Is the Story of Lazarus a later Embellishment?

[Gary]

The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is probably Jesus' greatest (alleged) miracle. If you grew up a conservative Christian like me, you simply accepted this story as historical fact and never really investigated this claim. So let's take a look at it now.

The story begins with Jesus being informed that Lazarus is gravely ill. However, instead of immediately rushing to Bethany to heal his friend (or just pronouncing "Lazarus you are healed" by telepathy from where he was, Jesus delays and states that the power of God will be demonstrated through Lazarus and his illness (and as we will soon find out, by his death). Lazarus dies. FOUR days later, Jesus arrives in Bethany. Lazarus has been wrapped in burial garments and placed in a tomb with a stone rolled in front to seal it. Lazarus' body stinks. It is decomposing. Lazarus has died and has been buried.

The Bible says that many Jews have come from Jerusalem to mourn with Lazarus' sisters, Mary and Martha. Bethany is a stone's throw from the capital Jerusalem, so anything BIG that happens in Bethany is going to be news not just in Bethany, but in Jerusalem and all of Judea. Lazarus was not buried in some obscure location such as in the backwaters of Galilee where no one but a few peasants would hear about his subsequent "raising".

So what happens? You know the story. Jesus asks to be taken to the tomb, tells them to roll the stone away and commands Lazarus to come out of the tomb...which Lazarus does. Lazarus is alive! Jesus has raised other people from the dead before, but had he ever raised someone who was already wrapped in burial cloth and whose body had been decomposing for FOUR days; decomposing to the point that he or she stunk?? I don't think so. Jesus previous "raising from the dead miracles" give no indication that the people had been dead for very long, so skeptics such as the Pharisees could easily say that the "dead" person had simply been unconscious, faking, etc..

NO ONE could deny this miracle! This miracle had multiple non-believers as witnesses. These non-believing Jews even went back and reported the details of this event to the Pharisees and the High Priest. The Pharisees had asked for a sign...and they just got one. A big one!

How big of a deal was this miracle? Well, let's look at the Old Testament: How many Hebrew/Jewish prophets raised people from the dead in the entire OT? Answer: TWO. Elijah and Elisha. And they only did it once each...while they were alive. (Elisha's bones raised a man from the dead years after his death). How many times did a prophet of Baal or some other false god raise someone from the dead? I can't find any instance in the Bible where a false or pagan prophet raised someone from the dead. How about Satan? Do we have any instance in the Bible where Satan raised someone from the dead? Not that I know of. So if a prophet raised someone from the dead, that was absolute proof that the prophet was from God!

Think about this: By publically and undeniably raising the stinking corpse of Lazarus from the dead, Jesus accomplished a miracle unparalleled in Jewish history EXCEPT by two of the greatest prophets in Jewish history: Elijah and Elisha! The news of this miracle should have sent shock waves through the Jewish community, not only in Palestine, but in every Jewish community on the face of the earth! No longer could the Pharisees get away with claiming that Jesus' powers were from Satan. Satan doesn't have the power to raise people from the dead! Jesus had to be the Messiah or a prophet equal in stature to Elijah! Every Jew on the face of the earth would have been shaken to the core by this miracle!

Yet, after Jesus death and (alleged) resurrection...we never hear about Lazarus ever again!

Paul, a devout Jew and Pharisee, a scholar of the Hebrew Bible, says NOT ONE WORD about Lazarus. Not one. Think about that for a minute. A miracle on the scale of Elijah and Elisha and Paul says nothing about it. Not in his epistles and not in the Book of Acts. Paul was crisscrossing the Mediterranean, preaching to Jewish communities in Asia Minor and Greece, trying to convince them that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God...yet he never once mentions Jesus' greatest miracle; a miracle that occurred in a suburb of the capital; a miracle witnessed by many non-believers; a miracle that had undeniable evidence of death---a stinking corpse...and yet Paul never seems to feel the need to use this evidence to convince Jews of the authenticity of the claims of Jesus of Nazareth. Think of it. Paul could have said this: "My fellow Jews, this is the same Jesus that raised a stinking corpse from the dead. You remember hearing about it: the Raising of Lazarus of Bethany! That miracle proved that Jesus was from God. Now Jesus has raised himself from the dead proving that not only was he a great prophet, equal in power to Elijah, but proving that he is the Messiah. He is the Son of God. He is GOD!

