to sea if you would escape with your life, and has delayed to do so? Who has had it said to him, Set to work if you would preserve your life, and has continued a sluggard? It is but little that God requires of us, that we may live for ever: and we neglect to obey Him. God says not to you, Lose all you have, that you may live a little time oppressed with toil; but, Give to the poor of what you have, that you may live always exempt from labor. The lovers of this temporal life, which is theirs, neither when, nor as long as they wish, are our accusers; and we accuse not ourselves in turn, so sluggish are we, so lukewarm about obtaining eternal life, which will be ours if we wish it, and will be imperishable when we have it; but this death which we fear, notwithstanding all our reluctance, will yet be ours in possession.

3. If, then, the Lord in the greatness of His grace and mercy raises our souls to life, that we may not die for ever, we may well understand that those three dead persons whom He raised in the body, have some figurative significance of that resurrection of the soul which is effected by faith: He raised up the ruler of the synagogue's daughter, while still lying in the house; Mark 5:41-42 He raised up the widow's young son, while being carried outside the gates of the city; Luke 7:14-15 and He raised up Lazarus, when four days in the grave. Let each one give heed to his own soul: in sinning he dies: sin is the death of the soul. But sometimes sin is committed only in thought. You have felt delight in what is evil, you have assented to its commission, you have sinned; that assent has slain you: but the death is internal, because the evil thought had not yet ripened into action. The Lord intimated that He would raise such a soul to life, in raising that girl, who had not yet been carried forth to the burial, but was lying dead in the house, as if sin still lay concealed. But if you have not only harbored a feeling of delight in evil, but hast also done the evil thing, you have, so to speak, carried the dead outside the gate: you are already without, and being carried to the tomb. Yet such an one also the Lord raised to life. and restored to his widowed mother. If you have sinned, repent, and the Lord will raise you up, and restore you to your mother Church. The third example of death is Lazarus. A grievous kind of death it is, and is distinguished as a habit of wickedness. For it is one thing to fall into sin, another to form the habit of sinning. He who falls into sin, and straightway submits to correction, will be speedily restored to life; for he is not yet entangled in the habit, he is not yet laid in the tomb. But he who has become habituated to sin, is buried, and has it properly said of him, he stinks; for his character, like some horrible smell, begins to be of the worst repute. Such are all who are habituated to crime, abandoned in morals. You say to such an one, Do not so. But when will you be listened to by one on whom the earth is thus heaped, who is breeding corruption, and pressed down with the weight of habit? And yet the power of Christ was not unequal to the task of restoring such an one to life. We know, we have seen, we see every day men changing the very worst of habits, and adopting a better manner of life than that of those who blamed them. You detested such a man: look at the sister of Lazarus herself (if, indeed, it was she who anointed the Lord's feet with ointment, and wiped with her hair what she had washed with her tears), who had a better resurrection than her brother; she was delivered from the mighty burden of a sinful character. For she was a notorious sinner; and had it said of her, Her many sins are forgiven her, for she has loved much. We see many such, we know many: let none despair, but let none presume in himself. Both the one and the other are sinful. Let your unwillingness to despair take such a turn as to lead you to make choice of Him in whom alone you may well presume.

4. So then the Lord also raised Lazarus to life. You have heard what type of character he represents; in other words, what is meant by the resurrection of Lazarus. Let us now, therefore, read over the passage; and as there is much in this lesson clear already, we shall not go into any detailed exposition, so as to take up more thoroughly the necessary points. Now a certain man was sick, [named] Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and Martha, his sisters. In the previous lesson you remember that the Lord escaped from the hands of those who sought to stone Him, and went away beyond Jordan, where John baptized. When the Lord therefore had taken up His abode there, Lazarus fell sick in Bethany, which was a town lying close to Jerusalem.

5. But Mary was she who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore his sisters sent unto Him, saying. We now understand whither it was they sent, namely, where the Lord was; for He was away, as you know, beyond the Jordan. They sent messengers to the Lord to tell Him that their brother was ill. He delayed to heal, that He might be able to raise to life. But what was the message sent by his sisters? Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick. They did not say, Come; for the intimation was all that was needed for one who loved. They did not venture to say, Come and heal him: they ventured not to say, Command there, and it shall be done here. And why not so with them, if on these very grounds the centurion's faith was commended? For he said, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof; but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. Matthew viii No such words said these women, but only, Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick. It is enough that You know; for You are not one that loves and forsakes. But says some one, How could a sinner be represented by Lazarus, and be so loved by the Lord? Let him listen to Him, when He says, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Matthew 9:13 For had not God loved sinners, He would not have come down from heaven to earth.

6. But when Jesus heard [that], He said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified. Such a glorifying of Himself did not add to His dignity, but benefited us. Hence He says, is not unto death, because even that death itself was not unto death, but rather unto the working of a miracle whereby men might be led to faith in Christ, and so escape the real death. And mark how the Lord, as it were indirectly, called Himself God, for the sake of some who deny that the Son is God. For there are heretics who make such a denial, that the Son of God is God. Let them hearken here: This sickness, He says, is not unto death, but for the glory of God. For what glory? For the glory of what God? Hear what follows: That the Son of God may be glorified. This sickness, therefore, He says, is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God maybe glorified thereby. By what? By that sickness.

7. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister Mary, and Lazarus. The one sick, the others sad, all of them beloved: but He who loved them was both the Saviour of the sick, nay more, the Raiser of the dead and the Comforter of the sad. When He heard therefore that he was sick, He abode then two days still in the same place. They sent Him word: He abode where He was: and the time ran on till four days were completed. And not in vain, were it only that perhaps, nay that certainly, even the very number of days has some sacramental significance. Then after that He says again to His disciples, Let us go into Judea: where He had been all but stoned, and from which He had apparently departed for the very purpose to escape being stoned. For as man He departed; but returned as if in forgetfulness of all infirmity, to show His power. Let us go, He said, into Judea.

8. And now see how the disciples were terrified at His words. The disciples say unto Him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone You, and You are going there again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? What does such an answer mean? They said to Him, The Jews of late sought to stone You, and You are going there again to be stoned? And the Lord, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbles not, because he sees the light of this world: but if he walk in the night, he stumbles, because there is no light in him. He spoke indeed of the day, but to our understanding as if it were still the night. Let us call upon the Day to chase away the night, and illuminate our hearts with the light. For what did the Lord mean? As far as I can judge, and as the height and depth of His meaning breaks into light, He wished to argue down their doubting and unbelief. For they wished by their counsel to keep the Lord from death, who had come to die, to save themselves from death. In a similar way also, in another passage, St. Peter, who loved the Lord, but did not yet fully understand the reason of His coming, was afraid of His dying, and so displeased the Life, to wit, the Lord Himself; for when He was intimating to the disciples what He was about to suffer at Jerusalem at the hands of the Jews, Peter made reply among the rest, and said, Far be it from You, Lord; pity Yourself: this shall not be unto You. And at once the Lord replied, Get behind me, Satan: for you savor not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. And yet a little before, in confessing the Son of God, he had merited commendation: for he heard the words, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 16:16-23 To whom He had said, Blessed are you, He now says, Get behind me, Satan; because it was not of himself that he was blessed. But of what then? For flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but my Father who is in heaven. See, this is how you are blessed, not from anything that is your own, but from that which is mine. Not that I am the Father, but that all things which the Father has are mine. But if his blessedness came from the Lord's own working, from whose [working] came he to be Satan? He there tells us: for He assigned the reason of such blessedness, when He said, Flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you, but my Father who is in heaven: that is the cause of your blessedness. But that I said, Get behind me, Satan, hear also its cause. For you savor not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Let no one then flatter himself: in that which is natural to himself he is Satan, in that which is of God he is blessed. For all that is of his own, whence comes it, but from his sin? Put away the sin, which is your own. Righteousness, He says, belongs unto me. For what have you that thou did not receive? 1 Corinthians 4:7 Accordingly, when men wished to give counsel to God, disciples to their Master, servants to their Lord, patients to their Physician, He reproved them by saying, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbles not. Follow me, if you would not stumble: give not counsel to me, from whom you ought to receive it. To what, then, refer the words, Are there not twelve hours in the day? Just that to point Himself out as the day, He made choice of twelve disciples. If I am the day, He says, and you the hours, is it for the hours to give counsel to the day? The day is followed by the hours, not the hours by the day. If these, then, were the hours, what in such a reckoning was Judas? Was he also among the twelve hours? If he was an hour, he had light; and if he had light, how was the Day betrayed by him to death? But the Lord, in so speaking, foresaw, not Judas himself, but his successor. For Judas, when he fell, was succeeded by Matthias, and the duodenary number preserved. Acts 1:26 It was not, then, without a purpose that the Lord made choice of twelve disciples, but to indicate that He Himself is the spiritual Day. Let the hours then attend upon the Day, let them preach the Day, be made known and illuminated by the Day, and by the preaching of the hours may the world believe in the Day. And so in a summary way it was just this that He said: Follow me, if you would not stumble.

9. And after that He says unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleeps; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. It was true what He said. To his sisters he was dead, to the Lord he was asleep. He was dead to men, who could not raise him again; but the Lord aroused him with as great ease from the tomb as one arouses a sleeper from his bed. Hence it was in reference to His own power that He spoke of him as sleeping: for others also, who are dead, are frequently spoken of in Scripture as sleeping; as when the apostle says, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others who have no hope. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 Therefore he also spoke of them as sleeping, because foretelling their resurrection. And so, all the dead are sleeping, both good and bad. But just as, in the case of those who sleep and waken day by day, there is a great difference as to what they severally see in their sleep: some experience pleasant dreams; others, dreams so frightful that the waking are afraid to fall asleep for fear of their recurrence: so every individual sleeps and wakens in circumstances peculiar to himself. And there is a difference as to the kind of custody one may be placed in, who is afterwards to be taken before the judge. For the kind of custody in which men are placed depends on the merits of the case: some are required to be guarded by lictors, an office humane and mild, and becoming a citizen; others are given up to subordinates; some, again, are sent to prison: and in the prison itself all are not thrust together into its lowest dungeons, but dealt with in proportion to the merits and superior gravity of the charges. As, then, there are different kinds of custody among those engaged in official life, so there are different kinds of custody for the dead, and differing merits in those who rise again. The beggar was taken into custody, so was the rich man: but the one into Abraham's bosom; the other, where he thirsted, and found not a drop of water. Luke 16:22-24

10. Therefore, to make this the occasion of instructing your Charity, all souls have, when they quit this world, their different receptions. The good have joy; the evil, torments. But when the resurrection takes place, both the joy of the good will be fuller and the torments of the wicked heavier, when they shall be tormented in the body. The holy patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and good believers, have been received into peace; but all of them have still in the end to receive the fulfillment of the divine promises; for they have been promised also the resurrection of the flesh, the destruction of death, and eternal life with the angels. This we have all to receive together; for the rest, which is given immediately after death, every one, if worthy of it, receives when he dies. The patriarchs first received it— think only from what they rest; the prophets afterwards; more recently the apostles; still more lately the holy martyrs, and day by day the good and faithful. Thus some have now been in that rest for long, some not so long; others for fewer years, and others whose entrance therein is still less than recent. But when they shall wake from this sleep, they shall all together receive the fulfillment of the promise.

11. Our friend Lazarus sleeps; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said His disciples— according to their understanding they replied— Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. For the sleep of the sick is usually a sign of returning health. Howbeit Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He spoke of the taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly,— for He said somewhat obscurely, He sleeps;— therefore He said plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe. I even know that he is dead, and I was not there: for he had been reported not as dead, but sick. But what could remain hid from Him who had created it, and into whose hands the soul of the dying man had departed? This is why He said, I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; that they might now begin to wonder that the Lord could assert his death, which He had neither seen nor heard of. For here we ought specially to bear in mind that as yet the disciples themselves, who already believed in Him, had their faith built up by miracles: not that a faith, utterly wanting till then, might begin to exist; but that what had previously come into being might be increased; although He made use of such an expression as if only then they would begin to believe. For He said not, I am glad for your sakes, that your faith may be increased or confirmed; but, that you may believe; which is to be understood as meaning, that your faith may be fuller and more vigorous.

12. Nevertheless, let us go unto him. Then said Thomas, who is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with Him. Therefore Jesus came, and found that he had [lain] in the grave four days already. Much might be said of the four days, according to the wont of the obscure passages of Scripture, which bear as many senses as there is diversity of those who understand them. Let us express also our opinion of what is meant by one four days dead. For as in the former case of the blind man we understand in a way the human race, so in the case of this dead man many perhaps are also to be understood; for one thing may be signified by different figures. When a man is born, he is born already in a state of death; for he inherits sin from Adam. Hence the apostle says: By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so that passed upon all men, wherein all have sinned. Romans 5:12 Here you have one day of death because man inherits it from the seed stock of death. Thereafter he grows, and begins to approach the years of reason that he may know the law of nature, which every one has had implanted in his heart: What you would not have done to yourself, do not to another. Is this learned from the pages of a book, and not in a measure legible in our very nature? Have you any desire to be robbed? Certainly not. See here, then, the law in your heart: What you are unwilling to suffer, be unwilling to do. This law also is transgressed by men; and here, then, we have the second day of death. The law was also divinely given through Moses, the servant of God; and therein it is said, You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and mother; you shall not covet your neighbor's property; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. Exodus 20:12-17 Here you have the written law, and it also is despised: this is the third day of death. What remains? The gospel also comes, the kingdom of heaven is preached, Christ is everywhere published; He threatens hell, He promises eternal life; and that also is despised. Men transgress the gospel; and this is the fourth day of death. Now he deservedly stinks. But is mercy to be denied to such? God forbid; for to raise such also from the dead, the Lord thinks it not unfitting to come.

13. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him; but Mary sat [still] in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if You had been here, my brother had not died. But I know that even now, whatsoever You will ask of God, God will give it You. She did not say, But even now I ask You to raise my brother to life again. For how could she know if such a resurrection would be of benefit to her brother? She only said, I know that You can, and whatsoever You are pleased, You do: for Your doing it is dependent on Your own judgment, not on my presumption. But even now I know that, whatsoever You will ask of God, God will give it You.

14. Jesus says unto her, Your brother shall rise again. This was ambiguous. For He said not, Even now I will raise your brother; but, Your brother shall rise again. Martha says unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection, at the last day. Of that resurrection I am sure, but uncertain about this. Jesus says unto her, I am the resurrection. You say, My brother shall rise again at the last day: true; but by Him, through whom he shall rise then, can he rise even now, for I, He says, am the resurrection and the life. Give ear, brethren, give ear to what He says. Certainly the universal expectation of the bystanders was that Lazarus, one who had been dead four days, would live again; let us hear, and rise again. How many are there in this audience who are crushed down under the weighty mass of some sinful habit! Perhaps some are hearing me to whom it may be said, Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; Ephesians 5:18 and they say, We cannot. Some others, it may be, are hearing me, who are unclean, and stained with lusts and crimes, and to whom it is said, Refrain from such conduct, that you perish not; and they reply, We cannot give up our habits. O Lord, raise them again. I am, He says, the resurrection and the life. The resurrection because the life.

15. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. What means this? He that believes in me, though he were dead, just as Lazarus is dead, yet shall he live; for He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Such was the answer He gave the Jews concerning their fathers, long ago dead, that is, concerning Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob: He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live unto Him. Believe then, and though thou were dead, yet shall you live: but if you believe not, even while you live you are dead. Let us prove this likewise, that if you believe not, though you live you are dead. To one who was delaying to follow Him, and saying, Let me first go and bury my father, the Lord said, Let the dead bury their dead; but come thou and follow me. Matthew 8:21-22 There was there a dead man requiring to be buried, there were there also dead men to bury the dead: the one was dead in the flesh, the others in soul. And how comes death on the soul? When faith is wanting. How comes death on the body? When the soul is wanting. Therefore your soul's soul is faith. He that believes in me, says Christ, though he were dead in the flesh, yet shall he live in the spirit; till the flesh also rise again, never more to die. This is he that believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And whosoever lives in the flesh, and believes in me, though he shall die in time on account of the death of the flesh, shall never die, because of the life of the spirit, and the immortality of the resurrection. Such is the meaning of the words, And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She says unto Him, Yea, Lord, I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who hast come into the world. When I believed this, I believed that You are the resurrection, that You are the life: I believed that he that believes in You, though he die, yet shall he live; and whosoever lives and believes in You, shall never die.

16. And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister silently, saying, The Master has come, and calls for you. It is worthy of notice the way in which the whispering of her voice was denominated silence. For how could she be silent, when she said, The Master has come, and calls for you? It is also to be noticed why it is that the evangelist has not said where, or when, or how the Lord called for Mary; namely, that in order to preserve the brevity of the narrative, it may rather be understood from the words of Martha.

17. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto Him. For Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was still in that place where Martha met Him. The Jews, then, who were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily, and went out, followed her, saying, She goes unto the grave, to weep there. What cause had the evangelist to tell us this? To show us what it was that occasioned the numerous concourse of people to be there when Lazarus was raised to life. For the Jews, thinking that her reason for hastening away was to seek in weeping the solace of her grief, followed her; that the great miracle of one rising again who had been four days dead, might have the presence of many witnesses.

18. Then when Mary had come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying unto Him, Lord, if You had been here, my brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping, who were with her, He groaned in the spirit, and troubled Himself, and said, Where have ye laid him? Something there is, did we but know it, that He has suggested to us by groaning in the spirit, and troubling Himself. For who could trouble Him, save He Himself? Therefore, my brethren, first give heed here to the power that did so, and then look for the meaning. You are troubled against your will; Christ was troubled because He willed. Jesus hungered, it is true, but because He willed; Jesus slept, it is true, but because He willed; He was sorrowful, it is true, but because He willed; He died, it is true, but because He willed: in His own power it lay to be thus and thus affected or not. For the Word assumed soul and flesh, fitting on Himself our whole human nature in the oneness of His person. For the soul of the apostle was illuminated by the Word; so was the soul of Peter, the soul of Paul, of the other apostles, and the holy prophets—the souls of all were illuminated by the Word; but of none was it said, The Word was made flesh; of none was it said, I and the Father are one. The soul and flesh of Christ is one person with the Word of God, one Christ. And by this [Word] wherein resided the supreme power, was infirmity made use of at the beck of His will; and in this way He troubled Himself.

19. I have spoken of the power: look now to the meaning. It is a great criminal that is signified by that four days' death and burial. Why is it, then, that Christ troubles Himself, but to intimate to you how you ought to be troubled, when weighed down and crushed by so great a mass of iniquity? For here you have been looking to yourself, been seeing your own guilt, been reckoning for yourself: I have done this, and God has spared me; I have committed this, and He has borne with me; I have heard the gospel, and despised it; I have been baptized, and returned again to the same course: what am I doing? Whither am I going? How shall I escape? When you speak thus, Christ is already groaning; for your faith is groaning. In the voice of one who groans thus, there comes to light the hope of his rising again. If such faith is within, there is Christ groaning; for if there is faith in us, Christ is in us. For what else says the apostle: That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. Ephesians 3:17 Therefore your faith in Christ is Christ Himself in your heart. This is why He slept in the ship; and why, when His disciples were in danger and already on the verge of shipwreck, they came to Him and awoke Him. Christ arose, laid His commands on the winds and waves, and there ensued a great calm. Matthew 8:24-26 So also with you; the winds enter your heart, that is, where you sail, where you pass along this life as a stormy and dangerous sea; the winds enter, the billows rise and toss your vessel. What are the winds? You have received some insult, and are angry: that insult is the wind; that anger, the waves. You are in danger, you prepare to reply, to render cursing for cursing, and your vessel is already near to shipwreck. Awake the Christ who is sleeping. For you are in commotion, and making ready to render evil for evil, because Christ is sleeping in your vessel. For the sleep of Christ in your heart is the forgetfulness of faith. But if you arouse Christ, that is, recallest your faith, what do you hear said to you by Christ, when now awake in your heart? I [He says] have heard it said to me, You have a devil, and I have prayed for them. The Lord hears and suffers; the servant hears and is angry! But you wish to be avenged. Why so? I am already avenged. When your faith so speaks to you, command is exercised, as it were, over the winds and waves, and there is a great calm. As, then, to awaken Christ in the vessel is just to awaken faith; so in the heart of one who is pressed down by a great mass and habit of sin, in the heart of the man who has been a transgressor even of the holy gospel and a despiser of eternal punishment, let Christ groan, let such a man betake himself to self-accusation. Hear still more: Christ wept; let man bemoan himself. For why did Christ weep, but to teach man to weep? Wherefore did He groan and trouble Himself, but to intimate that the faith of one who has just cause to be displeased with himself ought to be in a sense groaning over the accusation of wicked works, to the end that the habit of sinning may give way to the vehemence of penitential sorrow?

20. And He said, Where have ye laid him? Thou knew that he was dead, and are You ignorant of the place of his burial? The meaning here is, that a man thus lost becomes, as it were, unknown to God. I have not ventured to say, Is unknown— for what is unknown to Him? But, As it were unknown. And how do we prove this? Listen to the Lord, who will yet say in the judgment, I know you not: depart from me. Matthew 7:23 What does that mean, I know you not? I see you not in that light of mine— in that righteousness which I know. So here, also, as if knowing nothing of such a sinner, He said, Where have ye laid him? Similar in character was God's voice in Paradise after man had sinned: Adam, where are you? Genesis 3:9 They say unto Him, Lord, come and see. What means this see? Have pity. For the Lord sees when He pities. Hence it is said to Him, Look upon my humility [affliction] and my pain, and forgive all my sins.

21. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how He loved him! Loved him, what does that mean? I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Matthew 9:13 But some of them said, Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not die? But He, who would do nought to hinder his dying, had something greater in view in raising him from the dead.
22. Jesus therefore again groaning in Himself, comes to the tomb. May His groaning have you also for its object, if you would re-enter into life! Every man who lies in that dire moral condition has it said to him, He comes to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone had been laid upon it. Dead under that stone, guilty under the law. For you know that the law, which was given to the Jews, was inscribed on stone. Exodus 31:18 And all the guilty are under the law: the right-living are in harmony with the law. The law is not laid on a righteous man. 1 Timothy 1:9 What mean then the words, Take ye away the stone? Preach grace. For the Apostle Paul calls himself a minister of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit; for the letter, he says, kills, but the spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3:6 The letter that kills is like the stone that crushes. Take ye away, He says, the stone. Take away the weight of the law; preach grace. For if there had been a law given, which could have given life, verily righteousness should be by the law. But the Scripture has concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. Galatians 3:21-22 Therefore take ye away the stone.

23. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, says unto Him, Lord, by this time he stinks: for he has been [dead] four days. Jesus says unto her, Have I not said unto you, that, if you believe, you shall see the glory of God? What does He mean by this, you shall see the glory of God? That He can raise to life even one who is putrid and has been four days [dead]. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans 3:23 and, Where sin abounded, grace also did superabound. Romans 5:20

24. Then they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, I thank You, that You have heard me. And I knew that You hear me always: but because of the people that stand by I said it, that they may believe that You have sent me. And when He had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice. He groaned, He wept, He cried with a loud voice. With what difficulty does one rise who lies crushed under the heavy burden of a habit of sinning! And yet he does rise: he is quickened by hidden grace within; and after that loud voice he rises. For what followed? He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And immediately he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with bandages; and his face was bound about with a napkin. Do you wonder how he came forth with his feet bound, and wonderest not at this, that after four days' interment he rose from the dead? In both events it was the power of the Lord that operated, and not the strength of the dead. He came forth, and yet still was bound. Still in his burial shroud, he has already come outside the tomb. What does it mean? While you despise [Christ], you lie in the arms of death; and if your contempt reaches the lengths I have mentioned, you are buried as well: but when you make confession, you come forth. For what is this coming forth, but the open acknowledgment you make of your state, in quitting, as it were, the old refuges of darkness? But the confession you make is effected by God, when He cries with a loud voice, or in other words, calls you in abounding grace. Accordingly, when the dead man had come forth, still bound; confessing, yet guilty still; that his sins also might be taken away, the Lord said to His servants: Loose him, and let him go. What does He mean by such words? What soever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Matthew 16:19

25. Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on Him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. All of the Jews who had come to Mary did not believe, but many of them did. But some of them, whether of the Jews who had come, or of those who had believed, went away to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done: whether in the way of conveying intelligence, in order that they also might believe, or rather in the spirit of treachery, to arouse their anger. But whoever were the parties, and whatever their motive, intelligence of these events was carried to the Pharisees.

26. Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? But they did not say, Let us believe. For these abandoned men were more occupied in considering what evil they could do to effect His ruin, than in consulting for their own preservation: and yet they were afraid, and took counsel of a kind together. For they said, What do we? For this man does many miracles: if we let him thus alone, all men will believe in him; and the Romans shall come, and take away both our place and nation. They were afraid of losing their temporal possessions, and thought not of life eternal; and so they lost both. For the Romans, after our Lord's passion and entrance into glory, took from them both their place and nation, when they took the one by storm and transported the other: and now that also pursues them, which is said elsewhere, But the children of the kingdom shall go into outer darkness. Matthew 8:12 But this was what they feared, that if all believed on Christ, there would be none remaining to defend the city of God and the temple against the Romans; just because they had a feeling that Christ's teaching was directed against the temple itself and their own paternal laws.

27. And one of them, [named] Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, You know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spoke he not of himself; but being high priest that year, he prophesied. We are here taught that the Spirit of prophecy used the agency even of wicked men to foretell what was future; which, however, the evangelist attributes to the divine sacramental fact that he was pontiff, which is to say, the high priest. It may, however, be a question in what way he is called the high priest of that year, seeing that God appointed one person to be high priest, who was to be succeeded only at his death by another. But we are to understand that ambitious schemes and contentions among the Jews led to the appointment afterwards of more than one, and to their annual turn of service. For it is said also of Zacharias: And it came to pass that, while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. Luke 1:8-9 From which it is evident that there were more than one, and that each had his turn: for it was lawful for the high priest alone to place the incense on the altar. Exodus 30:7 And perhaps also there were several in actual service in the same year, who were succeeded next year by several others, and that it fell by lot to one of them to burn incense. What was it, then, that Caiaphas prophesied? That Jesus should die for the nation; and not for the nation only, but that also He should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. This is added by the evangelist; for Caiaphas prophesied only of the Jewish nation, in which there were sheep of whom the Lord Himself had said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Matthew 15:24 But the evangelist knew that there were other sheep, which were not of this fold, but which had also to be brought, that there might be one fold and one shepherd. But this was said in the way of predestination; for those who were still unbelieving were as yet neither His sheep nor the children of God.

28. Then, from that day forth, they took counsel together for to put Him to death. Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with His disciples. Not that there was any failure in His power, by which, had He only wished, He might have continued His intercourse with the Jews, and received no injury at their hands; but in His human weakness He furnished His disciples with an example of living, by which He might make it manifest that it was no sin in His believing ones, who are His members, to withdraw from the presence of their persecutors, and escape the fury of the wicked by concealment, rather than inflame it by showing themselves openly.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:1

Among all the miracles done by our Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrection of Lazarus holds a prime place in preaching. But if we consider attentively who did it, our duty is to rejoice rather than to wonder. A man was raised up by him who made humankind. He is the only one of the Father by whom, as you know, all things were made. And if all things were made by him, why is anyone amazed that one was raised by him when so many are daily brought into the world by his power? It is a greater deed to create men and women than to raise them again from the dead. Yet he decided both to create and to raise again; to create all, to resuscitate some.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.1

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:1-5

(Tr. xlix. 1) The resurrection of Lazarus is more spoken of than any of our Lord's miracles. But if we bear in mind who He was who wrought this miracle, we shall feel not so much of wonder, as of delight. He who made the man, raised the man; and it is a greater thing to create a man, than to revive him. Lazarus was sick at Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. The place was near Jerusalem.

(de Con. Ev. ii. lxxix.) John here confirms the passage in Luke (Luke 7:38), where this is said to have taken place in the house of one Simon a Pharisee: Mary had done this act therefore on a former occasion. That she did it again at Bethany is not mentioned in the narrative of Luke, but is in the other three Gospels.

(de Verb. Dom. s. lii) A cruel sickness had seized Lazarus; a wasting fever was eating away the body of the wretched man day by day: his two sisters sat sorrowful at his bedside, grieving for the sick youth continually. They sent to Jesus: Therefore his sisters sent unto Him, saying, Lord, behold he whom Thou lovest is sick.

(Tr. xlix. 5) They did not say, Come and heal; they dared not say, Speak the word there, and it shall be done here; but only, Behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick. As if to say, It is enough that Thou know it, Thou art not one to love and then to desert whom Thou lovest.

(Tr. xlix. 6) When Jesus heard that, He said, This sickness is not unto death. For this death itself was not unto death, but to give occasion for a miracle; whereby men might be brought to believe in Christ, and so escape real death. It was for the glory of God, wherein observe that our Lord calls Himself God by implication, thus confounding those heretics who say that the Son of God is not God. For the glory of what God? Hear what follows, That the Son of God might be glorified thereby, i. e. by that sickness.

(Tr. xlix. 7) He is sick, they sorrowful, all beloved. Wherefore they had hope, for they were beloved by Him Who is the Comforter of the sorrowful, and the Healer of the sick.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:1

With a purpose does the Evangelist make mention of the names of the women, showing that they were distinguished for their piety. Wherefore also the Lord loved them. And of the many things which probably had been done for the Lord by Mary, he mentions the ointment, not at haphazard, but to show that Mary had such thirst after Christ that she wiped His feet with her own hair, seeking to fasten to herself more really the spiritual blessing which comes from His holy Flesh; for indeed she appears often with much warmth of attachment to have sat close to Christ without being distracted by interruption, and to have been drawn into friendly relationship with Him.

[AD 555] Romanos the Melodist on John 11:1

Let us all, with longing, run to Bethany to see Christ there, weeping for his friend.
For desiring all things to be ordained by law,
He accomplishes all things in the duality of his nature. He suffers as son of David.
As Son of God, he redeems the whole world
From all the evil of the serpent,
And on the fourth day, he raises up Lazarus,
Taking pity as the one who has compassion on
The tears of Mary and Martha.

