The Resurrection of Lazarus is a prototype of the Resurrection of Christ. Lazarus of four days, friend of Christ Lazarus friend of Christ

Man is the crown of creation. Even the creation of a social hierarchy does not refute this truth. Man always remains the crown of creation, regardless of his position in society, his physical, financial and mental capabilities. Being a creation of God, man has the opportunity to become like his Creator, which is limited only by the Will of the Lord God.

However, it is known from Holy Scripture that the higher a person climbs the social ladder, the more difficult it is for him to get through it to Heaven. The stairs are wrong. But it clearly demonstrates the relativity of the concepts of “top” and “bottom” in the vast Universe.

In order for a person to understand the need to use another path, another ladder (or “Ladder”) for Salvation, he needs to believe that he is God’s creation, that he has a Father in Heaven who does not leave him with his attention even for a moment. moment and who is always ready to help find the right Path to his father’s house. As a navigator, yes.

And this is how a person is designed that in order to start moving in the right direction, he needs constant confirmation that he must move and that the direction is chosen correctly.

Miracle of life

Strange as it may seem, people trust most of all not in logic, not in scientific explanations, not in experience, not in eyewitness accounts, but in miracles! A miracle that happens to him, or to someone before his eyes.

During his earthly life, Jesus Christ performed many miracles so that people would follow him. He forbade talking about some of them even to close people, because not everyone is ready to convey to others the essence of what happened, not everyone can believe them without considering him out of his mind.

Here I would like to recall the place in the Bible where it talks about the resurrection of Lazarus.

Pay attention to the meaning of the word in Russian. Two words - “resurrection” and “resurrection”, which seem to mean the same thing, tell us about different events. In the first case (resurrection) we are talking about an action on someone. The second (resurrection) is about the ability of someone to rise from their deathbed.

None of us, born wives, perceive life as a miracle, because it is a given, it is like a gift for our birthday. This miracle happens to us every day. And only events on the verge of life and death remind us of the one who gave us life. How often do we think about how we use this gift?

Or maybe this is not a gift at all, but a miracle given on loan? We need this life, we need it as a tool, like a jack, like a stepladder, in order to be able to climb as high as possible on the spiritual “ladder”. In order to save your Soul and in order to help save those who are close to us.

Lazarus, friend of Christ

It was in Bethany, not far from Jerusalem. Lazarus, a friend of Christ, fell ill and died a natural death. The fourth day has passed since his death. His relatives had already buried him according to custom, in a cave.

Knowing about his friend's death, Jesus headed to Bethany. On the way to Lazarus's house, he met Martha, who said that if Jesus had been here, his friend would not have died. Could Jesus not have known about this? Martha seemed to doubt the omnipresence of Jesus God. But the Lord consoled her, saying that her brother would rise again. But even after these words, Martha continued to doubt. She believed that Jesus reminded her of the general Resurrection of the dead. And the Lord forgave her for this lack of faith, she was heartbroken and had lost her beloved brother.

Where Christ appeared, people certainly flocked in huge numbers. And now a whole crowd led by bishops ran to the place where Martha and Jesus met. They all followed Christ to the burial place of Lazarus, but only to laugh at the attempt to resurrect a dead man whom they all knew, whom they themselves buried in a cave. They themselves consoled his sisters at the funeral dinner yesterday. And here they are at the tomb of Lazarus. This is how the episode is described in the Bible (John 11:38-45):

“It was a cave, and a stone lay on it. Jesus says: take away the stone. The sister of the deceased, Martha, said to Him: Lord! already stinks; for he has been in the tomb for four days. Jesus says to her: Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? So they took away the stone [from the cave] where the dead man lay. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said: Father! I thank You that You heard Me. I knew that You would always hear Me; but I said [this] for the people standing here, so that they might believe that You sent Me. Having said this, He cried out with a loud voice: Lazarus! get out. And the dead man came out, entwined on his hands and feet with burial cloths, and his face was tied with a scarf. Jesus says to them: Untie him, let him go. Then many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus had done believed in Him.”

Jesus loved his friend very much, and could have made sure that he did not die at all. But then no one would have thought that Lazarus was alive by the Will of the Lord. People would think that Lazarus simply got well. Coped with the disease. And therefore Jesus allowed death to devour his beloved friend in order to show that the Lord commands death too.

