In Him the Dead are Made Alive: The celebration of Lazarus Saturday
O Jesus, You grieve: a token of mortal essence. Your friend You revive: a token of divine potence. - Synaxarion for Lazarus Saturday On the Saturday before Holy Week, the Orthodox Church celebrates an event of particular significance. Jesus' resurrection of his friend Lazarus, who had been dead for four days, serves as a prelude to his own resurrection. The narrative from the Gospel of John serves as one of the clearest examples who Christ is: completely God, and completely man. The Gospel reading for this day ( John 11:1-45 ) begins by telling us a little bit about who Lazarus is. He is the brother of Mary and Martha. Mary is the woman who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his words while Martha busied herself with the cleaning and cooking. They are from the city of Bethany, which the Gospel reading tells us is about two miles away from Jerusalem. If you go to the Holy Lands today, you will find the city of Bethany to the east of Jerusalem. It is home to the Holy...