The Great Commentary of Cornelius a Lapide: S. John
Typically, one buried four days is a sinner having the habit of sinning , who is dead in sin and as it were buried in it, and lies past cure, without hope of forgiveness and spiritual life. For the first day is that in which any one sins by the consent of the will. The second, on which any one completes the sin in act. The third, on which he repeats it again and again, and brings upon himself a custom and habit of it. The fourth, on which this habit becomes obstinate, and is, as it were, turned into nature; according to S. Augustine (Confess., Lib. viii.), “Out of the perverted will a lust is formed; and when the lust is served, it becomes a custom; and when the custom is not resisted, it becomes a necessity, and thus being connected together by certain (as it were) cramps, they formed what I have called a chain, and a hard slavery held me bound. Such a sinner, then, is by the great and rare grace of Christ to be raised from this sepulchre again ; which, that Christ might signify, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus , come forth.”
So also S. Augustine (On the Sermon of the Lord on the Mount ) : “As we come to sin by three degrees, by suggestion, by delectation, by consent ; so also of the sin itself there are three differences ;
in heart, in action, in custom — three deaths, as it were. One, so to speak, in the house, when in the heart consent is given to the desire ;
a second, now carried forth, as it were, beyond the door, when consent goes on into action ; a third, when the mind, being weighed down by the force of evil custom, as it were by a mass of earth, is, so to speak, already decaying in the grave. And whosoever has read the Gospels recognises that the Lord has raised up these three kinds of dead. And he perhaps considers what differences there were in the word itself of Him who raised them : in one place, “ Maiden, arise,” and in another, “ Young man, I say unto thee, Arise ; ” and in another, He groaned in spirit, and wept, and again He groaned, and then afterwards He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus , come forth !”
Thirdly, the Gloss, out of S. Augustine and Bede. The first day of death is that in which we are born with original sin. The second, that in which, coming to years of discretion, we transgress the natural law. The third, in which we despise the written law. The fourth, in which we disdain also the Gospel of Christ and His grace. Contrariwise, S. Bernard takes the four days for the four motives and actions of a penitent ; the first of fear ; the second of conflict against sins ; the third of grief ; and the fourth of shame for the same.
Ver. 18. — Now Bethany was nigh , &c. A stadium is the eighth part of an Italian mile, and contains therefore 125 paces. John adds this to signify that many had come to Bethany from Jerusalem, inasmuch as it was so near, that they might comfort Martha and Mary, who were sorrowing for the death of Lazarus.
And many of the Jews came , & c. Many, especially relations, connections, friends ; for these sisters were rich, noble, honoured, such as are accustomed to have many, either friends or dependent followers. Besides, the grief for a brother’s death is very keen, and many, even strangers, and not known, are accustomed to assemble for the purpose of comforting persons under such a loss. For the grief for death is common to all ; and in it the consolation of all is common also.
Ver. 20. — Then Martha , as soon as she heard , &c. At leisure for silence, grief, and prayer, according to her custom ; wherefore the news of the coming of Christ reached not Mary but Martha ; for
Martha was the senior, and was over the house, and was active and busy, wherefore all letters and messengers were first brought to her, not to Mary. But why did not she herself signify the coming of Christ to Mary? I reply, first, because the near approach of Christ did not allow of any delay. For Christ seems to have been near the house when Martha met Him. Secondly, because Martha wished to confer secretly with Christ, that she might find out from Him whether there were any hope of raising up or helping her brother. Thirdly, because Mary, as I have said, was given to quiet and prayer. Fourthly, because, if she had called out Mary, all the Jews would have followed her, and a tumult would have arisen; they would have contended and disputed with Christ. So Leontius. Finally, her joy at the approach of Christ drew her at once to meet Him, so that she did not think of calling her sister. I prefer to say this, rather than what some suppose, that she desired to deprive her sister of this commendation, viz. [of going to meet] the coming of Christ, for this appears to me too foolish and womanish, and unworthy of so holy a heroine.
Ver. 21. — Then said Martha unto Jesus , &c. Because I know Thee to be so powerful, that Thou art able to drive away death, and to love both him and us so well, that Thou wouldest not have permitted him to die. In her grief, says Chrysostom, she silently, but reverently, seems to blame Christ for coming too late. But rather in fact she accuses herself, that she had not sent the messenger sooner to Christ ; or generally, she bewails and laments His absence, as we lament a casual absence of the physician, if, while he is absent, death takes place.
Ver. 22. — But I know that even now , whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee. And consequently, if Thou shouldest beg of God the raising again of Lazarus, although he has been four days in the tomb, God will give it Thee. “ She thought,” says Cyril, “that Christ came, not that He might raise up Lazarus, but that He might comfort her and Mary ; and therefore she begs of Him that He will raise Lazarus, but indirectly, and with a modest and humble resignation of her will to His.” Whence, as S. Augustine notes, she did not say : But now I pray Thee to raise my brother ; for whence should she know whether it were good for her brother to rise again ? This only she said, I know that Thou art able ; do this, if Thou wilt ; but whether Thou wilt do it or not is a matter for Thy judgment , not for my presumption to determine.
Hence learn by way of moral, that God often suffers us to fall into tribulations, and allows them to increase unto the utmost, and then powerfully helps us, that He may show His Omnipotence and providential mercy. Wherefore the faithful Christian must not then despair, but increase in hope, and pray the more earnestly. For when every human help fails, then the Divine help approaches and is very near. For so God helped Abraham when placed in difficulties (Gen. xx.), and Joseph, forgotten in prison (Gen. xli. 14). Also when the Hebrews were oppressed by Pharaoh (Exod. i.), and especially when the same people were everywhere surrounded ; on one side by the sea, on the other by the mountains, and elsewhere by the army of Pharaoh. Then He divided the Red Sea and led them safely through, while Pharaoh, pursuing them through the bed of the sea, was overwhelmed with his whole army (Exod. xiv.) So in the time of the Judges, He permitted the same people to be oppressed, now by the Midianites, now by the Moabites, now by the Ammonites, now by the Philistines, that He might bring them to fervent prayer, and to appeal to Him ; and when they did this, He sent them Gideon, Ehud, Samson, and other Judges to free them. So He freed, by means of Judith, the Jews destined to death by Holofernes, and those by Haman He freed through Mordecai, and those by Antiochus through the Maccabees. So He freed David besieged in the cave by Saul, a messenger being sent to Saul that the Philistines were laying waste Judea (1 Sam. xxiii. 24). It is therefore the proper attribute of God to supply the defect of nature, and so also to help the lost and hopeless, according to the saying : “ The poor committeth Himself unto Thee ; Thou art the helper of the fatherless” (Ps. x. 14).
Ver. 23. — Jesus saith unto her , Thy brother shall rise again. Jesus solaces Martha sorrowing for the death of her brother, by a hope of his resurrection, but an ambiguous one, that He might raise her by degrees to faith and hope of so great a miracle as that by which He was soon to raise him, so that she might dispose herself to it, and, as it were, merit it. So Leontius.