The Departure of Lazarus, the beloved of the Lord .

On this day the righteous Lazarus, the beloved of the Lord Christ, departed . He was thebrother of Martha and Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with herhair . When Lazarus fell sick the sisters sent to the Lord Christ saying: "Lord, behold, he whomYou love is sick ." When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for theglory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it ." Now Jesus loved Martha and hersister and Lazarus . So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the placewhere He was" to magnify the miracle .Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again ." The disciples told Him,"Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?" Jesus answered,"Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, becausehe sees the light of this world . "But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not262in him ." These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I gothat I may wake him up ." Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well ." However,Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep . ThenJesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead . And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there,that you may believe . Nevertheless let us go to him ."When the Lord came to Bethany which is nearby Jerusalem He stood before the tomb and said:"Take away the stone ." Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this timethere is a stench, for he has been dead four days ." Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that ifyou would believe you would see the glory of God?" Then they took away the stone from theplace where the dead man was lying . And Jesus lifted up His eyes and prayed then he cried with aloud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" And he who had died came out bound hand and foot withgraveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth . Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let himgo ." (John 11:1-45)That was to manifest the reality of his death, so no one would think that this was deception withprevious arrangement, for that the miracle was magnified and many believed .The prayers of this righteous be with us . Amen .