Together sustained by faith,
These women announced to Christ and to God the death of their sibling, saying,
“Hurry, come, you who are always present in all places,
For Lazarus whom you love is sick.
Therefore if you come near,
Death will run away, and your friend will be delivered from corruption,
And the Jews will see that you, the Merciful One, have had compassion on
The tears of Mary and Martha.”

Source: KONTAKION ON THE RAISING OF LAZARUS 27.2-3

[AD 735] Bede on John 11:1-5

(non occ.) After our Lord had departed to the other side of Jordan, it happened that Lazarus fell sick: A certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany.In some copies the copulative conjunction precedes, to mark the connection with the words preceding. (ἢν δέ τις, now a certain man.) Lazarus signifies helped. Of all the dead which our Lord raised, he was most helped, for he had lain dead four days, when our Lord raised him to life.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 804] Alcuin of York on John 11:1-5

And as there were many women of this name, He distinguishes her by her well-known act: It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 11:1-5

And because they were women, and it did not become them to leave their home if they could help it. Great devotion and faith is expressed in these words, Behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick. Such was their idea of our Lord's power, that they were surprised, that one, whom He loved, could be seized with sickness.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:2

First we are to observe that this was not the harlot mentioned in Matthew or Luke, but a different person. Those mentioned in Matthew and Luke were harlots full of many vices, but she was an honest woman, who treated our Lord with marked reverence.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.1

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:2

John here confirms the passage in Luke, where this is said to have taken place in the house of one Simon a Pharisee: Mary had done this act therefore on a former occasion. That she did it again at Bethany is not mentioned in the narrative of Luke, but it is in the other three Gospels.

Source: HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 2.79.154

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:2

The Evangelist has a purpose in mentioning the names of the women, showing that they were distinguished for their piety, which is why the Lord loved them. And of the many things that probably had been done for the Lord by Mary, he mentions the ointment, not in a haphazard way but in order to show that Mary had such a thirst for Christ that she wiped his feet with her own hair, seeking to fasten to herself in a more real way the spiritual blessing that comes from his holy flesh. Indeed, she often appears with much warmth of attachment, sitting close to Christ without being distracted by any interruption and to have been drawn into a close relationship of friendship with him.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7

[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on John 11:3

One of the Lord’s companions and friends is ill (Lazarus is the sick man’s name). The Lord refuses any visiting of his friend, though far away from the sick man, that in the absence of the Life, death might find room and power to do his own work by the agency of disease.

Source: ON THE MAKING OF MAN 25.11

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:3

They desired to draw on Christ to pity, for they still gave heed to Him as to a man. This is plain from what they say, If you had been here, he had not died, and from their saying, not, Behold, Lazarus is sick, but Behold, he whom you love is sick. What then said Christ?

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:3

Many are offended when they see any of those who are pleasing to God suffering anything terrible. There are those, for instance, who have fallen ill or have become impoverished or have endured some other tragedy. Those who are offended by this do not know that those who are especially dear to God have it as their lot to endure such things, as we see in the case of Lazarus, who was also one of the friends of Christ but was also sick.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.1

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:3

But what was the message sent by his sisters? “Lord, behold, he whom you love is ill.” They did not say, “Come,” for the intimation was all that was needed for one who loved. They did not venture to say, “Come and heal him,” nor did they venture to say, “Command there, and it shall be done here.” And why would it be any different with them if, on these very grounds, the centurion’s faith was commended? For he said, “I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof. But only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.” These women said nothing like this, but only, “Lord, behold, he whom you love is ill”—as if to say: It is enough that you know. For you are not one that loves and then abandons.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.5

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:3

The women send to the Lord, ever wishing to have Him near them, but on this occasion sending under a fair pretext on account of him who was sick. For they believed that if Christ would only appear the sufferer would be set free from his disease. And they gently remind Him of the love which He had for the sick man, drawing Him thither especially by this means; for they knew that He took thought for this man. And He was able, even though absent, to heal him, as being God and tending all things; nevertheless, they thought that if He were present, He would put forth His hand and awaken him. Not even they possessed as yet the perfection of faith, wherefore also they are troubled, as it seems probable, with the thought that Lazarus would not have been ill at all, had not Christ neglected him: for, say they, since such as are beloved by God possess all good things, why is he whom Thou lovest, sick? Or perhaps they even say: Great is the audacity of the sickness, because it dared to attack such as are beloved by God. And it may be too that they |111 seem to say something of this sort. Since Thou lovest and healest even Thine enemies, much rather oughtest Thou to confer such benefits on them that love Thee. For Thou art able to do all things by merely Thy Will. Therefore their language is full of faith and proves their close relationship to Christ.

[AD 450] Peter Chrysologus on John 11:3

Our Lord had raised up the daughter of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue. Although he restored life to the dead girl, he left the law of death still in force. He also raised the widow’s only son. He halted the bier, forestalled the young man’s burial, arrested the onset of physical decay. But the life he restored had not completely fallen in to the power of death. The case of Lazarus was unique. His death and resurrection to life had nothing in common with the other two. Death had already exerted its full power over him, so that in him the sign of the resurrection shone out in all its fullness. I think it is possible to say that if Lazarus had remained only three days in the tomb it would have deprived our Lord’s resurrection of its full significance, since Christ proved himself Lord by returning to life after three days, whereas Lazarus, as his servant, had to lie in the grave for four days before he was recalled. However, let us see if we can verify this suggestion by reading the Gospel text further.“His sisters sent a message to Jesus saying, Lord, the friend whom you love is sick.” By these words they appeal to his affection, they lay claim to his friendship, they call on his love, urging their familiar relationship with him to persuade him to relieve their distress. But for Christ it was more important to conquer death than to cure disease. He showed his love for his friend not by healing him but by calling him back from the grave. Instead of a remedy for his illness, he offered him the glory of rising from the dead.

Source: SERMON 63.1-2

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:4

Observe how he again asserts that his glory and the Father’s is one. For, after saying “of God,” he has added, “that the Son of God might be glorified.”

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.1

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:4

The word “that” [which is in the phrase “that the Son of God may be glorified,”] here signifies not the cause but the consequence. The sickness sprang from other [natural] causes, but he turned it to the glory of God.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.1

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:4

The Lord now says this, not that the men may go away and report it to the sisters of Lazarus, but as God foretelling what should come to pass, because He saw that the conclusion of the affair would be for the glory of God; not that the sickness came upon the man for this reason, that He should be glorified; for it would be silly to say this; but since it had come, He also saw that it would result in a wonderful end. And He says that Himself is in His Nature God, for that which is done, is done for His glory. For after saying that the sickness was for the glory of God, He added: That the Son of God may be glorified thereby, speaking concerning Himself.

And if He Himself said that the sickness of Lazarus was not unto death, and yet his death took place, there is nothing to marvel at. For looking on to the final result of the affair, and seeing that He was going to raise him up after a little time, we do not consider anything that took place in the interval, but only how the end would result. For the Lord determined to set forth the weakness of death, and to show forth all that happened as for the glory of God, that is, of Himself.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:4

Jesus saw that in the end, Lazarus’s illness and death would be for the glory of God. This is not to say that the sickness came on Lazarus so that God should be glorified, for it would be silly to say this, but rather, since the sickness had come upon Lazarus, Jesus foresaw the wonderful conclusion to Lazarus’s illness.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:5

That we should never be discontented or vexed if any sickness happen to good men, and such as are dear to God.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:5

Lazarus is sick, his sisters are sorrowful, all of them are loved. But [they had hope because the] one who loved them was the healer of the sick—even more, he was the raiser of the dead and the comforter of the sorrowful.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.7

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:6

Wherefore tarried He? That Lazarus might breathe his last, and be buried; that none might be able to assert that He restored him when not yet dead, saying that it was a lethargy, a fainting, a fit, but not death. On this account He tarried so long, that corruption began, and they said, He now stinks.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:6-10

(Hom. lxii non occ. v. lxii. 3.) Wherein the Evangelist instructs us not to be sad, if sickness ever falls upon good men, and friends of God.

(Hom. lxii. 1) To give time for his death and burial, that they might say, he stinketh, and none doubt that it was death, and not a trance, from which he was raised.
Then after that saith He to His disciples, Let us go into Judæa again.

(Hom. lxii. 1) He had not as yet told His disciples where He was going; but now He tells them, in order to prepare them beforehand, for they are in great alarm, when they hear of it: His disciples say unto Him, Master, the Jews sought to stone Thee, and goest Thou thither again? They feared both for Him, and for themselves; for they were not yet confirmed in faith.

(Hom. lxii. 1) As if to say, The upright need fear no evil: the wicked only have cause to fear. We have done nothing worthy of death, and therefore are in no danger. Or, If any one seeth this world's light, he is safe; much more he who is with Me.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:6-10

(Tr. xlix. 7) Where He had just escaped being stoned; for this was the cause of His leaving. He left indeed as man: He left in weakness, but He returns in power.

(Tr. xlix. 8) When men presumed to give advice to God, disciples to their Master, our Lord rebuked them: Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? He showed Himself to be the day, by appointing twelve disciples: i. e. reckoning Matthias in the place of Judas, and passing over the latter altogether. The hours are lightened by the day; that by the preaching of the hours, the world may believe on the day. Follow Me then, saith our Lord, if ye wish not to stumble: If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world: But if a man walk in the night he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:6

And He deferred His arrival in order that He might not heal him while sick, but raise him when dead; which is a work of greater power, so that He would be more greatly glorified.

[AD 450] Peter Chrysologus on John 11:6

You see how he gives full scope to death. He grants free reign to the grave. He allows corruption to set in. He prohibits neither putrefaction nor stench from taking their normal course. He allows the realm of darkness to seize his friend, drag him down to the underworld, and take possession of him. He acts like this so that human hope may perish entirely and human despair reach its lowest depths. The deed he is about to accomplish may then clearly be seen to be the work of God, not of man.[Jesus] waited for Lazarus to die, staying in the same place until he could tell his disciples that he was dead. Then he announced his intention of going to him. “Lazarus is dead,” he said, “and I am glad.” Was this a sign of his love for his friend? Not so. Christ was glad because their sorrow over the death of Lazarus was soon to be changed into joy at his restoration to life. “I am glad for your sake,” he said. Why for their sake? Because the death and raising of Lazarus were a perfect prefiguration of the death and resurrection of the Lord himself. What the Lord was soon to achieve in himself had already been achieved in his servant.… This explains why he said to them, “I am glad for your sake not to have been there, because now you will believe.” It was necessary that Lazarus should die, so that the faith of the disciples might also rise with him from the dead.

Source: SERMON 63.2

[AD 804] Alcuin of York on John 11:6-10

Our Lord heard of the sickness of Lazarus, but suffered four days to pass before He cured it; that the recovery might be a more wonderful one. When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days still in the place where He was.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 11:6-10

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:7-8

He had not as yet told his disciples where he was going. But now he tells them, in order to prepare them beforehand because they are so worried when they hear about it.… They feared both for him and for themselves. For they were not yet established in faith.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.1

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:7

Why, when He never in other places told them beforehand where He was going, does He tell them here? They had been greatly terrified, and since they were in this way disposed, He forewarns them, that the suddenness might not trouble them. What then say the disciples?

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:7-8

[Judea is] where he had just escaped being stoned. For this was the cause of his leaving. He left indeed as man: he left in weakness, but he returns in power.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.7

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:7

Now when the Lord said: Let us go into Judaea again, He seems almost to declare "Even though the people there are unworthy of kindness, yet now that an opportunity presents itself of conveying them some advantage, let us go back to them;" but the disciples in their love for Him think it right to try to hinder Him, and moreover as men they suppose that He would be unwilling to put Himself in peril by going amongst the Jews. Wherefore also they remind Him of the madness of the Jews against Him, all but saying: "Why again dost Thou seek to be amidst the unbelieving and ungrateful people who are not softened either by Thy words or even by Thy works? who even yet are of murderous intent against Thee, and who are boiling with passionate rage?" Either then they say this, or their language signifies that He is leading them into evident danger. Nevertheless, they are obedient to their Teacher, as to One Who knows what is best.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:8

They therefore had feared for Him also, but for the more part rather for themselves; for they were not yet perfect. So Thomas, shaking with fear, said, Let us go, that we also may die with Him John 11:16, because Thomas was weaker and more unbelieving than the rest. But see how Jesus encourages them by what He says.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:9-10

As the day is divided into twelve hours, accordingly the twelve patriarchs and the choir of the apostles are equal in number with the hours of the day, having as their Sun Christ our God, who is also the spiritual Day, from whom there is learning and the enlightenment of its knowledge.

Source: FRAGMENT 137 ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on John 11:9-10

Consider what I have said, that the Light is Christ. Everyone who will walk in his commandments will not be laid hold of by evil. These twelve hours that are in the day are the twelve apostles. The devil … is compared with the night. He who walks in the will of the devil will stumble because he does not have the light of Christ.

Source: HOMILY ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:9-10

It is as if Jesus is saying that the upright need fear no evil. It is only the wicked who have cause to fear. We have done nothing worthy of death, and therefore we are in no danger. Or, he is saying, If any one sees this world’s light, he is safe. The one who is with me is even safer.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.1

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:9

He either says this, that he who is conscious to himself of no evil, shall suffer nothing dreadful; only he that does evil shall suffer, so that we need not fear, because we have done nothing worthy of death; or else that, he who 'sees the light of this world' is in safety; and if he that sees the light of this world is in safety, much more he that is with Me, if he separate not himself from Me. Having encouraged them by these words, He adds, that the cause of their going there was pressing, and shows them that they were about to go not unto Jerusalem, but unto Bethany.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:9-10

What did the Lord mean? As far as I can judge … he wanted to dissuade them from their doubting and unbelief. For their words were meant to keep the Lord from death, who had come to die, in order to save themselves from death too. … And so, when [these] men presumed to give advice to God, disciples to their Master, servants to their Lord, patients to their physician, our Lord reproved them, saying, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks during the day, he does not stumble.” Follow me if you do not want to stumble. Do not give counsel to me when you should be receiving it from me instead.… He showed himself to be the day by appointing twelve disciples. If I am the day, he says, and you are the hours, is it for the hours to give counsel to the day? The day is followed by the hours, not the hours by the day.… Even when Judas fell, he was still succeeded by Matthias, and the number twelve was preserved. Our Lord did not make the choice of twelve disciples arbitrarily, then, but to indicate that he himself is the spiritual Day. Let the hours be lightened by the day so that by the preaching of the hours, the world may believe on the day. Follow me, then, says our Lord, if you wish not to stumble.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.8

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:9-10

Perhaps he compares to the ever-moving course of the day, the easily-swayed and novelty-loving mind of people, which is not established in one opinion but vacillates from one way of thinking to another, just as the day changes from one hour to another. This is also how the words “are there twelve hours in the day” can be understood. In other words, “I,” he says, “am the Day and the Light. Therefore, just as it is not possible for the light of the day to fail without having completed its appointed time, so it is not among possibilities that the illumination that proceeds from me should be shrouded from the Jews without having fully reached its fitting measure of love for humankind.” And he speaks of the time of his presence as “day,” and of that before it as “night,” as the Lord also does when he says, “We must work the works of him that sent us while it is day.” This therefore is what he says here: “This is not the time for me to separate myself from the Jews, even though they are unholy. Instead, I must do everything that I can for their healing. For they must not now be punished by having the divine grace (like the light of the sun) withdrawn from them. But just as the light of the day does not fail until the twelve hours have been completed, so the illumination that proceeds from me is not shrouded before the proper time. However, until I am crucified I remain among the Jews, sending forth unto them like light the understanding of the knowledge of God. For since the Jews are in the darkness of unbelief, and so stumble on me as on a stone, I must go back to them and enlighten them so that they may desist from their madness in fighting against God.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:9

Perhaps He compares to the ever-moving course of the day, the easily-swayed and novelty-loving mind of men, which is not established in one opinion, but vacillates from one way of thinking to another, just as the day changes from one hour to another. And thus also thou wilt understand the words: Are there not twelve hours in the day? That is, "I," says He, "am the Day and the Light. Therefore, just as it is not possible for the light of the day to fail, without having completed its appointed time; so it is not among possibilities that the illumination which proceeds from Me should be shrouded from the Jews, without having fully reached its fitting measure of philanthropy." And He speaks of the time of His presence as "day," and of that before it as "night;" as also when the Lord says: We must work the works of Him that sent us, while it is day. This therefore is what He here says: "It is not now a time for Me to separate Myself from the Jews, even though they be unholy, but I must do all things that pertain to their healing. For they must not now be punished, by having the Divine grace (like the light of the sun) withdrawn from them. But just as the light of the day does not fail until the twelve hours have been completed, so the illumination that proceeds from Me is not shrouded before the proper time; but until I am crucified I remain among the Jews, sending forth unto them like light the understanding of the knowledge of God. For since the Jews are in the darkness of unbelief, and so stumble at Me as at a stone, I must go back to them and enlighten them, that they may desist from their madness in fighting against God."

[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on John 11:11

For truly the death of human beings is counted with the Lord as sleep. Why does he say “I go”? Are you unable to enliven the dead while remaining here? But, [Jesus says], the Jews in my absence do not receive the grace. For perhaps on his arising they will think Lazarus has come to life by some chance. I therefore am coming so that, if I am there, they will be eyewitnesses of the miracles done by me. And when they receive this grace from me, they can then be brought to a sure and certain faith.

Source: ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN AND THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:11-16

(Hom. lxii. 1) After He has comforted His disciples in one way, He comforts them in another, by telling them that they were not going to Jerusalem, but to Bethany: These things saith He: and after that He saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep: as if to say, I am not going to dispute again with the Jews, but to awaken our friend. Our friend, He says, to show how strongly they were bound to go.

(Hom. lxii. 1) The disciples however wished to prevent Him going to Judæa: Then said His disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Sleep is a good sign in sickness. And therefore if he sleep, say they, what need to go and awake him.

(Hom. lxii. 2.) But if any one say, that the disciples could not but have known that our Lord meant Lazarus's death, when He said, that I may awake him; because it would have been absurd to have gone such a distance merely to awake Lazarus out of sleep; we answer, that our Lord's words were a kind of enigma to the disciples, here as elsewhere often.

(Hom. lxii. 2) But He does not add here, I go that I may awake him. He did not wish to anticipate the miracle by talking of it; a hint to us to shun vain glory, and abstain from empty promises.

(Hom. lxii. 2) The disciples all dreaded the Jews; and especially Thomas; Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow-disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. But he who was now the most weak and unbelieving of all the disciples, afterwards became stronger than any. And he who dared not go to Bethany, afterwards went over the whole earth, in the midst of those who wished his death, with a spirit indomitable.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:11

That is, I go not for the same purpose as before, again to reason and contend with the Jews, but to awaken our friend.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:11-16

(Tr. xlix. c. 9) It was really true that He was sleeping. To our Lord, he was sleeping; to men who could not raise him again, he was dead. Our Lord awoke him with as much ease from his grave, as thou awakest a sleeper from his bed. He calls him then asleep, with reference to His own power, as the Apostle saith, But I would not have you to be ignorant, concerning them which are asleep. (1 Thess. 4:13) Asleep, He says, because He is speaking of their resurrection which was to be. But as it matters to those who sleep and wake again daily, what they see in their sleep, some having pleasant dreams, others painful ones, so it is in death; every one sleeps and rises again with his own account.a

(Tr. xlix. 11) The disciples replied, as they understood Him: Howbeit Jesus spake of his death; but they thought that He had spoken of taking rest in sleep.

(Tr. xlix. 11) He then declares His meaning openly: Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

(Tr. xlix. 11) He had been sent for to restore Lazarus from sickness, not from death. But how could the death be hid from Him, into whose hands the soul of the dead had flown?
And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that ye might believe; i. e. seeing My marvellous power of knowing a thing I have neither seen nor heard. The disciples already believed in Him in consequence of His miracles; so that their faith had not now to begin, but only to increase. That ye might believe, means, believe more deeply, more firmly.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:11

It was really true that he was sleeping. To his sisters he was dead; to our Lord, he was sleeping. To those who could not raise him again, he was dead. Our Lord awoke him with as much ease from his grave as you might awake a sleeper from his bed. He calls him then “asleep,” with reference to his own power, … as the apostle says, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, concerning those who are asleep.” … Asleep, he says, because he is foretelling their resurrection. And so, all the dead are sleeping, both good and bad. But just as it matters to those who sleep and wake again daily, what they see in their sleep—some having pleasant dreams, others nightmares so scary that they are afraid to fall asleep again in case they reoccur—so it is [in death]. Everyone sleeps and wakes up again in circumstances peculiar to his own situation.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.9

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:11

"A worthy cause draws Me towards Jerusalem;" for so much is signified by the words: Our friend is fallen asleep; "and if we should let it pass neglected, we should incur the reputation of being devoid of compassion. Wherefore we must avoid the disgrace of such conduct, and run to the help of our friend, despising the plots of the Jews." And showing His own God-befitting power, He calls the departure of the human soul from the body by the name of sleep, and very rightly: for He does not think it proper to call it death, Who created man for immortality, according as it is written, and made the generations of the world to be healthful. Moreover, the language is also true, because the temporary death of our body is in the sight of God really a sleep and nothing different, brought to an end by a mere and single sign from that which is by nature Life, namely, Christ. And notice that He did not say: "Lazarus is dead and I go to raise him to life," but says: "He is fallen asleep," avoiding boastfulness, for our instruction and profit; for [without some such good reason] He would not have uttered a sentence so obscure in its hidden meaning that not even the disciples themselves understood what was said. For He did not say: "I go to quicken him into life" or "to raise him up from the dead," but "that I may awake him out of sleep;" which was at the time insufficient to suggest His real meaning.

[AD 735] Bede on John 11:11-16

The disciples, checked by our Lord's answer to them, dared no longer oppose; and Thomas, more forward than the rest, says, Let us also go that we may die with him. What an appearance of firmness! He speaks as if he could really do what he said; unmindful, like Peter, of his frailty.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 11:11-16

Some understand the day to be the time preceding the Passion, the night to be the Passion. In this sense, while it is day, would mean, before My Passion; Ye will not stumble before My Passion, because the Jews will not persecute you; but when the night, i. e. My Passion, cometh, then shall ye be beset with darkness and difficulties.

Some have understood this place thus. I rejoice, He says, for your sakes; for if I had been there, I should have only cured a sick man; which is but an inferior sign of power. But since in My absence he has died, ye will now see that I can raise even the dead putrefying body; and your faith will be strengthened.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:12

This they said not without a cause, but desiring to hinder the going there. Sayest Thou, asks one of them, that he sleeps? Then there is no urgent reason for going. Yet on this account He had said, Our friend, to show that the going there was necessary. When therefore their disposition was somewhat reluctant, He said,

[AD 555] Romanos the Melodist on John 11:12-13

The Creator of all prophesied to the disciples, saying: “Friends and companions, our friend has fallen asleep.”
He was teaching them in advance, mystically,
Because he knows all things as the creator of all things.
“Let us go, then, let us advance and see the strange tomb,
And let us cause the mourning of Mary and Martha to cease
As I raise up Lazarus from the dead,
And, as the Merciful One, have compassion on
The tears of Mary and Martha.”

When they heard these words, all of the apostles as with one voice cried out to the Lord,
“Sleep for human beings is always for their deliverance, not for their destruction.”
And so he spoke to them openly: “He is dead.
As mortal I am away from him. But as God, I know all things.
If we truly arrive at the opportune time,
I will raise the dead, and stop now
The tears of Mary and Martha.”

Source: KONTAKION ON THE RAISING OF LAZARUS 27.4-5

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:13

They, not understanding the force of the words, thought that Jesus spake of taking rest in sleep, which when sick men can do, they generally experience refreshment; wherefore the disciples say: "It is not worth while to go and disturb Lazarus from his sleep, for it does not benefit a sick man to awake him out of sleep." And this they said, wishing to hinder Him from the journey by remarking that it was not meet to go into the midst of those murderers for the sake of doing something which would produce no good result.

[AD 360] Potamius of Lisbon on John 11:14

Lazarus, this intimate friend of God, died, as is known through the testimony of the Gospel. According to John, for forty years he had compensated for the losses of the flesh by the actions of his will. And so after a quick death which was due to his earthly frame, that is, to earth itself more than humanity—according to the book of Genesis the rich fluidity of clay is responsible for us as well—while Christ the judge was far away, imparting the gifts of salvation on the borders of Judea, Lazarus was buried and placed in the tomb in order that he might begin to be what he had been—clay.

Source: ON LAZARUS

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on John 11:14

All physicians wear themselves out for their patient lest he die. But Lazarus’s physician was waiting for his death in order to show his victory over death.

Source: COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 17.3

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:14

2. The former word He spoke, desiring to prove that He loved not boasting; but since they understood not, He added, He is dead.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:14

When he said, “He sleeps,” he added, “I go to awake him.” But when he said, “He is dead,” he did not add, “I go to raise him.” For he would not foretell in words what he was about to confirm by his deeds. He is always teaching us not to look for glory and not to make promises without a reason for doing so.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.2

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:14

He had been sent for in order to restore Lazarus from sickness, not from death. But how could the death be hidden from him into whose hands the soul of the dead had flown?

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.11

[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on John 11:15

Is he who does not desire the death of a sinner, now glad of the death of a friend? I rejoice, [Jesus says], not for my own sake, nor for the sake of the dead, but for your sake. For I need this death as the foundation for your faith.

Source: ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN AND THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:15

Why for your sakes? Because I have forewarned you of his death, not being there, and because when I shall raise him again, there will be no suspicion of deceit. Do you see how the disciples were yet imperfect in their disposition, and knew not His power as they ought? And this was caused by interposing terrors, which troubled and disturbed their souls. When He said, He sleeps, He added, I go to awake him; but when He said, He is dead, He added not, I go to raise him; for He would not foretell in words what He was about to establish certainly by works, everywhere teaching us not to be vainglorious, and that we must not make promises without a cause. And if He did thus in the case of the centurion when summoned, (for He said, I will come and heal him, Matthew 8:7) it was to show the faith of the centurion that He said this. If any one ask, How did the disciples imagine sleep? How did they not understand that death was meant from His saying, 'I go to awake him?' for it was folly if they expected that He would go fifteen stadia to awake him; we would reply, that they deemed this to be a dark saying, such as He often spoke to them.

Now they all feared the attacks of the Jews, but Thomas above the rest; wherefore also he said,

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:15

The disciples therefore not understanding that He had called death by the name of sleep, He made His meaning clearer, saying: He is dead. And He says that He is glad, not out of a love of glory, because He was going to do the marvellous deed, but because this was going to become for the disciples a ground of faith. And the words: I was not there, signify as follows: "If I had been there, he would not have died, because I should have had pity on him when he was suffering only a little; but now in My absence his death has taken place, so that, by raising him life, I shall bestow upon you much advantage through your faith in Me." And Christ says this, not as being able to do God-befitting deeds only when He was present; but because if He had been present, He could not have neglected His friend until the occurrence of death. And He says: Let us go unto him, as unto a living person; for the dead, inasmuch as they are destined to live, are alive unto Him as God.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:15

Here it is as though Jesus says, If I had been there, he would not have died, because I would have had pity on him when he was suffering only a little. But now in my absence his death has taken place, so that, by raising him to life I shall bestow upon you a great advantage through your faith in me. And Christ says this, not to indicate that he is only able to do his divine work when present, but rather to show that if he had been present he would not have been able to neglect helping his friend who was dying.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:16

Perhaps Thomas also knew that it would not be possible to live with Jesus except by having died with him, as Paul taught. But those who disagree say that he said this because he suspected the envy of the Jews that would arise from the resurrection of Lazarus, and the ensuing danger.

Source: FRAGMENT 79 ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:16

Some say that he desired himself to die; but it is not so; the expression is rather one of cowardice. Yet he was not rebuked, for Christ as yet supported his weakness, but afterwards he became stronger than all, and invincible. For the wonderful thing is this; that we see one who was so weak before the Crucifixion, become after the Crucifixion, and after having believed in the Resurrection, more zealous than any. So great was the power of Christ. The very man who dared not go in company with Christ to Bethany, the same while not seeing Christ ran well near through the inhabited world, and dwelt in the midst of nations that were full of murder, and desirous to kill him.

But if Bethany was fifteen furlongs off, which is two miles, how was Lazarus dead four days? Jesus tarried two days, on the day before those two one had come with the message, (on which same day Lazarus died,) then in the course of the fourth day He arrived. He waited to be summoned, and came not uninvited on this account, that no one might suspect what took place; nor did those women who were beloved by Him come themselves, but others were sent.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:16

Some say that Thomas himself wanted to die. But this is not the case. The expression is rather one of cowardice. And yet Christ does not rebuke him but instead supports his weakness. The result is that in the end he became stronger than them all—in fact, invincible. For the wonderful thing is this: We see one who was so weak before the crucifixion become more tenacious than any of them after the crucifixion and after he comes to believe in the resurrection. This is how great the power of Christ was. The very man who dared not go in company with Christ to Bethany, the same person, while not seeing Christ, ran practically through the entire inhabited world, living in the midst of nations that were full of murder and wanting to kill him.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.2

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:16

The language of Thomas has indeed zeal, but it also has timidity; it was the outcome of devout feeling, but it was mixed with littleness of faith. For he does not endure being left behind, and even tries to persuade the others to adopt the same resolution: nevertheless he thinks that they are destined to suffer [death] at the hands of the Jews, even against the will of Christ, by reason of the murderous passion of the Jews; not looking at the power of the Deliverer, as he ought rather to have done. And Christ made them timid, by enduring with patience beyond measure the sufferings He experienced at the hands of the Jews. Thomas therefore says that they ought not to separate themselves from their Teacher, although undoubted danger lay before them; so, perhaps with a gentle smile, He said: Let us go, that is, Let us die. Or he speaks thus: Of a certainty if we go we shall die: nevertheless let us not refuse to suffer, for we ought not to be cowardly to such a degree; because if He raises the dead, fear is superfluous, for we have One Who is able to raise us again after we have fallen.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:16

There is audacity in Thomas’s words, but also timidity. It was the outflow of a devout heart, but it was mixed with a small faith. For he does not endure being left behind and even tries to persuade the others to adopt a similar resolution. Nevertheless, he thinks that they are destined to suffer [death] at the hands of the Jews, even against the will of Christ.… He neglects to look at the power of the Deliverer as he should have. And Christ made them timid, by enduring with patience beyond measure the sufferings he did experience at the hands of the Jews. Thomas therefore says that they should not separate themselves from their teacher, although undoubted danger lay before them. So, perhaps with a knowing smile, he said, “Let us go,” that is, “Let us die.” Or, maybe he meant, If we go, we certainly will die. Nevertheless, let us not refuse to suffer, for that would be too cowardly. Because if he raises from the dead, fear is superfluous seeing that we have someone who is able to raise us again after we have fallen.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7

[AD 360] Potamius of Lisbon on John 11:17

Here indeed, throughout the gloomy spheres of darkness and the shades of black horror, that is, throughout the course of four days that are renewed in accordance with the alternate interchange of increase and diminution—throughout eight days, we may say, by including also the dark nights—he lay with his jaws gaping and hanging down, the teeth in his mouth dropping, his mouth obstructed since he was really putrefying like a crumbly clod, consumed by earthly destruction, and his unhappy burial condemned his nerve bundles with the essence of his body to a miserable corruption. Thus, with the contraction of his limbs, his blackened skin is stretched over the dry and easy-to-count ribs, and a stream of bodily fluid, which is released from the cavity of the entrails, an already foul-smelling sewer, flowed filthy and dark to the feet of the corpse.

