Food for Thought:

Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday

by Rev. Nicolas Antiba

Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday

by Rev. Nicolas Antiba

Food for Thought:

1989

Educational Services Diocese of Newton

West Newton, MA 02165

Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday

In the life of many parishes Lazarus Saturday is often disregarded because of the Palm Sunday festivities and procession. However that day has a very special and important place in our Byzantine liturgical calendar, for it forms with Palm Sunday a short and joyous prelude to the days of sadness and sorrow which follow. That importance resides in the link between Lazarus Saturday and Christ's Resurrection. An author writes, "One could say that Lazarus raised from the dead is shown to us, at the threshold of the Easter feasts, as the precursor of Jesus Christ triumphant over death, in the same way that, on the threshold of Epiphany, John when he baptized was the precursor of the Messiah who was about to be revealed" (A Monk of the Eastern Church, The Year o f Grace o f the Lord, Crestwood, NY, 1980, p. 135).

The Gospel according to St. John (11:1-45) relates the miraculous event of Lazarus' raising from the dead. But it is in the texts of the services of this feast that the Church offers us the theological interpretation.

1. The resurrection of Lazarus is the anticipation, the prelude of Christ's resurrection: a proof of Jesus' power over death. This idea recurs in the hymns of the feast:

O Lord, wishing to give Your disciples an assurance of Your resurrection from the dead, You came to the tomb of Lazarus and called him by name. Then was hell despoiled and it released the one who had been four days dead, as he called to You: "O blessed Lord, glory to You!" (vespers sticheron).

By the assurance of this resurrection Christ showed to His disciples His power over death. At the sight of that power the crowds, encouraged by the disciples, will carry palm branches and proclaim Christ as conqueror of Death. The troparion of the feast sings:

O Christ God, when You raised Lazarus from the dead before the time of Your passion, You proclaimed the future resurrection of all. We too, like the children of old, carry before You the symbols of

Food for Thought:

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victory and cry out to You, the conqueror of Death, "Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."

2. Lazarus Saturday is, indirectly, the feast o f all the dead. It gives us the opportunity to confirm our faith in the resurrection. Jesus told Martha, Lazarus' sister, "I am the resurrection" and He corrected her understanding about it. Jesus insisted that He is the resurrection and the life. Our dead ones live through and in Christ. If we seek to unite ourselves in spirit with someone we love who is dead, let us not try to revive him in our imagination but enter into contact with Jesus and in Jesus we shall find him

3. Lazarus' resurrection is an illustration of our faith in the fact that the two human and divine natures are united in the person of the Word of God. Jesus acts fully as man and God. He weeps with Lazarus' sisters for the loss of His friend, while as God He has the power to raise him from the dead. A hymn at vespers sings, "O Lord, taking Your disciples, You came to Bethany to awaken Lazarus. Weeping for him in accordance with the law of human nature, You raised up as God him who was dead four days; and he cried our to You, our Savior, 'O blessed Lord, glory to You!"’ Another hymn underlines the fulness of human nature in Christ: "Obedient to the laws of human nature You asked, O Master, where Lazarus was laid, showing to all, O Savior, that at Your incarnation You became true man for our sake.” (Great Compline, Canon, First Ode). From the same canon of Great Compline for the feast we sing: "O Master, You have come as God to Lazarus, bound captive by hell, and You have loosed him from his fetters. For all things submit to Your command, O mighty Lord." (First Ode)

4. Lazarus Saturday allows us to understand spiritually the meaning of resurrection from a sinful deed. Through sin we are spiritually dead, but Christ will raise us through His death. The resurrection of Lazarus gives a sinner the hope that he could come alive again, even though he seems lost:

You raised Lazarus on the fourth day, though his corpse already stank. Raise me up, O Christ, for I am dead in sin and lie in the pit and the dark shadow of death and save me in Your compassion (Matins, First Canon, Fifth Ode).

This is what we shall learn from this Saturday. We want to meet Jesus going to Bethany to raise up Lazarus from the sleep of his death; to be witnesses of the powerful action of the God-man over death. On the other hand Jesus

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wants us to stay with Him, not to leave Him through the days of His passion. Our answer to Jesus desires will be: we are going to continue our journey with the disciples in order to proclaim Him as our king, Messiah and Savior.

Palm Sunday

Psalm 118 sings: "O Lord, grant salvation (hosanna); O Lord, grant prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord" (Ps 118:25-26). This is the greeting the priests used to give to the rulers and kings at their entrance into Jerusalem, city of God, after a victory in the battles against the enemies of the Lord.

Jesus was greeted in this way by the crowds at His entrance into Jerusalem, city of peace. He is proclaimed King; He is the Messiah who is to come; He is the Savior promised by the prophets.

Everyone was excited to see Him, to meet Him, to touch Him, to proclaim Him. According to the words of the Gospel, however, in the midst of that excited crowd Jesus found a donkey and rode it.

Yes, He is the king. He is the Savior. He is the Messenger of God to His people. Yet that King is deceiving. He is not like the last kings of Judah, who rode in chariots and on horses, as it is said in the prophecy of Jeremiah, "... then, through the gates of this city, kings who sit upon the throne of David will continue to enter, riding in their chariots or upon their horses, along with their princes ..." (17:25). Rather He is a humble and meek king, riding a donkey in lowliness and peace.

Jesus is, in fact, fulfilling the Scriptures. We read in the prophecy of Zachariah, "Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion! Shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king shall come to you. A just savior is he: meek and riding on an ass: on a colt, the foal of an ass." (9:9) He is the Bridegroom, coming to us to give us life.

These greetings of hosanna are not only a sign of joy, but they are notes of sorrow and grief. They sound the same note as "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" With this happiness is mixed the sadness of Holy Week. The same crowd who came to Jerusalem to proclaim Jesus as king, will abandon Him and give Him up to be crucified as a criminal.

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Our journey, started with the Great Fast, will now continue through Great and Holy Week, during which we will have the Bridegroom Service every evening. This service recalls to our minds the coming of Jesus among us to speak to us, to interrogate us on our every action.

Each day of that week is called great and holy; each day has a specific theme. On Holy Wednesday, for example, great emphasis is made to compare the woman, a sinful harlot who is saved, to Judas, a chosen disciple who is lost. The one gives her wealth to Christ and kisses His pure feet with repentance; the other betrays the Master with a kiss out of lust for money.

On Holy Thursday we commemorate the fact that Jesus gathered with His disciples to share God's life. He not only instituted the Eucharist: He showed everyone God's love and let all creatures be in His intimate communion for eternity.

Through this week we relive the last moments of Christ's earthly life step by step: His betrayal, His trial, His crucifixion, His death, His burial and - the most important event - His resurrection.

We are going to mourn in lamentation over the death of the Lord, but the Church encourages us by giving us the light of the victorious resurrection of Christ. At the end of that week we will go in procession with lights to proclaim to the whole world Christ, risen from among the dead: Christ victorious, Christ become master of death and life.

This life given to us is gained by Christ's death. Sadness is again changed into happiness. Sorrow turns into joy. The greeting hosanna to the King will soon become Christ is risen - He is truly risen.

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