Calvary Road Baptist Church
“TWO MEN NAMED LAZARUS”
Did you know there are two men named Lazarus mentioned in the New Testament? Did you know that both men are brought to the attention of Gospel account readers near the end of the Lord Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry? Did you know the Gospel writers provide very little information about these men?
To fix in your mind the time and place of Luke’s Lazarus and John’s Lazarus let me rehearse the last cycle of our Lord’s travels before His crucifixion just outside Jerusalem on what is thought to have been the 15th of April in the year 29 AD.[1] Several months before, sometime in 28 AD, our Lord and His disciples were in the region of Perea, which was just East of Jerusalem about three days journey, on the other side of the Jordan River. The Lord and His men then went to Bethany and Jerusalem, traveled North to Galilee, and circled to Perea once more before His final entrance into Jerusalem to be crucified. Imagine in your mind a circular route that begins in Perea, West to Jerusalem, North to Galilee, back across the Jordan River into Perea, and then across the Jordan River to Jericho and Jerusalem, where our Lord was crucified and then raised from the dead.
It was while our Lord was ministering in Perea at the beginning of this circular route that He made mention of a man named Lazarus. Recorded by Luke in Luke 16.19-31, there is no suggestion in anything Luke wrote providing readers with any clue about the location of Luke’s Lazarus or the time frame of the events of his life our Lord referred to, though He did speak of the man while He was in Perea.
Not long after the Lord Jesus made mention of Luke’s Lazarus we are told in John’s account of a second man named Lazarus, John’s Lazarus, and given a real-time account of events that began when the Lord was still in Perea, the account continuing when the Lord and His men traveled to the Jerusalem suburb of Bethany where Lazarus had lived with his sisters, Mary and Martha.
Thus, two Gospel accounts tell us of two men named Lazarus. Luke records the Savior’s comments about a man’s experiences who the Lord and His disciples might never have met. Shortly afterward, John records the experiences of a second man who the Lord and His disciples knew and were very fond of.
This message is about those two men and the Savior, divided into three parts:
First, CONSIDER HOW THE TWO MEN DIFFERED
Some would suggest that the two men whose name was Lazarus differed in that one was a real person, and one was the character in a story, a parable, and therefore not a real person. There are good men who are persuaded that Luke’s Lazarus is someone who exists only in a parable the Lord Jesus Christ taught to His disciples. Others are persuaded that Luke’s Lazarus is as real a person as John’s Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha.
I am persuaded that Luke’s Lazarus was a real human being, for two reasons: First, he is named. If Luke’s account of Lazarus is a parable, it is the only parable recorded in God’s Word in which an individual is named. My question is, to what end would someone in a parable be named? Second, this account is meticulous in detail, something not found in parables as a general rule.
A parable, especially our Lord’s parables in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, is accurately described as an extended simile or illustration, an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, or the placing beside or comparison of an earthly truth with heavenly truth.[2] Therefore, I think Luke’s Lazarus is a real person who we know very little about and not a character in a parable, with John’s Lazarus being a person who we know just a bit more about.
From what little we know from the two Gospel accounts, what can be said about how these two men differed in their life experiences? Five things:
First, one Lazarus had some material possessions, while the other Lazarus likely had none. What little we know of Luke’s Lazarus this side of eternity is found in Luke 16.20-21:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
Luke’s Lazarus was a beggar. He laid at a rich man’s gate, suggesting he was homeless. His body was full of sores, suggesting he was sick. He desired scraps from the rich man’s table to eat, suggesting he was starving. And he was so weak that dogs licked his sores. Luke’s Lazarus seems to have had nothing. His situation in life was desperate even before his impending death. John’s Lazarus was in a much different situation.
For one thing, he lived in a house.[3] As well, one of his sisters anointed the Lord with ointment, suggesting the family was not poor.[4] And when John’s Lazarus died his sisters had the means to bury him and the friends to mourn him.[5]
Next, one had an extended illness that ended his life; the other seems to have died suddenly. The impression is that Luke’s Lazarus was both impoverished and chronically ill, with the two harsh realities combining to make Luke’s Lazarus a life of suffering and misery. About John’s Lazarus, we only know that he was sick, John 11.1 and that his sisters were concerned enough to send word to the Lord that His beloved friend was sick John 11.3. From the information we are provided, Luke’s Lazarus died alone and seemingly unloved, while John’s Lazarus had loving and concerned sisters with him when he died.