Source: ON LAZARUS

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:17-27

(Hom. lxii. 2) Our Lord had stayed two days, and the messenger had come the day before; the very day on which Lazarus died. This brings us to the fourth day.

(Hom. lxii. 2) Two miles. This is mentioned to account for so many coming from Jerusalem: And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. But how could the Jews be consoling the beloved of Christ, when they had resolved that whoever confessed Christ should be put out of the synagogue? Perhaps the extreme affliction of the sisters excited their sympathy; or they wished to show respect for their rank. Or perhaps they who came were of the better sort; as we find many of them believed. Their presence is mentioned to do away with all doubt of the real death of Lazarus.

(Hom. lxii. 2.) Martha does not take her sister with her, because she wants to speak with Christ alone, and tell Him what has happened. When her hopes had been raised by Him, then she went her way, and called Mary.

(Hom. lxii. 3) She believed in Christ, but she believed not as she ought. She did not speak as if He were God: If Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

(Hom. lxii. 3) Nor did she know that He wrought His miracles by His own independent power: But I know that even now, whatsoever Thou will ask of God, God will give it Thee. She only thinks Him some very gifted man.

(Hom. lxii. 3) But our Lord taught her the truths which she did not know: Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Observe, He does not say, I will ask God, that he may rise again, nor on the other hand does He say, I want no help, I do all things of Myself; a declaration which would have been too much for the woman; but something between the two, He shall rise again.

(Hom. lxii) She had often heard Christ speak of the resurrection. Jesus now declares His power more plainly: Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He needed therefore none to help Him; for if He did, how could He be the resurrection. And if He is the life, He is not confined by place, but is every where, and can heal every where.

(Hom. lxii) To Martha's, Whatsoever Thou shall ask, He replies, He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: showing her that He is the Giver of all good, and that we must ask of Him. Thus He leads her to the knowledge of high truths; and whereas she had been enquiring only about the resurrection of Lazarus, tells her of a resurrection in which both she and all present would share.

(Hom. lxii. 3) She seems not to have understood His words; i. e. she saw that He meant something great, but did not see what that was. She is asked one thing, and answers another.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:17

Our Lord had stayed two days, and the messenger had come the day before—the very day on which Lazarus died. This brings us to the fourth day.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.2

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:17-27

(Tract. xlix. 12) Of the four days many things may be said. They refer to one thing, but one thing viewed in different ways. There is one day of death which the law of our birth brings upon us. Men transgress the natural law, and this is another day of death. The written law is given to men by the hands of Moses, and that is despised—a third day of death. The Gospel comes, and men transgress it—a fourth day of death. But Christ doth not disdain to awaken even these.

(Tr. xlix. 13) She does not say to Him, Bring my brother to life again; for how could she know that it would be good for him to come to life again; she says, I know that Thou canst do so, if Thou wilt; but what Thou wilt do is for Thy judgment, not for my presumption to determine.

(Tr. xlix. 14) Shall rise again, is ambiguous: for He does not say, now. And therefore it follows: Martha saith unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day: of that resurrection I am certain; of this I am doubtful.

(Tr. xlix. 15) He that believeth in Me, though he were dead: i. e. though his flesh die, his soul shall live till the flesh rise again, never to die more. For faith is the life of the soul.
And whosoever liveth, in the flesh, and believeth in Me, though he die for a time in the flesh, shall not die eternally.

(Tr. xlix. 15) When I believed that Thou wert the Son of God, I believed that Thou wert the resurrection, that Thou wert lifeb; and that he that believeth in Thee, though he were dead, shall live.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 735] Bede on John 11:17-27

Our Lord had not yet entered the town, when Martha met Him: Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him: but Mary sat still in the house.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 804] Alcuin of York on John 11:17-27

Our Lord delayed His coming for four days, that the resurrection of Lazarus might be the more glorious: Then when Jesus came, He found that He had lain in the grave four days already.

The first sin was elation of heart, the second assent, the third act, the fourth habit.
Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off.

I am the resurrection, because I am the life; as through Me he will rise at the general resurrection, through Me he may rise now.

Because He hath attained to the life of the Spirit, and to an immortal resurrection. Our Lord, from Whom nothing was hid, knew that she believed, but sought from her a confession unto salvation: Believest thou this? She saith unto Him, Yea, Lord, I believe that Thou art the Christ the Son of God, which should come into the world.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 11:17-27

At first she does not tell her sister, for fear, if she came, the Jews present might accompany her. And she did not wish them to know of our Lord's coming.
Then saith Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

She did not know that He could have restored her brother as well absent as present.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:18-19

“Two miles.” This is mentioned to account for so many coming from Jerusalem.… But how could the Jews console the loved ones of Christ, when they had resolved that whoever confessed Christ should be put out of the synagogue? Perhaps the extreme affliction of the sisters excited their sympathy, or they wished to show respect for their rank. Or perhaps those who came were of the better sort, as we find that many of them believed. Their presence is mentioned to do away with all doubt that Lazarus was really dead.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.2

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:18

Not without cause does he mention this, but desires to inform us that it was near, and that it was probable on this account that many would be there. He therefore declaring this adds,

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:18

He mentions also the length of days that had intervened after the death of Lazarus for this reason, that the miracle may be the more marvelled at, and lest any one should chance to say that He had come after one day, and that Lazarus was not dead, but He had raised him up from sickness. And he says that many Jews were in Bethany, although the place was not a populous one, being come out of Jerusalem; for the distance of road between the two places was not so great as to hinder their sincere friends from being with Martha and Mary. And since the miracle was talked about by all in Jerusalem and the country round about, he gives the reason, that as there were many people there, the story was naturally spread abroad in all directions; some telling what had been done from admiration, and others through envy, to attach a false accusation to the miracle through their lying account of it.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:19

But how should they comfort women beloved of Christ, when they had agreed, that if any should confess Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue? It was either because of the grievous nature of the calamity, or that they respected them as of superior birth, or else these who came were not the wicked sort, many at least even of them believed. The Evangelist mentions these circumstances, to prove that Lazarus was really dead.

3. But why did not [Martha,] when she went to meet Christ, take her sister with her? She desired to meet with Him apart, and to tell Him what had taken place. But when He had brought her to good hopes, she went and called Mary, who met Him while her grief was yet at its height. Do you see how fervent her love was? This is the Mary of whom He said, Mary has chosen that good part. Luke 10:42 How then, says one, does Martha appear more zealous? She was not more zealous, but it was because the other had not yet been informed, since Martha was the weaker. For even when she had heard such things from Christ, she yet speaks in a groveling manner, By this time he stinks, for he has been dead four days. John 11:39 But Mary, though she had heard nothing, uttered nothing of the kind, but at once believing, says,

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:20

Since Mary is a type of the contemplative life, Martha of the active, Lazarus of him who has fallen into sins after believing, naturally Mary and Martha mourn for Lazarus, and in mourning they need the comfort concerning their brother which the Jews wish to bring them. But before the fullness of time, words despair of being able to make the sister of the dead cease from weeping over him.Martha seems more eager than Mary, since Martha first ran to Jesus, while Mary remained sitting in the house.… Therefore Martha, who was somewhat inferior in this regard, ran to Jesus while Mary remains in the house to receive him as one who was able to bear his presence. And she would not have gone out from her house if she had not heard her sister say, “The teacher has arrived and is calling you.” And she did not simply get up but did so quickly, and falling at Jesus’ feet said what she said. The other sister had not fallen at his feet.

Source: FRAGMENT 80 ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:20

Martha does not take her sister with her because she wants to speak with Christ alone and tell him what has happened. When her hopes had been raised by him, then she went her way and called Mary.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.3

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:20

Perhaps Martha was the more eager to do such things as might be necessary; wherefore also she first went and met Him: but Mary was the more intelligent. Wherefore, as possessing a more sensitive soul, she remained at home, receiving the attentions of her consoling friends; but Martha, as a simpler person, started off, intoxicated indeed with her grief, but nevertheless acting with more vigour.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:21

See how great is the heavenly wisdom of the women, although their understanding be weak. For when they saw Christ, they did not break out into mourning and wailing and loud crying, as we do when we see any of those we know coming in upon our grief; but straightway they reverence their Teacher. So then both these sisters believed in Christ, but not in a right way; for they did not yet certainly know either that He was God, or that He did these things by His own power and authority; on both which points He taught them. For they showed their ignorance of the former, by saying, If you had been here, our brother had not died; and of the latter, by saying,

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:21

See how great the heavenly wisdom of the women is, although their understanding is weak. For when they saw Christ, they did not break out into mourning and wailing and loud crying, as we do when we see any of those we know coming in on our grief. Rather, immediately they reverence their Teacher. So then both these sisters believed in Christ, but not in a right way. For they did not yet certainly know either that he was God or that he did these things by his own power and authority, although on both points he had taught them. For they showed their ignorance of the former by saying, “If you had been here, our brother would not have died” and of the latter by saying, “Whatever you will ask of God, he will give it to you.”

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.3

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:21

What Martha says, amounts to this. "Not for this reason," she says, "did my brother die, because the nature of man is subject to death; but because Thou wast not present, Who art able by Thy word to conquer death." But in her grief, wandering beyond propriety, she considered that the Lord was no longer able to do anything, as the time for help had gone by; and she thought that He had come, not for the raising again of Lazarus, bat that He might console them. For softly and gently she reproaches Him for His tardiness in not immediately coming when it would have been possible for Him to help them, when they sent saying: Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is side. And the words: Whatsoever Thou shalt ask of God He will give Thee, are the words of one who is almost afraid to ask plainly what she wishes; nevertheless she stumbles concerning the truth in that she speaks not as to God, but as to one of the saints; His being seen in the flesh causing her to think that whatsoever He should ask as a saint, He would receive from God; not indeed knowing that, being in His Nature God and the Power of the Father, He possesses irresistible might over all things. For if she had known that He was God, she would not have said: If Thou hadst been here; for God is everywhere. Through His aversity to arrogance, however, the Lord did not say: "I will raise up thy brother," but: "He shall rise again;" all but softly rebuking her and saying: "He indeed rises again as thou wishest, but not as thou thinkest. For if thou supposest that it will be accomplished by prayer and supplication, take upon thyself the part of prayer, but do not bid Me do it, Who am a Wonder-worker, able by My own Might to raise the dead." The woman having heard this and being ashamed now to say: "Raise him to life," yet in some degree instigating Him to do the work at once, seems somewhat to be saddened at the postponement of the time, saying: "I know that he shall rise again at the last day, but I long to see before that time the resurrection of my brother." Again when the Lord said: Thy brother shall rise again, the woman all but signifies her agreement with this doctrine, saying: "I know that; for I believe that the dead will be raised, according as Thou didst teach: For the hour cometh, and they shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done ill, unto the resurrection of judgment. And likewise Isaiah also in the Spirit said: The dead shall be raised and they that are in the tombs shall be awakened. For I do not disbelieve in the doctrine of the resurrection, as the Sadducees do."

[AD 740] Andrew of Crete on John 11:21

Do you see her faith? Do you see her undoubting mind? She affirmed in two ways that he was God and the Giver of life, even though she was led astray on account of her simple nature: “If you had been here,” she said. What are you saying, Martha? Your reasoning is false. For he was there and he has been and still is present everywhere.… “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Do you see how she believed him to be God and able with his power to restrain death and to raise the dead? For she was saying, I know that if you had been here, death would not have prevailed.

Source: HOMILY 8 ON LAZARUS

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:22

As though they spoke of some virtuous and approved mortal. But see what Christ says;

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:22

He leads her to the knowledge of higher truths. Even though she had been inquiring only about the resurrection of Lazarus, he tells her of a resurrection in which both she and those with her would share.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.3

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:22

She does not say to him, “Bring my brother to life again.” For how could she know that it would be good for him to come to life again? She says, I know that you can do so, if you want to, but what you will do is for your judgment, not for my presumption, to determine.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.13

[AD 450] Peter Chrysologus on John 11:22

This woman does not believe, but she is trying to believe, while her unbelief is disturbing her belief. “Whatever you ask of God.…” God gives of his own accord; he does not ask of himself. Why, woman, do you delay in making your request when the one to grant it stands before you? Woman, he is the Judge himself whom you desire merely as an advocate. In him there is the power to give, not the need to make any request. “I know,” she says, “that whatever you ask of God, he will give you.” Woman, to believe this means that you do not believe. To know this means that you do not know. The apostle has indicated this, that the moment when a person thinks that he knows something, he does not know it.

Source: SERMON 63.3

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:23

He thus far refutes the former saying, Whatsoever you will ask; for He said not, I ask, but what? Your brother shall rise again. To have said, Woman, thou still lookest below, I need not the help of another, but do all of Myself, would have been grievous, and a stumblingblock in her way, but to say, He shall rise again, was the act of one who chose a middle mode of speech. And by means of that which follows, He alluded to the points I have mentioned; for when Martha says,

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 11:23-24

From this it appears that they, even though they believed somehow in the power of the Lord, were still in doubt because of the greatness of the task.… On the one hand, she has no doubts about his promise. On the other hand, however, she considers the task superior to human power. Indeed, we said above that they still thought they were speaking to a man who does everything through his own strength. This is why she said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection of the last day.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOHN 5.11.23-24

[AD 450] Peter Chrysologus on John 11:23-24

Martha, again you know but you do not know. Martha, again do you really know, when you do not know that your brother can rise here and now? Or is it perhaps that God who at that future time is able to raise up all is now unable to raise up even one from the dead? He is able, yes, God is able to raise up one from the dead as a sign for this time, God who will later raise up all the dead to eternal life.… Martha, right in front of you is the Resurrection that you are putting so far into the future.

Source: SERMON 63.4

[AD 108] Ignatius of Antioch on John 11:25

He really died, and was buried, and rose from the dead, even as He prayed in a certain place, saying, "But do Thou, O Lord, raise me up again, and I shall recompense them." And the Father, who always hears Him, answered and said, "Arise, O God, and judge the earth; for Thou shall receive all the heathen for Thine inheritance." The Father, therefore, who raised Him up, will also raise us up through Him, apart from whom no one will attain to true life. For says He, "I am the life; he that believeth in me, even though he die, shall live: and every one that liveth and believeth in me, even though he die, shall live for ever." Do ye therefore flee from these ungodly heresies; for they are the inventions of the devil, that serpent who was the author of evil, and who by means of the woman deceived Adam, the father of our race.

Source: Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians

[AD 202] Irenaeus on John 11:25

But our Lord is Himself the resurrection, as He does Himself declare, "I am the resurrection and the life."

Source: Against Heresies Book IV

[AD 202] Irenaeus on John 11:25

If he is not the God of the dead but of the living, yet was called the God of the fathers who were sleeping, they do undoubtedly live to God and have not passed out of existence, since they are children of the resurrection. But our Lord is himself the resurrection, as he himself declares, “I am the resurrection and the life.” But the fathers are his children, for it is said by the prophet: “In the place of ancestors you, O king, shall have sons.” Christ himself, therefore, together with the Father, is the God of the living who spoke to Moses and who was also made known to the fathers.

Source: AGAINST HERESIES 4.5.2

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 11:25

Now the mystery of this "sign" was in various ways predicted; (a "sign") in which the foundation of life was forelaid for mankind; (a "sign") in which the Jews were not to believe: just as Moses beforetime kept on announcing in Exodus, saying, "Ye shall be ejected from the land into which ye shall enter; and in those nations ye shall not be able to rest: and there shall be instabilityof the print of thy foot: and God shall give thee a wearying heart, and a pining soul, and failing eyes, that they see not: and thy life shall hang on the tree before thine eyes; and thou shalt not trust thy life.

Source: An Answer to the Jews

[AD 258] Cyprian on John 11:25

Finally, the Apostle Paul reproaches, and rebukes, and blames any who are in sorrow at the departure of their friends. "I would not," says he, have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them which are asleep in Jesus Will God bring with Him." He says that those have sorrow in the departure of their friends who have no hope. But we who live in hope, and believe in God, and trust that Christ suffered for us and rose again, abiding in Christ, and through Him and in Him rising again, why either are we ourselves unwilling to depart hence from this life, or do we bewail and grieve for our friends when they depart as if they were lost, when Christ Himself, our Lord and God, encourages us and says, "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he die, yet shall live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall not die eternally? " If we believe in Christ, let us have faith in His words and promises; and since we shall not die eternally, let us come with a glad security unto Christ, with whom we are both to conquer and to reign for ever.

Source: Treatise XII. Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews.

[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on John 11:25

I am the voice of life that wakens the dead. I am the good odor that takes away the foul odor. I am the voice of joy that takes away sorrow and grief.… I am the comfort of those who are in grief. Those who belong to me are given joy by me. I am the joy of the whole world. I gladden all my friends and rejoice with them. I am the bread of life.

Source: HOMILY ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS

[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on John 11:25

For the almighty God himself will raise us up through our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his infallible promise, and grant us a resurrection with all those that have slept from the beginning of the world. And we shall then be such as we now are in our present form, without any defect or corruption. For we shall rise incorruptible: whether we die at sea, or are scattered on the earth or are torn to pieces by wild beasts and birds, he will raise us by his own power. For the whole world is held together by the hand of God.…This resurrection was not believed by the Jews, when of old they said, “Our bones are withered, and we are gone.” To whom God answered and said, “Behold, I open your graves and will bring you out of them. And I will put my Spirit into you, and you shall live: and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken it and will do it.” And he says by Isaiah: “The dead shall rise, and those that are in the graves shall be raised up. And those that rest in the earth shall rejoice, for the dew which is from you shall be healing to them.” There are indeed many and various things said concerning the resurrection, and concerning the continuance of the righteous in glory and concerning the punishment of the ungodly, their fall, rejection, condemnation, shame, “eternal fire and endless worm.” Now in order to show that it was in his power, if it had pleased him, that all men and women should be immortal, he provided the examples of Enoch and Elijah, who he did not allow to have any experience of death. Or if it had pleased him in every generation to raise those that died, that this also he was able to do he has made evident by himself and by others as when he raised the widow’s son by Elijah and the Shunammite’s son by Elisha. But we are persuaded that death is not a retribution of punishment, because even the saints have undergone it. In fact, even the Lord of the saints, Jesus Christ, the life of those who believe and the resurrection of the dead, [experienced it].… For it is he who raised Lazarus when he had been in the grave four days, and Jairus’s daughter and the widow’s son. It is he who raised himself by the command of the Father in the space of three days who is the pledge of our resurrection. For he says, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

Source: CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 5.1.7

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:25

Showing that He needed no other to help Him, if so be that He Himself is the Life; since if He needed another, how could He be the Resurrection and the Life? Yet He did not plainly state this, but merely hinted it. But when she says again, Whatsoever you will ask, He replies,

He that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.

Showing that He is the Giver of good things, and that we must ask of Him.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:25

Assuredly a fruit and reward of faith in Christ is eternal life, and in no other way does this come to the soul of man. For although we are all raised to life through Christ, yet this [eternal life given to the faithful] is the true life, namely, to live unendingly in bliss; for to be restored to life only for punishment differs nothing from death. If therefore any one notices that even the saints, who have received promises of life, die; this is nothing, for it is only what naturally comes to pass. And until the proper time has been reserved the display of the grace [of resurrection], which is powerful, not partially, but effectually, in the case of all men, even of those saints who have died in time past and are tasting death for a short time, until the general resurrection. For then, together, all will enjoy the good things. And in saying: Though he die, yet shall he live, the Saviour did not take away the death in this present world: but admits that it has such might against the faithful that it naturally happens to them, and no more; because He has reserved the grace of resurrection until the proper time. He certainly says: "He that helieveth on Me shall not be without a participation in the death of the flesh in the ordinary course of human nature, but nevertheless he will suffer nothing worthy of fear in this, as God is able easily to make alive whomsoever He will." For he that believeth on Him, hath in the world to come an endless life in bliss and perfect immortality. Wherefore let not any of the unbelieving mock: for Christ did not say: "From this present moment he shall in no wise see death," but when He said absolutely: "He shall never see death in any wise," He spake concerning the world to come, reserving the end of the promise until then. And saying unto Martha: Believest thou? He demands the confession of faith as the parent and patron of the [eternal] life; and she readily assented and accurately confesses: not simply believing that He is a Christ and a Son of God; for a prophet also can be a christ, by reason of being anointed, and the same person can be understood to be a son [of God]: but using the definite article and saying: "The Christ, the Son of God," she confessed the Only and Preeminent and True Son. Therefore her faith was on the Son, not on a creature.

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on John 11:25

How could one say that Christ is saved, when the Lord Himself says, "I am the life; "

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:26

The Savior does not inquire “Do you believe this?” in ignorance as to whether Martha did or did not believe what was said. Rather, he did so in order that we, or indeed those who were then present, might learn from her answer what her disposition was. But another will say that it is not a question but a statement: “You believe this.” In this case, Martha then completes the Savior’s statement saying, Yes, Lord, and not only do I believe what you now say, but I believe now that you are the Christ, something I also believed before. And I believe that you are the Son of God who comes into the world and lives with all who believe in you.

Source: FRAGMENT 81 ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

[AD 311] Methodius of Olympus on John 11:26

Here he says believers live; they never die. Their bodies die but are brought back to life again.

Source: ON THE RESURRECTION 3.21.6

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:26

Observe how He leads her mind upward; for to raise Lazarus was not the only thing sought; it was necessary that both she and they who were with her should learn the Resurrection. Wherefore before the raising of the dead He teaches heavenly wisdom by words. But if He is the Resurrection, and the Life, He is not confined by place, but, present everywhere, knows how to heal.  If therefore they had said, as did the centurion, Speak the word, and my servant shall be healed Matthew 8:8, He would have done so; but since they summoned Him to them, and begged Him to come, He condescends in order to raise them from the humble opinion they had formed of Him, and comes to the place. Still while condescending, He showed that even when absent He had power to heal. On this account also He delayed, for the mercy would not have been apparent as soon as it was given, had there not been first an ill savor (from the corpse). But how did the woman know that there was to be a Resurrection? They had heard Christ say many things about the Resurrection, yet still she now desired to see Him. And observe how she still lingers below; for after hearing, I am the Resurrection and the Life, not even so did she say, Raise him, but,

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:26

What does this mean? “He who believes in me, though he were dead.” Just as Lazarus is dead, “yet shall he live,” for he is not the God of the dead but of the living. Such was the answer he gave the Jews concerning their fathers, long ago dead, that is, concerning Abraham and Isaac and Jacob: “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob: He is not the God of the dead but of the living. For all live unto him.” Believe then, and though you were dead, yet shall you live; but if you do not believe, even while you are alive you are dead. Let us prove this also by the fact that if you do not believe, though you live you are dead. To one who was delaying to follow him and saying, “Let me first go and bury my father,” the Lord said, “Let the dead bury their dead. But come and follow me.” There was there a dead man needing to be buried, there were there also dead people to bury the dead: the one was dead in the flesh, the others in soul. And how does death come to the soul? When faith is wanting. How does death come to the body? When the soul is wanting. For faith is the life of the soul.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.15

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:26

If anyone notices that even the saints who have received promises of life die, this is no reason for concern, since it is what naturally happens. The display of the grace [of resurrection] has been reserved until the appointed time. This grace is powerful, not partially but effectually, in the case of all, even of those saints who have died in time past and are tasting death for a short time until the general resurrection. For then, together, all will enjoy the good things.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:26

Having previously explained the force of the mystery in himself and shown plainly that he is by nature life and true God, he demands assent to the faith, furnishing in this matter a model to the churches. For we should not vainly cast our words into the air when we confess the venerable mystery but rather fix the roots of the faith in heart and mind and then allow it to bear fruit in our confession. And we ought to believe without any hesitation or double-mindedness.… Nevertheless, it is necessary to know that we make the confession of our faith to God, although we are questioned by others, I mean those whose responsibility it is to minister in sacred things, when we say the “I believe” at the reception of holy baptism. Certainly therefore to speak falsely and to slip aside toward unbelief is a most awful thing.… In a certain way, as Lazarus was lying dead, the assent to the faith is demanded of the woman on his behalf. The same can be seen in the churches when a newborn child is brought either to receive the anointing of the catechumenate or to be fully initiated into the Christian faith at holy baptism. In these instances, the person who brings the child repeats aloud the “Amen” on the child’s behalf … something we also see in the case of Lazarus and his sister. Martha wisely and prudently sows the confession of faith first so that afterward she may reap the fruit of it.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 11:27

Martha confesses him to be the Son of God, being no more astray than Peter and Nathanael, though even if she had been astray she should at once have learned [the truth]. For the Lord, for the raising up of her brother from the dead, looked up to heaven and to the Father and said, “Father”—evidently a son [speaks]—“I thank you that you hear me always: for the sake of these multitudes that stand by, I said it that they may believe that you have sent me.”

Source: AGAINST PRAXEAS 23

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 11:27

Source: Against Praxeas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:27

What is Christ's reply? He that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, (here speaking of this death which is common to all. ) And whosoever lives and believes in Me, shall never die John 11:26, signifying that other death. Since then I am the Resurrection and the Life, be not thou troubled, though your brother be already dead, but believe, for this is not death. For a while He comforted her on what had happened; and gave her glimpses of hope, by saying, He shall rise again, and, I am the Resurrection; and that having risen again, though he should again die, he shall suffer no harm, so that it needs not to fear this death. What He says is of this kind: Neither is this man dead, nor shall you die. Believest thou this? She says, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God.

Which should come into the world.

The woman seems to me not to understand the saying; she was conscious that it was some great thing, but did not perceive the whole meaning, so that when asked one thing, she answered another. Yet for a while at least she had this gain, that she moderated her grief; such was the power of the words of Christ. On this account Martha went forth first, and Mary followed. For their affection to their Teacher did not allow them strongly to feel their present sorrow; so that the minds of these women were truly wise as well as loving.

4. But in our days, among our other evils there is one malady very prevalent among our women; they make a great show in their dirges and wailings, baring their arms, tearing their hair, making furrows down their cheeks. And this they do, some from grief, others from ostentation and rivalry, others from wantonness; and they bare their arms, and this too in the sight of men. Why doest thou, woman? Do you strip yourself in unseemly sort, tell me, thou who art a member of Christ, in the midst of the market-place, when men are present there? Do you pluck your hair, and rend your garments, and wail loudly, and join the dance, and keep throughout a resemblance to Bacchanalian women, and do you not think that you are offending God? What madness is this? Will not the heathen laugh? Will they not deem our doctrines fables? They will say, There is no resurrection— the doctrines of the Christians are mockeries, trickery, and contrivance. For their women lament as though there were nothing after this world; they give no heed to the words engraven in their books; all those words are fictions, and these women show that they are so. Since had they believed that he who has died is not dead, but has removed to a better life, they would not have mourned him as no longer being, they would not have thus beaten themselves, they would not have uttered such words as these, full of unbelief, 'I shall never see you more, I shall never more regain you,' all their religion is a fable, and if the very chief of good things is thus wholly disbelieved by them, much more the other things which are reverenced among them. The heathen are not so womanish, among them many have practiced heavenly wisdom; and a woman hearing that her child had fallen in battle, straightway asked, And in what state are the affairs of the city? Another truly wise, when being garlanded he heard that his son had fallen for his country, took off the garland, and asked which of the two; then when he had learned which it was, immediately put the garland on again. Many also gave their sons and their daughters for slaughter in honor of their evil deities; and Lacedæmonian women exhort their sons either to bring back their shield safe from war, or to be brought back dead upon it. Wherefore I am ashamed that the heathen show true wisdom in these matters, and we act unseemly. Those who know nothing about the Resurrection act the part of those who know; and those who know, the part of those who know not. And ofttimes many do through shame of men what they do not for the sake of God. For women of the higher class neither tear their hair nor bare their arms; which very thing is a most heavy charge against them, not because they do not strip themselves, but because they act as they do not through piety, but that they may not be thought to disgrace themselves. Is their shame stronger than grief, and the fear of God not stronger? And must not this deserve severest censure? What the rich women do because of their riches, the poor ought to do through fear of God; but at present it is quite the contrary; the rich act wisely through vainglory, the poor through littleness of soul act unseemly. What is worse than this anomaly? We do all for men, all for the things of earth. And these people utter words full of madness and much ridicule. The Lord says indeed, Blessed are they that mourn Matthew 5:4, speaking of those who mourn for their sins; and no one mourns that kind of mourning, nor cares for a lost soul; but this other we were not bidden to practice, and we practice it. What then? says some one, Is it possible being man not to weep? No, neither do I forbid weeping, but I forbid the beating yourselves, the weeping immoderately. I am neither brutal nor cruel. I know that our nature asks and seeks for its friends and daily companions; it cannot but be grieved. As also Christ showed, for He wept over Lazarus. So do thou; weep, but gently, but with decency, but with the fear of God. If so you weep, you do so not as disbelieving the Resurrection, but as not enduring the separation. Since even over those who are leaving us, and departing to foreign lands, we weep, yet we do this not as despairing.