No one thinks that every morning he wakes up according to the Will of God, that his life continues day after day only because it is the Will of God.

After the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus, Christ headed to Jerusalem, but not in order to ascend to the throne and become king of the Jews with the help of the crowd that followed him, who witnessed the miracle, but in order to complete his way of the cross and die on the cross for the sins of the world and show people your Resurrection as a victory over death.

Life after death

The miracle of resurrecting a dead man took place. There has never been a miracle like this! People recognized the resurrection of Lazarus; no one could doubt that he was dead. Everyone knew Lazarus, and no one dared to slander this miracle, just as they slandered the healing of the man born blind, saying: “It’s him. It's not him. Like him” (John 9:9)4.

It was precisely this unconditionality of this miracle that became the reason for the hatred of Lazarus himself on the part of the bishops. Their hatred reached the point that they wanted to kill the resurrected one.

Fleeing persecution, Lazarus leaves his native Bethany and goes to the beautiful, flowering island of Cyprus, which at that time was under the rule of Rome. There he became a bishop in the city of Kition and a tireless preacher of Christianity. He was thirty years old at that time. Having survived the persecution of Christians, Lazarus lived in Cyprus until he was sixty years old and went to the Lord.

Holy places

In Bethany, where the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus took place, the square cave in the rock that served as Lazarus’s tomb is a place of worship for believers around the world. A chapel was erected on this site, and a basilica nearby, then a Benedictine monastery appeared, after its destruction a mosque was built.

Part of the wall of the medieval chapel at the tomb of Lazarus belongs to the Orthodox Church. A Greek temple was built right there, and a little further - the Greek Orthodox monastery of Martha and Mary, dedicated to the meeting of Martha with Christ on the day of the resurrection of Lazarus. The stone on which Christ sat when meeting Martha is now the main shrine of the monastery.

In the 9th century, the Byzantine emperor Leo the Wise ordered the relics of Lazarus to be transferred to Constantinople. And in the city of Kition (now Larnaca) a temple was built in honor of Christ’s friend Lazarus.

We cordially congratulate you on the Feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. We wish you a peaceful Senior Week and a joyful meeting of the Bright Resurrection of Christ. God help you!

Father Spiridon (Sammur) joins our congratulations. Father serves in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and cordially congratulates all of you, dear readers of the Elitsa project, on the upcoming Easter of the Lord.

Lazarus of the Four Days, friend of Christ. A few facts about the resurrected Lazar and his further fate

In Bethany there was a man named Lazarus, whom Jesus Christ loved, and he had two sisters: one was called Martha, the other Mary. These were simple people, hospitable, welcoming, kind. Because of their simplicity and childlike faith, the Savior often visited them in their home. This Wanderer, Who had no place to lay His head, found refuge and rest for Himself here from His labors. And then, like a whirlwind, like a storm, misfortune suddenly struck this pious house: Lazarus fell ill with a serious, severe illness.

He fell ill... And a little later he died and was buried, bitterly mourned by his sisters and all his relatives. The grief of the Lazarus sisters was even more bitter because at that time their sweet Comforter, their merciful Teacher, was not with them, but He was then on the other side of the Jordan, working great miracles there: giving sight to the blind, walking to the lame, raising the dead, as if awakening from sleep, and healing from all sorts of illnesses with one word, giving health to everyone...

Jesus Christ foresaw by His Divinity that Lazarus, His friend, died and said to the apostles: “Behold, our friend Lazarus, die.” He said and went with them to Bethany. When they approached Bethany, Martha and Mary met them on the way; They approached Jesus, sorrowful, fell with tears at His most pure feet and mournfully exclaimed: “O Lord, if You were with us, Lazarus, our brother, would not you have died then?” The good Lord answered them: “If you believe, you will still live.” They, out of deep sorrow, as if not hearing this consolation, with weeping and a great cry, said to Him: “Lord, Lord, our brother Lazarus, he has been lying in the grave for four days and stinking!” Then the Creator Lord, as if not knowing where the deceased was buried, asked them: “Show Me the place where they laid him.” And with a great multitude of people they went with Him to the tomb, and they showed Him the place where the dead man was buried. When Jesus Christ approached the grave, he ordered the heavy stone lying on it to be rolled away.

