How many days was lazarus in the tomb

It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. BB 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. BF 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation. BJ 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life. BL Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

All rights reserved worldwide. The best value in digital Bible study. Try it FREE. Font Size Font Size. John demonstrates that Jesus already knew that Lazarus was dead and what He would do.

In verse 14, Jesus plainly told His disciples that Lazarus was dead. Jesus had already healed the sick, the lame, the blind, and the demon possessed many times.

People believed He could prevent the sick from dying. Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.

The Passover when He would die was drawing nigh John His disciples needed to see His power over death and the grave before He was crucified, so they would believe His resurrection when He rose from the dead and left His tomb. Jesus had raised the dead at least twice before. The other resurrections had occurred right away, before the bodies had time to decay. The raising of Lazarus would be different, and apparently two days was insufficient delay. So, Lazarus had been dead 4-days when Jesus said to roll the stone away.

How about you dear reader? Do you believe? Jesus prayed to His Father and called Lazarus to come out. Lazarus, who had been dead four days, then walked out from his grave. This miracle upset the chief priests and Pharisees. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. From another POV, it cannot fail to disconcert us that Jesus is emotionally moved, even burst into tears for the death of his friend, even "intensely moved again, came to the tomb It is customary to object to this obvious perplexity which anyone who is not a hypocrite cannot fail to share by recalling that Jesus is both - and perfectly - man and God.

Ought we therefore to infer from this premise that the "God in him" imposed on the "man in him" a calculated staging act , which the man-in-Jesus found unbearable?

This, and no other, is the question that those who take the Gospel text seriously cannot fail to ask. For my part, I suspend the judgment, but my perplexity - more, my bewilderment - remains. After his temporary and very human — all-too-human? What once again cannot fail to disconcert is that Jesus manifestly affirms the instrumentality of his behavior : it seems almost to hear Jesus say - first aloud, so everyone can hear him - «Father, I thank you that you have listened to me» The raising of his friend Lazarus, that Jesus performs, in the imminence of his entry into Jerusalem, which will be followed in rapid sequence by his Passion and Death, has the power to convert even many Jews who are not afraid and do not refuse to see: "Many of the Jews who had come to Mary, seeing what he had done, believed in him.

But for those who do not want to see, no sign can suffice, either because of stubborn refusal and prejudice "Although he had performed such great signs in front of them, they did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams?

Learn more. Why did Jesus delay four days in going to the tomb of Lazarus? Ask Question. Asked 2 years, 8 months ago. Active 5 months ago. Viewed 16k times. Improve this question. Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie I hope this question does not get voted to close because it is considered 'a matter of opinion'.

I trust that there is sufficient cogent information within scripture that a non-opinionated answer is possible. Nigel: I also though likewise about it when I placed the question, however I believe that Jesus had an important reason to delay his journey to Bethany. The other two resurrection he did were done within the same day, I think that it has to do with the beliefs and culture of the day.

Technically Jesus did not delay going to the tomb of Lazarus. He went to the tomb shortly after He arrived. Also 4-days was the total time Lazarus had been dead, but Jesus only "delayed" in going to Bethany 2-days. So I think you are asking why did Jesus delay for 2-days in order to arrive at the tomb after 4-days.

Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Unlike others that Jesus had raised from the dead, the Jewish leaders sought to kill Lazarus: When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. Improve this answer. Community Bot 1. Perry Webb Perry Webb Perry Webb: Your are correct , Jewish belief that the soul hovered over the body for three days and when the soul departed resurrection of the dead was not possible.

The proximity to His own death is most probably the clue. Christ already knew that Lazarus had died when He began the walk to Bethany. Gina Gina 7, 2 2 gold badges 11 11 silver badges 31 31 bronze badges.

Gina: You are correct for greater impact, but why was it so? Ozzie, I think I explained that not only 4 days was for greater impact but that the entire reason was to show the disciples that He had power over the resurrection of the dead so that they would believe when they were told He had risen from the dead in just a few more days.

Here is a brief description of the first two: 2 Autolysis hours - begins immediately after death. Revelation Lad Revelation Lad The question here John 11 is NOT why Jesus delayed - that is stated explicitly in at least two verses of John v4: Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death.

Eamonn Kenny Eamonn Kenny 4 4 bronze badges. All of this is obvious, if you look at John where Jesus talks about going to walk him up. Nobody told him Lazarus was dead.

The answer is actually very simple. Lonestar Lonestar 1 1 1 bronze badge. Lonestar: It is a correct answer. What evidence do you have that this is Jewish teaching? Also the Talmud comes from a time significantly later than the Gospels, so it doesn't prove that's what they thought at the time.

The Talmud is a written form of an Oral Tradition, which as legend has it, goes back as far as mount Sinai , the time of the Exodus. Angela Angela 1. Dave Dave 6, 1 1 gold badge 2 2 silver badges 17 17 bronze badges. Detailed comments 6 ff. So why did Jesus delay four days in going to the tomb of Lazarus? See above detailed comments, in particular the one on 6 ff.

Miguel de Servet Miguel de Servet 5 5 silver badges 14 14 bronze badges. I have just realizd that, in my Answer above, I have repeated three times that something that Jesus did or said "cannot fail to disconcert". I would like to add that I say to myself and to us all, "respect in silence what you can neither reject nor understand" Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile or, On Education , — Miguel de Servet. Sign up or log in Sign up using Google. Sign up using Facebook.