5. And so do thou weep, as if you were sending one on his way to another land. These things I say, not as giving a rule of action, but as condescending (to human infirmity). For if the dead man have been a sinner, and one who has in many things offended God, it behooves to weep (or rather not to weep only, since that is of no avail to him, but to do what one can to procure some comfort for him by almsgivings and offerings; ) but it behooves also to rejoice at this, that his wickedness has been cut short. If he have been righteous, it again behooves to be glad, that what is his is now placed in security, free from the uncertainty of the future; if young, that he has been quickly delivered from the common evils of life; if old, that he has departed after taking to satiety that which is held desirable. But you, neglecting to consider these things, incitest your hand-maidens to act as mourners, as if forsooth thou were honoring the dead, when it is an act of extreme dishonor. For honor to the dead is not wailings and lamentings, but hymns and psalmodies and an excellent life. The good man when he departs, shall depart with angels, though no man be near his remains; but the corrupt, though he have a city to attend his funeral, shall be nothing profited. Will you honor him who is gone? Honor him in another way, by almsdeeds, by acts of beneficence and public service. What avail the many lamentations? And I have heard also another grievous thing, that many women attract lovers by their sad cries, acquiring by the fervor of their wailings a reputation for affection to their husbands. O devilish purpose! O Satanic invention! How long are we but dust and ashes, how long but blood and flesh? Look we up to heaven, take we thought of spiritual things. How shall we be able to rebuke the heathen, how to exhort them, when we do such things? How shall we dispute with them concerning the Resurrection? How about the rest of heavenly wisdom? How shall we ourselves live without fear? Knowest not thou that of grief comes death? For grief darkening the seeing part of the soul not only hinders it from perceiving anything that it ought, but also works it great mischief. In one way then we offend God, and advantage neither ourselves nor him who is gone; in the other we please God, and gain honor among men. If we sink not down ourselves, He will soon remove the remains of our despondency; if we are discontented, He permits us to be given up to grief. If we are thankful, we shall not despond. But how, says some one, is it possible not to be grieved, when one has lost a son or daughter or wife? I say not, not to grieve, but not to do so immoderately. For if we consider that God has taken away, and that the husband or son which we had was mortal, we shall soon receive comfort. To be discontented is the act of those who seek for something higher than their nature. You were born man, and mortal; why then do you grieve that what is natural has come to pass? Grievest thou that you are nourished by eating? Seekest thou to live without this? Act thus also in the case of death, and being mortal seek not as yet for immortality. Once for all this thing has been appointed. Grieve not therefore, nor play the mourner, but submit to laws laid on all alike. Grieve for your sins; this is good mourning, this is highest wisdom. Let us then mourn for this cause continually, that we may obtain the joy which is there, through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:27

Martha seems not to have understood his words, that is, she saw that he meant something great but did not see what that was. She is asked one thing and answers another. Yet for a while at least she had this in her favor, that she moderated her grief. Such was the power of the words of Christ. This is why Martha went out first and Mary followed. For their affection for their teacher did not allow them to feel their present sorrow so strongly, so that the minds of these women were truly wise as well as loving.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.3

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:27

When I believed [that you were the Son of God], I believed that you were the resurrection, that you were life and that he that believes in you, though he were dead, shall live.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.15

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:28-32

(Hom. lxii. 3) Christ's words had the effect of stopping Martha's grief. In her devotion to her Master she had no time to think of her afflictions: And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly.

(Hom. lxii) She calls her sister secretly, in order not to let the Jews know that Christ was coming. (non occ.). For had they known, they would have gone, and not been witnesses of the miracle.

(Hom. lxiii. 1) While the rest sat around her in her sorrow, she did not wait for the Master to come to her, but, not letting her grief detain her, rose immediately to meet Him; As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto Him.

(Hom. lxiii. 1) He went slowly, that He might not seem to catch at an occasion of working a miracle, but to have it forced upon Him by others asking. Mary, it is said, arose quickly, and thus anticipated His coming. The Jews accompanied her: The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary that she arose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.

(Hom. lxiii. 1) She is more fervent than her sister. Forgetful of the crowd around her, and of the Jews, some of whom were enemies to Christ, she threw herself at her Master's feet. In His presence all earthly things were nought to her; she thought of nothing but giving Him honour.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:28-32

(Tr. xlix. 16) Silently, i. e. speaking in a low voice. For she did speak, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.

(Tr. xlix. 16) We may observe that the Evangelist has not said, where, or when, or how, the Lord called Mary, but for brevity's sake has left it to be gathered from Martha's words.

(Tr. xlix. non occ.) So we see, if she had known of His arrival before, she would not have let Martha go without her.
Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met Him.

(Tr. xlix. 16) The Evangelist mentions this to show how it was that so many were present at Lazarus' resurrection, and witness of that great miracle.
Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet.

(de Verb. Dom. s. lii) O faithless assembly! Whilst Thou art yet in the world, Lazarus Thy friend dieth! If the friend dies, what will the enemy suppose? Is it a small thing that they will not serve Thee upon earth? lo, hell hath taken Thy beloved.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:28

We may observe that the Evangelist has not said where, when or how the Lord called Mary, but for brevity’s sake he has left it to be gathered from Martha’s words.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.16

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:28

She went away to call her sister, that she also might share the happiness which arose from the expected event, and receive at once in common with herself the dead one raised again beyond all hope. For she had heard the words: Thy brother shall rise again. And she told the good news of the coming of the Saviour to her sister secretly, because there were sitting by her some of those Jews who felt ill-will towards Christ for His wondrous works.

And we shall not find in the Gospels that Christ said: "Call thy sister to Me;" but Martha taking the undeniable emergency of the affair and the right due to her sister of being invited to come, as equivalent to an uttered command, she speaks as she does. And Mary readily ran towards Him, and was willing to go to meet Him. For how could she help doing this, when she was in such great grief at His absence, and had such a warm feeling of piety and great love towards Him?

[AD 735] Bede on John 11:28-32

Mary did not say so much as Martha, she could not bring out what she wanted for weeping, as is usual with persons overwhelmed with sorrow.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 804] Alcuin of York on John 11:28-32

As if to say, Lord, while Thou wert with us, no disease, no sickness dared to show itself, amongst those with whom the Life deigned to take up His abode.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 11:28-32

Perhaps she thought the presence of Christ in itself a call, as if it were inexcusable, when Christ came, that she should not go out to meet Him.

But her faith seems as yet imperfect: Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 450] Peter Chrysologus on John 11:29-30

When Martha professed her faith in Christ and wiped out by her reverent confession whatever blame there was in womanhood, a message is sent to Mary, because without Mary death could not be banished or life be restored. Let Mary come; let the one who bears the name of his mother come so that humanity might see that as Christ dwelt enclosed in the Virgin’s womb, so too to that extent the dead will come forth from the underworld, the dead will come forth from the tombs.

Source: SERMON 64.2

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:30

Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met Him. The Jews then which were with her, and what follows.

1. A great good is philosophy; the philosophy, I mean, which is with us. For what the heathen have is words and fables only; nor have these fables anything truly wise in them; since everything among those men is done for the sake of reputation. A great good then is true wisdom, and even here returns to us a recompense. For he that despises wealth, from this at once reaps advantage, being delivered from cares which are superfluous and unprofitable; and he that tramples upon glory from this at once receives his reward, being the slave of none, but free with the real freedom; and he that desires heavenly things hence receives his recompense, regarding present things as nothing, and being easily superior to every grief. Behold, for example, how this woman by practicing true wisdom even here received her reward. For when all were sitting by her as she mourned and lamented, she did not wait that the Master should come to her, nor did she maintain what might have seemed her due, nor was she restrained by her sorrow, (for, in addition to the other wretchedness, mourning women have this malady, that they wish to be made much of on account of their case,) but she was not at all so affected; as soon as she heard, she quickly came to Him. Jesus was not yet come into the town. He proceeded somewhat slowly, that He might not seem to fling Himself upon the miracle, but rather to be entreated by them. At least, it is either with an intention of implying this that the Evangelist has said the, rises up quickly, or else he shows that she ran so as to anticipate Christ's arrival. She came not alone, but drawing after her the Jews that were in the house. Very wisely did her sister call her secretly, so as not to disturb those who had come together, and not mention the cause either; for assuredly many would have gone back, but now as though she were going to weep, all followed her. By these means again it is proved that Lazarus was dead.

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 11:31

The Jews who were there to console her in her grief, as they saw that Mary had suddenly gotten up and gone out, thinking that she went to the sepulcher to weep, followed her as if she, being overwhelmed by her sorrow, might be about to do something that was their duty to prevent. This was ordered by the providence of God, that they came there against their will and became the witnesses of the miracle to be performed.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOHN 5.11.29

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:31

The Jews therefore who were present, thinking she had run to the tomb to tear herself [in her grief], follow her; doing this by the will of God, in order that they might go in a body to see the marvellous deed, even without wishing to do so. For had this not taken place by the providence of God, the Evangelist would not have mentioned it; neither would he have written down the concurrent causes of each matter, had he not been everywhere very zealous for the truth. Therefore he stated the cause wherefore many ran to the tomb, and were found there, and became beholders of the marvellous deed, and reported it to others.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:31

The Jews who follow Mary are doing the will of God in order that they might go to see the marvelous deed, even without wishing to do so. Had this not taken place by the providence of God, the Evangelist would not have mentioned it, neither would he have written down the reason they followed Mary to Lazarus’s tomb if he had not been continuously zealous for the truth. Thus, he states the reason why many ran to the tomb, and were found there, and became witnesses of the marvelous deed and reported it to others.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7

[AD 450] Peter Chrysologus on John 11:31

Mary weeps, the Jews weep, and Christ also weeps: do you think [all wept] with a similar emotion? So be it that Mary the sister wept since she was unable to hold on to her brother and was unable to prevent his death. Although she was certain about the resurrection, nevertheless, because she was without comfort at the moment, because its delay meant that his absence would be lengthy and because she was sad about his being separated from God, she could not but weep. At the same time since when death appears it is so grim, so morbid, so very cruel, it could not but unsettle and disturb any mind, no matter how full of faith.…The Jews were in tears, being both mindful of their condition and overcome by despair concerning the future life.… As often as one sees a dead person, that often does he lament that he is destined to die. So a mortal cannot but grieve concerning death.
For which of these reasons was Christ weeping? And if for none of them, then why was he in tears? Certainly he is the same one who had said, “Lazarus is dead, and I rejoice.” … When he loses him he sheds no tears, but when he lifts him up it is then that he weeps. He pours out mortal tears just at the time when he is pouring back in the spirit of life. Brothers, the nature of our human body has this tendency, that the force of joy and the force of sorrow both produce tears.… This is why Christ wept, not from grief in the face of death but from calling to mind that happiness when by his own voice, and solely by his voice, he would raise up all the dead to eternal life.

Source: SERMON 64.3

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:32

She is more ardent than her sister. She regarded not the multitude, nor the suspicion which they had concerning Him, for there were many of His enemies, who said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? John 11:37; but cast out all mortal things in the presence of her Master, and was given up to one thing only, the honor of that Master. And what says she?

Lord, if You had been here, my brother had not died.

What does Christ? He converses not at all with her for the present, nor says to her what He said to her sister, (for a great multitude was by, and this was no fit time for such words,) He only acts measurably and condescends; and to prove His human nature, weeps in silence, and defers the miracle for the present. For since that miracle was a great one, and such as He seldom wrought, and since many were to believe by means of it, lest to work it without their presence should prove a stumbling-block to the multitude, and so they should gain nothing by its greatness, in order that He might not lose the quarry, He draws to Him many witnesses by His condescension, and shows proof of His human nature. He weeps, and is troubled; for grief is wont to stir up the feelings. Then rebuking those feelings, (for He groaned in spirit means, restrained His trouble,) He asked,

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 11:32

As Mary came to Jesus, she immediately fell at his feet saying the same things as Martha, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Martha is not actually said to have fallen at his feet but only to have come to him, so that it seems to many that Mary had a greater love for the Lord. This also appears from the fact that, while the Lord was at their house, Martha was intent on her service, whereas Mary, because of her great love, sat at his feet, as she did not want to be separated from her teacher even for a short time. Therefore the Lord exalted her in his praise more than Martha.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOHN 5.11.32

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:32

Now since Christ was not only God by Nature, but; also Man, He suffers in common with the rest that which is human; and when grief begins somehow to be stirred within Him, and His Holy Flesh now inclines to tears, He does not allow It to indulge in them without restraint, as is the custom with us. But He groans in the spirit, that is, in the power of the Holy Spirit He reproves in some way His Own Flesh: and That, not being able to endure the action of the Godhead united with It, trembles and presents the appearance of trouble. For this I think to be the signification of "He was troubled;" for how otherwise could He endure trouble? Shall that Nature which is ever undisturbed and calm be troubled in any way? The flesh therefore is reproved by the Spirit, being taught to feel things beyond its own nature. For indeed on this account the Almighty Word of Glod was made in Flesh, or rather was made Flesh, that He might strengthen the weaknesses of the flesh by the energies of His own Spirit, and withdraw our nature from too earthly feelings, and transform it as it were to such feelings only as are pleasing to God. Surely it is an infirmity of human nature to be abjectly overcome by griefs, but this as well as the rest is brought into subjection, in Christ first, that it may be also in us.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:32

Certainly Mary says that death had happened to her brother prematurely through the absence of the Lord, and says that He had come to the house, when the time for healing had passed by: and it is possible also from this to conjecture that she said this as to God Himself; although she did not speak accurately, from thinking that He was not present even though absent in the body. But being more accurate and intelligent than Martha, she did not say: Whatsoever Thou shalt ask of God God will give Thee. Wherefore to her the Lord says nothing, whereas to Martha He spake at some length. And Mary intoxicated with her grief, He does not reprove for saying: " If Thou hadst been here" to Him Who fills all creation; doing this also for our example, that we should not reprove those who are in an agony of mourning: and He condescends still further, revealing His human nature, and weeps and is troubled, when He sees her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping.

[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on John 11:33

“He troubled himself” not as we are troubled by fear or pain, but “he troubled himself.” “Where have you laid him?” Did he who had known when he had died not know where he was buried? But he mingles human words with divine miracles in order to show that he was also human, as also the prophet says, “And he is a human, and who will know him?” And he wanted it to be clear that he who is God is also something else.… But he showed himself actually as man also by the fact that he wept.

Source: ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN AND THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:33-41

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:33-41

(Hom. lxiii. 1) Christ did not answer Mary, as He had her sister, on account of the people present. In condescension to them He humbled Himself, and let His human nature be seen, in order to gain them as witnesses to the miracle: When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, He groaned in His spirit, and was troubled.

(Hom. lxiii. 1) He did not wish to thrust the miracle upon them, but to make them ask for it, and thus do away with all suspicions.

(Hom. lxiii. 1) He had not yet raised any one from the dead; and seemed as if He came to weep, not to raise to life. Wherefore they say to Him, Come and see.

(Hom. lxiii. 1) It was His enemies who said this. The very works, which should have evidenced His power, they turn against Him, as if He had not really done them. This is the way that they speak of the miracle of opening the eyes of the man that was born blind. They even prejudge Christ before He has come to the grave, and have not the patience to wait for the issue of the matter. Jesus therefore again groaning in Himself, cometh to the grave. That He wept, and He groaned, are mentioned to show us the reality of His human nature. John who enters into higher statements as to His nature than any of the other Evangelists, also descends lower than any in describing His bodily affections.

(Hom. lxiii. 2) But why did He not raise him without taking away the stone? Could not He who moved a dead body by His voice, much more have moved a stone? He purposely did not do so, in order that the miracle might take place in the sight of all; to give no room for saying, as they had said in the case of the blind man, This is not he. Now they might go into the grave, and feel and see that this was the man.

(Hom. lxiii. 2) Thus every thing tends to stop the months of the unbelieving. Their hands take away the stone, their ears hear Christ's voice, their eyes see Lazarus come forth, they perceive the smell of the dead body.

(Hom. lxiii) She did not remember what He said above, He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. To the disciples He had said, That the Son of God might be glorified thereby; here it is the glory of the Father He speaks of. The difference is made to suit the different hearers. Our Lord could not rebuke her before such a number, but only says, Thou shalt see the glory of God.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:33

He comes then to the tomb and again curbed his emotions. Why does the Evangelist carefully mention in several places that “he wept” and that “he groaned”? He mentions these so that you may learn that he had truly put on our nature. For while this Evangelist is remarkable for the great things he says about Christ more than the others in matters relating to the body, [at the passion] he also speaks much more humbly than they. For instance, he says nothing about Jesus’ sorrow concerning his death, while the other Evangelists declare that he was exceedingly sorrowful, that he was in fact in an agony. But John, on the contrary, says that he even threw the officers backwards. The result is that [John] here has made up for what is omitted there by mentioning his grief.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 63.2

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:33-41

(Tr. xlix) For who but Himself could trouble Him? Christ was troubled, because it pleased Him to be troubled; He hungered, because it pleased Him to hunger. It was in His own power to be affected in this or that way, or not. The Word took up soul and flesh, and whole man, and fitted it to Himself in unity of person. And thus according to the nod and will of that higher nature in Him, in which the sovereign power resides, He becomes weak and troubled.

(de Ver. Dom. s. lii) And said, Where have ye laid him? He knew where, but He asked to try the faith of the people.

(lib. 83. Quæst. qu. lxv.) The question has an allusion too to our hidden calling. That predestination by which we are called, is hidden; and the sign of its being so is our Lord asking the question: He being as it were in ignorance, so long as we are ignorant ourselves. Or because our Lord elsewhere shows that He knows not sinners, saying, I know you not, (Matt. 7:23) because in keeping His commandments there is no sin.
They said unto Him, Lord, come and see.

(Tr. xlix. 20.) The Lord sees when He pities, as we read, Look upon my adversity and misery, and forgive me all my sin. (Ps. 24:18.)
Jesus wept.

(Tr. xlix. non occ.) Wherefore did Christ weep, but to teach men to weep?

(Tr. xlix. 21) Loved him. Our Lord came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. And some of them said, Could not this Man which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? He was about to do more than this, to raise him from death.

(Tr. xlix) And do thou too groan in thyself, if thou wouldest rise to new life. To every man is this said, who is weighed down by any vicious habit. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. The dead under the stone is the guilty under the Law. For the Law, which was given to the Jews, was graven on stone. And all the guilty are under the Law, for the Law was not made for a righteous man.

(Tr. xlix. c. 22) Take ye away the stone; mystically, Take away the burden of the law, proclaim grace.

(lib. 83. Quæst. qu. 61) Perhaps those are signified who wished to impose the rite of circumcision on the Gentile converts; or men in the Church of corrupt life, who offend believers.

(de Ver. Dom. serm. lii) Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, though they had often seen Christ raise the dead, did not fully believe that He could raise their brother; Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto Him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days.

(Tr. xlix) Herein is the glory of God, that he that stinketh and hath been dead four days, is brought to life again.
Then they took away the stone.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:33

Or thus we must understand the words: He groaned in the spirit and was troubled, viz:----as equivalent to: "Being moved to compassion by reason of many weeping, He in a manner gave commandment to His own Spirit to overthrow death before the time, and to raise up Lazarus." And it is not as being ignorant that He asks: Where have ye laid him? For He Who had known of Lazarus' death when He was in another part of the country, how could He be ignorant about the tomb? But He speaks thus as being averse to arrogance: therefore He did not say: "Let us go to the tomb, for I will awaken him," although asking the question particularly in the way He did has this significance. Moreover also by saying this, He prepared many to go before Him that they might show Him that which He sought. With a set purpose therefore He said this also, drawing by His words many to the place, and appears not to know, not at all shrinking from the poverty of man's condition, although in His Nature God and knowing all things, not only those which have been, but also those which shall be, before their existence.

And the asking a question therefore does not imply any ignorance in Him Who for our sakes was made like unto us, but rather He is shown from this to be equal to the Father; for He too asks a question: Adam, where art thou? Christ also feigns ignorance and inquires: Where have ye laid him? so that through the inquiry a multitude might be gathered together to the manifestation, and that by His enemies, rather than by others, testimony should be given to the miracle of restoring to life one who was already corrupt.

[AD 486] Diadochos of Photiki on John 11:33

Becoming incensed usually spells trouble and confusion for the soul more than any other passion, yet there are times when it greatly benefits the soul. For when with inward calm we direct it against blasphemers or other sinners in order to induce them to mend their ways or at least feel some shame, we make our soul more gentle. In this way we put ourselves completely in harmony with the purposes of God’s justice and goodness. In addition, through becoming deeply angered by sin we often overcome weaknesses in our soul. Thus there is no doubt that if, when deeply depressed, we become indignant in spirit against the demon of corruption, this gives us the strength to despise even the presumptuousness of death. In order to make this clear, the Lord twice became indignant against death and troubled in spirit. And despite the fact that, untroubled, he could by a simple act of will do all that he wished, nonetheless when he restored Lazarus’s soul to his body he was indignant and troubled in spirit—which seems to me to show that becoming incensed in a controlled manner can be viewed as a weapon implanted in our nature by God when he creates us. If Eve had used this weapon against the serpent, she would not have been impelled by sensual desire. In my view, then, the person who in a spirit of devotion makes controlled use of the power of his anger will without doubt be judged more favorably than the one who … has never become incensed. The latter seems to have an inexperienced driver in charge of his emotions, while the former, always ready for action, drives the horses of virtue through the midst of the demonic host, guiding the four-horsed chariot of self-control in the fear of God.

Source: ON SPIRITUAL PERFECTION 62

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on John 11:33

Wherefore, when it is said that He was "troubled in spirit"

[AD 735] Bede on John 11:33-41

It is customary to mourn over the death of friends; and thus the Jews explained our Lord's weeping: Then said the Jews, Behold how He loved him.

A cave is a hollow in a rock. It is called a monument, because it reminds us of the dead.
Jesus said, Take ye away the stone.

(non occ. [Nic.]) Or, these are not words of despair, but of wonder.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 804] Alcuin of York on John 11:33-41

Because He was the fountain of pity. He wept in His human nature for him whom He was able to raise again by His divine.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 11:33-41

To prove His human nature He sometimes gives it free vent, while at other times He commands, and restrains it by the power of the Holy Ghost. Our Lord allows His nature to be affected in these ways, both to prove that He is very Man, not Man in appearance only; and also to teach us by His own example the due measures of joy and grief. For the absence altogether of sympathy and sorrow is brutal, the excess of them is womanly.

Martha said this from weakness of faith, thinking it impossible that Christ could raise her brother, so long after death.

Christ reminds Martha of what He had told her before, which she had forgotten: Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 406] Chromatius of Aquileia on John 11:34

When therefore the Lord comes to Mary and Martha the sisters of Lazarus, seeing the crowd of the Jews, he says, “Where have they laid him?” But could the Lord truly be ignorant of where the body of Lazarus was placed, who while being absent at the death of Lazarus had already announced his death and who in his divine majesty was everywhere? But this the Lord did out of ancient custom. For to Adam he had similarly said, “Where are you, Adam?” This was not because he was ignorant of where Adam was but that he might therefore question him so that Adam would openly confess his sin … It is the same here. He does not ask because he is ignorant of Lazarus’s whereabouts16 but so that the crowd of the Jews would follow him to Lazarus’s tomb so that, seeing the divine power of Christ exhibited in the resurrection of Lazarus, they might be exposed as his enemies if they did not believe this display of his power. For the superior Lord said to them, “If you do not believe me, believe the works and know that the Father is in me and I in him.”

Source: SERMON 27.3

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:34

So that the question might not be attended with lamentation. But why does He ask? Because He desired not to cast Himself on (the miracle), but to learn all from them, to do all at their invitation, so as to free the miracle from any suspicion.

They say unto Him, Come and see.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:34

Jesus had not yet raised anyone from the dead and seemed as if he came to mourn, not to resurrect him. For the Jews seem to indicate that he was coming to mourn, not to raise him.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 63.1

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:34

When the Lord sees, he pities, as we read, “Look upon my adversity and misery, and forgive me all my sin.”

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.20

[AD 202] Irenaeus on John 11:35

Why did he come down into [Mary his mother] if he were to take nothing of her? If he had taken nothing of Mary, he … would never have wept over Lazarus.

Source: AGAINST HERESIES 3.22.2

[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on John 11:35

What need was there to weep for him whom he was soon about to raise? But Jesus wept to give us an example of sympathy and kindliness toward our fellow human beings. Jesus wept that he might by deed rather than word teach us to “weep with those that weep.” He wept but did not mourn—avoiding absolute tearlessness as harsh and inhuman but rejecting love of mourning as ignoble and cowardly. He wept, assigning due measure to his sympathy.

Source: ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN AND THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS

[AD 360] Potamius of Lisbon on John 11:35

God wept, moved by the tears of mortals, and although he was about to release Lazarus from the bond of death by the exercise of his power, he fulfilled the component of human affection with the comfort of his sympathetic tears. God wept, not because he learned that the young man had died before him but in order to moderate the sisters’ outpourings of grief. God wept, in order that God might do, with tears and compassion, what human beings do on behalf of their fellow human beings. God wept, because human nature had fallen to such an extent that, after being expelled from eternity, it had come to love the lower world. God wept, because those who could be immortal, the devil made mortal. God wept, because those whom he had rewarded with every benefit and had placed under his power, those whom he had set in paradise, among flowers and lilies without any hardship, the devil, by teaching them to sin, exiled from almost every delight. God wept, because those whom he had created innocent, the devil through his wickedness, caused to be found guilty.

Source: ON LAZARUS

[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on John 11:35

His tears were like the rain, and Lazarus like a grain of wheat, and the tomb like the earth. He gave forth a cry like that of thunder, and death trembled at his voice. Lazarus burst forth like a grain of wheat. He came forth and adored his Lord who had raised him.

Source: COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 17.7

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:35

Do you see that He had not as yet shown any sign of the raising, and goes not as if to raise Lazarus, but as if to weep? For the Jews show that He seemed to them to be going to bewail, not to raise him; at least they said,

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:35

Why did Christ weep except to teach us to weep?

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.19

[AD 468] Basil of Seleucia on John 11:35

Jesus wept by the tomb in order to give a limit for grief to lovers of Christ. By weeping, he ordained a law with his tears. He wept, he did not lament, or wail, or moan, or rend his garments or tear his hair. He defined the bounds of grief [as extending] only as far as the first tears. For why do you weep for a corpse that will be raised? Why do you weep for one who is awaiting the trumpet? Why do you lament as a corpse one who is [merely] sleeping? Why do you trouble one who is in repose with your cries? “Christ is arisen and became the first-fruits of those that slept.” On hearing of one who is asleep, do not lament him as a corpse. Moderate your love by means of your tears. Do not offend the one who has experienced the resurrection by weeping immoderately. For it is on this account that he is weeping by the tomb and allowing himself to suffer now, in order that he may expel your grief.

Source: HOMILY ON LAZARUS 6

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:36

Not even amid calamities did they relax their wickedness. Yet what He was about to do was a thing far more wonderful; for to drive away death when it has come and conquered, is far more than to stay it when coming on. They therefore slander Him by those very points through which they ought to have marveled at His power. They allow for the time that He opened the eyes of the blind, and when they ought to have admired Him on account of that miracle, they, by means of this latter case, cast a slur upon it, as though it had not even taken place. And not from this only are they shown to be all corrupt, but because when He had not yet come, nor exhibited any action, they prevent Him with their accusations without waiting the end of the matter. Do you see how corrupt was their judgment?

2. He comes then to the tomb; and again rebukes His feelings. Why does the Evangelist carefully in several places mention that He wept, and that, He groaned? That you may learn that He had of a truth put on our nature. For when this Evangelist is remarkable for uttering great things concerning Christ more than the others, in matters relating to the body, here he also speaks much more humbly than they. For instance, concerning His death he has said nothing of the kind; the other Evangelists declare that He was exceedingly sorrowful, that He was in an agony; but John, on the contrary, says, that He even cast the officers backwards. So that he has made up here what is omitted there, by mentioning His grief. When speaking of His death, Christ says, I have power to lay down My life John 10:18, and then He utters no lowly word; therefore at the Passion they attribute to Him much that is human, to show the reality of the Dispensation. And Matthew proves this by the Agony, the trouble, the trembling, and the sweat; but John by His sorrow. For had He not been of our nature, He would not once and again have been mastered by grief. What did Jesus? He made no defense with regard to their charges; for why should He silence by words those who were soon to be silenced by deeds? A means less annoying, and more adapted to shame them.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:36

Certainly the Evangelist, seeing the tearless Nature weeping, is astonished, although the suffering was peculiar to the flesh, and not suitable to the Godhead. And the Lord weeps, seeing the man made in His own image marred by corruption, that He may put an end to our tears. For for this cause He also died, even that we may be delivered from death. And He weeps a little, and straightway checks His tears; lest He might seem to be at all cruel and inhuman, and at the same time instructing us not to give way overmuch in grief for the dead. For it is one thing to be influenced by sympathy, and another to be effeminate and unmanly. For this cause therefore He permitted His own flesh to weep a little, although it was in its nature tearless and incapable of any grief, so far as regards its own nature. And even they who hate the Lord, admire His tears. For they who follow philosophy to an extreme and have a brilliant reputation therein, shed tears with the greatest reluctance, as overcoming by manly vigour every misfortune. And the Jews thought that He wept on account of the death of Lazarus, but He wept out of compassion for all humanity, not bewailing Lazarus only, but understanding that which happens to all, that the whole of humanity is made subject to death, having justly fallen under so great a penalty. And others, being wounded by envy, said nothing good; for in truth they did not find fault with the Lord for suffering Lazarus to die; for this would have been the language of men who believed that He was able to stay death: but they almost speak thus: "Where is Thy might, O Wonder-worker? For behold, even when Thou wert unwilling, He who was beloved by Thee has died. For that Thou didst love him is evident from Thy weeping. If therefore that which was done to the blind man was the work of Thy might, Thou wouldst be able also to stay death, which is a similar deed beyond the nature of man." As malignantly rejoicing therefore, because they saw His glory in a manner diminished, they say this.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:36

The Jews thought that Jesus wept on account of the death of Lazarus, but in fact he wept out of compassion for all humanity, not mourning Lazarus alone but all of humanity, which is subject to death, having justly fallen under so great a penalty.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:37

They do not relax their wickedness even in the face of calamity. And yet, what he was about to do was something far more wonderful. For it is a much greater thing to dispel death that has come and conquered than to ward off death that is imminent. They therefore slander him by those very points through which they ought to have marveled at his power. They allow for the time that he opened the eyes of the blind. And, when they ought to have admired him because of that miracle, they use this latter case as a way to cast a slur upon it, as though it had not even taken place. And not only this … but even before he has arrived or done anything, they try to prevent him with their accusations without even waiting to see how things will turn out.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 63.1

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:38

When he was far from the tomb, he groaned in spirit. But when he comes near to the tomb, he no longer groans in spirit but compresses his groaning in himself.… Again he rebukes the feeling that we may learn that he has become unchangeably human like ourselves.