They took a stone from the coffin, and a kind of sacred trembling suddenly ran through everyone; everything seemed silent all around. It fell silent, became silent; Some kind of awe gripped everyone: our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was looking at heaven at that time - to where His Father dwells. I looked and prayed... Oh, this prayer - it blazed like a hot flame and as if on the wings of fast-flying eagles it rushed to heaven! Christ prayed, and tears, drop by drop, as if drops of blessed dew, flowed from His most pure eyes.

The Savior prayed and ended the prayer with praise to His Father: “Father, I give You praise because You heard Me, and I knew that You always listen to Me, but for the sake of the people who stand, I decided that they may have faith, because You have sent Me and glorify the name Your sacred!” And having spoken this, he cried out in a great voice: “Lazarus, come out!” From the thunder of this voice the rivets of hell were torn apart, all hell groaned from its illness. He groaned, and, groaning, he opened his gates, and Lazarus, who died, came out of there. Like a lion from a den, he came out of the tomb; or, better said, just as an eagle flies out of the abyss, he flew out of the bonds of hell. And he stood, wrapped in a covering, before the Lord Jesus Christ, worshiped Him as the Son of God, glorified Him, who had given him life.

Then Lazarus took his burial shrouds, as the Lord commanded, and followed Christ. Along the way, a very large crowd followed Jesus and Lazarus, accompanying Him all the way to Lazarus’s court. Lazarus rejoiced and rejoiced with all his heart and soul when he saw the house in which he lived with his sisters. All his relatives had fun and rejoiced with him. And, having made a prayer to God, Lazarus and his sisters entered his house. The Lord Jesus Christ also entered there, having stayed with Lazarus for two days. Oh, welcome Guest, sweetest Jesus! What joy Lazarus and his sisters experienced in their hearts from communicating with such a Guest! Truly indescribable, indescribable was this joy.

Only the bishops and Jewish scribes were not happy: devilish envy ate their souls. Driven by the devil, they were furious at Christ and Lazarus: they gathered their unrighteous council and decided to kill them both. Jesus, having recognized this Jewish council by His Divinity, left Bethany, for His hour had not yet come. And Lazarus, with the blessing of the Lord, fled to the island of Cyprus. On this island he was subsequently installed as bishop by the apostles. They say that after his resurrection, until his death, Lazarus, no matter what food he ate, ate it with honey, and without honey he could no longer eat any food. He did this out of the hellish sorrow in which his soul remained before the Lord the Savior called him from the grave. So, in order not to remember this hellish sorrow, in order to drown out the feeling, the experience of this sorrow in his soul, Lazarus ate only sweet, honey.

Oh, beloved, how bitter is this hellish bitterness, how terrible it is! We will be afraid so that we will not experience it for our sins. Lazarus could not avoid hellish sorrow, for Jesus Christ had not yet suffered, was not resurrected, and had not ascended to heaven. Therefore, everyone who died before Christ was inevitably involved in this hellish sorrow. But with His honest Blood, Christ consumed this sorrow, and we, who believe in Him, if we live according to His commandments, may not even recognize this sorrow at all. Let us strive, beloved, to achieve this!

They also say about Lazarus that the omophorion he wore was made and embroidered by our Most Holy Lady Theotokos, the Mother of the Lord, with her own hands and given to Lazarus. He was the gift of this priceless welcome honestly from our Lady Theotokos, with the warmest tenderness he bowed to Her, kissed Her nose and greatly thanked God...

After his resurrection, having lived well and pleasingly to God for another thirty years, Lazarus again rested in peace and departed to the Kingdom of Heaven. The wise King Leo, by some divine manifestation, transferred his holy body from the island of Cyprus to Constantinople and honestly placed it in a silver shrine in the holy temple built in the name of Lazarus. This cancer exuded a great and indescribable fragrance and aroma and gave healing to all sorts of ailments of people who flowed with faith to the tomb of God’s holy friend Lazarus.

The magnificent temple, located near the port of Larnaca and dedicated to Lazarus of the four days, is one of the most famous places of Orthodox pilgrimage. The architecture of the temple, built around the 10th century, has undergone various changes. The English consul in Syria, Alexander Drumond, who visited Cyprus in 1745, wrote with admiration about the Church of Lazarus: “I have never seen anything like it!”