Third, one was scorned in life, while the other was not. Dare we speculate about the attitudes toward him of those who knew Luke’s Lazarus as opposed to those who knew John’s Lazarus? Luke’s Lazarus was a poor beggar, and what do people of all ages and in all cultures think of such men? John’s Lazarus, on the other hand, had friends, including the Savior and His disciples.[6] And we are specifically told that the Savior loved him and his sisters, John 11.5. Luke’s Lazarus was likely missed by no one when he died, while John’s Lazarus was mourned by his sisters, his friends, and the Lord Jesus Christ.[7]
Fourth, one Lazarus was raised from the dead by the Savior, while the other Lazarus was not. Two men with the same name, introduced to us by the Savior at almost the same point in His earthly ministry, died. They both passed from time to eternity, from this life to the next life. The Lord Jesus Christ chose to raise the one Lazarus from the dead while leaving the other Lazarus dead. He chose to bring one Lazarus back to this life, while not doing the same for the other man. How do you explain that? How do you accept that? How can you live with that? If you think that allowing one man named Lazarus to remain dead while raising a second man named Lazarus from the dead somehow violates the principle that God is no respecter of persons, then you clearly do not understand what is meant by the statement that God is no respecter of persons.[8]
Finally, the two men named Lazarus were different in that one had a loving family, while the other did not, and it seems Luke’s Lazarus had no one. Where is the fairness in that? Where is the equity in that? How can it be right that one Lazarus was born into a family with some material possessions, had at least two loving sisters, was likely a well-fed and well-clothed individual and lived in a home with a roof over his head every night? The other Lazarus had none of those blessings, at least none that we are told of. Let me explore John’s Lazarus a bit, if you don’t mind. We know that he had two sisters, Mary and Martha. We know that when the Lord arrived at their home after their brother had died and was buried, one of them went to meet the approaching Lord while the other did not, John 11.20:
“Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.”
What’s with that? Was one of the sisters blaming the Lord for her brother’s death? After all, Martha did say,
“Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.”[9]
Could it also possibly be that one of the sisters blamed the other sister in her heart of hearts for their brother’s death? Notice that Mary, as well, said, when she came at the Savior’s bidding,
“Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.”[10]
Why do I entertain the possibility that Mary blamed Martha for the death of her brother, or that Martha blamed Mary for the death of her brother? I have discovered that someone who blames God for something will blame someone else, as well. And when someone blames someone else, they usually also blame God. Adam and Eve are good examples of blamers blaming. Someone else might look at both men named Lazarus and blame God for Luke’s Lazarus having such a life of poverty, illness, and misery in comparison to John’s Lazarus. But I am persuaded that both those who blame others and those who compare this person’s life with that person’s life, or this person’s death with that person’s death, are way off base. As Paul wrote,
“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”[11]
Now, CONSIDER HOW THE TWO MEN WERE ALIKE
Let me rehearse seven points of agreement in the lives of these two men named Lazarus that everyone who believes the Bible will agree about:
First, both men were sinful and guilty in God’s sight. Are not all human beings born into this race dead in trespasses and sins, Ephesians 2.1? Can it not be truly said that none are righteous, none seek after God, and none do good, Romans 3.10-12? Thus, are not all sinful and guilty before God, Romans 3.23 and James 2.10?
Second, both men deserved death and punishment. Does not the Bible teach that the wages of sin is death, that the just dessert for sinfulness is death, Romans 6.23? Have you ever heard of, much less known, an individual who did not deserve to die? I thought so. So, not only did both men named Lazarus stand guilty before God as sinners, but both men deserved their deaths. Who do you know who has died who did not, as a sinner, deserve to die and stand before God in judgment?
Third, both men lived by faith. Luke’s Lazarus lived by faith, as evidence by the fact that when he died, he was escorted by angels to Abraham’s bosom and not the place of torment for the damned, Luke 16.22. The basis for my insistence that John’s Lazarus lived by faith was his description by the Lord as “our friend,” and by his death being described by the Lord as sleep, John 11.11. If both men lived by faith, then they trusted God. If they trusted God, for the care of their souls and their very lives, who are you, and who am I, and who is anyone else, to take issue with their faith in God?
