📖 Biblical Definition
Lazarus of Bethany was the brother of Mary and Martha and a personal friend of Jesus. He fell sick, died, and was four days in the tomb when Christ arrived; with the words Lazarus, come forth, the Lord raised him — the climactic sign of John's Gospel and the immediate cause of the chief priests' decision to kill Jesus. Distinct from the Lazarus of Luke 16, the beggar in the parable.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany; raised by Jesus from the dead after four days (John 11).
expand to see more
John 11 records the central narrative; John 12 records the supper at which the raised Lazarus reclined with Jesus and Mary anointed His feet.
Distinct from the Lazarus of Luke 16:19-31, the beggar at the rich man's gate in Christ's parable. Same name, different figure.
📖 Key Scripture
John 11:35 — "Jesus wept."
John 11:43 — "And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth."
John 11:44 — "And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin."
John 12:10 — "But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity remembers Jesus wept as a sentimental two-word verse; John 11 is the most theologically loaded chapter in the Fourth Gospel.
expand to see more
John 11's framing is deliberate: Christ delays. He arrives four days late by design. Martha and Mary both say (separately), Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. The Lord answers Martha with the great I am the resurrection and the life, then walks to the tomb, weeps, and gives the command.
Jesus wept is not weakness; it is the incarnate God's sober reaction to the indignity of death — an indignity He is, in the next breath, going to defeat. Recover the chapter as a whole and the shortest verse in the Bible regains its weight.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
His Greek name preserves a great Hebrew confession.
expand to see more
Greek Lazaros from Hebrew Eleazar (El-azar) — ‘God has helped’.
Note: distinct from the Lazarus of Luke 16, who is named only in the parable.
Usage
"Lazarus, come forth — if Christ had not named him, every grave would have emptied."
"Jesus wept; do not call that weakness."
"The chief priests consulted to kill the resurrection witness; that says everything."