Source: FRAGMENT 84 ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:38

Why did Christ trouble himself except to intimate to you how you should be troubled when you are weighed down and crushed by so great a mass of iniquity? For here you have been looking to yourself, seeing your own guilt, doing an accounting of yourself. I have done this, and God has spared me. I have committed this, and he has still stayed with me. I have heard the gospel and despised it. I have been baptized and returned again to my old habits. What am I doing? Where am I going? How shall I escape? When you speak in this way, Christ is already groaning, for your faith is groaning. In the voice of one who groans like this, the hope of that person’s rising again comes to light. If this kind of a faith is within, Christ is there too, groaning. For if there is faith in us, Christ is in us.… Why did he groan and trouble himself, but to intimate that the faith of one who has just cause to be displeased with himself should be, in a sense, groaning over the accusation of wicked deeds so that the habit of sinning may give way to the vehemence of penitential sorrow?

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.19

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:38

Here we understand the groaning as if it were the will struggling with a sort of movement according to its power, both because he rather sternly reproved his grief and [because of] the tears that were about to be shed from his grief. For, as God he, in the way of a master, reproves his humanity, looking for it to be strong in sorrowful circumstances.… “He groaned,” which means that through the outward action of his body he indicated his inner distress.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7

[AD 450] Peter Chrysologus on John 11:38

Spirit groans, so that flesh would come back to life. Life groans, so that death would be put to flight. God groans, so that humanity would rise. Pardon groans, lest the verdict be unfavorable. Christ groans as he subdues death, because one who snatches an unparalleled victory over an enemy cannot but groan. But with regard to the fact that he said that he “groaned again,” he does groan again in order to provide evidence of a twofold resurrection, since at Christ’s voice just as those dead in body are raised to life from their graves, so too those dead in faithfulness rise to a life of faith.

Source: SERMON 65.1

[AD 450] Peter Chrysologus on John 11:38

It would have sufficed for him to have said that he had come to the tomb. Why is it that the Evangelist makes special mention of the cave? Certainly it is a cave, where the devil’s thievery has lodged human beings. It is a cave where a woman’s wiles buried the man, a cave where the greediness of death imprisoned God’s handiwork. “And a stone had been placed in front of it.” The door of hard death was bolted harder still by a very hard stone. What good does weeping at a grave do since the voice of the one weeping does not penetrate such hard and thick barriers? Christians, let us weep before God for our sins, and let us not weep with the pagans before the dead who do not hear us.

Source: SERMON 65.2

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 11:39

In the case of Lazarus, which we may take as the most outstanding instance of a resurrection, the flesh lay prostrate in weakness, almost putrid in the dishonor of its decay. The flesh smelled of corruption, and yet it was as flesh that Lazarus rose again—with his soul, no doubt. But that soul was incorrupt. Nobody had wrapped it in its linen swathes. Nobody had deposited it in a grave. Nobody had yet perceived its “smell,” nobody for four days had seen it “sown.” Well, now, this entire condition, this whole end of Lazarus, is indeed what the flesh of all humanity is still experiencing, but no one’s soul is experiencing it. That substance, therefore, to which the apostle’s whole description clearly refers, of which he clearly speaks, must be both the natural (or animate) body when it is sown and the spiritual body when it is raised again.

Source: ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH 53.3-4

[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on John 11:39

Are you—as someone who has bestowed the kind of power on your apostles that can remove mountains—are you not able to roll away a small stone from the entrance of the cave? But he chose not to roll the stone away because the spectators did not believe. Otherwise, they might have been able to say that what he did relied on trickery and deceiving the eyes. They would say there had been an apparently dead man laid in the grave, and that [Jesus] wanted to make it look like he called and the other heard. And so now he leads them to the grave, so that after they have rolled away the stone, the foul smell might reach them and furnish them with testimony that the man was actually dead. And then, once they believe Lazarus has died, they will no longer doubt his resurrection. The Lord had already planned for this when he came. Notice what immediately follows. Martha approaches the stone and says, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead for four days.” But the ever-living one, who is fully conscious of his power, says, “I chose to learn this from you, [Martha]. In fact, repeat what you said about him, ‘By this time he stinks.’ Repeat it, proclaiming that his resurrection is real.” His death was established several times in order that the fact of his resurrection might be established.… He commanded the Jews to roll away the stone with their own hands, reserving for himself the greatest sign so that they might be witnesses of the sign done by him.

Source: ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN AND THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:39

Why did not He when at a distance summon Lazarus, and place him before their eyes? Or rather, why did He not cause him to arise while the stone yet lay on the grave? For He who was able by His voice to move a corpse, and to show it again endowed with life, would much more by that same voice have been able to move a stone; He who empowered by His voice one bound and entangled in the grave-clothes to walk, would much more have been able to move a stone; why then did He not so? In order to make them witnesses of the miracle; that they might not say as they did in the case of the blind man, It is he, It is not he. For their hands and their coming to the tomb testified that it was indeed he. If they had not come, they might have deemed that they saw a vision, or one man in place of another. But now the coming to the place, the raising the stone, the charge given them to loose the dead man bound in grave-clothes from his bands; the fact that the friends who bore him from the tomb, knew from the grave-clothes that it was he; that his sisters were not left behind; that one of them said, He now stinks, for he has been dead four days; all these things, I say, were sufficient to silence the ill-disposed, as they were made witnesses of the miracle. On this account He bids them take away the stone from the tomb, to show that He raises the man. On this account also He asks, Where have ye laid him? that they who said, Come and see, and who conducted Him, might not be able to say that He had raised another person; that their voice and their hands might bear witness, (their voice by saying, Come and see, their hands by lifting the stone, and loosing the grave-clothes,) as well as their eyes and ears, (the one by hearing His voice, the other by seeing Lazarus come forth,) and their smell also by perceiving the ill-odor, for Martha said, He now stinks, for he has been dead four days.

Therefore I said with good reason, that the woman did not at all understand Christ's words, Though he were dead, yet shall he live. At least observe, that she speaks as though the thing were impossible on account of the time which had intervened. For indeed it was a strange thing to raise a corpse which had been dead four days, and was corrupt. To the disciples Jesus said, That the Son of Man may be glorified, referring to Himself; but to the woman, You shall see the glory of God, speaking of the Father. Do you see that the weakness of the hearers is the cause of the difference of the words? He therefore reminds her of what He had spoken unto her, well near rebuking her, as being forgetful. Yet He did not wish at present to confound the spectators, wherefore He says,

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 11:39

“Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” These words were spoken by the woman who doubted, but they also referred to the greatness of the miracle to be performed. Indeed, the more they knew that his body was putrefying and was in a state of mutation according to nature, the more the miracle to be performed for Lazarus appeared to be extraordinary. So the Lord by reproving her said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” From this it is evident that she was not free from doubts even when she had said the words mentioned above and seemed to assent to and believe them.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOHN 5.11.39-40

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:39

Although according to the gospel history, we hold that Lazarus was really raised to life, yet I do not doubt that his resurrection is an allegory as well. We do not, because we allegorize facts, however, lose our belief in them as facts.

Source: ON EIGHTY-THREE VARIED QUESTIONS 65

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:39

If, then, the Lord in the greatness of his grace and mercy raises our souls to life so that we may not die forever, we may well understand that those three dead persons whom he raised in the body have some figurative significance of that resurrection of the soul that is effected by faith. He raised up the ruler of the synagogue’s daughter, while still lying in the house. He raised up the widow’s young son, while being carried outside the gates of the city. And he raised up Lazarus when four days in the grave. Let each one pay attention to his own soul: in sinning he dies; sin is the death of the soul. But sometimes sin is committed only in thought. You have felt delight in what is evil, you have assented to its commission, and you have sinned. That assent has killed you, but the death is internal because the evil thought had not yet ripened into action. The Lord intimated that he would raise such a soul to life in raising that girl who had not yet been carried out for burial but was still lying dead in the house as if sin still lay concealed. But if you have not only harbored a feeling of delight in evil but have also done the evil thing, you have, so to speak, carried the dead outside the gate: you are already outside and being carried to the tomb. Yet the Lord also raised such a person to life and restored him to his widowed mother. If you have sinned, repent, and the Lord will raise you up and restore you to your mother church. The third example of death is Lazarus. It is a horrible kind of death and is distinguished as a habit of wickedness. For it is one thing to fall into sin, another to form the habit of sinning. The one who falls into sin and immediately submits to correction will be quickly restored to life, for he is not yet entangled in the habit, he is not yet laid in the tomb. But whoever has become habituated to sin is buried and has it properly said of him, “he stinks.” For his character, like some horrible smell, begins to be of the worst repute. Such are all who are habituated to crime or abandoned in morals. You say to such a person, “Don’t act like that.” But when will you be listened to by one on whom the earth is thus heaped who is breeding corruption and pressed down with the weight of habit? And yet the power of Christ was not unequal to the task of restoring such a person to life.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.3

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:39

It is usual to refuse to believe in the possibility of great deeds, and to be somewhat reluctant to admire is a feeling which naturally is consequent upon things beyond our experience. It seems to me that even the good Martha suffered this; for the excessive greatness of the event took from her the sure confidence of faith, and the strangeness of the hope bewilders her proper reason. And it is nothing astonishing if she who had confessed her faith is again overtaken by littleness of faith through the excessive greatness of the marvellous deed. And either solely out of honour to Christ she said: By this time he stinketh; that He might not be disgusted by the bad smell of the corpse: or she says this as if from shame. For the relatives of the dead hasten, before the body becomes ill-smelling, to bury it down in the earth, out of consideration for the living, and deeming it a dishonour to the dead that it should become an object of loathing to any.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:40

But now, between the words “Take away the stone” and “therefore, they took away the stone,” the words of the dead man’s sister hindered the removal of the stone. And it would not have been taken away at all even later had not Jesus answered and said to her unbelief, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” It is good, then, that nothing intervenes between Jesus’ command and the action enjoined by his bidding.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.17

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:40

3. A great blessing truly is faith, great, and one which makes great those who hold it rightly with (good) living. By this men (are enabled) to do the things of God in His name. And well did Christ say, If you have faith you shall say unto this mountain, Remove, and it shall remove Matthew 17:20; and again, He that believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do. John 14:12 What means He by greater? Those which the disciples are seen after this to work. For even the shadow of Peter raised a dead man; and so the power of Christ was the more proclaimed. Since it was not so wonderful that He while alive should work miracles, as that when He was dead others should be enabled to work in His name greater than He wrought. This was an indisputable proof of the Resurrection; nor if (that Resurrection) had been seen by all, would it have been equally believed. For men might have said that it was an appearance, but one who saw that by His name alone greater miracles were wrought than when He conversed with men, could not disbelieve unless he were very senseless. A great blessing then is faith when it arises from glowing feelings, great love, and a fervent soul; it makes us truly wise, it hides our human meanness, and leaving reasonings beneath, it philosophizes about things in heaven; or rather what the wisdom of men cannot discover, it abundantly comprehends and succeeds in. Let us then cling to this, and not commit to reasonings what concerns ourselves. For tell me, why have not the Greeks been able to find out anything? Did they not know all the wisdom of the heathen? Why then could they not prevail against fishermen and tentmakers, and unlearned persons? Was it not because the one committed all to argument, the others to faith? And so these last were victorious over Plato and Pythagoras, in short, over all that had gone astray; and they surpass those whose lives had been worn out in astrology and geometry, mathematics and arithmetic, and who had been thoroughly instructed in every sort of learning, and were as much superior to them as true and real philosophers are superior to those who are by nature foolish and out of their senses. For observe, these men asserted that the soul was immortal, or rather, they did not merely assert this, but persuaded others of it. The Greeks, on the contrary, did not at first know what manner of thing the soul was, and when they had found out, and had distinguished it from the body, they were again in the same case, the one asserting that it was incorporeal, the other that it was corporeal and was dissolved with the body. Concerning heaven again, the one said that it had life and was a god, but the fishermen both taught and persuaded that it was the work and device of God. Now that the Greeks should use reasonings is nothing wonderful, but that those who seem to be believers, that they should be found carnal, this is what may justly be lamented. And on this account they have gone astray, some saying that they know God as He knows Himself, a thing which not even any of those Greeks have dared to assert; others that God cannot beget without passion, not even allowing Him any superiority over men; others again, that a righteous life and exact conversation avail nothing. But it is not the time to refute these things now. 4. Yet that a right faith avails nothing if the life be corrupt, both Christ and Paul declare, having taken the more care for this latter part; Christ when He teaches, Not every one that says unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven Matthew 7:21; and again, Many will say unto Me in that day, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your Name? And I will profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you that work iniquity Matthew 22:23; (for they who take not heed to themselves, easily slip away into wickedness, even though they have a right faith;) and Paul, when in his letter to the Hebrews he thus speaks and exhorts them; Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14 By holiness, meaning chastity, so that it behooved each to be content with his own wife, and not have to do with any other woman; for it is impossible that one not so contented should be saved; he must assuredly perish though he have ten thousand right actions, since with fornication it is impossible to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Or rather, this is henceforth not fornication but adultery; for as a woman who is bound to a man, if she come together with another man, then has committed adultery, so he that is bound to a woman, if he have another, has committed adultery. Such an one shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven, but shall fall into the pit. Hear what Christ says concerning these, Their worm shall not die, and the fire shall not be quenched. Mark 9:44 For he can have no pardon, who after (possessing) a wife, and the comfort of a wife, then acts shamelessly towards another woman; since this is henceforth wantonness. And if the many abstain even from their wives when it be a season of fast or prayer, how great a fire does he heap up for himself who is not even content with his wife, but mingles with another; and if it is not permitted one who has put away and cast out his own wife to mingle with another, (for this is adultery,) how great evil does he commit who, while his wife is in his house, brings in another. Let no one then allow this malady to dwell in his soul; let him tear it up by the root. He does not so much wrong his wife as himself. For so grievous and unpardonable is this offense, that if a woman separate herself from a husband which is an idolater without his consent, God punishes her; but if she separate herself from a fornicator, not so. Do you see how great an evil this is? If, It says, any faithful woman have a husband that believes not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. 1 Corinthians 7:13 Not so concerning a harlot; but what? If any man put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, he causes her to commit adultery. Matthew 5:32 For if the coming together makes one body, he who comes together with a harlot must needs become one body with her. How then shall the modest woman, being a member of Christ, receive such an one, or how shall she join to herself the member of an harlot. And observe the excess of the one (fornication) over the other (idolatry). The woman who dwells with an unbeliever is not impure; (for, It says, the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife 1 Corinthians 6:15) not so with the harlot; but what? Shall I then make the members of Christ the members of an harlot? In the one case sanctification remains, and is not removed though the unbeliever dwells with his wife; but in the other case it departs. A dreadful, a dreadful thing is fornication, and an agent for everlasting punishment; and even in this world it brings with it ten thousand woes. The man so guilty is forced to lead a life of anxiety and toil; he is nothing better off than those who are under punishment, creeping into another man's house with fear and much trembling, suspecting all alike both slave and free. Wherefore I exhort you to be freed from this malady, and if you obey not, step not on the sacred threshold. Sheep that are covered with the scab, and full of disease, may not herd with those that are in health; we must drive them from the fold until they get rid of the malady. We have been made members of Christ; let us not, I entreat, become members of an harlot. This place is not a brothel but a church; if then you have the members of an harlot, stand not in the church, lest you insult the place. If there were no hell, if there were no punishment, yet, after those contracts, those marriage torches, the lawful bed, the procreation of children, the intercourse, how couldest thou bear to join yourself to another? How is it that you are not ashamed nor blushest? Do you not know that they who after the death of their own wife, introduce another into their own house, are blamed by many? Yet this action has no penalty attached to it: but you bring in another while your wife is yet alive. What lustfulness is this! Learn what has been spoken concerning such men, Their worm, It says, shall not die, and the fire shall not be quenched. Mark 9:44 Shudder at the threat, dread the vengeance. The pleasure here is not so great as the punishment there, but may it not came to pass that any one (here) become liable to that punishment, but that exercising holiness they may see Christ, and obtain the promised good things, which may we all enjoy, through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:40

A most excellent thing is faith, when it is produced from an ardent mind; and it has such great power that not only is the believer healed, but in fact others also have been healed besides them that believed; as the paralytic let down [through the tiles] at Capernaum, by the faith of those who carried him; and as Lazarus, by that of his sister, to whom the Lord said: If thou believest, thou shall see the glory of God; all but saying: "Since Lazarus, being dead, is not able to believe, do thou fill up that which is lacking of the faith of him that is dead." And the form of faith is twofold: first, dogmatic, consisting of an assent of the soul to something, as: He that believeth on the Son is not judged; and secondly, a gift by the participation of grace from Christ: For to one, He says, is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another faith, which is not merely dogmatic, but also capable of effecting things beyond human power, so as even to remove mountains. The faith of Martha however, by the feebleness of her reason, fell away into unbelief. But the Lord does not permit it to remain so: He effects a speedy remedy for the suffering. For He says she must believe, that she may behold what was beyond hope. For double-mindedness is a great infirmity and deprives us of the gracious gifts of God. Wherefore, by rebuking her, [Christ] warned the whole human race not to be detected in the evil ways of double-mindedness. And shunning vainglory, the Christ did not say: Thou shalt see My glory, but: the glory of God. And the glory of God was the raising the dead. Surely therefore He Himself Who said: I am the Resurrection, is by Nature the God Whose glory He says not long afterwards the woman should see, since Thou wilt suppose that the Truth----and the Christ is the Truth----does not lie. And it was promised to her that her dead brother should rise again. And Mary, being more intelligent, utters no word of doubt; but Martha was affected by the disease of double-mindedness.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:40

Faith is a truly excellent thing when it is produced from an ardent mind. It has such great power that not only is the believer healed but in fact others also can be healed besides those who believe. For instance … Lazarus is saved by the faith of his sister to whom the Lord said, “If you believe you shall see the glory of God,” which is like saying, “Since Lazarus, being dead, is not able to believe, you then are to fill up the faith that is lacking in him that is dead.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 11:41

Again, when Martha in a later passage acknowledged Him to be the Son of God, she no more made a mistake than Peter and Nathanµl had; and yet, even if she had made a mistake, she would at once have learnt the truth: for, behold, when about to raise her brother from the dead, the Lord looked up to heaven, and, addressing the Father, said-as the Son, of course: "Father, I thank Thee that Thou always hearest me; it is because of these crowds that are standing by that I have spoken to Thee, that they may believe that Thou hast sent me." But in the trouble of His soul, (on a later occasion, ) He said: "What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause is it that I am come to this hour; only, O Father, do Thou glorify Thy name" -in which He spake as the Son.

Source: Against Praxeas

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 11:41

His "Father" He Himself adores. When acknowledged by Peter as the "Christ (the Son) of God," He does not deny the relation.

Source: Against Praxeas

[AD 220] Tertullian on John 11:41

In like manner, when they shed tears over you, it is Christ who suffers, Christ who prays the Father for mercy. What a son asks is ever easily obtained.

Source: On Repentance

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:41

We must carefully observe and examine what has been written concerning the position of Jesus’ eyes.… He had changed his thought from his conversation with those below and lifted it up and exalted it, bringing it in prayer to the Father who is over all.… The one who imitates Christ’s prayer, lifting up the eyes of his soul and bringing them up in this way from everyday concerns, memories, thoughts and intention must in this way address to God the great and heavenly words of prayer concerning great and heavenly matters.… If indeed God makes such a promise for those who pray in a worthy manner … that “while you are still speaking, I will say, ‘Here I am,’ ” what answer do we think our Savior and Lord would receive?

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.23-25, 39

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:41-46

(tom. in Joan. xxviii.) The delay in taking away the stone was caused by the sister of the dead, who said, By this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days. If she had not said this, it would not be said, Jesus said, Take away the stone. Some delay had arisen; it is best to let nothing come between the commands of Jesus and doing them.

(tom. xxviii.) He lifted up His eyes; mystically, He lifted up the human mind by prayer to the Father above. We should pray after Christ's pattern, Lift up the eyes of our heart, and raise them above present things in memory, in thought, in intention. If to them who pray worthily after this fashion is given the promise in Isaiah, Thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am; (Isa. 58:9) what answer, think we, our Lord and Saviour would receive? He was about to pray for the resurrection of Lazarus. He was heard by the Father before He prayed; His request was granted before mad. And therefore He begins with giving thanks; I thank Thee, Father, that Thou hast heard Me.

(t. xxviii.) His cry and loud voice it was which awoke him, as Christ had said, I go to awake him. The resurrection of Lazarus is the work of the Father also, in that He heard the prayer of the Son. It is the joint work of Father and Son, one praying, the other hearing; for as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. (5:21)

(t. xxviii. 10.) Our Lord had said above, Because of the people that stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me. It would have been ignorance of the future, if He had said this, and none believed, after all. Therefore it follows: Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on Him. But some of them went their way to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. It is doubtful from these words, whether those who went to the Pharisees, were of those many who believed, and meant to conciliate the opponents of Christ; or whether they were of the unbelieving party, and wished to inflame the envy of the Pharisees against Him. The latter seems to me the true supposition; especially as the Evangelist describes those who believed as the larger party. Many believed; whereas it is only a few who go to the Pharisees: Some of them went to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 367] Hilary of Poitiers on John 11:41

He did not therefore need to pray: He prayed for our sakes, that we might know Him to be the Son: But because use of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that You have sent Me. His prayer did not benefit Himself, but benefited our faith. He did not want help, but we want instruction.

[AD 367] Hilary of Poitiers on John 11:41-46

(lib. x. de Trin.) He did not therefore need to pray: He prayed for our sakes, that we might know Him to be the Son: But because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me. His prayer did not benefit Himself, but benefited our faith. He did not want help, but we want instruction.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on John 11:41

They took, then, the stone there from the mouth of the tomb. The whole crowd marveled, witnessing the smell of pus of Lazarus, who was decayed. He had rotted so that they were not able to approach within the tomb because of the smell of his body and its decay. But into the midst came Jesus, the storehouse that is full of life, the mouth that is full of sweet odor, the tongue that frightens death, the Mighty One in his commands, the joy of those who are sorrowful, the rising of those who have fallen, the resurrection of the dead, the assembly of the strong, the hope of the hopeless.He came and stood openly by the mouth of the tomb, with the preparations of salvation in his divine mouth. Now all of the crowd were standing and beholding and wondering what he would do in starting to raise him from the dead. Now the body was lying dead, but God himself was standing over it, looking down on him and grieving for him.

Source: HOMILY ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:41

1. What I have often said, I will now say, that Christ looks not so much to His own honor as to our salvation; not how He may utter some sublime saying, but how something able to draw us to Him. On which account His sublime and mighty sayings are few, and those also hidden, but the humble and lowly are many, and abound through His discourses. For since by these men were the rather brought over, in these He continues; and He does not on the one hand utter these universally, lest the men that should come after should receive damage, nor, on the other hand, does He entirely withhold those, lest the men of that time should be offended. Since they who have passed from lowmindedness unto perfection, will be able from even a single sublime doctrine to discern the whole, but those who were ever lowminded, unless they had often heard these lowly sayings, would not have come to Him at all. In fact, even after so many such sayings they do not remain firm, but even stone and persecute Him, and try to kill Him, and call Him blasphemer. And when He makes Himself equal with God, they say, This man blasphemes Matthew 9:3; and when He says, Your sins be forgiven you John 10:20, they moreover call Him a demoniac. So when He says that the man who hears His words is stronger than death, or, I am in the Father and the Father in Me John 8:51, they leave Him; and again, they are offended when He says that He came down from heaven. c. vi. 33, 60 If now they could not bear these sayings, though seldom uttered, scarcely, had His discourse been always sublime, had it been of this texture, would they have given heed to Him? When therefore He says, As the Father commanded Me, so I speak John 14:31; and, I am not come of Myself John 7:28, then they believe. That they did believe then is clear, from the Evangelist signifying this besides, and saying, As He spoke these words, many believed on Him. John 5:30 If then lowly speaking drew men to faith, and high speaking scared them away, must it not be a mark of extreme folly not to see at a glance how to reckon the sole reason of those lowly sayings, namely, that they were uttered because of the hearers. Since in another place when He had desired to say some high thing, He withheld it, adding this reason, and saying, Lest we should offend them, cast a hook into the sea. Matthew 17:27 Which also He does here; for after saying, I know that You hear Me always, He adds, but because of the multitude which stands around I said it, that they might believe. Are these words ours? Is this a human conjecture? When then a man will not endure to be persuaded by what is written, that they were offended at sublime things, how, when he hears Christ saying that He spoke in a lowly manner that they might not be offended, how, after that, shall he suspect that the mean sayings belonged to His nature, not to His condescension? So in another place, when a voice came down from heaven, He said, This voice came not because of Me, but for your sakes. John 12:30 He who is exalted may be allowed to speak lowly things of himself, but it is not lawful for the humble to utter concerning himself anything grand or sublime.  For the former arises from condescension, and has for its cause the weakness of the hearers; or rather (it has for its cause) the leading them to humblemindedness, and His being clothed in flesh, and the teaching the hearers to say nothing great concerning themselves, and His being deemed an enemy of God, and not being believed to have come from God, His being suspected of breaking the Law, and the fact that the hearers looked on Him with an evil eye, and were ill disposed towards Him, because He said that He was equal to God. But that a lowly man should say any great thing of Himself, has no cause either reasonable or unreasonable; it can only be folly, impudence, and unpardonable boldness. Wherefore then does Christ speak humbly, being of that ineffable and great Substance? For the reasons mentioned, and that He might not be deemed unbegotten; for Paul seems to have feared some such thing as this; wherefore he says, Except Him who did put all things under Him. 1 Corinthians 15:27 This it is impious even to think of. Since if being less than Him who begot Him, and of a different Substance, He had been deemed equal, would He not have used every means that this might not be thought? But now He does the contrary, saying, If I do not the works of Him that sent Me, believe Me not. John 10:37 Indeed His saying, that I am in the Father and the Father in Me John 14:10, intimates to us the equality. It would have behooved, if He had been inferior, to refute this opinion with much vehemence, and not at all to have said, I am in the Father and the Father in me John 10:30, or that, We are One, or that, He that has seen Me, has seen the Father. John 14:9 Thus also, when His discourse was concerning power, He said, I and the Father are One; and when His discourse was concerning authority, He said again, For as the Father raises up the dead and quickens them, even so the Son quickens whom He wilt John 5:21; which it would be impossible that He should do were He of a different substance; or even allowing that it were possible, yet it would not have behooved to say this, lest they should suspect that the substance was one and the same. Since if in order that they may not suppose Him to be an enemy of God, He often even utters words unsuited to Him, much more should He then have done so; but now, His saying, That they should honor the Son even as they honor the Father John 5:23; His saying, The works which He does, I do also John 5:19; His saying that He is the Resurrection, and the Life, and the Light of the world c. xi. 25; 100:viii. 12, are the expressions of One making Himself equal to Him who begot Him, and confirming the suspicion which they entertained. Do you see how He makes this speech and defense, to show that He broke not the Law, and that He not only does not remove, but even confirms the opinion of His equality with the Father? So also when they said, Thou blaspheme, because you make yourself God John 10:33, from equality of works He established this thing.

2. And why say I that the Son did this, when the Father also who took not the flesh does the same thing? For He also endured that many lowly things should be said concerning Him for the salvation of the hearers. For the, Adam, where are you? Genesis 3:9, and, That I may know whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it Genesis 18:21; and, Now I know that you fear God Genesis 22:12; and, If they will hear Ezekiel 3:11; and, If they will understand Deuteronomy 5:29; and, Who shall give the heart of this people to be so? and the expression, There is none like You among the gods, O Lord Psalm 80:29; these and many other like sentences in the Old Testament, if a man should pick them out, he will find to be unworthy of the dignity of God. In the case of Ahab it is said, Who shall entice Ahab for Me? 2 Chronicles 18:19 And the continually preferring Himself to the gods of the heathen in the way of comparison, all these things are unworthy of God. Yet in another way they are made worthy of Him, for He is so kind, that for our salvation He cares not for expressions which become His dignity. Indeed, the becoming man is unworthy of Him, and the taking the form of a servant, and the speaking humble words, and the being clothed in humble (garments), unworthy if one looks to His dignity, but worthy if one consider the unspeakable riches of His lovingkindness. And there is another cause of the humility of His words. What is that? It is that they knew and confessed the Father, but Him they knew not. Wherefore He continually betakes Himself to the Father as being confessed by them, because He Himself was not as yet deemed worthy of credit; not on account of any inferiority of His own, but because of the folly and infirmity of the hearers. On this account He prays, and says, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. For if He quickens whom He will, and quickens in like manner as does the Father, wherefore does He call upon Him?