Fourth, both men were in God’s care. If both men had a relationship with God based on faith, then they were both members of God’s family. If they were members of God’s family, then God was their heavenly father. And if God is their heavenly father, then He is responsible for their care and welfare. Does God do all things well? Forget the snapshots of individual events or series of events in this life. Evaluate a man’s existence by time and eternity. And in terms of what Paul tells us in Romans 8.18, both men named Lazarus have it very good, indeed:
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
Fifth, both men’s deaths are referred to. Both men named Lazarus died, but only Luke’s Lazarus features a description of his death experience, which I think we can take to be akin to every believer’s death experience:
“the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom.”[12]
What must that have been like? Do you think Luke’s Lazarus was conscious of what was happening? I do. Do you think he enjoyed the experience? I do. Do you think every saint’s death is such a grand experience? I most certainly do. And how long do you think it took Luke’s Lazarus to put behind him a lifetime of starvation, suffering, and poverty for the enjoyment of the beginning of his eternity? A second and a half? If that long. I think John’s Lazarus had the same kind of death experience, were we to be told. The same will be true of you and me if you know Christ. But what about the rich man, the lost man, the person who dies without faith in Christ?
“the rich man also died, ... And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments.”[13]
Any lost man or woman who dies is provided no escort. The soul departs from the body, and the torment of the damned begins an instant afterward, continuing unabated for all eternity.
Back to the two men named Lazarus. Sixth, both men will be raised in the last day. Luke’s Lazarus, remaining dead, continued to abide in Abraham’s bosom until the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead, at which time He led captivity captive and delivered the saints of the old dispensation into glory by His shed blood atoning for their sins.[14] In ancient times faith anticipated Christ’s sacrifice for sins. Since Christ faith rests in saving work having been done by the Savior. John’s Lazarus, on the other hand, passed through death’s portal twice, once referred to in John chapter 11, and once years later and long after the Lord Jesus Christ had ascended to heaven’s glory. Two men have never yet died, Enoch and Elijah.[15] John’s Lazarus is one of the very few people who has ever died twice.[16]
Seventh, both men tasted that the Lord is gracious. What is grace? Some define God’s grace with the acronym, G-R-A-C-E, God’s riches at Christ’s expense. That’s pretty good. Grace is also divine favor, which is, of course, unmerited, wholly undeserved. Both men were the beneficiaries of God’s grace. They both deserved God’s punishment, and yet both are now rejoicing in glory because of God’s gracious benefit to them in Christ. Were they in all respects treated identically by God? No. God is not a socialist. But in ways that count, they were both treated similarly by God, in that both of them are rejoicing in heaven, though neither of them deserves it.
Finally, HOW THE TWO MEN ARE TO BE EXPLAINED
This message has only to do with the two men named Lazarus. I speak not, at this time, of those who willfully sinned against the truth by refusing the free offer of salvation in Christ when it was offered to them. Neither do I make any kind of reference to those whose damnation is deserved because of their sinfulness and guilt before God. I speak only of the two men named Lazarus, the Lazarus of Luke whose life was so obviously a frequently brutal experience, and the Lazarus of John whose life was comparatively speaking so much better, but who was as guilty before God as the Lazarus of Luke.
There is so much secular humanism in our American culture at present, so much commitment to the notion of fairness rather than justice and grace. I have been in the ministry for more than forty years, yet I find so many people who are invested in this wicked notion of fairness, ignoring that fairness is an unrealistic invention wedded to the notion that God is somehow bound to honor a sinner’s good intentions while ignoring the same sinner’s actual decisions and conduct.
I call upon each of you to embrace the truth of God by accepting as true the Word of God and its pronouncements about both God and individual human beings. If we do that we can be agreed on two matters related to these two men named Lazarus:
First, we can agree on God’s sovereignty concerning their situations. The 19th-century theologian Charles Hodge states that God’s sovereignty is “a prerogative arising out of” His perfections. “If God be a Spirit, and therefore a person, infinite, eternal, and immutable in his being and perfections, the Creator and Preserver of the universe, He is of right its absolute sovereign.” “Our God is in the heavens; He hath done whatsoever He pleased,” Psalm 115.3.[17] From this and other passages of Scripture, it is plain, (1.) That the sovereignty of God is universal. (2.) That it is absolute. (3.) It is immutable. This sovereignty is exercised, (1.) In establishing the laws by which all creatures are to be governed. (2.) In determining the nature and powers of the different orders of created beings, and in assigning each its appropriate sphere. (3.) In appointing to each his position and lot. (4.) God is no less sovereign in the distribution of his favors.[18] God’s is the sovereignty of wisdom, holiness, and love. The authority of God is limited by nothing out of Himself, but it is controlled, in all its manifestations, by His infinite perfections. This sovereignty of God is the ground of peace and confidence to all His people. They rejoice that the Lord God omnipotent reigneth; that neither necessity, nor chance, nor the folly of man, nor the malice of Satan controls the sequence of events and all their issues. Infinite wisdom, love, and power belong to Him, our great God, and Savior, into whose hands all power in heaven and earth has been committed.[19] Thus, just as Luke’s Lazarus had no reason for self-condemnation for his life’s situation, so John’s Lazarus had no reason for self-congratulation for his seemingly more pleasant situation. Thankfully, we who are God’s children can rejoice in the fact that “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,” Romans 8.1.