But no, Paul never uses Jesus' greatest miracle as proof of the authenticity of Jesus' claims. So what does Paul use? His uses is own self-reported VISION of seeing and hearing a talking bright light on the Damascus Road and a list of alleged witnesses, written in the form of a Creed, handed down to him from others; alleged witnesses of whom, very possibly, he had never met ANY OF THEM, other than Peter and James (second, third, fourth, etc. hand information).

Odd. Very, very odd.

And think about this: If Lazarus had been raised from the dead, he would be the perfect preacher of the Gospel. People would have flocked to hear his story! But we hear nothing of Lazarus preaching the Gospel after Jesus' death. ....but maybe he had died, right? (there is always a possible harmonization)

But then there is this: How many Christians know that the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead only appears in ONE Gospel? Just one, folks. And that one gospel is the LAST gospel to have been written, the Gospel of John, written in the late first century or the early second century. And get this: most or at least many Bible scholars no longer believe that the Gospel of John was written by an eyewitness.

So what do we have: We have the greatest miracle of Jesus appearing in just one Gospel, the last Gospel written, written by someone who was not an eyewitness to the miracle and most probably someone who had never met Jesus at all, and, Paul, who says NOTHING about this great miracle. Dear friends, what is the obvious explanation: This is a tall supernatural tale and nothing more! And even more disturbing: What does this embellished supernatural tall tale say about the fantastical, supernatural claim of Jesus' own "raising from the dead"; a story that grows with more and more fantastical elements with each Gospel written?? I suggest that the EVIDENCE strongly points to it ALL being one, big, tall tale!

[Faber]

What ever became of Lazarus? One tradition tells us that Lazarus learned of their desire to kill him, and he fled to Cyprus. When Paul and Barnabas arrived there on their first missionary journey, about eighteen years later, Paul appointed him bishop of Kittim (now called Larnaca). Lazarus lived there for another thirty years before dying. However, this tradition appears to have its roots in a book, Otia Imperialia (Recreation for the Emperor), written by Gervase of Tilbury in AD 1212. [Mediaeval Folklore–Gervase of Tilbury. The Church Quarterly Review, Vol. II, April 1876 - July 1876, ed. Canon Arthur Rawson Ashwell (London: Spottiswoode & Co., 1876), 471.] In AD 890 a tomb was found in Larnaca, Cyprus, bearing the inscription “Lazarus the friend of Christ.” The Church of Saint Lazarus was later built over the tomb. The church was damaged by a fire in 1970; In 1972 during renovations, human remains were discovered in a sarcophagus under the altar. They were identified as the remains of Lazarus. Another tradition says that Mary, Martha and Lazarus along with many others sailed from Israel to Marseilles on a ship without sail, oar or rudder. [Jacobus de Voragine, compiler, “The Life of Saint Martha”, The Golden Legend, around AD 1240.]

The town of Bethany is now called in the Arabic language al-azariyya, named after Lazarus. It is a small town with a population of about 3,600 people, both Christian and Arab. There is a tomb in the town recognized by many as the tomb of Lazarus. The church historian Eusebius mentions the tomb as early as AD 333.

The tomb is a chamber excavated into the rock below the surface. Along the walls of the tomb are several square holes designed to hold ossuaries. After a person dies, he is placed in the tomb. Many months later, after the body had decomposed, the remains are placed into small stone boxes called ossuaries. The ossuary is then stored in one of the square holes.

Above the tomb, a small building was erected out of stone. This is called the antechamber. Its interior dimensions are roughly 7 feet by 10 feet. Originally there was an entrance on the east side of the antechamber which opened to the outside courtyard. A narrow passageway on the floor of the antechamber and stone steps led to the tomb.

