Synaxarion
– Lazarus Saturday
(Taken from the Maronite Divine Praises)
As the season of Great Lent draws to a close
the Church turns to the person of Lazarus and the story of his resurrection
from the dead. Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha and lived in the town
of Bethany. Lazarus and his sisters were friends of Jesus and always offered
him hospitality when he was in the area.
The sickness and death of Lazarus is the
occasion for Christ to perform a miracle which would clearly show his messianic
power. As a result of this miracle God’s son would be glorified and his power
over death would be manifested.
This miracle is a crowning of all the other
miracles of Christ for it reminds us as we prepare to follow Christ up to
Jerusalem, where he will suffer and be crucified, that death has no power over
him, the Lord and giver and life. Lazarus Saturday is thus clearly meant to
console and strengthen us and arouse in us the same faith that Jesus called
forth from Martha:
“I
am the resurrection and the life;
whoever
believes in me,
though
he should die, will come to life;
and
whoever is alive and believes in me will never die.
Do
you believe this?”
Even as we face the death of Christ on the
cross we are asked to profess our faith in him who will rise to glory on Easter
morning.
Lazarus is also a reminder for us that we
will not suffer eternal death if we are faithful to him, but rather, we will
rise to eternal life in the Lord. Death, for Christ’s faithful, no longer is to
be feared, it has no power over us.