![]() ![]() Despite his pleading, the rich man cannot obtain help from Lazarus. When they both die, Lazarus goes to eternal rest in Abraham’s bosom, while the rich man ends up in something like the later vision of Hell. In this story, Lazarus is the name of a poor man despised by a rich neighbor. The name Lazarus occurs in just one other related setting in the New Testament, in a L passage found in Luke 16: 19-31. But as many readers have pointed out through the centuries, there are curious resonances between this story and another tale which, as we have it, is presented not as a historical narrative but as a mysterious parable. John tells the well-known story of Lazarus as a straightforward narrative: Jesus did this, he says, and this happened, it was the ultimate miracle. Understanding that L source also points us to another story concerned with the name Lazarus, in a setting that at first glance seems totally unconnected. Nobody suggests that Luke sat down and invented those L materials himself: rather, they would have circulated independently as free-standing stories before they were attached to what became Luke’s gospel. They also include several shorter passages that have odd and surprising connections with the Johannine tradition. They include, for example, the major portions about the Virgin Mary, which supply most of what the Bible says about that figure. That does not mean that there ever existed a single book called “L”, as these Lukan materials were very diverse, and important. ![]() This represents material found in Luke’s gospel that are distinctive to Luke, and which do not derive from other sources such as Mark or the hypothetical Q. Scholars have recreated the sources of the four gospels, and one of these is usually called L. Outside John, the foot-washing theme occurs only in Luke’s gospel, and that overlap is important in terms of what it suggests about sources. As I have discussed in earlier columns, John’s story has many similarities to versions in other gospels, but also differs substantially in detail. ![]() This is related to another theme, as Lazarus’s sister Mary anointed Jesus, and washed his feet with her hair. The miracle stirs the Jews to anger, provoking them to try and kill him. However, he heals him, raising him from the dead. He does come at their request, but arrives when Lazarus has been dead four days. The sisters know that Lazarus is ill, and they send to ask Jesus to help. It tells the story of a group of siblings who lived at Bethany, namely Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Lazarus is best known from a passage that occurs in what is now John’s chapters 11-12, although the original readers knew nothing of any such divisions. Or, and I will argue, most likely, both history and parable grew out of a homily or sermon – in fact, one of the very earliest Christian homilies of which we have record. Or, a historical episode morphed into a parable. The obvious question is: which came first? What evolved into what? But I will suggest that the same plot elements, and the same vocabulary, appear elsewhere in the New Testament, except that they manifest in totally different genres and settings. According to John’s gospel, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. My focus is on the story of Lazarus, which in the Gospel of John involves a spectacular miracle accomplished by Jesus. ![]()
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