We don’t know much about the life of righteous Lazarus. He was born in the city of Bethany, located about three kilometers from Jerusalem. He had two sisters - Martha and Maria. Mary, according to the account of the Evangelist John, was the woman who anointed Jesus with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair.

Jesus often visited Lazarus' house. He was not only a disciple of Christ, but also His friend. One day, when Christ was in Galilee, He was informed that His friend Lazarus had died. But Christ answered: “This illness does not lead to death, but to the glory of God” (John 11:4) and postponed his arrival in Bethany for several days. He arrived there on the fourth day after the burial of Lazarus. The Lord asked to take him to the grave and move away the stone that blocked the entrance to the tomb. After this, he cried out: “Lazarus, come out!” And Lazarus, wrapped in grave clothes, came out of the tomb.

After the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus, the Jewish high priests began to persecute him. They even wanted to kill him, because many people who came to see the man whom Christ resurrected began to believe in the Savior.

After Christ's ascension into heaven, persecution began against the Jerusalem church and Lazarus was expelled from Judea. He was put in a boat without oars and released into the open sea. By divine will, Saint Lazarus sailed to the shores of Cyprus.

In Cyprus, Lazarus was ordained by the Apostle Peter to the rank of Bishop of Kition and lived another 30 years before his second death.

The legends of those days speak about the life of Saint Lazarus in Cyprus. For example, they say that for thirty years after the resurrection, Saint Lazarus never smiled and only once violated his custom. Someone wanted to steal the pot - when Saint Lazarus saw this, he smiled and exclaimed: “Clay steals clay.”

According to the 12th/13th century Synaxarium of Constantinople, the name of Saint Lazarus is associated with the Salt Lake, which is located in the suburbs of Larnaca. According to this legend, in the time of Lazarus this salt lake was a huge vineyard. One day Saint Lazarus happened to pass through this region. Feeling thirsty, he asked the owner to give him grapes to quench it. The owner refused his request. Lazarus pointed to a basket that was apparently filled with grapes. When the owner said that there was salt in the basket, Saint Lazarus turned the vineyard into a salt lake as punishment for greed and hypocrisy.

The relics of righteous Lazarus were found in 890 in the city of Kitia (modern Larnaca) in a marble shrine on which was written: “Lazarus the Four-Days, Friend of Christ.” The name of the capital Larnaca comes from the Greek word “larnax” and means “tomb” or “sarcophagus”. It was the discovery of the tomb that gave the city its name.

The Byzantine Emperor Leo the Wise (886 - 911) ordered the relics of Lazarus to be transferred to Constantinople and placed in a temple in the name of Righteous Lazarus.

In the 9th century, a stone temple was built in his honor over the tomb of St. Lazarus in Cyprus. Initially, the basilica was decorated with three domes, which were later destroyed, either by an earthquake, or they were ordered to be demolished by the Turkish invaders (by 1571 the entire island was occupied by the Ottoman Empire).

In the early 1970s, restoration work was carried out in the Church of St. Lazarus. During their conduct, stone tombs were found in the temple, in one of which the relics of St. Lazarus were discovered. They were placed in a special ark in the form of a bishop's miter and displayed for the worship of the faithful in a carved gilded tomb with a canopy and a Byzantine dome topped with a cross.

Inside the temple, the ancient carved iconostasis, consisting of 120 icons, attracts the eye. It is considered an example of the most skillful wood carving. The most valuable icon is considered to be one dating back to 1734, in which Saint Lazarus is depicted in the rank of Bishop of Kition.

Directly below the iconostasis there is a small church carved into the rock - steps lead there from the right side of the iconostasis. It contains two sarcophagi. Lazarus was once buried in one of them.

The history of the church is not without interesting details. The church acquired its modern appearance in 1743. The first church, built in the 9th century, was destroyed by an earthquake, but then restored. The first church, which was built with donations from Leo the Wise, was destroyed by an earthquake, then restored. Under Ottoman rule, the temple was a mosque, and under the Venetians, it was the church of a Benedictine monastery. But in 1569 it was bought by the Orthodox Church and since then it has been the Orthodox Church of St. Lazarus.

Orthodox Cyprus