In the 16th century, the Ottomans built a mosque on the eastern side of the antechamber, and named it the al-Uzair mosque after Lazarus, who is venerated by Moslems as well as Christians. Christian access to the tomb through the mosque was limited, and eventually the original passageway leading to the mosque was blocked off with stone. But Christians were permitted to open up an entrance to the antechamber from the north. This was the construction of the curved, narrow 24-step stairway which now provides access to the antechamber.

A stone cover probably was placed over the narrow rectangular entrance on the antechamber floor into the tomb below. Jesus and the others would have been standing in the antechamber when He told them to remove the stone.

The incident provoked the wrath of the Pharisees and the High Priests Ananias and Caiaphas. They held a council in which they agreed that Jesus must be taken and put to death. But it would have to be done through the courts.

According to the Talmud, it was about this time that they announced that Jesus would be charged with sorcery and enticing Israel to apostasy, and sought out possible witnesses who would stand in His defense.

On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, 'He is going forth to be stoned because he has practised sorcery and enticed Israel to apostacy. Any one who can say anything in his favour, let him come forward and plead on his behalf.' [Rabbi Dr. Isidore Epstein, ed., The Babylonian Talmud (London: Soncino Press, 1935-1952), Tractate Sanhedrin; folio 43a.]

The incident on Hanukkah (John 10:22-39) took place on or about Tuesday, December 20, AD 29 (Julian Calendar). The eve of Passover was on Friday, April 7, AD 30, 108 days later. The raising of Lazarus took place some time between those two dates.

[Gary]

What ever became of Lazarus? One tradition tells us that Lazarus learned of their desire to kill him, and he fled to Cyprus. When Paul and Barnabas arrived there on their first missionary journey, about eighteen years later, Paul appointed him bishop of Kittim (now called Larnaca). Lazarus lived there for another thirty years before dying. However, this tradition appears to have its roots in a book, Otia Imperialia (Recreation for the Emperor), written by Gervase of Tilbury in AD 1212. [Mediaeval Folklore–Gervase of Tilbury. The Church Quarterly Review, Vol. II, April 1876 - July 1876, ed. Canon Arthur Rawson Ashwell (London: Spottiswoode & Co., 1876), 471.] In AD 890 a tomb was found in Larnaca, Cyprus, bearing the inscription “Lazarus the friend of Christ.” The Church of Saint Lazarus was later built over the tomb. The church was damaged by a fire in 1970; In 1972 during renovations, human remains were discovered in a sarcophagus under the altar. They were identified as the remains of Lazarus. Another tradition says that Mary, Martha and Lazarus along with many others sailed from Israel to Marseilles on a ship without sail, oar or rudder. [Jacobus de Voragine, compiler, “The Life of Saint Martha”, The Golden Legend, around AD 1240.]

The town of Bethany is now called in the Arabic language al-azariyya, named after Lazarus. It is a small town with a population of about 3,600 people, both Christian and Arab. There is a tomb in the town recognized by many as the tomb of Lazarus. The church historian Eusebius mentions the tomb as early as AD 333.

The tomb is a chamber excavated into the rock below the surface. Along the walls of the tomb are several square holes designed to hold ossuaries. After a person dies, he is placed in the tomb. Many months later, after the body had decomposed, the remains are placed into small stone boxes called ossuaries. The ossuary is then stored in one of the square holes.

Above the tomb, a small building was erected out of stone. This is called the antechamber. Its interior dimensions are roughly 7 feet by 10 feet. Originally there was an entrance on the east side of the antechamber which opened to the outside courtyard. A narrow passageway on the floor of the antechamber and stone steps led to the tomb.

In the 16th century, the Ottomans built a mosque on the eastern side of the antechamber, and named it the al-Uzair mosque after Lazarus, who is venerated by Moslems as well as Christians. Christian access to the tomb through the mosque was limited, and eventually the original passageway leading to the mosque was blocked off with stone. But Christians were permitted to open up an entrance to the antechamber from the north. This was the construction of the curved, narrow 24-step stairway which now provides access to the antechamber.