But it is time now to go through the passage from the beginning. Then they took up the stone where the dead man lay. And Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I knew that You hear Me always, but because of the people that stand by I said it, that they might believe that You have sent Me. Let us then ask the heretic, Did He receive an impulse from the prayer, and so raise the dead man? How then did He work other miracles without prayer? Saying, Thou evil spirit, I charge you, come out of him Mark 9:25; and, I will, be thou clean Mark 1:41; and, Arise, take up your bed John 5:8; and, Your sins be forgiven you Matthew 9:2; and to the sea, Peace, be still. Mark 4:39 In short, what has He more than the Apostles, if so be that He also works by prayer? Or rather I should say, that neither did they work all with prayer, but often they wrought without prayer, calling upon the Name of Jesus. Now, if His Name had such great power, how could He have needed prayer? Had He needed prayer, His Name would not have availed. When He wholly made man, what manner of prayer did He need? Was there not then great equality of honor? Let Us make, It says, man. Genesis 1:26 What could be greater sign of weakness, if He needed prayer? But let us see what the prayer was; I thank You that You have heard Me. Who now ever prayed in this manner? Before uttering any prayer, He says, I thank You, showing that He needed not prayer. And I knew that You hear Me always. This He said not as though He Himself were powerless, but to show that His will and the Father's is one. But why did He assume the form of prayer? Hear, not me, but Himself, saying, For the sake of the people which stand by, that they may believe that You have sent Me. He said not, "That they may believe that I am inferior, that I have need of an impulse from above, that without prayer I cannot do anything; but, That You have sent Me. For all these things the prayer declares, if we take it simply. He said not, You have sent me weak, acknowledging servitude, and doing nothing of Myself; but dismissing all these things, that you may have no such suspicions, He puts the real cause of the prayer, That they may not deem Me an enemy of God; that they may not say, He is not of God, that I may show them that the work has been done according to Your will. All but saying, Had I been an enemy of God, what is done would not have succeeded, but the, You heard Me, is said in the case of friends and equals. And I knew that You hear Me always, that is, in order that My will be done I need no prayer, except to persuade men that to You and Me belongs one will. Why then prayest Thou? For the sake of the weak and grosser sort.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:41-46

(Hom. lxiv. 2) i. e. There is no difference of will between Me and Thee. Thou hast heard Me, does not show any lack of power in Him, or that He is inferior to the Father. It is a phrase that is used between friends and equals. That the prayer is not really necessary for Him, appears from the words that follow, And I knew that Thou heardest Me always: as if He said, I need not prayer to persuade Thee; for Ours is one will. He hides His meaning on account of the weak faith of His hearers. For God regards not so much His own dignity, as our salvation; and therefore seldom speaks loftily of Himself, and, even when He does, speaks in an obscure way; whereas humble expressions abound in His discourses.

(Hom. lxiv. 2) He did not say, That they may believe that I am inferior to Thee, in that I cannot do this without prayer, but, that Thou hast sent Me. He saith not, hast sent Me weak, acknowledging subjection, doing nothing of Myself, but hast sent Me in such sense, as that man may see that I am from God, not contrary to God; and that I do this miracle in accordance with His will.

(Hom. lxiv. 2) He does not say, Arise, but, Come forth, speaking to the dead as if he were alive. For which reason also He does not say, Come forth in My Father's name, or, Father, raise him, but throwing off the whole appearance of one praying, proceeds to show His power by acts. This is His general way. His words show humility, His acts power.

(Hom. lxiv) He came forth bound, that none might suspect that he was a mere phantom. Besides, that this very fact, viz. of coming forth bound, was itself a miracle, as great as the resurrection. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, that by going near and touching him they might be certain he was the very person. And let him go. His humility is shown here; He does not take Lazarus about with Him for the sake of display.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:41-46

(de Verb. Dom. Serm. lii) Christ went to the grave in which Lazarus slept, as if He were not dead, but alive and able to hear, for He forthwith called him out of his grave: And when He had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. He calls him by name, that He may not bring out all the dead.

(lib. lxxxiii. Quæst. q. 65) Although according to the Gospel history, we hold that Lazarus was really raised to life, yet I doubt not that his resurrection is an allegory as well. We do not, because we allegorize facts, lose our belief in them as facts.

(Tr. super Joan. xlix. 3) Every one that sinneth, dies; but God, of His great mercy, raises the soul to life again, and does not suffer it to die eternally. The three miraculous resurrections in the Gospels, I understand to testify the resurrection of the soul.

(Tr. xlix. 3) Or, it is death within; when the evil thought has not come out into action. But if thou actually do the evil thing, thou hast as it were carried the dead outside the gate.

(lib. lxxxii. Quæst. q. lxv.) Or we may take Lazarus in the grave as the soul laden with earthly sins.

(in Joan. Tr. xlix) And yet our Lord loved Lazarus. For had He not loved sinners, He would never have come down from heaven to save them. Well is it said of one of sinful habits, that He stinketh. He hath a bad report1 already, as it were the foulest odour.

(lib. lxxxiii. Quæst. q. 65) Well may she say, He hath been dead four days. For the earth is the last of the elements. It signifies the pit of earthly sins, i. e. carnal lusts.

(Tract. in Joan. xlix. 19) The Lord groaned, wept, cried with a loud voice. It is hard for Him to arise, who is bowed down with the weight of evil habits. Christ troubleth Himself, to signify to thee that thou shouldest be troubled, when thou art pressed and weighed down with such a mass of sin. Faith groaneth, he that is displeased with himself groaneth, and accuseth his own evil deeds; that so the habit of sin may yield to the violence of repentance. When thou sayest, I have done such a thing, and God has spared me; I have heard the Gospel, and despised it; what shall I do? then Christ groaneth, because faith groaneth; and in the voice of thy groaning appeareth the hope of thy rising again.

(lib. lxxxiii. Quæst. q. 65) That Lazarus came forth from the grave, signifies the soul's deliverance from carnal sins. That he came bound up in grave clothes means, that even we who are delivered from carnal things, and serve with the mind the law of God, yet cannot, so long as we are in the body, be free from the besetments of the flesh. That his face was bound about with a napkin means, that we do not attain to full knowledge in this life. And when our Lord says, Loose him, and let him go, we learn that in another world all veils will be removed, and that we shall see face to face.

(Tr. xlix) Or thus: When thou despisest, thou liest dead; when thou confessest, thou comest forth. For what is to come forth, but to go out, as it were, of thy hiding place, and show thyself? But thou canst not make this confession, except God move thee to it, by crying with a loud voice, i. e. calling thee with great grace. But even after the dead man has come forth, he remains bound for some time, i. e. is as yet only a penitent. Then our Lord says to His ministers, Loose him, and let him go, i. e. remit his sins: Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matt. 18:18)

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on John 11:41-46

(iv. Moral. c. xxix.) The maiden is restored to life in the house, the young man outside the gate, Lazarus in his grave. She that lies dead in the house, is the sinner lying in sin: he that is carried out by the gate is the openly and notoriously wicked.

(v. Moral.) And one there is who lies dead in his grave, with a load of earth upon him; i. e. who is weighed down by habits of sin. But the Divine grace has regard even unto such, and enlightens them.

(xxii. Moral.) Lazarus is bid to come forth, i. e. to come forth and condemn himself with his own mouth, without excuse or reservation: that so he that lies buried in a guilty conscience, may come forth out of himself by confession.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 735] Bede on John 11:41-46

By those who went and told the Pharisees, are meant those who seeing the good works of God's servants, hate them on that very account, persecute, and calumniate them.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 804] Alcuin of York on John 11:41-46

Christ, as man, being inferior to the Father, prays to Him for Lazarus's resurrection; and declares that He is heard: And Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me.

Christ awakes, because His power it is which quickens us inwardly: the disciples loose, because by the ministry of the priesthood, they who are quickened are absolved.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 11:41-46

The voice which roused Lazarus, is the symbol of that trumpet which will sound at the general resurrection. (He spoke loud, to contradict the Gentile fable, that the soul remained in the tomb. The soul of Lazarus is called to as if it were absent, and a loud voice were necessary to summon it.) And as the general resurrection is to take place in the twinkling of an eye, so did this single one: And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. Now is accomplished what was said above, The hour is coming, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. (5:25)

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 108] Ignatius of Antioch on John 11:42

Source: Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians

[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on John 11:42

Because they considered it a blasphemy that he called God his Father, he used the tomb as a court of justice and set the truth as judge, while the surrounding unthankful multitude formed the witnesses, so that those who had said “You blaspheme by naming yourself in your own sense Son of God and him as your Father” were to see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears, while he as good as said to them, “I appeal to him here before you. If he is displeased because I call him Father, and it is a blasphemy as you think, he will not hear me. But if he hears me, it is certainly clear that he is actually my Father.… If I call the dead and he obeys my command and arises, it is not the work of a blasphemer but the command of God and of the Son of God.” That this is the meaning of the prayer and that it did not spring from any deficiency on his part is shown by his words.

Source: ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN AND THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:42

He was about to pray for the resurrection of Lazarus when the only good God and Father anticipated his prayer and heard the words about to be spoken in his prayer. So the Savior begins by giving thanks in place of prayer in the hearing of the crowd.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.42

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:42

“I knew that you hear me always,” which is reported by John as said by the Lord, makes clear that those who pray are always heard.

Source: ON PRAYER 13.1

[AD 367] Hilary of Poitiers on John 11:42

When he was about to restore Lazarus, he prayed to the Father. But he did not need to pray.… “But for the benefit of the people standing nearby I said it, that they may believe that you have sent me.” He prayed then for us so that we might know that he is the Son. His prayer did not benefit himself but benefited our faith. He did not need any help, but we needed instruction.

Source: ON THE TRINITY 10.71

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:42

Who ever prayed like Jesus did? Even before uttering any petition, he says, “I thank you that you have heard me,” demonstrating that he did not need prayer. He goes on to say, “And I knew that you always hear me,” not as though he himself were powerless but to show that his will and the Father’s are one. But then why did he pray? He says he did so “for the sake of the people standing by so that they may believe that you have sent me.” … All but saying, If I had been an enemy of God, what is done would not have succeeded.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 64.2

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:42

Of course it is agreeably to His self-humiliation as a Man that the Christ thus speaks in a lowly manner, not according to the excellency of the Godhead: and He offers His thanks to the Father not on account of Lazarus only, but for the life of all men. For being good, He is of one mind with the Father in bringing back to life the nature of man which had fallen into liability to corruption through its disobedience; and there is no distinction between His goodness and that of the Father. And just as we ourselves even are persuaded by our own reasonings to leave undone what we had intended to do, so also the Lord, being the Word and Counsel of the Father, has made the Father friendly to us. And of course we do not say that what is Divine indulges in anger, but that [God], being just and good, knows when it is the proper time to rebuke, and when it is the proper time to relax. However, the Lord gives thanks, and this He does as a Pattern for us, honouring the Father. But when an equal gives thanks to an equal, he by no means does this as a mark of inferiority of essence. And on this account [Jesus] notifies that because of the multitude He spake thus, all but saying: "I have simulated the outward appearance of prayer, and I gave thanks, in conformity with My assumed condition." For I knew that Thou hearest Me always. For the one Nature of the Godhead is not disobedient to itself, since the Mind of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit, is One. Knowing therefore, He says, that Our purpose is one and Our will one, because of the multitude I spake thus. And the Christ thus speaks because of the Jews, giving thanks to the Father as if effecting by Him His God-befitting deeds, that they might no more say it was by Beelzebub He did signs. And He also explains His conduct with regard to the outward appearance of prayer, that we may not be caused to stumble, saying: because of the multitude I did this. Moreover, He says: Thou didst send Me, because of the suspicions of the Jews: for I came not of Myself, as do the false prophets; but with Thy approbation and good will I emptied Myself, taking the form of a servant, that I might restore the life to all. The manner of the prayer therefore was in agreement with His assumed condition and suitable to His outward appearance in the flesh, not to the excellency and incomparable splendour of the Godhead. For to ask and to receive would be actions altogether befitting a servant rather than a lord, and are usual with such as are under dominion. Nevertheless, Christ does even these things without blame; for having accepted for Himself the condition of a Man, how could He any longer decline the characteristics of humanity?

For the Son is in every respect perfect in Himself, and in no way does He lack any single excellence. For He is begotten of the Essence of God the Father, and is full of power and of God-befitting glory. Everything is under His feet and there is nothing which His power cannot effect. For, according to the voice of the saint, He can do everything. Yet, although it is true that everything is in His possession, He asks, it is said, from the Father, and receives the heathen and the uttermost parts of the earth as a glorious inheritance. But it is necessary that we should ask how He receives or when: for this is in truth fitting and necessary, I mean, that we should in such matters ask about the times, and investigate the occasions, and make a diligent inquiry as to their significations. When, therefore, He became Man; when He emptied Himself, as it is written; when He humbled Himself to the form of those to whom it is befitting that they should ask; then it was that He both did and spake those things that are befitting to men, and we are told that they were made perfect concerning Him from the Father. For where did He exhibit the outward appearance of humility, or how did that self-emptying show itself victoriously, except that contrary to His Majesty He endured something willingly, when for our sake He emptied Himself? For in the same way that He was weary from the fatigue of the journey, although He is the Lord of Powers; and as He was in need of food, although He is the Bread which came down from heaven, and giveth life to the world; and as He endured death in the flesh, although it is He in Whom we move and have our being; so it is said that He asked, although He is the Lord of all. That when the Only-Begotten became Man, He was not then at first called to His kingdom, we might easily show. But to dispute much about this would be not far removed from folly. Therefore we maintain that what thou hast spoken of was done rather for the same reason. Thinkest thou that the Lord prayed for Lazarus, and thus obtained for him life? But thou wilt not continue to think this at all, when thou art reminded of the words that remain. For He not only said: Father, I thank Thee that Thou heardest Me; but He added further: Because of the multitude which standeth around I said it, that they may believe that Thou didst send Me. And thou seest here the occasion of the prayer clearly. For because the Jews were wicked and bold, so that they made an accusation when the Lord was working miracles, and said that by Beelzebub He performed those God-befitting deeds; therefore He justly refuted the thought that was in them, and showed that He performed everything together with the Father as God, and did not (like those men the false prophets) come of His own will. Moreover, as regards His choosing to speak words which seemed not right for God, He said: Because of the multitude which standeth around I said it, that they may believe that Thou didst send Me. Had it not therefore been meet to correct the notion of those standing around, in order that it might be understood that the miracle, which He received for Lazarus' sake, was from above, and from the Father, He would not have said at all these words: Father, I thank Thee that Thou heardest Me. For He was both the Will and the Word, and the Counsel of the Father as regards all excellencies. What counsel did He ask, or what will, or what word, of Him Who begat Him, that He might receive some works,----when He had the Father in Him by Nature, and He was in the Father, because He was of His Essence? How as one far removed did He ask of the Father, or how was He not able to expel from a corpse sad death, Who even at the beginning formed man out of inanimate matter, and exhibited him animated and rational? We will accept therefore the explanation which does not err in the faith, not of those men who speak foolishly, but of the Scripture |130 spoken by the Spirit, in which there is nothing crooked or perverse.

[AD 450] Peter Chrysologus on John 11:42

When Christ began to strike the doors of the underworld, to break through the gates of Tartarus, to open the entrance of death, to dissolve the old law of Gehenna, to do away with the age-old right to punish and to demand the return of Lazarus’s soul, the power of Tartarus with all its fury confronted him, brandishing the edict of the Ruler of heaven, bearing the decree of the King most high, presenting the sentence rendered by the mouth of God and in effect for so many years. And on seeing the man, [Tartarus] asked who [Christ] was, what his intentions were, what his purpose was and why all by himself he was fearlessly challenging and attacking the fearsome entrance to death.As he asked who he was, the angels serving as ministers of the resurrection answered him in the words of the prophet: “He is the King of glory,” he is “the One who is strong and mighty in battle.” But Tartarus responded, “I know that the King of glory is in charge in heaven of all the celestial powers, and the whole of creation is unable to bear his will. However, this one that I see is one of the earthlings, made out of mud, enclosed in a mortal body, and in his human condition viler than human beings, and, in short, soon to be handed over to the grave and very shortly destined to come under my jurisdiction.”
But the angels persisted and kept repeating, “He is ‘the Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory,’ he is the Ruler of heaven, the Creator of the earth, the Savior of the world, the Redeemer of all, he is the one who rendered the death sentence that has you in a fury, he is about to tread on your head, crush your authority and issue his own judgment of condemnation on you, who, although ordered to seize the guilty, drag away the innocent, abduct the saints and now threaten the Son of God himself. So give back one before you are forced to release all.”

Source: SERMON 65.6

[AD 450] Peter Chrysologus on John 11:42

But Tartarus, still not believing the report he received from the customary messengers, and deploring the situation, with a complaint full of envy makes this appeal to heaven: “O Lord, even though I am the lowest of your creatures, even though I am subjected to grim servitude, I am unfailing in keeping your precepts. I am ever vigilant so that no rash innovator alter the age-old authority of your sentence. But a man has appeared, who is called Christ, bragging that he is your Son, and he reprimands your priests, he rebukes your scribes, he violates your sabbath, he abolishes your law, and he compels souls, released from the flesh and assigned now to my custody for punishment, to return to the bodies in which they had lived wickedly.“And his audacity, which is growing stronger day by day, has reached the point that he has broken the barriers of the underworld and is attempting to rescue Lazarus, already locked in our prison, already bound by our law and already subject to our authority. Either quickly come to the aid, or, once he opens the doors, you are now going to lose all those whom we have kept in custody for so long a time.”
To this the Son from the bosom of his Father responds, “Father, it is just that a prison holds not the innocent but the guilty. That punishment torments the unrighteous, not the righteous. For how long for the offense of one man, on account of Adam’s guilt alone, will this executioner continue to drag down to himself with his cruel violence patriarchs, prophets, martyrs, confessors, virgins, widows, those abiding in the chastity of marriage, people of all ages and of both sexes, even little children who do not know good or evil? Father, I shall die so that all may not die. Father, I shall pay Adam’s debt so that through me those who die through Adam for the underworld may live for you. Father, because of your sentence I shall shed my blood. That is how important it is to me that your creation should return to you. May the price of my blood so dear to you be the redemption of all the dead.”
To this the whole Trinity agreed and ordered Lazarus to leave, and Tartarus was commanded to obey Christ in giving back all the dead. This is why the Son proclaims, “Father, I thank you for having heard me.” The apostle bears witness that Christ is our advocate in the presence of the Father. And so, when he is seated he judges together with the Father. When he stands, he functions in the capacity of advocate.

Source: SERMON 65.6-8

[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on John 11:43

And straightway the infirm man received strength. And to the dead He said, "Lazarus, go forth; "

[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on John 11:43

O power of the voice, arousing the four days’ dead as from sleep and bringing forth from the grave as well loosed and swiftly running the one who was bound with grave bands. Give your attention, beloved, to the voice, and you will find him to be the Word that spoke at the creation.… “Lazarus, come forth,” and the dead arose, and he who had reached the fourth day was equal to one who had not died at all. “Lazarus, come forth,” and the soul was drawn up from the realms below … and joyfully recognized its own dwelling.

Source: ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN AND THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS

[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on John 11:43

“Come forth.” See, I am standing by you. I am your Lord. You are the work of my hands. Why have you not known me, because in the beginning I myself formed Adam from the earth and gave him breath? Open your mouth yourself so that I may give you breath. Stand on your feet and receive strength for yourself. For I am the strength of the whole creation. Stretch out your hands, and I shall give them strength. For I am the straight staff. I command the foul odor to depart from you. For I am the sweet odor of the trees of paradise. Behold, the prophecy of Isaiah the prophet will be fulfilled in you, namely, “I shall open your tombs, and I shall bring you forth.”

Source: HOMILY ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS

[AD 382] Apollinaris of Laodicea on John 11:43

The one whom he loved and who was his friend he calls by name so that [Lazarus] serves as a sign of the resurrection of all those who are called friends by the Lord whom the apostle says have died in the Lord.

Source: FRAGMENTS ON JOHN 75

[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on John 11:43

Here we have a man past the prime of life, a corpse, decaying, swollen, in fact, already in a state of dissolution, so that even his own relatives did not want the Lord to draw near the tomb because the decayed body enclosed there was so offensive. And yet, he is brought into life by a single call, confirming the proclamation of the resurrection, that is to say, that expectation of it as universal that we learn by a particular experience to entertain. For as in the regeneration of the universe the apostle tells us that “the Lord himself will descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,” and by a trumpet sound raise up the dead to incorruption—so now too he who is in the tomb, at the voice of command, shakes off death as if it were only sleep. He rids himself of the corruption that had come on his condition of a corpse, leaps forth from the tomb whole and sound, not even hindered as he leaves by the bonds of the grave cloths round his feet and hands.

Source: ON THE MAKING OF MAN 25.11

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:43

3. This is that of which He spoke, The hour is coming, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. John 5:28 For, that you might not think that He received the power of working from another, He taught you this before, and gave proof by deeds, and said not, Arise, but, Come forth, conversing with the dead man as though living. What can be equal to this authority? And if He does it not by His own strength, what shall He have more than the Apostles, who say, Why look ye so earnestly on us as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? Acts 3:12 For if, not working by His own power, He did not add what the Apostles said concerning themselves, they will in a manner be more truly wise than He, because they refused the glory. And in another place, Why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions as you. Acts 14:15 The Apostles since they did nothing of themselves, spoke in this way to persuade men of this; but He when the like opinion was formed concerning Him, would He not have removed the suspicion, if at least He did not act by His own authority? Who would assert this? But in truth Christ does the contrary, when He says, Because of the people which stand by I said it, that they might believe; so that had they believed, there would have been no need of prayer. Now if prayer were not beneath His dignity, why should He account them the cause of His praying? Why said He not, I do it in order that they may believe that I am not equal to You; for He ought on account of the suspicion to have come to this point. When He was suspected of breaking the Law, He used the very expression, even when they had not said anything, Think not that I have come to destroy the Law Matthew 5:17; but in this place He establishes their suspicion. In fact, what need was there at all of going such a round, and of using such dark sayings? It had been enough to say, I am not equal, and to be rid of the matter. But what, says some one, did He not say that, I do not My own will? Even this He did in a covert way, and one suited to their infirmity, and from the same cause through which the prayer was made. But what means That You have heard Me? It means, That there is nothing on My part opposed to You. As then the, That You have heard Me, is not the saying of one declaring, that of Himself He had not the power, (for were this the case, it would be not only impotence but ignorance, if before praying He did not know that God would grant the prayer; and if He knew not, how was it that He said, I go that I may awake him, instead of, I go to pray My Father to awake him?) As then this expression is a sign, not of weakness, but of identity of will, so also is the, You hear Me always. We must then either say this, or else that it was addressed to their suspicions. If now He was neither ignorant nor weak, it is clear that He utters these lowly words, that you may be persuaded by their very excess, and may be compelled to confess, that they suit not His dignity, but are from condescension. What then say the enemies of truth? He spoke not those words, You have heard me, says some one, to the infirmity of the hearers, but in order to show a superiority. Yet this was not to show a superiority, but to humble Himself greatly, and to show Himself as having nothing more than man. For to pray is not proper to God, nor to the sharer of the Throne. Do you see then that He came to this from no other cause than their unbelief? Observe at least that the action bears witness to His authority.

He called, and the dead man came forth wrapped. Then that the matter might not seem to be an appearance, (for his coming forth bound did not seem to be less marvelous than his resurrection,) Jesus commanded to loose him, in order that having touched and having been near him, they might see that it was really he. And He says,

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:43

Do you see His freedom from boastfulness? He does not lead him on, nor bid him go about with Him, lest He should seem to any to be showing him; so well knew He how to observe moderation.

When the sign had been wrought, some wondered, others went and told it to the Pharisees. What then did they? When they ought to have been astonished and to have admired Him, they took counsel to kill Him who had raised the dead. What folly! They thought to give up to death Him who had overcome death in the bodies of others.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:43

Why said He not, In the name of My Father come forth? Or why said He not, Father, raise him up? Why did he omit all these expressions, and after assuming the attitude of one praying, show by His actions His independent authority? Because this also was a part of His wisdom, to show condescension by words, but by His deeds, power. For since they had nothing else to charge Him with except that He was not of God, and since in this way they deceived many, He on this account most abundantly proves this very point by what He says, and in the way that their infirmity required. For it was in His power by other means to show at once His agreement with the Father and His own dignity, but the multitude could not ascend so far. And He says,

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:43

Why did he not say, “In the name of my Father come out”? Or why not, “Father, raise him up”? Why did he omit all these expressions and, after assuming the attitude of one praying, show by his actions his independent authority? Because this was also a mark of his wisdom: to show condescension by his words but power by his deeds. For since [the Jewish leaders] had nothing else to charge him with except that he was not of God, and since in this way they deceived many, for this reason he more than sufficiently proves this very point by what he says in a way their weakness required. For it was in his power to show in another way his agreement with the Father as well as his own dignity, but the multitude could not ascend so far. And so he simply says, “Lazarus, come forth.”

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 64.2

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:43

O the marvel! the ill-smelling corpse, even after the fourth day from death, He brought forth out of the tomb; and him that was fettered fast and bound hand and foot, He commanded to walk! And immediately, the dead man started up, and the corpse began to run, being delivered from its corruption and losing its bad smell, and escaping through the gates of death, and without any hindrance to running being caused by the bonds. And although deprived of sight by the covering which was over his face, the dead man runs without any hindrance towards Him Who had called him, and recognises the masterful voice. For Christ's language was God-befitting and His command was kingly, having power to loose from death, and to bring back from corruption, and to exhibit energy beyond expression. The use of a piercing cry, however, was altogether strange and unwonted in the Saviour Christ. For instance, God the Father somewhere says concerning Him: He shall not strive nor cry aloud, and so on. For the works of the true Godhead are without noise or tumult of any kind; and this was the case with Christ, for He is in His Nature God of God and Very God. So then what do we say when we see that He cried aloud in an unusual manner? For surely no one will degrade himself to such a depth of folly as to say that Christ ever went beyond what was fitting or indeed ever erred from absolute perfection. How then is it to be explained? Certainly the cry has a reason and a purport, which we feel it necessary to state. It was for the good of the hearers. Christ wrought the miracle upon Lazarus as a sort of type of the general resurrection of the dead, and that which was fulfilled in the case of an individual He set forth as a beautiful image of what will be universal and common to the whole race. For it is part of our belief that the Lord will come, and we hold that there will be a cry made by the sound of a trumpet, according to the language of Paul, proclaiming the resurrection to those that lie in the earth, although it is manifest that the deed will be effected by the unspeakable power of the Almighty God.

For on this account also the Law given by Moses, when laying down directions concerning the feast of Tabernacles, says: Celebrate it as a memorial of trumpets. For when human bodies are about to be set up again, as tabernacles, and every man's soul is about to take to itself its own bodily habitation in a way as yet unknown, the masterful command will be previously proclaimed, and the signal of the resurrection will sound forth, even the trump of God, as it is said. As a type therefore of this, in the case of Lazarus Christ uttered a great and audible cry, not much heeding His usual habit, that He might exhibit the type of what is to be expected hereafter.

[AD 450] Hesychius of Jerusalem on John 11:43

The voice longed for Lazarus, its call freeing up the wings of the prisoner so that he rises up from the earth. HOMILY 11 ON ST.

Source: LAZARUS

[AD 740] Andrew of Crete on John 11:43

Lazarus, Come out!
It is the voice of the Lord, the proclamation of the king—an authoritative command.
Come out!
Leave corruption behind and receive the flesh of incorruption.
Lazarus, Come out!
Let them know that the time has come when those in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of man. Once they have heard they will come alive.
Come out!
The stumbling block is taken away.
Come to me—I am calling you.
Come out!
As a friend, I am calling you; as Lord I am commanding you.…
Come out
Covered with the burial cloth so that they won’t think you were only pretending to be dead. Let them see your hands and feet bound and your face covered. Let them see if they still do not believe the miracle.
Come out!
Let the stench of your body prove the resurrection. Let the burial linen be undone so that they can recognize the one who was put in the tomb.
Come out!
Come alive and enliven! Come out of the tomb. Teach them how all creation will be enlivened in a moment when the trumpet’s voice proclaims the resurrection of the dead.
Come out!
Let breath appear in your nostrils, let blood pulse through your veins, let the voice sound in your larynx, let words fill your ears, let vision enlighten your eyes, let the sense of smell fill your senses, walk as nature intended as your earthly tent is enlivened by your soul.
Come out!
Leave behind the burial cloth and glorify the miracle. Leave the revolting stench of death and proclaim the strength of my power.
I’m calling you out!
Come out.
I, who said, “Let there be light, let there be firmament.”

Source: HOMILY 8 ON LAZARUS

[AD 202] Irenaeus on John 11:44

Concerning Lazarus, who had lain four days in the tomb: In what [body did he] rise again? In the same, no doubt, in which he had also died. For if it were not in the very same [body], then certainly he who had died did not rise again.… “The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth.” This was symbolic of that man who had been bound in sins. And therefore the Lord said, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Therefore, since those who were healed were made whole in those members that had in times past been afflicted, and the dead rose in the identical bodies, their limbs and bodies receiving health, so also that life that was granted by the Lord who prefigures eternal things by temporal ones shows that it is he who is himself able to extend both healing and life to his handiwork so that his words concerning its [future] resurrection may also be believed.

Source: AGAINST HERESIES 5.13.1

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:44

Now, we ought to be aware that there are some Lazaruses even now who, after they have become Jesus’ friends, have become sick and died, and as dead persons they have remained in the tomb and the land of the dead with the dead who were later made alive by Jesus’ prayer. They were summoned from the tomb to the things outside it by Jesus with his loud voice. He who trusts in Jesus comes forth wearing bonds worthy of death from his former sins and still bound around his face, so that he can neither see nor walk nor do anything because of the bonds of death until Jesus commands those who are able to loose him and let him go.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.54

[AD 311] Methodius of Olympus on John 11:44

They saw Lazarus, who was made an exile from the region of death.

Source: Methodius Oration on the Psalms

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:44

Do you wonder how it is that he came forth with his feet bound, but forget about the fact that after four days he rose from the dead? In both events it was the power of the Lord that operated and not the strength of the dead. He came forth and yet was still bound. Still in his burial shroud, he has already come outside the tomb. What does it mean? When you despise [Christ], you lie dead.… When you confess, you come forth. For what is to come forth, but to come out, as it were, from your hiding place and show yourself? But you cannot make this confession unless God moves you to do it, by crying with a loud voice, that is, calling you with abundant grace. But even after the dead man has come forth, he remains bound for some time, that is, he is as yet only a penitent. Then our Lord says to his ministers, “Loose him, and let him go,” that is, forgive his sins: “Whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.24

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:44

So someone says, “What’s the use of the church, if you can confess, and be brought back to life by the voice of the Lord and come out immediately?” “What use is the church to you as you confess—the church to which the Lord said, ‘What you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven?’ ” Look at Lazarus’s case. He came out, all tied up. He was already alive, by confessing, but he was not yet walking around freely, being still entangled with the bandages. So what does the church do, told as it has been, “Whatever you loose shall be loosed”? The church does what the Lord went on at once to tell the disciples, of course: “Unbind him and let him go.”

