Lazarus

“ Mystified by his words and still more at the look of mingled greed and craft and despair upon his face, Mary stepped forward to bring herself away from him. But he thrust out his head and hissed: "If Lazarus doth live again, then surely will Jesus die. His blood be upon thee and Martha, and upon thy children and thy children's children." ”

“ No one approached the place where Lazarus, miraculously raised from the dead, passed his last days, for his neighbours had long since abandoned their homes. His cursed knowledge, driven by the hot irons from his eyes deep into the brain, lay there in ambush; as if from ambush it might spring out upon men with a thousand unseen eyes. No one dared to look at Lazarus. ”

“ Neither could we keep Lazarus, but he like an eagle shaking himself leaped forth with all agility and swiftness, and departed from us, and the earth also which held the dead body of Lazarus straightway gave him up alive. Wherefore now I know that that man which was able to do these things is a God strong in command and mighty in manhood, and that he is the saviour of mankind. And if thou bring him unto me he will set free all that are here shut up in the hard prison and bound in the chains of their sins that cannot be broken, and will bring them unto the life of his godhead for ever. ”

“ And Lazarus, lying on his couch by the window and gazing on the setting sun sinking behind the mountains and tinging the olive grove and fig trees of Bethany, would wonder why death held no horrors for him beyond the pain of separation ”

“ Then Lazarus said: "We must needs watch, or, maybe, He will not even have time to pray."
Then, when Jesus saw the distress of the warm-hearted Peter and James and John, He bade them come with Him; and, with one human cry for sympathy, He said: "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with Me."
Who can dare to dwell on that great agony and live. The agony of God brought low. The haunting fear of His humanity that at the last His strength might fail! ”

“ Caiaphas had not seen fit to tell his father-in-law of his midnight journey to Bethany with Nicodemus, when he had hoped, if not to lay hands on Jesus, to get tidings of His movements; when he had also seen the body of Lazarus.
An endless multitude of people thronged all day the road from Jericho; great rabbis, followed by their retinue, mules laden with spices and myrrh, ointment and spikenard. The room in which Lazarus lay, now bound in grave clothes by the tender hands of Martha and Mary, was like an ever-moving panorama. ”

“ Let Me cleanse thy soul of all its filth. Return to Me; I am still here waiting, waiting. Time is passing quickly, a life's remorse awaits thee in this world, a dreadful death; in the next an eternity of pain. Draw back."
All that it seemed to say; but Judas shifted uneasily on his seat, as though the touch of Jesus scorched his nerves, and he kept his eyes down, as though searching the water in the copper basin, that in the light of the lamp shone more ruddily than his own red hair.
And Lazarus, in grief and wonder, murmured to himself: "His own familiar friend, His own familiar friend." ”

“ Nervously she played with the beads of a girdle of amber she wore round her waist.
"Indeed," she muttered, " 't is not the Nazarene that I would seek; but, if to get sight of Lazarus I must needs find the Nazarene, then go I must."
Proud Rebekah, what hath come to thee, that thou, whom, hitherto, all men have sought, dost follow now one man? What is love, that strange, subtle fire that eateth out the heart and bringeth the mighty low? "Oh, I would that Lazarus did feel for me as I for him! That stern, sweet face, how beauteous must it look when melting into love! O Lazarus, Lazarus!" ”

“ Then at midnight came another spirit to me, that of an old man, and he took me by the hand and said: 'What doest thou here, Lazarus? Why dost thou still stay near thy home and thy riches and thy vessels of silver and gold? Thou hast much to see and hear, for that thou art dead for the glory of God and shalt live again.'
"'And shall I see Him yet again; Him whom my soul delighteth in?' I asked of the old man. ”

“ If he be the same who, by the mere word of his command, made Lazarus fly away like an eagle from my bosom, when he had already been dead four days, he is not a man in humanity, but God in majesty. I entreat thee not to bring him to me. ”