A stone cover probably was placed over the narrow rectangular entrance on the antechamber floor into the tomb below. Jesus and the others would have been standing in the antechamber when He told them to remove the stone.

The incident provoked the wrath of the Pharisees and the High Priests Ananias and Caiaphas. They held a council in which they agreed that Jesus must be taken and put to death. But it would have to be done through the courts.

According to the Talmud, it was about this time that they announced that Jesus would be charged with sorcery and enticing Israel to apostasy, and sought out possible witnesses who would stand in His defense.



The incident on Hanukkah (John 10:22-39) took place on or about Tuesday, December 20, AD 29 (Julian Calendar). The eve of Passover was on Friday, April 7, AD 30, 108 days later. The raising of Lazarus took place some time between those two dates.

Very interesting history. Thank you.

Who could Jesus be charged with sorcery for raising a man from the dead? Raising someone from the dead had only been performed by two OT prophets----Elijah and Elisha. There is no evidence in the OT text that a false prophet, a prophet of another god, or Satan has the power to raise the dead. Lazarus was undeniably dead---he stunk. There is no mistaking the smell of decomposing human flesh. There were multiple non-believing witnesses to Lazarus' death, burial, and to the miracle of Lazarus walking out of the tomb.

The idea that the Sanhedrin would accuse Jesus of sorcery is preposterous. Bottom line: Jesus' very public act of raising a dead man would have made Jesus only the third prophet in the history of Judaism to raise the dead. Jesus had just given the Pharisees the very sign that they had been demanding. It is absolutely NOT believable that this astounding miracle occurred and the Jewish people still were not convinced that Jesus was the messiah, or at the very least, a reincarnated Elijah.

[37818]

In 30AD the eve of the Passover was on our Wednesday. In 33AD on our Friday.

[One Bad Pig]

So what do we have: We have the greatest miracle of Jesus appearing in just one Gospel, the last Gospel written, written by someone who was not an eyewitness to the miracle and most probably someone who had never met Jesus at all, and, Paul, who says NOTHING about this great miracle. Dear friends, what is the obvious explanation: This is a tall supernatural tale and nothing more! And even more disturbing: What does this embellished supernatural tall tale say about the fantastical, supernatural claim of Jesus' own "raising from the dead"; a story that grows with more and more fantastical elements with each Gospel written?? I suggest that the EVIDENCE strongly points to it ALL being one, big, tall tale!

What do we have? We have Gary's usual overwrought immolation of strawmen.

Paul preached rather a lot on the resurrection of Christ, which sort of eclipses the raising of Lazarus.

[Cow Poke]

What do we have? We have Gary's usual overwrought immolation of strawmen.

Paul preached rather a lot on the resurrection of Christ, which sort of eclipses the raising of Lazarus.

But... but... but... didn't Paul say unless Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, our hope is in vain? Didn't he say that?

[37818]

http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/...=30&country=34

[Gary]

What evidence did Paul present to non-believing Jews that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God? If you say the Witness List in I Corinthians 15, that is at best second hand hearsay evidence. If you say Paul's own experience on the Damascus Road, Paul could not give any corroborating witnesses who heard or saw what he states he saw (a talking bright light) on the Damascus Road. It was just his word, and his word included the statement that his experience was a "vision".

The best evidence that Paul could have given for Jesus' resurrection would have been to remind the Jews living in Asia Minor and Greece that this same Jesus had raised the stinking, decomposing Lazarus of Bethany from the dead, a miracle seen by many people in a suburb of Jerusalem. A miracle no one could claim was a fake as there were so many witnesses nor could they claim it was sorcery as only prophets of God had previously raised people from the dead. The raising of Lazarus from the dead would have raised Jesus' status to the same level of Elijah and Elisha. Paul could have then stated that the same Jesus who had raised Lazarus of Bethany from the dead had raised himself from the dead.

