Abingdon New Testament Commentary - John by Smith D. Moody

Author:Smith, D. Moody [Smith, D. Moody]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Published: 2011-09-01T00:00:00+00:00

The raising of Lazarus is an appropriate conclusion of the public ministry of Jesus. It is his culminating sign (cf. 12:18). Moreover, it symbolizes, or better, gives concrete manifestation to, the life-giving work of Jesus, who does what God has given him authority and power to do (cf. 5:19, 30). Jesus’ words about the dead, or those who are in the tombs, hearing the voice of the Son of God (5:25, 28) now seem to foreshadow this spectacular event. Even some of the Jews have implied a comparison between Jesus’ gift of sight to the blind man and the possibility that he might have prevented Lazarus’s death (v. 37). Then, of course, Jesus overcomes Lazarus’s death by raising him from the dead, an even mightier sign.

Probably the question of the historicity of the account is for most readers decided on the basis of considerations of what could or could not happen: Obviously, no one can bring the dead back; or, obviously Jesus could do precisely that. If, however, one brackets out that question, it is worth observing (with Schnackenburg) that the story’s absence from the Synoptics does not necessarily militate against it in the sense of showing that it is a later composition. Aside from Secret Mark, there is Luke’s story of the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17), also restored to life by Jesus, which is not found in any other Gospel. Apparently such stories about Jesus circulated in early Christian circles. Whatever their specific historical basis, their credibility rested upon Jesus’ broader reputation.

Even in John there is an incongruity of the story with the evangelist’s theological point about Jesus as the giver of eternal life. The Johannine Jesus speaks of believers’ passing from death to life, that is, even now entering into eschatological life. The raising of Lazarus symbolizes this eschatological gift, but only imperfectly. Lazarus seems to resume ordinary day-to-day life. He eats (12:2), as the risen Jesus does in Luke (24:42-43), but apparently not in John (cf. 21:9-14). He is subject to death, or at least the opponents of Jesus assume so as they plot to kill him (12:10), “since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus” (v. 11). Lazarus is a type of Christian preacher who leads other Jews to believe in Jesus. The NRSV’s “desert” (cf. the RSV’s more literal “going away”) implies leaving the Jewish community, that is, the synagogue (see Martyn 1979, 66, 94, who relates this statement to the world’s going after Jesus in 12:19). As such a witness to Jesus, Lazarus is a person who has received life from him. John has taken a tradition of Jesus’ raising a dead man and used it symbolically to dramatize Jesus’ work, and its results. There are people given life by Jesus who are instrumental in bringing others to him. According to John’s tradition this man, perhaps somewhat inconveniently for his symbolic value, hangs around, eating and drinking at his sisters’ house, and is perhaps finally done to death by “the Jews” (cf.

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