Thomas Aquinas, on John 11:1

Above, the Lord showed his life-giving power by word; here he confirms it by a miracle, raising up a certain dead man, namely Lazarus. And first the illness of Lazarus is set forth; second, the raising of him now dead, at the place, "When he heard"; third, the effect of the raising is added, at the place, "Many therefore of the Jews... believed in him."

Concerning the first he does three things. First, the sickness of Lazarus is set forth; second, the announcement of his languishing, at "His sisters therefore sent to him"; third, the reason for what has been said is assigned, at "But Jesus, hearing, said to them," and so on.

Concerning the first he does three things. First he describes the sick person; second, the place of the one languishing; third, the person joined to him.

The sick person is Lazarus; hence he says, "There was a certain one languishing, Lazarus." By him is signified the believer who hopes in God, and yet suffers the infirmity of sin; concerning which it is said in Psalm 6:3, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak." For "Lazarus" is interpreted "helped by the Lord," and so he signifies one who has hope of divine help; Psalm 120:2, "My help is from the Lord."

The place of the sick man was Bethany; hence he says, "from Bethany, of the town of Mary and Martha": which Bethany indeed was a certain village near Jerusalem, where the Lord was accustomed frequently to lodge, as has often been said above. And it is interpreted "house of obedience." By which it is given to understand that if a sick person is obedient to God, he can easily be cured by him; just as a patient obedient to the physician more easily obtains from him the benefit of health; 4 Kings 5:13, the servants of Naaman said to him: "Father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, surely thou shouldst have done it."

This Bethany was the town of Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus; by whom a twofold life is signified, namely the active and the contemplative, so that by this it may be given to understand that through obedience a man is made perfect in the active and the contemplative life.

The person joined to him was Mary; hence he says, "Now it was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment." For since he had made mention of Mary, and there were many women of this name, therefore, lest we err because of the name, he identifies her by her most well-known action, saying, "who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair."

Now concerning this Mary there is a certain diversity among the saints. For some say, as Jerome and Origen, that this Mary, the sister of Lazarus, is not the same as that woman who was a sinner, of whom it is said in Luke 7:37, that she brought an alabaster box of ointment, and standing behind at his feet, began to wash his feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.

Hence, as Chrysostom says, this woman was not that harlot who is read of in Luke. For this woman was honorable and zealous concerning the reception of Christ; for the name of that sinful woman is passed over in silence.

But this Mary could, toward Christ at the time of his passion, out of devotion and special love, have done a similar deed to that which that loving and contrite sinful woman did for him; which deed indeed is here recounted by the Evangelist by way of anticipation, on account of the greatness of Mary's name.

Certain others, such as Augustine and Gregory, say that this same Mary who is dealt with here is that sinner who is dealt with in Luke 7. And Augustine takes the argument for this from this word. For here the Evangelist says "before Mary anointed the Lord with ointment," because that took place with the passion imminent, below at 12:3, where it is said: "Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of precious spikenard, and anointed the feet of Jesus." Hence he says that this deed which the Evangelist here says was done by her is recounted in Luke 7.

Ambrose, however, holds both positions.

According to the opinion of Augustine, therefore, it is manifest that that sinner of whom it is spoken in Luke is this Mary. "Whose brother Lazarus was sick," that is, a devouring fire, to be fed by furnace-like fevers, took hold of his pitiable body.

Here is set forth the announcement of the illness by the sisters of Lazarus, who were present with the languishing man, and, grieving at the misfortune of the sick young man, sent to him, namely to Jesus, saying: "Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." In this announcement, indeed, three things occur to be considered.

One is that the friends of God are sometimes afflicted bodily; hence it is not a sign that someone is not a friend of God if he is sometimes afflicted bodily — as Eliphaz falsely argued against Job, Job 4:7: "Remember, I beseech thee, who ever perished being innocent? or when were the just destroyed?" And therefore they say, "Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick"; Proverbs 3:12: "For whom the Lord loveth he chastiseth, and as a father in the son he pleaseth himself."

The second is that they do not say, "Lord, come, heal him," but only, setting forth the illness, say "he is sick." In which it is signified that it suffices for a friend only to set forth the need, without the addition of any petition. For a friend, since he wills the good of his friend as his own good, just as he is solicitous to repel his own evil, so also to repel the evil of his friend. And this is most true of him who loves most truly; Psalm 144:20, "The Lord keepeth all them that love him."

The third is that these two sisters, desiring the cure of their languishing brother, did not come personally to Christ, as did the paralytic, Luke 5:18, and the centurion, Matthew 8:5; and this on account of the confidence which they had toward Christ from the special love and familiarity which Christ had shown toward them; and perhaps they were held back by grief, as Chrysostom says; Ecclesiasticus 6:11, "A friend, if he remain steadfast, shall be to thee as an equal, and shall deal confidently among thy household."

Here is set forth the reason for what has been said: first, the reason for the illness itself; second, why his sisters did not come to Christ, according to Augustine, at the place, "Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister Mary, and Lazarus."

Now the reason for the illness is the glorification of the Son of God; hence he says, "Jesus said to them: This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God." Here it must be known that of bodily illnesses, some are unto death, but some are not. Now those are unto death which are not ordered to some other end. For all evils of punishment are inflicted by divine providence; Amos 3:6: "Shall there be evil in a city, which the Lord hath not done?" But of the evil of fault God is the avenger, yet not the author. Now all things that are from God are ordered; and therefore all evils of punishment are ordered to something: some to death, some to something else. But this illness is not ordered to death, but to the glory of God.

But was not Lazarus dead from this illness? It seems that he was. Otherwise he would not have stunk, being four days in the tomb, nor would the raising have been miraculous.

Response. It must be said that this illness was not ordered to death as to its ultimate end, but for the sake of something else, as has been said: namely, that he who was raised, as one chastised, might justly live to the glory of God, and that the Jewish people, seeing the miracle, might be converted to the faith; Psalm 117:18, "The Lord chastising hath chastised me, and he hath not delivered me over to death." Hence it follows, "but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it." Here, according to Chrysostom, the word "for" and the word "that" are not taken causally, but consecutively. For he was not made ill for this reason, that God might thereby be glorified; but this illness came from elsewhere, and from it this followed as a consequence, that the Son of God should be glorified, insofar as, by raising him, he made use of it for the glory of God.

But this holds true in one way, yet not in another. For a twofold cause of Lazarus's illness can be considered. One is natural; and according to this the saying of Chrysostom is verified, because Lazarus's illness, according to its natural cause, was not ordered to the raising. The other cause that can be considered is divine providence; and then the saying of Chrysostom does not hold true, for by divine providence an illness of this kind was ordered to the glory of God. And according to this the word "for" and the word "that" are taken causally; as if he were to say, "but for the glory of God": because, although it was not ordered to this from the intention of the natural cause, it was nevertheless ordered, from the intention of divine providence, to the glory of God, inasmuch as, the miracle having been done, men would believe in Christ, and would avoid true death. Hence he says, "that the Son of God may be glorified by it."

Here the Lord manifestly names himself the Son of God; for he himself was to be glorified in the raising of Lazarus, because he himself is true God; 1 John 5:20, "that we may be in his true Son"; above at 9:3, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."

Here, according to Augustine, the Evangelist assigns the reason why the two sisters did not come to Christ: which reason, namely, is taken from the confidence of special love; hence he says, "Now Jesus loved Martha, and Mary her sister, and Lazarus." For indeed, he who was the consoler of the sorrowful loved the sorrowful sisters; and he who was the savior of the languishing loved Lazarus, languishing and dead; Deuteronomy 33:3: "He hath loved the people; all the saints are in his hand."