Читать книгу Man Jesus Loved - Theodore W. Jr. Jennings - Страница 29

That then leaves Lazarus. What makes Lazarus an intriguing possibility is that he is singled out as loved by Jesus. Let us see how this happens.

We are first told that the sisters, Mary and Martha, send a message to Jesus to inform him of Lazarus’s illness: “Lord, the one you love is ill” (11:3). After the report of Lazarus’s illness in chapter 11 we are told, “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister [Mary] and Lazarus” (11:5). When Jesus finally arrives on the scene, Lazarus is dead. He is confronted by the grief and protest of Mary and the weeping protest of the Judeans. In the face of this grief we are told that “he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” As he is led to the tomb we are told, “Jesus wept. So the Judeans said: ‘See how he loved him!’ ” (11:35–36).

Here we have an account of Jesus being deeply moved. The narrative leaves open whether Jesus is more troubled by the death of his friend or the grief of those who mourn, or the protest against his tardy arrival—a tardiness that has led both to the death and the grief. The crowd in any case supposes that the weeping is an indication of Jesus’ love for Lazarus.

Lazarus appears again in the narrative only in the following chapter when Jesus has a meal in Bethany with Lazarus, Mary, and Martha (12:1–2, 9–11). Here we learn that “the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus” (12:10–11).¹⁴

How are we to evaluate this evidence? Supporting the identification of Lazarus with the beloved is that Jesus in both cases is said to love them. This fact in itself seems to give Lazarus some claim. But is it a strong one? In the first case, the sisters say that Jesus loves Lazarus, but the opening of the story suggests that the sisters are better known than Lazarus. The next time Lazarus is said to be loved by Jesus is as the last member of a group of three siblings. The final time is because Jesus weeps as he goes to Lazarus’s gravesite. When Lazarus next appears, nothing is made of his relation to Jesus, save as one who has been raised from the dead.

Another piece of indirect evidence is available, however. From the end of the Gospel we know that the “brothers” supposed that the disciple Jesus loved would not die (21:23). This supposition would have another explanation if the beloved were Lazarus who had already died. If Lazarus’s resuscitation were the beginning of the resurrection of the dead, then no reason would exist for him to taste death again.

Clearly then Jesus has some emotional attachment to Lazarus and to his sisters. Indeed the attachment of Jesus to the sisters serves (together with Luke 10:38–42) as the basis for the speculation that Jesus was bonded with one or both of them. This view, which has been enshrined in some Mormon speculation, has a rather slender textual basis. But recalling it here is instructive in order to see how much stronger a case can be made for Jesus’ attachment to Lazarus, even if he is not the beloved disciple.

Ruling out Lazarus as a candidate for the identity of the beloved disciple does not seem possible. The terminological link (Jesus reported to have loved him) and the conjecture concerning his death are both supportive. But beyond that, nothing is definite.¹⁵