The Raising of Lazarus (Lazarus Saturday)

A Prelude to Glory

This day’s Gospel is so rich, so layered, that it defies simple summary.

The Raising of Lazarus stands as a liturgical bridge—spanning the end of Great Lent and the entrance into Holy Week. It draws our gaze and centers it fully on the person of Christ: His Christology, His Kenosis, His Ekonomia, His Missiology and His divine love.

In the Gospel of John, the narrative swells with intensity—rising through Martha’s dialogue with the Lord, and reaching its crescendo as Christ cries out to the dead man: “Lazarus, come forth!”

Here, the anointed One of God—He who is coming into the world to save and renew it—is unveiled. The resurrection of Lazarus is not merely an act of compassion. It is a declaration of power, a foretaste of that which was foretold: Christ’s own death and resurrection.

Christ draws near to the tomb, weeps at the sorrow of mortality, feels the full weight of fear, pain, and darkness. And still, He enters into it.

It is precisely there—in the depths of human frailty and fear—that His final act of deliverance begins.

As Fr. Robert reminds us, Lazarus Saturday calls us to renew our discipleship with the Lord. The One who will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead is already among us—calling each of us by name, drawing us out from the tombs of fear, indifference, and despair into the radiant light of His eternal life.