Of course, this absence of condemnation reaches beyond situation to God’s sovereignty concerning salvation. Where was Abram when God sovereignly chose to grant to him the Abrahamic covenant and bestow upon him the favor that would result in the Savior being descended from him among all the men alive at that time? He was an idolater in Ur of the Chaldees, Genesis 12.1-3. Where was Rahab when God sovereignly chose to grant to her not only a place in faith’s hall of fame in Hebrews 11.31 but also positioned her alongside father Abraham as an example for all time of faith in action that justified the believer by works before others, James 2.21-25? She was a harlot in the city of Jericho, chosen by God to be an ancestor of His Son, Jesus Christ.[20] Where was the prophet Jonah when he declared “Salvation is of the LORD”? Jonah 2.1-2 tells us:
1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly,
2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
The point that I seek to illustrate is that though the specifics are different for each person, as with Abram, Rahab, and Jonah. The underlying spiritual reality is the same. No one can say or do anything to effect his salvation. Abraham was over his head in idolatry. Rahab was over her head in prostitution and idolatry. Jonah had been swallowed by a large fish. Each of them, just like Luke’s Lazarus, just like John’s Lazarus, and just like you, cannot save himself or herself. None do good. None seek after God. We are all gone out of the way. The salvation of every sinner depends entirely on the sovereignty of God, just as each person’s situation depends on God’s sovereignty.
How does the sovereignty of God show itself in the salvation of a sinner? Luke’s Lazarus and John’s Lazarus are introduced to us in the Gospel accounts after they became men of faith. But this is how it had to happen to them so that they had a relationship with God that resulted in the salvation of their eternal and undying souls.
The requirement, of course, is faith. God requires faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. And faith serves a sinner in two ways: On one hand, faith recognizes the sinner cannot save himself, cannot deliver himself, cannot make himself alive from the dead spiritually. Faith involves a correct appraisal of one’s self.
On the other hand, faith recognizes that salvation must come from Another since it cannot come from one’s self. Saving faith sees that the Object of faith, that Other who is capable of doing for the sinner what no sinner can do for himself, is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who died on the cross for my sins and who rose from the dead in victory on the third day.
There came a day when Abram was saved by faith.[21] There came a day when Rahab was saved by faith.[22] Though not recorded in Scripture, there was a time in each of the Lazarus’ lives when they were saved by faith, because that is how sinners must be saved.
How about you? Have the lives of the two men named Lazarus be useful in showing you how a sovereign God deals with His people, regarding their situation and their salvation? Have you considered your situate ion and your salvation? God is sovereign. But He does save sinners who come to faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, the only Savior of sinful people’s souls.
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[1] Edward Reese, The Reese Chronological Bible, (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 1977), page 1395.
[2] Herbert Lockyer, All the Parables of the Bible, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1963), pages 12-15.
[3] John 11.20, 31
[4] John 11.2
[5] John 11.31
[6] John 11.11
[7] John 11.19, 33, 35
[8] Acts 10.34
[9] John 11.21
[10] John 11.32
[11] 2 Corinthians 10.12
[12] Luke 16.22
[13] Luke 16.22-23
[14] Psalm 68.18; Ephesians 4.8
[15] Genesis 5.24; 2 Kings 2.1-12
[16] Matthew 27.52-53
[17] Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Volume I, (Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. Edition, reprinted from the edition originally published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), page 440.
[18] Ibid., pages 440-441.
[19] Ibid., page 441.
[20] Matthew 1.5
[21] Genesis 15.6
[22] Hebrews 11.31
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