Sermon 139A

SERMON 139/A

ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN (CHAPTER XI):
On the Resurrection of Lazarus

Lazarus was raised by Christ.

Thus, this evangelical reading is so widely known for its miracle that no one, not even the unbelievers, has not heard of Lazarus being raised by Christ; how much more is it known among the faithful, that it could not be unknown to the unbelievers? And yet, when it is read, the mind is refreshed as if by a new spectacle. It is not, therefore, inappropriate that we also should recite what we are accustomed to say about it. Nor will it perhaps be tedious, what I am about to say; for this reading is repeated more frequently in your ears than our discourse about it. For if it is read when it is not Saturday or Sunday, no sermon is given about it. I say this so that you may not disdain to hear what I will say. Let no one, therefore, say: "He already said that"; because the deacon already read it, and yet it was willingly heard. Therefore, listen.

Three dead people raised signify the three kinds of death in human sins.

From the Lord Jesus Christ in the holy Gospel, we learn that three dead persons were raised. One, the daughter of the synagogue leader, in whose house He came, and after hearing that she was in danger of dying from illness, found her dead; and He said to her: "Little girl, I say to you, arise," and she arose. Another, a young man, who was already being carried out dead beyond the city gate, and was being deeply mourned by his widowed mother; then He saw these things, but He commanded the bearers to stop, and said: "Young man, I say to you, arise;" and the dead man sat up and began to speak, and He gave him back to his mother. The third is Lazarus, whom we have now seen with the eyes of faith both dying and rising again, through a much greater miracle and a grand benefit; for he had been dead for four days, and was already decaying; nevertheless, he was raised. What do these three dead persons symbolize? They do not signify nothing, for the acts of the Lord's miracles are words of mysteries. Thus, we find three types of death in the sins of men. Recall these three dead persons; first, that girl who was dead in the house, not yet carried out; that young man, however, had been carried out beyond the gate; Lazarus, on the other hand, was buried and weighed down by the mass of stone. What then are the three types in sins? I say. If someone consents to evil desire in his heart and decides to do what it beguilingly suggests, he is already dead. No one knows, because he is not carried out; it is a hidden death, in the house, in the bedroom, but it is still death. No one should claim he did not commit adultery if he decides to do it; if he consents to the titillating pleasure of doing it, he has already done it; he is the adulterer, she is chaste. Ask God; He will answer you concerning this hidden death, this inner death, this bedroom death; of such chambers we read: “What you say in your hearts, and on your beds, be sorrowful.” Therefore, hear the verdict of the one who raises the dead from this death: "Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart," who has not yet engaged in fornication with his body. But sometimes the Lord looks, and he regrets having decided, regrets having consented; he was dead in the bedroom, he rises in the bedroom. But if he does what he decided, death has advanced, it is now outside; but even this can be ended by repentance, and the dead carried out is given back to life. But if custom is added to the act, then he already decays, and he is pressed down by the weight of the custom like a stone; but Christ does not despise even him, He is powerful to raise even him; but He weeps. We heard from the Gospel that Christ wept over Lazarus. Therefore, those who are pressed by habit suffer violence, and Christ groans to raise them. The divine word reproaches them greatly, Scripture cries out greatly to them; we cry out greatly to them, so that we may even be heard and, like Lazarus revived, we may rejoice. "Remove the stone," he says. How could he rise if the burden of custom was not removed? Shout out, tie up, rebuke, accuse, remove the stone; when you see such people, do not spare them; you labor, but you remove the stone. He, He whose voice reaches the heart, might cry: "Lazarus, come forth;" that is: "Live, come out of the tomb, change your life, end your death." And that dead man came forth, bound he stood; for even if he ceases to sin, he is still guilty of past deeds, and it is necessary to pray and do penance for his deeds; not for what he is doing, because he no longer does them; he revives, he does not do; but for what he has done, he is still bound. Therefore, to the ministers of His Church, through whom hands are laid upon the penitent, Christ says: "Loose him, and let him go." Loose him, loose him: “What you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.” He who heard and kept these things from me, let him suppose he has now read what I have written; but he who has not heard, let him write it in his heart, that he may read it whenever he wants.