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Resurrecting Lazurus

The most prominent “miracle” of Jesus is the resurrection of one Lazarus. John is the only one to notice it; the topic is omitted by the three others. John 10.39 through 11. 44 is all about it. 10. 39: “Therefore they sought again to take him, but he escaped out of their hand.” This happened at Jerusalem. From there Jesus escaped to the place where John first baptised (John10.40).

While there, the sisters of a man named Lazarus living in Bethany sent word to Jesus that “he whom he loved” was sick. Jesus said foreknowingly: “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of god, that the son of god might be glorified thereby.”

Jesus stays in his hideout for two days. By the way, if he had any concern for Lazarus, he would have gone out immediately to aid him. After two days, he suddenly tells the disciples: “Let us go to Judaea again.” For this statement to be true, Jesus’ hideout should be located outside of Judaea.

Says John 11.17-19: “When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been four days in the grave. Since Bethany was near Jerusalem (in Judaea), at a distance of about two miles, many of the Jews had gone out there to comfort Martha and Mary over the loss of their brother.”

Jesus set out for Lazarus’ home at Bethany full two days after he was informed of his illness. When he arrived there, Lazarus had been buried for four days. Even with Lazarus dying at the same time as Jesus was told about his sickness, it took Jesus two days and a few additional hours from the happening to reach his home in Bethany from the place where the baptist began baptising across the Jordan.

What remains is the identity of the place at which the baptist started baptising. Admittedly, it is from there that Jesus set out for Bethany. For the claim of Jesus restoring Lazarus to life to be true, Bethany should be more than two days’ journey by foot from the place from which John started baptising. The distance between the two places is an essential link in the chain of events leading up to the alleged restoration.

To find out what place it was by name, the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke were examined. For, it was assumed that John failed to provide the name by reason of lack of positive information on his part. However, the place was not found mentioned in those books. The name was not found there as it is in John’s book itself. John 1.28: “These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptising.”

Again in the story of Lazarus, John 11:43-44 reads: “And with that he cried in a loud voice, Come out, Lazarus, to my side. Whereupon the dead man came out, his feet and hands tied with linen strips, and his face muffled in a veil. Loose him, said Jesus, and let him go free.” It is impossible for a man buried in a cave to come out of it with his hands and feet bound like that and his face muffled! Another biblical absurdity.