“ It was the third day since Lazarus had left the grave. Ever since then many had experienced the pernicious power of his eye, but neither those who were crushed by it forever, nor those who found the strength to resist in it the primordial sources of life,—which is as mysterious as death,—never could they explain the horror which lay motionless in the depth of his black pupils. Lazarus looked calmly and simply with no desire to conceal anything, but also with no intention to say anything; he looked coldly, as he who is infinitely indifferent to those alive. ”

“ They reached Lazarus's garden, and there fell in adoring worship at His feet, pouring out their hearts in gratitude for all that He had done for them; and Mary Magdalene, with faced bowed to the ground, cried out: "For my sins, my Saviour, wast Thou crucified; for my sins, for my sins!" ”

“ Slay him!" cried the multitude, and some of the soldiers crowded round him and tried to take him prisoner. One man even caught hold of his linen robe; but Lazarus, with a twist of his body, slipped downwards out of his garment and fled away in the darkness. Better so, than die while the Lord had need of him. And all the multitude cried out: ' 'T is yet another miracle. This man shall never die." ”

“ But now, good cousin, let us look a little longer here upon the rich Abraham and Lazarus the poor. And as we shall see Lazarus set in wealth somewhat under the rich Abraham, so shall we see another rich man lie full low beneath Lazarus, crying and calling out of his fiery couch that Lazarus might, with a drop of water falling from his finger's end, a little cool and refresh the tip of his burning tongue. ”

“ Gently, in a voice that reached only the two women, the Nazarene murmured: "Where have ye laid him?"
And the crowd, hoping and half believing that, at last, it was to see the miracle the nation had been expecting, howled and shrieked: "Show us Lazarus and we will believe.
Mary, in much humility, entreated the Lord to come and see the tomb where they had laid him.
Then, when the cry grew ever louder, "Show us Lazarus and it sufficeth us," Thomas approached the crowd and, raising his hand to still the tumult: "Men of Israel," he said, "wherefore call ye for Lazarus? ”

“ If He really was all-powerful, what need to suffer and to toil and to preach? All the quibbles of unbelief, the torment of uncertainty, which is the world's greatest curse, which, since the world began, has raised its beguiling voice, like the voice of a siren, to lure men from the path of life; all the demons of despair, had torn at the heart of Lazarus ever since he had heard the preaching of the Nazarene; but the answer to his prayer had been coming, though he knew it not, coming, as it always does, by inward revelation, not as the result of argument. ”

“ There were people living far away who never saw Lazarus and only heard of him. With an audacious curiosity which is stronger than fear and feeds on fear, with a secret sneer in their hearts, some of them came to him one day as he basked in the sun, and entered into conversation with him. ”

“ Night pursued them with her horrors, and so they did not learn of Lazarus' doings in the desert, but the vision of the black on red was forever branded on their brain. Just as a beast with a splinter in its eye furiously rubs its muzzle with its paws, so they too foolishly rubbed their eyes, but what Lazarus had given was indelible, and Death alone could efface it. ”

“ Lazarus also smiled as though in assent, and bowed his head a little before he spoke.
“I am obedient to your judgment. It is yours to command and mine to obey. If you say that he must die, let him die. He is my son. Take him. Did not our father Abraham lay Isaac upon the altar and offer him as a burnt sacrifice before the Lord?”
“Let him die,” said the rabbis.
“Then let him die,” answered Lazarus. “I am your servant. It is mine to obey.”
“His blood be on our heads,” they said. And again, the evil smile went round. ”

“ Claudia stretched out her hands in awe and horror to her husband, but, the while, a darkness, a solid darkness, with no faint glimmerings of struggling light, had fallen between her and him.
Lazarus!" she cried, "Lazarus, Pilate, what meaneth this?"
And Lazarus's voice beside her said: "Fear not, 't is but God's earth mourning for the Son of God. Pray, lady, pray that thou and Pilate may yet believe." ”

“ What is it to us that the Lord raised Lazarus?—Is it nothing to know that our Brother is Lord over the grave? Will the harvest be behind the first-fruits? If he tells us he cannot, for good reasons, raise up our vanished love to-day, or to-morrow, or for all the years of our life to come, shall we not mingle the smile of faithful thanks with the sorrow of present loss, and walk diligently waiting? That he called forth Lazarus showed that he was in his keeping, that he is Lord of the living, and that all live to him, that he has a hold of them, and can draw them forth when he will. ”