Source: SERMON 67.3

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:44

For their good therefore He bade them with their own hands to loose him, that they might have no opportunity of misrepresenting what had been done, but might be witnesses of the miracle. And this too is representative of the general resurrection, when, being loosed from sin and the corruption of death, every one will be set free. For, falling into sin, we have wrapped the shame of it like a veil about the face of our soul, and are fast bound by the cords of death. When therefore the Christ shall at the time of the resurrection bring us out from our tombs in the earth, then in very truth does He loosen us from our former evils, and as it were remove the veil of shame, and command that we be let go freely from that time forward; not under the dominion of sin, not subject to corruption, or indeed any of the other troubles that are wont to cause suffering; so that there will be fulfilled in us that which was said by one of the holy prophets: Ye shall both go forth and leap as calves let loose from bonds.

And consider I pray you the miracle as regards its inner meaning. For if our mind be dead like Lazarus, it behoves our material flesh and our nobler soul, like Martha and Mary [respectively,] to approach the Christ with a confession of faith, and to entreat His help. Then He will stand by us, and command the hardness that lies upon our 1 memory to be taken away, and cry with the loud voice of the Evangelic trumpet: "Come forth from the distractions of the world," and loose the cords of our sins; so that we may be able in full vigour to devote ourselves to virtue.

[AD 450] Peter Chrysologus on John 11:44

Pray, brothers, that we who have taken a sip of the resurrection with Lazarus offering the toast at Christ’s return may merit drinking the whole draft of the universal resurrection.

Source: SERMON 65.9

[AD 468] Basil of Seleucia on John 11:44

Lazarus appeared, resembling an impromptu trophy over death. He appeared without having left to Hades any of the burial wrappings. For, bound [in these], he came forth. His feet did not bear him, rather, grace provided him with wings. Lazarus appeared, having left Hades behind mourning. As he put an end to the grief of [his] brothers, he cast death into affliction.Seeing his kingdom destroyed and unable to prevent this, [death] lamented, crying, “What is this change in my affairs, what is this miraculous alliance of nature? The dead are returning to life, and the tombs have become wombs of the living. Alas, for these misfortunes! Even the tombs are faithless to me with regard to the dead, and the dead, although putrefying, are leaping out. They are all dancing in their swathing bands, mocking my laugh. Still mourned, they are going up toward those that mourn them. By showing themselves, they undo the tragedy, leaving me an heir to grief. Who is it who teaches the dead to challenge death? Who is it who is enlisting the deceased against death? Who is the One whose voice the prisons underground cannot support? Who is the One before whom the tombs tremble? He merely speaks, and I am not able to hold on to those whom I have in my power. Oh, in vain was I entrusted with a kingdom! Oh, in vain was I confident in an angry God!

Source: HOMILY ON LAZARUS 11-12

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on John 11:44

Lazarus is bid to come forth, that is, to come forth and condemn himself with his own mouth, without excuse or reservation. In the same way, the one who lies buried in a guilty conscience may come forth out of himself by confession.

Source: MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 22.15.31

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:45-46

The text has a certain ambiguity. Were those who went to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus had done—were they from those many Jews who saw the things that he had done and believed in him and wished to win over those who were hostile to him by the announcement about Lazarus? Or were they the others not among the many who believed who, since what had happened did not bring about faith in Jesus, intended as much as possible to stir up the wicked jealousy in the Pharisees against him by the announcement about Lazarus? The Evangelist seems to me to be leaning toward this latter meaning.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.77-78

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 11:45-46

The Jews, who were present, had different opinions about what had happened. Some believed in him because of the miracle, which he had performed. Others, on the contrary, were so far away from believing that they went to denounce him to the Pharisees, as if he had dared do something unlawful. But even what they did out of hatred and evil desire still contributed to making the accomplished miracle well known to everyone.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOHN 5.11.44

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:45

Overcome by the miracle many believe; but others, wounded with envy, deem the marvellous deed a fit opportunity for carrying into effect the intentions of the envious, and reported to the leaders what had taken place; that when those men also were grieved at the works which the Christ had wrought, they might have some consolation of their own grief in the knowledge that others shared their feelings and were partakers of the same foolish grief; and that, as they were unable themselves to injure Him Who had done no wrong, they might rouse to anger against Him those who possessed more power.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:47

I think the phrase “this man” was used to diminish [Jesus’] glory because they did not believe what was said above about him being God.… Notice both the audacity and the blindness of their evil. It was audacious because they had already witnessed the fact that he had performed many signs, and yet they thought they could plot against him—as if he could do nothing when they plotted against him. On the other hand, they were no less blind either because it makes more sense to be on the side of someone who performs such miracles than [to be a part of] the plot of those who do not want to allow him to live. Or perhaps they thought that he performed signs that were not the result of divine power and that this was why he could not do all things or deliver himself from their plot. They resolved, therefore, not to let him live, thinking that they would place an impediment in the way of those who believed in him and also prevent the Romans from taking away their place and nation.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.88-90

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:47-53

(t. xxviii. c. 11.) This speech is an evidence of their audacity and blindness: of their audacity, because they testified that He had done many miracles, and yet thought that they could contend successfully against Him, and that He would have no power of withstanding their plots; of their blindness, because they did not reflect that He who had wrought such miracles could easily escape out of their hands; unless indeed they denied that these miracles were done by Divine power. They resolved then not to let Him go; thinking that they should thus place an impediment in the way of those who wished to believe in Him, and also prevent the Romans from taking away their place and nation. If we let Him thus alone, all men will believe on Him, and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.

(t. xxviii.) Mystically: It was fit that the Gentiles should occupy the place of them of the circumcision; because by their fall salvation came to the Gentiles. (non occ.). The Romans represent the Gentiles, being the rulers of the Gentile world. Their nation again was taken away, because they who had been the people of God, were made not a people.

(t. xxx. c. 12.) a The character of Caiaphas is shown by his being called the High Priest of that same year; the year, viz. in which our Saviour suffered. Being the High Priest that same year, he said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. (non occ.). i. e. Ye sit still, and give no attention. Attend to me. So insignificant a thing as the life of one man may surely be made a sacrifice for the safety of the state.

(tom. xxviii. c. 12.) Not every one that prophesieth is a prophet; as not every one that does a just action is just, he, for example, that does one for vainglory. Caiaphas prophesied without being a prophet, as did Balaam. Perhaps some will deny that Caiaphas prophesied by the Holy Spirit, on the ground that evil spirits may bear witness to Christ, as the one in Luke, who says, I know Thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God; (Luke 4:34) the intention of Caiaphas too being not to induce his hearers to believe on Him, but to excite them to kill Him. (c. 14.). It is expedient for us. Is this part of his prophecy true or false? If it is true, then those who contended against Jesus in the council, since Jesus died for the people, and they participate in the advantage of His death, are saved. This you say is absurd; and thence argue that the prophecy is false, and, if false, not dictated by the Holy Spirit, since the Holy Spirit does not lie. On the other side it is argued, for the truth of the prophecy, that these words only meant that He by the grace of God should taste death for all men; (Heb. 2:9) that He is the Saviour of all men, specially of them that believe. (1 Tim. 4:10) And in the same way the former part of the speech, Ye know nothing at all, is made out to be an assertion of the truth. They knew nothing of Jesus, who did not know that He was truth, wisdom, justice, and peace. And again, That one MAN. should die for the people. It was as man that He died for the people: in so far as He is the image of the invisible God, He was incapable of death. And He died for the people, in that He took upon Himself, made away with, blotted out the sins of the whole world. (c. 15.). And this spake he not of himself. Hence we see, what men say sometimes proceeds from themselves, sometimes from the influence of some power upon them. In the latter case though they may not be taken quite out of themselves, and in a certain sense go along with their own words, yet they do not go along with the meaning of them. Thus Caiaphas says nothing of himself; and therefore does not interpret his own prophcey, because he does not understand it. Thus Paul too speaks of some teachers of the law, who understand neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm. (1 Tim. 1:7)

(tom. xxviii. c. 17.) Inflamed by the speech of Caiaphas, they determined on killing our Lord: Then from that day forth they took counsel together to put Him to death. Was this then the work of the Holy Spirit, as well as the former, or was it another spirit which did both first speak by the mouth of a wicked man, and then excite others like him to kill Christ? Answer: It is not necessary that both should be the work of the same spirit. As some turn the Scriptures themselves, which were given for our good, to the support of bad doctrines; so this true prophecy respecting our Saviour was understood in a wrong sense, as if it were a call to put Him to death.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:47

They still call Him man, these who had received such proof of His divinity. What do we? They ought to have believed, and served, and bowed down to Him, and no longer to have deemed Him a man.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:47-53

(Hom. lxiv. c. 3) Him of whose divinity they had received such certain proofs, they call only a man.

(Hom. lxiv. 3) They say this to alarm the people; as if they were incurring the suspicion of setting up an usurper. If, say they, the Romans in crowds follow Him, they will suspect us of setting up a tyranny, and will destroy our state. But this was wholly a fiction of their own. For what was the fact? Did He take armed men about with Him, did He go with horsemen in His train? Did He not rather choose desert places to go to? However, that they might not be suspected of consulting only their own interests, they declare the whole state is in danger.

(Hom. lxiv) When they hesitated, and asked, What do we? one of them gave most cruel and shameless advice, viz. Caiaphas, who was1 High Priest that same year.

(Hom. lxv. 1) See the great virtue of the Holy Spirit, in drawing forth a prophecy from a wicked man. And see too the virtue of the pontifical office, which made him, though an unworthy High Priest, unconsciously prophesy. Divine grace only used his mouth; it touched not his corrupt heart.

(Hom. lxv. 1) They sought before to kill Him; now their resolution was confirmed.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:47

None of them said, “Let us believe.” For these abandoned men were more preoccupied in considering what evil they could do to bring down Jesus than in consulting about how they might be preserved from death.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.26

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:47-53

(Tr. xlix. c. 26) But they had no thought of believing. The miserable men only consulted how they might hurt and kill Him, not how themselves might be saved from death. What do we? for this Man doeth many miracles.

(Tr. xlix. 26) Or, they were afraid that, if all believed in Christ, none would remain to defend the city of God and the temple against the Romans: since they thought that Christ's teaching was directed against the temple, and their laws. They were afraid of losing temporal things, and thought not of eternal life; and thus they lost both. For the Romans, after our Lord had suffered and was glorified, did come and take away their place and nation, reducing the one by siege, and dispersing the other.

(Tr. xlix) How is it that he is called the High Priest of that year, when God appointed one hereditary High Priest? This was owing to the ambition and contention of parties amongst the Jews themselves, which had ended in the appointment of several High Priests, who took the office in turn, year by year. And sometimes even there seems to have been more than one in office.

(Tr. xlix. 27.) We learn hence that even bad men may foretell things to come by the spirit of prophecy, which power the Evangelist ascribes to a divine sacrament, he being Pontifex, i. e. High Priest.

(Tr. xlix. 27) Caiaphas prophesied of the Jewish nation alone; in which nation were the sheep, of which our Lord says, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matt. 15:34) But the Evangelist knew that there were other sheep, not of this fold, which were to be brought in, and therefore adds, And not for that nation only, but also that He should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad; i. e. those who were predestined to be so: for as yet there were neither sheep, nor children of God.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:47

Of course the Pharisees also cease to wonder and are turned to grief, and when they see Him stronger than death, they take counsel to kill Him. Not considering His unspeakable authority, but thinking of Him as a mere man, they said: What do we? for this Man doeth many signs. Although they ought rather to have believed from this that He was indeed the Christ, of Whom the inspired Scripture had previously proclaimed in many places that He would be a Worker of many signs. But they actually allege it as a reason, by which they endeavoured to persuade the more thoughtless to kill Him; and they say: If we leave Him thus alone, that is, if we allow Him to live and to work wonders, we shall suffer terrible things. For if many believe in this breaker of the Law, all that we have will bye and bye go from us; and presently, when at length the Jews have grown weak, the Romans will attack us, and will not permit us to freely practise the customs of our fathers, or to rule our own people, or to give judgment; themselves rather giving judgment, and we doing so no longer.

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on John 11:47-53

(vi. Moral.) His persecutors accomplished this wicked purpose, and put Him to death, thinking to extinguish the devotion of His followers; but faith grew from the very thing which these cruel and unbelieving men thought would destroy it. That which human cruelty had executed against Him, He turned to the purposes of His mercy.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 735] Bede on John 11:47-53

By those who went and told the Pharisees, are meant those who seeing the good works of God's servants, hate them on that very account, persecute, and calumniate them.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 804] Alcuin of York on John 11:47-53

Of this Caiaphas Josephus relates, that he bought the priesthood for a year, for a certain sum.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 11:47-53

Such a miracle as this should have drawn forth wonder and praise. But they make it a reason of plotting against His life: Then gathered the chief priests and Pharisees a council, and said, What do we?

He said this with a bad intention, yet the Holy Spirit used his mouth as the vehicle of a prophecy: And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:48

The Romans did come and take away their place. For where is that which they call a sanctuary? And they also took away the nation, casting them out of the place and scarcely permitting them to be where they wish even in the Diaspora.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.91-92

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:48

The mystical meaning of these words is that the Gentiles occupied the place of those of the circumcision, “For by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles to stir them to envy.” The Romans represent the Gentiles because they are the rulers of the Gentile world. But the nation also was taken away by the Gentiles because those who had been the people of God were made not a people, and those of Israel are no longer Israel, and their seed did not attain the status of becoming children.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.93-94

[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on John 11:48

And, "If we do not slay Christ, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and will take away both our place and nation."

Source: CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:48

What is it which they counsel to do? They wish to stir up the people, as though they themselves would be in danger on suspicion of establishing a kingdom. For if, says one of them, the Romans learn that this Man is leading the multitudes, they will suspect us, and will come and destroy our city. Wherefore, tell me? Did He teach revolt? Did He not permit you to give tribute to Cæsar? Did not ye wish to make Him a king, and He fly from you? Did He not follow a mean and unpretending life, having neither house nor anything else of the kind? They therefore said this, not from any such expectation, but from malice. Yet it so fell out contrary to their expectation, and the Romans took their nation and city when they had slain Christ. For the things done by Him were beyond all suspicion. For He who healed the sick, and taught the most excellent way of life, and commanded men to obey their rulers, was not establishing but undoing a tyranny. But, says some one, we conjecture from former (impostors). But they taught revolt, He the contrary. Do you see that the words were but a pretense? For what action of the kind did He exhibit? Did He lead about with Him pompous guards? Had He a train of chariots? Did He not seek the deserts? But they, that they may not seem to be speaking from their own ill feeling, say that all the city is in danger, that the common good is being plotted against, and that they have to fear the worst. These were not the causes of your captivity, but things contrary to them; both of this last, and of the Babylonish, and of that under Antiochus which followed: it was not that there were worshipers among you, but that there were among you those who did unjustly, and excited God to wrath, this caused you to be given up into bondage. But such a thing is envy, allowing men to see nothing which they ought to see, when it has once for all blinded the soul. Did He not teach men to be meek? Did He not bid them when smitten on the right cheek to turn the other also? Did He not bid them when injured to bear it? To show greater readi ness to endure evil, than others have to inflict it? Are these, tell me, the signs of one establishing a tyranny, and not rather of one pulling a tyranny down?

4. But, as I said, a dreadful thing is malice, and full of hypocrisy; this has filled the world with ten thousand evils; through this malady the law courts are filled, from this comes the desire of fame and wealth, from this the love of rule, and insolence, through this the roads have wicked robbers and the sea pirates, from this proceed the murders through the world, through this our race is rent asunder, and whatever evil you may see, you will perceive to arise from this. This has even burst into the churches, this has caused ten thousand dreadful things from the beginning, this is the mother of avarice, this malady has turned all things upside down, and corrupted justice. For gifts, It says, blind the eyes of the wise, and as a muzzle on the mouth turn away reproofs. Sirach 20:29, Septuagint. and marg. of E.V. This makes slaves of freemen, concerning this we talk every day, and no good comes of it, we become worse than wild beasts; we plunder orphans, strip widows, do wrong to the poor, join woe to woe. Alas! That the righteous has perished from the earth! Micah 7:1-2 It is our part too henceforth to mourn, or rather we have need to say this every day. We profit nothing by our prayers, nothing by our advice and exhortation, it remains therefore that we weep. Thus did Christ; after having many times exhorted those in Jerusalem, when they profited nothing, He wept at their hardness. This also do the Prophets, and this let us do now. Henceforth is the season for mourning and tears and wailing; it is seasonable for us also to say now, Call for the mourning women, and send for the cunning women, that they may cry aloud Jeremiah 9:17; perhaps thus we shall be able to cast out the malady of those who build splendid houses, of those who surround themselves with lands gotten by rapine. It is seasonable to mourn; but do ye take part with me in the mourning, you who have been stripped and injured, by your mournings bring down my tears. But while mourning we will mourn, not for ourselves but for them; they have not injured you, but they have destroyed themselves; for you have the Kingdom of heaven in return for the injustice done you, they hell in return for their gain. On this account it is better to be injured than to injure. Let us bewail them with a lamentation not of man's making, but that from the Holy Scriptures with which the Prophets also wailed. With Isaiah let us wail bitterly, and say, Woe, they that add house to house, that lay field to field, that they may take somewhat from their neighbor; will you dwell alone upon the earth? Great houses and fair, and there shall be no inhabitants in them. Isaiah 5:8-9

Let us mourn with Nahum, and say with him, Woe to him that builds his house on high. Perhaps Jeremiah 22:13 Or rather let us mourn for them as Christ mourned for those of old. Woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation. Luke 6:24 Let us, I beseech you, not cease thus lamenting, and if it be not unseemly, let us even beat our breasts for the carelessness of our brethren. Let us not weep for him who is already dead, but let us weep for the rapacious man, the grasping, the covetous, the insatiable. Why should we mourn for the dead, in whose case it is impossible henceforth to effect anything? Let us mourn for these who are capable even of change. But while we are lamenting, perhaps they will laugh. Even this is a worthy cause for lamentation, that they laugh when they ought to mourn. For had they been at all affected by our sorrows, it would have behooved us to cease from sorrowing on account of their promise of amendment; but since they are of an insensible disposition, let us continue to weep, not merely for the rich, but for the lovers of money, the greedy, the rapacious. Wealth is not an evil thing, (for we may use it rightly when we spend it upon those who have need,) but greediness is an evil, and it prepares deathless punishments. Let us then bewail them; perhaps there will be some amendment; or even if they who have fallen in do not escape, others at least will not fall into the danger, but will guard against it. May it come to pass that both they may be freed from their malady, and that none of us may ever fall into it, that we all may in common obtain the promised goods, through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:48

But what is it that these leaders are planning to do? They want to stir up the people, as though they themselves would be in danger on suspicion of establishing a kingdom. “For if,” says one of them, “the Romans learn that this man is leading the multitudes, they will suspect us and will come and destroy our city.” Tell me, where did he teach revolt? Did he not permit you to give tribute to Caesar? Didn’t you want to make him a king and instead he fled from you? Didn’t he lead a normal and unpretentious life, homeless and having no possessions of his own? Therefore they said this, not from any such expectation but out of malice. And yet things happened contrary to their expectations, so much so that the Romans took their nation and city when they had killed Christ. For everything he did was beyond all suspicion.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 64.3

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:48

Insincerity speaks in the Pharisees: “If we let him go, the Romans will come and take away our nation and place.” It was not the reality of justice that they wished to have but its name, and they desired to hold on dishonestly to the honor owed to just men and women.

Source: SERMON 10.8

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:48

They were afraid of losing temporal things with no thought for that which is eternal and so lost both. For the Romans, after our Lord had suffered and was glorified, did come and take away their place and nation, reducing the one by siege and dispersing the other.… Or they were afraid that if all believed in Christ, none would remain to defend the city of God and the temple against the Romans, since they thought that Christ’s teaching was directed against the temple and their laws.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.26

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:49

1. The heathen are stuck fast in the destruction which they made; in the trap which they hid is their foot taken. Psalm 9:15, Septuagint This has been the case with the Jews. They said that they would kill Jesus, lest the Romans should come and take away their place and nation; and when they had killed Him, these things happened unto them, and when they had done that by doing which they thought to escape, they yet did not escape. He who was slain is in Heaven, and they who slew have for their portion hell. Yet they did not consider these things; but what? They desired, It says, from that day forth to kill Him John 11:53, for they said, The Romans will come, and will take away our nation; and a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being High Priest that year, said, (being more shameless than the rest,) You know nothing. What the others made matter of doubt, and put forth in the way of deliberation, this man cried aloud, shamelessly, openly, audaciously. For what says he? You know nothing, nor consider that it is expedient that one man should die, and that the whole nation perish not.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:49

But what does it mean when it says “being high priest that year”? This matter as well as the rest had been corrupted. For from the time that offices became matters of purchase, they were no longer priests for the whole period of their lives but for a year. Notwithstanding, even in this state of things the Spirit was still present. But when they lifted up their hands against Christ, then it left them and went to the apostles.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 65.1

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:50

Behold, the very thing of which we were speaking, the very thing which the Jews were secretly exercising themselves to bring into effect, this their high priest openly counsels them to do, even to kill the Christ; saying that it would be for the nation, although the nation was unjust. And he makes a true statement, his words being verified not by the perversity of the people, but by the power and wisdom of God. For they, to their own destruction put the Christ to death, but He, being put to death in the flesh, became for us a source of all good things. And what he calls the destruction of the nation, namely, the being under the hand of the Romans and losing the shadow of the law: the very thing which they were seeking to turn away, they actually suffered. Prompted therefore by an unlawful principle, Caiaphas said what he did; nevertheless his language was made to indicate something true, as being spoken by one in the official position of a prophet. For he proclaims beforehand of what good things the death of the Christ would become the source, saying that which he did not understand, and glorifying God (as Balaam did) under constraint, since he was holding the prerogative of the priestly order: the prophecy being as it were given, not to him personally, but to the outward representative of the priesthood. Unless indeed, as may have been the case, the words spoken by Caiaphas were accomplished and came to pass afterwards, without his having received any prophetic gift whatever. For it is probable that what some people say, will really happen, although they may say it without certainly knowing that it will come to pass. Caiaphas then said that the death of Christ would be for the Jews only, but the Evangelist says that it would be for all mankind. For we are all called the offspring and children of God inasmuch as He is the Father of all, having by way of creation begotten as it were and brought into existence the things that were not. And also, because we had from the first the honour of being made in His image, and were allotted the supremacy over earthly things, and were accounted worthy of the Divine covenant, and enjoyed the life and bliss of Paradise. But Satan, being unwilling that we should remain in that condition, scattered us, and in divers manners led man astray from his nearness to God. And the Christ collected us all together again and brought us through faith into one fold, the Church; and united us under one yoke, all being made one, Jews, Greeks, Barbarians, Scythians; and we are fashioned again into one new man, and worship one God

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:50

Caiaphas makes a true statement, his words being verified not by the perversity of the people but by the power and wisdom of God.… Nevertheless, his language was made to indicate something true, spoken by one in the official position of a prophet. For he proclaims beforehand of what good things the death of the Christ would become the source. He speaks of what he does not understand, glorifying God (as Balaam did) under constraint, since he was holding the prerogative of the priestly order. The prophecy was given, as it were, not to him personally but to the outward representative of the priesthood. Or, indeed, it may have been the case that the words spoken by Caiaphas were accomplished and happened afterward without his having received any prophetic gift whatever. For it is probable that what some people say will really happen, although they may say it without really knowing whether or not it will happen. Caiaphas then said that the death of Christ would be for the Jews only. But the Evangelist says that it would be for all humankind. For we are all called the offspring and children of God inasmuch as he is the Father of all, having by way of creation begotten as it were and brought into existence the things that were not. And also [we are called his children] because we had from the first the honor of being made in his image, and were allotted the supremacy over earthly things, and were accounted worthy of the divine covenant and enjoyed the life and bliss of paradise. But Satan, unwilling to let us remain in that condition, scattered us and in diverse ways led humanity astray from its nearness to God. And the Christ collected us all together again and brought us through faith into one fold, the church. He united us under one yoke, all being made one, Jews, Greeks, Barbarians, Scythians. We are fashioned again into one new person16 and worship one God.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7

[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on John 11:51

Thus then, too, though demonstrated as God, He does not refuse the conditions proper to Him as man, since He hungers and toils and thirsts in weariness, and flees in fear, and prays in trouble. And He who as God has a sleepless nature, slumbers on a pillow. And He who for this end came into the world, begs off from the cup of suffering. And in an agony He sweats blood, and is strengthened by an angel, who Himself strengthens those who believe on Him, and taught men to despise death by His work. And He who knew what manner of man Judas was, is betrayed by Judas. And He, who formerly was honoured by him as God, is contemned by Caiaphas. And He is set at nought by Herod, who is Himself to judge the whole earth. And He is scourged by Pilate, who took upon Himself our infirmities. And by the soldiers He is mocked, at whose behest stand thousands of thousands and myriads of myriads of angels and archangels. And He who fixed the heavens like a vault is fastened to the cross by the Jews. And He who is inseparable from the Father cries to the Father, and commends to Him His spirit; and bowing His head, He gives up the ghost, who said, "I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again; " and because He was not overmastered by death, as being Himself Life, He said this: "I lay it down of myself." And He who gives life bountifully to all, has His side pierced with a spear. And He who raises the dead is wrapped in linen and laid in a sepulchre, and on the third day He is raised again by the Father, though Himself the Resurrection and the Life. For all these things has He finished for us, who for our sakes was made as we are. For "Himself hath borne our infirmities, and carried our diseases; and for our sakes He was afflicted," as Isaiah the prophet has said. This is He who was hymned by the angels, and seen by the shepherds, and waited for by Simeon, and witnessed to by Anna. This is He who was inquired after by the wise men, and indicated by the star; He who was engaged in His Father's house, and pointed to by John, and witnessed to by the Father from above in the voice, "This is my beloved Son; hear ye Him." He is crowned victor against the devil. This is Jesus of Nazareth, who was invited to the marriage-feast in Cana, and turned the water into wine, and rebuked the sea when agitated by the violence of the winds, and walked on the deep as on dry land, and caused the blind man from birth to see, and raised Lazarus to life after he had been dead four days, and did many mighty works, and forgave sins, and conferred power on the disciples, and had blood and water flowing from His sacred side when pierced with the spear. For His sake the sun is darkened, the day has no light, the rocks are shattered, the veil is rent, the foundations of the earth are shaken, the graves are opened, and the dead are raised, and the rulers are ashamed when they see the Director of the universe upon the cross closing His eye and giving up the ghost. Creation saw, and was troubled; and, unable to bear the sight of His exceeding glory, shrouded itself in darkness. This (is He who) breathes upon the disciples, and gives them the Spirit, and comes in among them when the doors are shut, and is taken up by a cloud into the heavens while the disciples gaze at Him, and is set down on the right hand of the Father, and comes again as the Judge of the living and the dead. This is the God who for our sakes became man, to whom also the Father hath put all things in subjection. To Him be the glory and the power, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, in the holy Church both now and ever, and even for evermore. Amen.

Source: Hippolytus Dogmatical and Historical Fragments

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:51

I think we learn from this that we say some things on our own, by ourselves, where there is no power that inspires us to speak. But there are other things that we say when some power prompts us (as it were), dictating what we say, even if we do not fall completely into a trance and lose full possession of our own faculties, but seem to understand what we say. Now, it is possible for us, while we understand what we say on our own, not to understand the meaning of the words that are spoken. This is what happened in the case of Caiaphas the high priest. He did not speak on his own, by himself, nor did he understand the meaning of what he said, since it was a prophecy that was spoken.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.171-72

[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on John 11:51

Though he was himself ungodly; as also did Caiaphas, the falsely-named high priest.

Source: CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:51

Do you see how great is the force of the High Priest's authority? Or, since he had in any wise been deemed worthy of the High Priesthood, although unworthy thereof, he prophesied, not knowing what he said; and the grace merely made use of his mouth, but touched not his accursed heart. Indeed many others have foretold things to come, although unworthy to do so, as Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, Balaam; and the reason of all is evident. But what he says is of this kind. You still sit quiet, you give heed but carelessly to this matter, and know not how to despise one man's safety for the sake of the community. See how great is the power of the Spirit; from an evil imagination It was able to bring forth words full of marvelous prophecy. The Evangelist calls the Gentiles children of God, from what was about to be: as also Christ Himself says, Other sheep I have John 10:16, so calling them from what should afterwards come to pass.

But what is, being High Priest that year? This matter as well as the rest had become corrupt; for from the time that offices became matters of purchase, they were no longer priests for the whole period of their lives, but for a year. Notwithstanding, even in this state of things the Spirit was still present. But when they lifted up their hands against Christ, then It left them, and removed to the Apostles. This the rending of the veil declared, and the voice of Christ which said, Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. Matthew 23:38 And Josephus, who lived a short time after, says, that certain Angels who yet remained with them, (to see) if they would alter their ways, left them. While the vineyard stood, all things went on; but when they had slain the Heir, no longer so, but they perished. And God having taken it from the Jews, as a glorious garment from an unprofitable son, gave it to right-minded servants of the Gentiles, leaving the others desolate and naked. It was, moreover, no small thing that even an enemy should prophesy this. This might draw over others also. For in respect of his will, matters fell out contrariwise, since, when He died, the faithful were on this account delivered from the punishment to come. What means, That He might gather together those near and those afar off John 11:52? He made them one Body. The dweller in Rome deems the Indians a member of himself. What is equal to this gathering together? And the Head of all is Christ.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:51

Do you see the great power in the high priest’s authority?… Even though he was unworthy of the office of the high priest, he prophesied, although he did not know what he was saying. Divine grace merely made use of his mouth, without touching his corrupt heart.… See how great the power of the Spirit is. It was able to bring forth a marvelous prophecy even from an evil imagination.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 65.1

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:51

We are here taught that the Spirit of prophecy used the agency even of wicked people to foretell the future. The Evangelist, however, attributes this power to the divine sacramental fact that he was pontifex, that is, the high priest.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.27

[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on John 11:52

Now, as our Lord Jesus Christ, who is also God, was prophesied of under the figure of a lion, on account of His royalty and glory, in the same way have the Scriptures also aforetime spoken of Antichrist as a lion, on account of his tyranny and violence. For the deceiver seeks to liken himself in all things to the Son of God. Christ is a lion, so Antichrist is also a lion; Christ is a king, so Antichrist is also a king. The Saviour was manifested as a lamb; so he too, in like manner, will appear as a lamb, though within he is a wolf. The Saviour came into the World in the circumcision, and he will come in the same manner. The Lord sent apostles among all the nations, and he in like manner will send false apostles. The Saviour gathered together the sheep that were scattered abroad, and he in like manner will bring together a people that is scattered abroad. The Lord gave a seal to those who believed on Him, and he will give one like manner. The Saviour appeared in the form of man, and he too will come in the form of a man. The Saviour raised up and showed His holy flesh like a temple, and he will raise a temple of stone in Jerusalem. And his seductive arts we shall exhibit in what follows. But for the present let us turn to the question in hand.

