Why is lazarus only in john

Although it is impossible to know for certain why a given author selects or omits particular material in his or her account, one possible reason for the omission of the story of Lazarus in the other Gospels is their focus on Galilee the raising of Lazarus takes place in Judea. Also, in Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, Bauckham , — 87 cites favorably G. Indeed, entire books such as Lamentations and Job wrestle with the question of why God allows terrible things to happen.

It could not be otherwise if God desires to be intimate with us and to share the deepest parts of our lives. And so, like the contemplative she appears to have been, Mary naturally speaks the anguish of her soul to Jesus, and He receives it v. Attempts to answer this vary, and the following suggestion is just that: a suggestion. But consider: As we have already seen, John has made repeated connections with the synoptic tradition in this story, especially with Luke. Now, the interesting thing is that Luke happens to contain a story that is absolutely unique in the collection of stories told by Jesus: the story of Lazarus and the rich man.

It reads as follows:. There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.

The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?

In fact, some of the early Church fathers argued that this was exactly the case and identify the rich man of the parable as Simon the Pharisee cf.

One final and interesting parallel to the story in Luke is the curious way in which John ends the story of the raising of Lazarus. Rather we are shown that the miracle provokes an immediate plot to kill Jesus. How can we be sure the story of Jesus described in the New Testament is true, given the fact that there are other ancient Each response is limited to one paragraph. These responses are Home About J. Connect with us. Hi, what are you looking for? Warner Wallace.

John Mayer July 29, at am. Leave a Reply. Trending Latest. Christianity Should Christians Judge Others? Share Tweet. You May Also Like. Warner Wallace July 28, It approaches Christ as God, and so omits things such as a genealogy, the Olivet discourse, and the prophecies of the end. But is raising one man from the dead after three days as Christ himself would also be really more profound than feeding the five thousand or curing all who came to him?

It is a highly prophetic miracle, but there are also accounts of Christian saints doing the same thing in prior centuries. Jesus perfomed His miracles for divers reasons.

Sometimes out of compassion for the person or the situation.