But he didn't. He didn't because most likely he had never heard of the story of Lazarus...and neither had anyone else until the author of the Gospel of John made it up in the late first or early second century.

Dear Christian friends: One can almost always find a "harmonization" to make the evidence fit with one's established belief system. I cannot PROVE that the story of Lazarus is a later embellishment, but I hope you will at least be honest enough to admit that the evidence points to that being a very strong possibility.

[Gary]

http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/...=30&country=34

I am not understanding the point you are trying to make, friend. Would you go into more detail? Thanks.

[Jedidiah]

Dear Christian friends: One can almost always find a "harmonization" to make the evidence fit with one's established belief system. I cannot PROVE that the story of Lazarus is a later embellishment, but I hope you will at least be honest enough to admit that the evidence points to that being a very strong possibility.

I am afraid I don't see any evidence at all. What I read can be summarized as follows: "I sure would not have done it like this." That is not evidence.

[rogue06]

What evidence did Paul present to non-believing Jews that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God? If you say the Witness List in I Corinthians 15, that is at best second hand hearsay evidence. If you say Paul's own experience on the Damascus Road, Paul could not give any corroborating witnesses who heard or saw what he states he saw (a talking bright light) on the Damascus Road. It was just his word, and his word included the statement that his experience was a "vision".

The best evidence that Paul could have given for Jesus' resurrection would have been to remind the Jews living in Asia Minor and Greece that this same Jesus had raised the stinking, decomposing Lazarus of Bethany from the dead, a miracle seen by many people in a suburb of Jerusalem. A miracle no one could claim was a fake as there were so many witnesses nor could they claim it was sorcery as only prophets of God had previously raised people from the dead. The raising of Lazarus from the dead would have raised Jesus' status to the same level of Elijah and Elisha. Paul could have then stated that the same Jesus who had raised Lazarus of Bethany from the dead had raised himself from the dead.

But he didn't. He didn't because most likely he had never heard of the story of Lazarus...and neither had anyone else until the author of the Gospel of John made it up in the late first or early second century.

Dear Christian friends: One can almost always find a "harmonization" to make the evidence fit with one's established belief system. I cannot PROVE that the story of Lazarus is a later embellishment, but I hope you will at least be honest enough to admit that the evidence points to that being a very strong possibility.

How did Paul convince the Bereans?

[Gary]

I am afraid I don't see any evidence at all. What I read can be summarized as follows: "I sure would not have done it like this." That is not evidence.

Yes, it seems that there is always a plausible harmonization for the evidence or lack thereof in the Biblical story. And I would agree with Christians that if this were the only odd situation (hole?) in the Biblical story it could be dismissed. The problem is that there are SO many. For instance, why are the details of the Ascension only mentioned by ONE NT author? Wow. If watching Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead didn't convince you that Jesus was the Son of God then what about his levitation into the clouds in front of a small crowd?

[One Bad Pig]

Yes, it seems that there is always a plausible harmonization for the evidence or lack thereof in the Biblical story. And I would agree with Christians that if this were the only odd situation (hole?) in the Biblical story it could be dismissed. The problem is that there are SO many. For instance, why are the details of the Ascension only mentioned by ONE NT author? Wow. If watching Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead didn't convince you that Jesus was the Son of God then what about his levitation into the clouds in front of a small crowd?

Again, this can be summarized as, "I sure would not have done it like this."

Your criterion of multiple attestation is a modern one.

[37818]

I am not understanding the point you are trying to make, friend. Would you go into more detail? Thanks.

It is the Julian calendar for April 30AD showing the Jewish calendar and the dates of the Passover that year. It is because the 14th of Nisan does not fall on na Friday many Christian concluded the year of Christ's crucifixion took place in 33AD. I personally agree with the 30AD.

[Gary]

It is the Julian calendar for April 30AD showing the Jewish calendar and the dates of the Passover that year. It is because the 14th of Nisan does not fall on na Friday many Christian concluded the year of Christ's crucifixion took place in 33AD. I personally agree with the 30AD.

I guess I don't understand what that has to do with this discussion.