Source: Hippolytus Dogmatical and Historical Fragments

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:52

“That Jesus should die for the nation. And not for the nation only but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad” were words added by the Evangelist. Caiaphas had prophesied only about the Jewish nation in which there were sheep of whom our Lord himself had said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the Evangelist knew that there were other sheep who were not of this fold but who also had to be brought so that there would be one fold and one shepherd. But he says this in the way of predestination since those who were still unbelieving were neither yet sheep nor children of God.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.27

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on John 11:52

His persecutors accomplished this wicked purpose and put him to death, thinking to extinguish the devotion of his followers. But faith grew from the very thing that these cruel and unbelieving men thought would destroy it.… Even that which human cruelty had executed against him he reduced to the purposes of his mercy.

Source: MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 6.18.32

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:53

Spurred on by Caiaphas’s words, they took counsel together to kill the Lord. From what sort of spirit then did Caiaphas prophesy that Jesus was to die for the nation, and was the Holy Spirit at work in such a man, and thus became the cause of the plot against Jesus? Or was it not then the Holy Spirit but another spirit which was able both to speak in the impious man and to move those like him against Jesus?… Just as those who deliberately put the worst construction on things misrepresent the holy meaning of the Scriptures … so did the Pharisees and the chief priests. For they did not understand correctly the prophecy about our Savior that Caiaphas spoke. It is a prophecy that is true in that it is better for us that one man die for the people and the whole nation not perish. But they thought the meaning and intention of his counsel was something else, and so they took counsel together from that day to kill Jesus. Now, I say these things to answer the argument that it was the Holy Spirit who prophesied through Caiaphas. I personally do not in the least maintain that this was the case but leave it to the readers to decide what one must recognize as correct concerning Caiaphas and whether he was moved by the Spirit.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.186-87, 190-91

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:53

And, in truth, had sought to do so before; for the Evangelist says, Therefore the Jews sought to kill Him John 5:18; and, Why do you seek to kill Me? John 7:19 But then they only sought, now they ratified their determination, and treated the action as their business.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:53

Before they only looked for ways to kill him. Now they ratify their determination and get down to business in determining how to carry it out.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 65.1

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:53

For they had the desire to defile themselves with Christ's Blood, and from the moment at which the assembly took place, it received as it were a fresh start, the common consent of all to it being publicly acknowledged. For the Evangelist did not say simply: "From that hour they took counsel to commit the murder," but: "They took counsel together;" that is to say, the very thing which seemed desirable to each one individually was pleasing to them all collectively.

[AD 202] Irenaeus on John 11:54

Then, when He had raised Lazarus from the dead, and plots were formed against Him by the Pharisees, He withdrew to a city called Ephraim; and from that place, as it is written "He came to Bethany six days before the passover"

Source: Against Heresies Book II

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:54

I think that these words and those like them have been recorded because the Word wishes to turn us back from rushing too hastily and irrationally to struggle unto death on behalf of the truth and to suffer martyrdom. For, on the one hand, it is right not to shun the confession or to hesitate to die for the truth if one has been caught in the struggle about confessing Jesus. But, on the other hand, it is no less right also not to provide an opportunity for such a great trial but to avoid it by every means, not only because the outcome of such an act is unclear to us but also so that we may not be responsible for causing those who would not, in actual fact, have become guilty of pouring out our blood, to have become more sinful and impious [by doing so], if we act in our own interest and take no thought for those who plot against us unto death. These people will experience greater and more serious punishment because of us if we are self-centered and do not consider the things of others and deliver ourselves to be killed when this necessity has not overtaken us.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.192-94

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:54

Mystically, these words mean that long ago Jesus walked boldly among the Jews when the Word of God dwelled among them through prophets.… But now Jesus no longer walks boldly among the Jews but has departed from there.… He then entered the country near the desert of which it is said, “Many are the children of the desolate, more than of her who has a husband.” … Now Ephrem means “fruitfulness.” He was the brother of Manasseh, who stands for the elder people who were forgotten. For after the forgotten people were left behind, an abundant harvest from the Gentiles occurred.…“Jesus,” therefore, “no longer walks openly among the Jews but has departed from there into the country” of the whole world, “near the desert” of the church, “into the city that is called Ephrem,” that is, “fruitful,” “and there he has remained with his disciples.” And up to this moment, Jesus is with his disciples near the desert in the city called Ephrem, for he is present in “fruitfulness.” And at the birth, indeed, of this Ephrem, our Lord, magistrate of the grain, who begot him, who humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death of the cross, might say, “God increased me in the land of my humility.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.211-14, 221-23

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:54-57

(t. xxviii. 18.) After this resolution of the Chief Priests and Pharisees, Jesus was more cautious in showing Himself among the Jews, and retired to remote parts, and avoided populous places: Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence into a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim.

(t. xxviii. 18.) It is praiseworthy, when struggles are at hand, not to avoid confession, or refuse to suffer death for the truth's sake. And it is no less praiseworthy now to avoid giving occasion for such trial. Which we should take care to do, not only on account of the uncertainty of the event of a trial in our own case, but also not to be the occasion of increasing the impiety and guilt of others. For he who is the cause of sin in another, shall be punished. If we do not avoid our persecutor, when we have the opportunity, we make ourselves responsible for his offence. But our Lord not only retired Himself, but to remove all occasion of offence from His persecutors, took His disciples with Him: And there stayed with His disciples.

(t. xxviii. c. 19.) Mystically, Jesus walked openly among the Jews, when the Word of God used to come to them by the Prophets. But this Word ceased, i. e. Jesus went thence. (Is. 54:1) And He went to that town near the wilderness, whereof Isaiah says, More are the children of the desolate, than the children of the married wife. Ephraim signifies fertility. Ephraim was the younger brother of Manasses: Manasses stands for the elder people forgotten; the word Manasses meaning forgotten. When the elder people were forgotten and passed over, there came an abundant harvest from the Gentiles. Our Lord left the Jews, and went forth into a country—the whole world—near the wilderness, the deserted Church1, to Ephraim, the fruitful city; and there continues with His disciples up to this day.

(t. xxviii.) Wherefore the Evangelist does not call it the Lord's passover, but the Jews' passover. For then it was that they plotted our Lord's death.

(tom. xxviii.) Observe, they did not know where He was; they knew that He had gone away. Mystically, they did not know where He was, because, in the place of the divine commandments, they taught the doctrines and commandments of men.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:54

2. Again He saves Himself in a human manner, and this He does continually. But I have mentioned the reason for which He often departed and withdrew. And at this time He dwelt in Ephratah, near the wilderness, and there He tarried with His disciples. How do you think that those disciples were confounded when they beheld Him saving Himself after the manner of a man? After this no man followed Him. For since the Feast was near, all were running to Jerusalem; but they, at a time when all others were rejoicing and holding solemn assembly, hide themselves, and are in danger. Yet still they tarried with Him. For they hid themselves in Galilee, at the time of the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles; and after this again during the Feast, they only of all were with their Master in flight and concealment, manifesting their good will to Him. Hence Luke records that He said, I abode with you in temptations; and this He said, showing that they were strengthened by His influence.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:54-57

(Hom. lxv. 1) They sought before to kill Him; now their resolution was confirmed.

(Hom. lxv. 2) How must it have troubled the disciples to see Him save Himself by merely human means? Whileall were rejoicing and keeping the feast, they remained hid, and in danger. Yet they continued with Him; as we read in Luke, Ye are they which have continued with Me in My temptations. (Luke 22:28)

(Hom. lxv) They lay in wait for Him at the passover, and made the feast time the time of His death.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:54-57

(Tr. xlix. 28) Not that His power had failed Him; for, had He pleased, He might still have walked openly among the Jews, and they done nothing to Him. But He wished to show the disciples, by His own example, that believers did not sin by retiring out of the sight of their persecutors, and hiding themselves from the fury of the wicked, rather than inflame that fury by their presence.

(Tr. l. 2) He who came from heaven to suffer, wished to draw near the place of His Passion, His hour being now at hand: And the Jews' passover was nigh at hand. That passover they had resolved to celebrate by shedding our Lord's blood; the blood which consecrated the Passover, the blood of the Lamb. The Law obliged every one to go up to the feast: And many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover to purify them. But ours is the true Passover; the Jewish one was a shadow. The Jews held their passover in the dark, we in the light: their posts were stained with the blood of a slain animal, our foreheads are signed with the blood of Christ.

(Tr. l. 4) Let us at least show the Jews where He is; O that they would hear, that they would come to the Church, and take hold of Him for themselves!

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:54

Here also therefore as God, to the condemnation of the Jews, He knows their secret design, although no one reported it to Him; and withdraws, not because He was afraid, but lest His presence might seem to irritate those who were already eager for His death. And He also teaches us to retire from the passions of those who are angry, and not to thrust ourselves into dangers, not even when they may be for the sake of truth: when we are actually overtaken by dangers, to stand firm; but when we see them coming, to get out of their way; because of the uncertainty of the issue.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:54

As God, Jesus knows the secret plans of the Jews even though no one reported them to him, and he withdraws, not because he is afraid but so that his presence might not irritate those who were already seeking to kill him. Here, he also teaches us to avoid stirring up the passions of those who are angry and not to thrust ourselves into dangers, not even when it may be for the sake of truth. When we are overtaken by dangers, he teaches us to stand firm, but when we see them coming, since it is unclear what the actual terms of the conflict will be, it is best for us to get out of their way.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7

[AD 804] Alcuin of York on John 11:54-57

They sought Jesus with bad intent. We seek Him, standing in God's temple, mutually encouraging one another, and praying Him to come to our feast, and sanctify us by His presence.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on John 11:54-57

They went up before the passover, to be purified. For whoever had sinned willingly or unwillingly could not keep the passover, unless they were first purified by washings, fastings, and shaving of the head, and also offering certain stated oblations. While engaged in these purifications, they were plotting our Lord's death: Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think ye, that He will not come to the feast?

If the common people only had done these things, the Passion would have seemed owing to men's ignorance; but the Pharisees it is, who order Him to be taken: Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where He were, he should show it, that they might take Him.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:55

But the true purification was not before the Pasch but during the Pasch, when Jesus died as the Lamb of God for those who were purifying themselves and took away the sin of the world.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.237

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:55

1. Yesterday's lesson in the holy Gospel, on which we spoke as the Lord enabled us, is followed by today's, on which we purpose to speak in the same spirit of dependence. Some passages in the Scriptures are so clear as to require a hearer rather than an expounder: over such we need not tarry, that we may have sufficient time for those which necessarily demand a fuller consideration.

2. And the Jews' passover was near at hand. The Jews wished to have that feast-day crimsoned with the blood of the Lord. On it that Lamb was slain, who has consecrated it as a feast-day for us by His own blood. There was a plot among the Jews about slaying Jesus: and He, who had come from heaven to suffer, wished to draw near to the place of His suffering, because the hour of His passion was at hand. Therefore many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to sanctify themselves. The Jews did so in accordance with the command of the Lord delivered by holy Moses in the law, that on the feast-day of the passover all should assemble from every part of the land, and be sanctified in celebrating the services of the day. But that celebration was a shadow of the future. And why a shadow? It was a prophetic intimation of the Christ to come, a prophecy of Him who on that day was to suffer for us: that so the shadow might vanish and the light come; that the sign might pass away, and the truth be retained. The Jews therefore held the passover in a shadowy form, but we in the light. For what need was there that the Lord should command them to slay a sheep on the very day of the feast, save only because of Him it was prophesied, He is led as a sheep to the slaughter? Isaiah 53:7 The door-posts of the Jews were sealed with the blood of the slaughtered animal: with the blood of Christ are our foreheads sealed. And that sealing— for it had a real significance— was said to keep away the destroyer from the houses that were sealed: Exodus 12:22-23 Christ's seal drives away the destroyer from us, if we receive the Saviour into our hearts. But why have I said this? Because many have their door-posts sealed while there is no inmate abiding within: they find it easy to have Christ's seal in the forehead, and yet at heart refuse admission to His word. Therefore, brethren, I have said, and I repeat it, Christ's seal drives from us the destroyer, if only we have Christ as an inmate of our hearts. I have stated these things, lest any one's thoughts should be turning on the meaning of these festivals of the Jews. The Lord therefore came as it were to the victim's place, that the true passover might be ours, when we celebrated His passion as the real offering of the lamb.

3. Then sought they for Jesus: but with evil intent. For happy are they who seek for Jesus in a way that is good. They sought for Him, with the intent that neither they nor we should have Him more: but in departing from them, He has been received by us. Some who seek Him are blamed, others who do so are commended; for it is the spirit animating the seeker that finds either praise or condemnation. Thence you have it also in the psalms, Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: such are those who sought with evil purpose. But in another place he says, Refuge has failed me, and there is no one that seeks after my soul. Those who sought, and those who did not, are blamed alike. Therefore let us seek for Christ, that He may be ours, that we may keep Him, and not that we may slay Him; for these men sought to get hold of Him, but only for the purpose of speedily getting quit of Him for ever. Therefore they sought for Him, and spoke among themselves: What think ye, that He will not come to the feast?

4. Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where He were, he should show it, that they might take Him. Let us for our parts show the Jews where Christ is. Would, indeed, that all the seed of those who had given commandment to have it shown them where Christ was, would but hear and apprehend! Let them come to the church and hear where Christ is, and take Him. They may hear it from us, they may hear it from the gospel. He was slain by their forefathers, He was buried, He rose again, He was recognized by the disciples, He ascended before their eyes into heaven, and there sits at the right hand of the Father; and He who was judged is yet to come as Judge of all: let them hear, and hold fast. Do they reply, How shall I take hold of the absent? How shall I stretch up my hand into heaven, and take hold of one who is sitting there? Stretch up your faith, and you have got hold. Your forefathers held by the flesh, hold thou with the heart; for the absent Christ is also present. But for His presence, we ourselves were unable to hold Him. But since His word is true, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world, Matthew 28:20 He is away, and He is here; He has returned, and will not forsake us; for He has carried His body into heaven, but His majesty He has never withdrawn from the world.

5. Then Jesus, six days before the passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom Jesus raised from the dead. And there they made Him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that reclined at the table. To prevent people thinking that the man had become a phantom, because he had risen from the dead, he was one of those who reclined at table; he was living, speaking, feasting: the truth was made manifest, and the unbelief of the Jews was confounded. The Lord, therefore, reclined at table with Lazarus and the others; and they were waited on by Martha, one of the sisters of Lazarus.

6. But Mary, the other sister of Lazarus, took a pound of ointment of pure nard, very precious, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. Such was the incident, let us look into the mystery it imported. Whatever soul of you wishes to be truly faithful, anoint like Mary the feet of the Lord with precious ointment. That ointment was righteousness, and therefore it was [exactly] a pound weight: but it was ointment of pure nard [nardi pistici], very precious. From his calling it pistici, we ought to infer that there was some locality from which it derived its preciousness: but this does not exhaust its meaning, and it harmonizes well with a sacramental symbol. The root of the word [pure] in the Greek is by us called faith. You were seeking to work righteousness: the just shall live by faith. Romans 1:17 Anoint the feet of Jesus: follow by a good life the Lord's footsteps. Wipe them with your hair: what you have of superfluity, give to the poor, and you have wiped the feet of the Lord; for the hair seems to be the superfluous part of the body. You have something to spare of your abundance: it is superfluous to you, but necessary for the feet of the Lord. Perhaps on this earth the Lord's feet are still in need. For of whom but of His members is He yet to say in the end, Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of mine, you did it unto me? Matthew 25:40 You spent what was superfluous for yourselves, but you have done what was grateful to my feet.

7. And the house was filled with the odor. The world is filled with the fame of a good character: for a good character is as a pleasant odor. Those who live wickedly and bear the name of Christians, do injury to Christ: of such it is said, that through them the name of the Lord is blasphemed. Romans 2:24 If through such God's name is blasphemed, through the good the name of the Lord is honored. Listen to the apostle, when he says, We are a sweet savor of Christ in every place. As it is said also in the Song of Songs, Your name is as ointment poured forth. Song of Songs 1:3 Attend again to the apostle: We are a sweet savor, he says, of Christ in every place, both in them that are saved, and in them that perish. To the one we are the savor of life unto life, to the other the savor of death unto death: and who is sufficient for these things? 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 The lesson of the holy Gospel before us affords us the opportunity of so speaking of that savor, that we on our part may give worthy utterance, and you diligent heed, to what is thus expressed by the apostle himself, And who is sufficient for these things? But have we any reason to infer from these words that we are qualified to attempt speaking on such a subject, or you to hear? We, indeed, are not so; but He is sufficient, who is pleased to speak by us what it may be for your profit to hear. The apostle, you see, is, as he calls himself, a sweet savor: but that sweet savor is to some the savor of life unto life, and to others the savor of death unto death; and yet all the while a sweet savor in itself. For he does not say, does he, To some we are a sweet savor unto life, to others an evil savor unto death? He called himself a sweet savor, not an evil; and represented himself as the same sweet savor, to some unto life, to others unto death. Happy they who find life in this sweet savor! But what misery can be greater than theirs, to whom the sweet savor is the messenger of death?

8. And who is it, says some one, that is thus slain by the sweet savor? It is to this the apostle alludes in the words, And who is sufficient for these things? In what wonderful ways God brings it about that the good savor is fraught both with life to the good, and with death to the wicked; how it is so, so far as the Lord is pleased to inspire my thoughts (for it may still conceal a deeper meaning beyond my power to penetrate)—yet so far, I say, as my power of penetration has reached, you ought not to have the information withheld. The integrity of the Apostle Paul's life and conduct, his preaching of righteousness in word and exhibition of it in works, his wondrous power as a teacher and his fidelity as a steward, were everywhere noised abroad: he was loved by some, and envied by others. For he himself tells us in a certain place of some, that they preached Christ not sincerely, but of envy; thinking, he says, to add affliction to my bonds. But what does he add? Whether in pretence or in truth, let Christ be preached. They preach who love me, they preach who hate me; in that good savor the former live, in it the others die: and yet by the preaching of both let the name of Christ be proclaimed, with this excellent savor let the world be filled. Have you been loving one whose conduct evidenced his goodness then in this good savor you have lived. Have you been envying such a one? Then in this same savor you have died. But have you, pray, in thus choosing to die, converted this savor into an evil one? Turn from your envious feelings, and the good savor will cease to slay you.

9. And now, lastly, listen to what we have here, how this ointment was to some a sweet savor unto life, and to others a sweet savor unto death. When the pious Mary had rendered this grateful service to the Lord, straightway one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was yet to betray Him, said, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? Alas for you, wretched man! The sweet savor has slain you. For the cause that led him so to speak is disclosed by the holy evangelist. But we, too, might have supposed, had not the real state of his mind been revealed in the Gospel, that the care of the poor might have induced him so to speak. Not so. What then? Hearken to a true witness: This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the money bag, and bare what was put therein. Did he bear it about, or bear it away? For the common service he bore it, as a thief he bore it away.

10. Look now, and learn that this Judas did not become perverted only at the time when he yielded to the bribery of the Jews and betrayed his Lord. For not a few, inattentive to the Gospel, suppose that Judas only perished when he accepted money from the Jews to betray the Lord. It was not then that he perished, but he was already a thief, and a reprobate, when following the Lord; for it was with his body and not with his heart that he followed. He made up the apostolic number of twelve, but had no part in the apostolic blessedness: he had been made the twelfth in semblance, and on his departure, and the succession of another, the apostolic reality was completed, and the entireness of the number conserved. Acts 1:26 What lesson then, my brethren, did our Lord Jesus Christ wish to impress on His Church, when it pleased Him to have one castaway among the twelve, but this, that we should bear with the wicked, and refrain from dividing the body of Christ? Here you have Judas among the saints—that Judas, mark you! Who was a thief, yea— do not overlook it— not a thief of any ordinary type, but a thief and a sacrilegist: a robber of money bags, but of such as were the Lord's; of money bags, but of such as were sacred. If there is a distinction made in the public courts between such crimes as ordinary theft and peculation—for by peculation we mean the theft of public property; and private theft is not visited with the same sentence as public—how much more severe ought to be the sentence on the sacrilegious thief, who has dared to steal, not from places of any ordinary kind, but to steal from the Church? He who thieves from the Church, stands side by side with the castaway Judas. Such was this man Judas, and yet he went in and out with the eleven holy disciples. With them he came even to the table of the Lord: he was permitted to have intercourse with them, but he could not contaminate them. Of one bread did both Peter and Judas partake, and yet what communion had the believer with the infidel? Peter's partaking was unto life, but that of Judas unto death. For that good bread was just like the sweet savor. For as the sweet savor, so also does the good bread give life to the good, and bring death to the wicked. For he that eats unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself: 1 Corinthians 11:29 judgment to himself, not to you. If, then, it is judgment to himself, not to you, bear as one that is good with him that is evil, that you may attain unto the rewards of the good, and be not hurled into the punishment of the wicked.

11. Lay to heart our Lord's example while living with man upon earth. Why had He a money bag, who was ministered unto by angels, save to intimate that His Church was destined thereafter to have her repository for money? Why gave He admission to a thief, save to teach His Church patiently to bear with thieves? But he who had formed the habit of abstracting money from the bag, did not hesitate for money received to sell the Lord Himself. But let us see what answer our Lord gave to such words. See, brethren: He does not say to him, You speak so on account of your thievishness. He knew him to be a thief, yet did not betray him, but rather endured him, and showed us an example of patience in tolerating the wicked in the Church. Then said Jesus to him: Let her keep it against the day of my burial. He announced that His own death was at hand.

12. But what follows? For the poor you have always with you, but me ye will not have always. We can certainly understand, the poor you have always; what He has thus said is true. When were the poor wanting in the Church? But me ye will not have always; what does He mean by this? How are we to understand, Me ye will not have always? Don't be alarmed: it was addressed to Judas. Why, then, did He not say, you will have, but, ye will have? Because Judas is not here a unit. One wicked man represents the whole body of the wicked; in the same way as Peter, the whole body of the good, yea, the body of the Church, but in respect to the good. For if in Peter's case there were no sacramental symbol of the Church, the Lord would not have said to him, I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven; and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Matthew 16:19 If this was said only to Peter, it gives no ground of action to the Church. But if such is the case also in the Church, that what is bound on earth is bound in heaven, and what is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven,— for when the Church excommunicates, the excommunicated person is bound in heaven; when one is reconciled by the Church, the person so reconciled is loosed in heaven:— if such, then, is the case in the Church, Peter, in receiving the keys, represented the holy Church. If, then, in the person of Peter were represented the good in the Church, and in Judas' person were represented the bad in the Church, then to these latter was it said, But me ye will not have always. But what means the not always; and what, the always? If you are good, if you belong to the body represented by Peter, you have Christ both now and hereafter: now by faith, by sign, by the sacrament of baptism, by the bread and wine of the altar. You have Christ now, but you will have Him always; for when you have gone hence, you will come to Him who said to the robber, Today shall you be with me in paradise. Luke 23:43 But if you live wickedly, you may seem to have Christ now, because you enter the Church, signest yourself with the sign of Christ, art baptized with the baptism of Christ, minglest yourself with the members of Christ, and approachest His altar: now you have Christ, but by living wickedly you will not have Him always.

13. It may be also understood in this way: The poor ye will have always with you, but me ye will not have always. The good may take it also as addressed to themselves, but not so as to be any source of anxiety; for He was speaking of His bodily presence. For in respect of His majesty, His providence, His ineffable and invisible grace, His own words are fulfilled, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Matthew 28:20 But in respect of the flesh He assumed as the Word, in respect of that which He was as the son of the Virgin, of that wherein He was seized by the Jews, nailed to the tree, let down from the cross, enveloped in a shroud, laid in the sepulchre, and manifested in His resurrection, ye will not have Him always. And why? Because in respect of His bodily presence He associated for forty days with His disciples, and then, having brought them forth for the purpose of beholding and not of following Him, He ascended into heaven, and is no longer here. He is there, indeed, sitting at the right hand of the Father; and He is here also, having never withdrawn the presence of His glory. In other words, in respect of His divine presence we always have Christ; in respect of His presence in the flesh it was rightly said to the disciples, Me ye will not have always. In this respect the Church enjoyed His presence only for a few days: now it possesses Him by faith, without seeing Him with the eyes. In whichever way, then, it was said, But me ye will not have always, it can no longer, I suppose, after this twofold solution, remain as a subject of doubt.

14. Let us listen to the other few points that remain: Much people of the Jews therefore knew that He was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. They were drawn by curiosity, not by charity: they came and saw. Hearken to the strange scheming of human vanity. Having seen Lazarus as one raised from the dead—for the fame of such a miracle of the Lord's had been accompanied everywhere with so much evidence of its genuineness, and it had been so openly performed, that they could neither conceal nor deny what had been done—only think of the plan they hit upon. But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus. O foolish consultation and blinded rage! Could not Christ the Lord, who was able to raise the dead, raise also the slain? When you were preparing a violent death for Lazarus, were you at the same time denuding the Lord of His power? If you think a dead man one thing, a murdered man another, look you only to this, that the Lord made both, and raised Lazarus to life when dead, and Himself when slain.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:55

“And the Jews’ Passover was near at hand.” They had resolved to celebrate that Passover by shedding our Lord’s blood, the blood that consecrated the Passover, the blood of the Lamb. There was a plot among the Jews to slay Jesus, and he who came from heaven to suffer wanted to draw near the place of his suffering because the hour of his passion was now at hand. Therefore “many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover to sanctify themselves.” The Jews did so, following the command of the Lord delivered by holy Moses in the Law, which commanded that on the feast day of the Passover everyone should come together from every part of the land and be sanctified in celebrating the services of the day. But that celebration was a shadow of the future. It was a prophetic intimation of the Christ to come, a prophecy of him who on that day was to suffer for us. The shadow would vanish, and the light would come. The sign would pass away, and the truth would remain. The Jews held their Passover in the shadows, we in the light. Otherwise, why was it necessary for the Lord to command them to slay a sheep on the very day of the feast unless it was only because of him that it was prophesied, “He is led as a sheep to the slaughter”? Their posts were stained with the blood of a slain animal; our foreheads are signed with the blood of Christ.

Source: TRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 50.2

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:55

Passing over everything else, the Evangelist goes on to the time of the passion. And he calls it the passover of the Jews typically; for [he refers to] the true Passover, not of the Jews, but of Christians, who eat the Flesh of Christ the true Lamb. And, according to the ancient custom, those who had sinned whether wilfully or through inadvertence purified themselves before the feast; and the typical passover was not shared in by any gentile, or un-circumcised person, or stranger, or hired servant, or unclean person; all which types are spiritually fulfilled in the case of Christians.

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:55

He calls it “the Passover of the Jews” as a type, for [he refers to] the true Passover, not of the Jews but of Christians who eat the flesh of Christ the true Lamb. And, according to the ancient custom those who sin, whether willfully or inadvertently, purify themselves before the feast.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:56

By means of the Passover they plotted against Him, and made the time of feasting a time of murder, that is, He there would fall into their hands, because the season summoned Him. What impiety! When they needed greater carefulness, and to forgive those who had been taken for the worst offenses, then they attempted to ensnare One who had done no wrong. Yet by acting thus they had already not only profited nothing, but become ridiculous. For this end coming among them continually He escapes, and restrains them when they take counsel to kill Him, and makes them to be in perplexity, desiring to prick them by the display of His power; that when they took Him, they might know that what had been done was done, not by their power, but by His permission. For not even at that time could they take Him, and this though Bethany was near; and when they did take Him, He cast them backwards.

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 11:56

Many who had come up from the country to Jerusalem in order to purify themselves according to the precepts of the Law before the Passover … gathered together in the temple and discussed among themselves whether the Lord would come out of respect for the festival or would avoid coming in order to protect himself from the ambushes of his enemies. These were the words of those who desired to see him. With good reason the crowd was close to him because of the miracles he had performed.

Source: COMMENTARY ON JOHN 5.11.55-56

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on John 11:56

The form of expression however leaves it doubtful whether the words: Think ye that He will not come to the feast?, are the utterance of those who hated or of those who loved Him. For it was not unlikely that those who believed on Him might speak to the unbelievers thus: "Since ye took counsel to put Jesus to death, and think that He is ignorant of what you have secretly planned, this will be a clear sign to you that He is God. For of course He will not come now to join us in celebrating the feast, because as God He knows your plans." Or the expression may be thus paraphrased as the utterance of those who hated Jesus: "As it is ever a custom with Jesus to set aside the law, are ye who believe on Him willing to acknowledge that this is His character, seeing that He is not now come to the feast, disregarding the law of the feast by not joining us in the celebration of it?" And they say this, not because it was necessary for all to go together to Jerusalem at the passover, as at the feast of Tabernacles, but rather implying that His not coming up to Jerusalem was an indication of cowardice, as though He was unable to protect Himself at such a time, and on that account failed to come. Or again, those appointed to take Him may have said these words to one another, being in despair, because they did not yet see Him come, and were eager quickly to execute that to which they had been appointed.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on John 11:57

Observe how it has been testified that he has withdrawn, that we too might know to do such at the proper time. And notice indeed that neither the chief priests nor the Pharisees knew where he was, and because they did not know, they gave commands that if anyone should know where he was, he should reveal it to them and they would seize him. But you will say in addition that anyone who plots against Jesus does not know where he is. This is why they give commands that are other than those of God, “teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.244-46

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on John 11:57

A marvelous purification, with a murderous will, with homicidal intentions, and bloodstained hands!

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on John 11:57

Let us at least for our part show the Jews where Christ is. If only the descendants of those who demanded to be shown where Christ was would listen! Let them come to the church and hear where Christ is and take hold of him for themselves. Let them hear it from us. Let them hear it from the gospel.

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 50.4