“ The poor Syrian had once, for a while, rendered occasional out-door service to the family of Lazarus; and he had known Lazarus in three states—had known him living, dead, again alive. After days of death in that fierce climate, where inanimate flesh putrefies fast, he had beheld Lazarus, at the call of one upon whose lineaments he gazed, at the time, with unconscious adoration, come forth, not merely from death, but from incipient decomposition, back into balmy life—back to the "vita serena." ”

“ Oh, what a mystery was life and death! And into the core of Martha's soul there crept once more the question, Why had this world been created? Why had each creature been born into a world of mystery and darkness? But, all the time, the two Marys clasped the hands of Lazarus, as if by pressing they could instil their courage into his deadening veins. What if, at the last moment, he were wrested from them eternally by a flickering out of faith? ”

“ Rebekah answered waywardly, her voice ending in a sob. "I care not, I know not; only I know that there is no room on earth for thee and me and him; and one must die. Seest thou this?" and she raised a dagger in her hand; in the moon's pale gleam it looked like a flaming needle. "Seest thou this?"
The Magdalene bent her eyes on it, and a great fear crept over her.
"Well, either thou or Lazarus shall die by this. I would rather it were thou; but, if thou weddest Lazarus, then will I kill him." ”

“ With utter indifference did Lazarus set his feet on the street of the eternal city. As though all her wealth, all the magnificence of her palaces built by giants, all the resplendence, beauty, and music of her refined life were but the echo of the wind in the wilderness, the reflection of the desert quicksand. Chariots were dashing, and along the streets were moving crowds of strong, fair, proud builders of the eternal city and haughty participants in her life ”

“ And Lazarus came to a youth and his beloved, who loved each other and were most beautiful in their passions. Proudly and strongly embracing his love, the youth said with serene regret:
"Look at us, Lazarus, and share our joy. Is there anything stronger than love?"
And Lazarus looked. And for the rest of their life they kept on loving each other, but their passion grew gloomy and joyless, like those funeral cypresses whose roots feed on the decay of the graves and whose black summits in a still evening hour seek in vain to reach the sky. ”

“ Following them, the guests left one after another, for night was already come. And when placid darkness encircled them and they began to breathe with more ease, suddenly Lazarus' image loomed up before each one in formidable radiance: the blue face of a corpse, grave-clothes gorgeous and resplendent, a cold look, in the depths of which lay motionless an unknown horror. As though petrified, they were standing far apart, and darkness enveloped them, but in the darkness blazed brighter and brighter the supernatural vision of him who for three days had been under the enigmatical sway of death. ”

“ None would ever know the quick, hot words, the madness-given strength of the proud woman who had stabbed her in her jealousy. None would ever know how Lazarus mourned his bride. He had sold all that he possessed; had this too been a possession that would have kept his soul back from the great work of testifying? If so, blessed be the Lord who giveth and taketh away; he, too, must tread the winepress alone.
A ship was waiting to take Lazarus and Mary away to where he could preach the gospel unmolested. Simon could not make up his mind to let both daughters leave him in his old age ”

“ Lazarus said.
"He will eat the Passover at Jerusalem, according to the law of Moses, yet surely they will there surprise Him."
"How can it be," asked Martha, "that Judas, who doth follow Him day and night, doth compass to betray Him? Methinks that even Satan himself would not act thus."
"Nay, Satan doth make others to sin for him," answered Lazarus; "but 't is greed with Judas, the love of money that is the curse of all our nation; that doth even overwhelm the world. ”

“ If Lazarus—Lazarus, enchained so far and kept in her presence by the claims of courtesy, should leave her now, never again would she have such a chance in such a place at such an hour. Her lips paused only to give her brain time to revolve the best means of winning him to stay. For one moment, whose madness later made her shiver, she thought of using the weapons that with others would have been so powerful. ”