LAZARUS IS DEAD . A novel by Richard Beard
In the month of November our thoughts more often turn to the question of death and what happens thereafter . So much so , that even Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4 , 13-18 needed to tell believers what to expect . Now Lazarus was asked that question all the time after he came back from the dead , he was interrogated by the Sanhedrin and by the man sent to assassinate him and by everybody who met him thereafter . But the man Lazarus himself is almost as much an unknown quantity as what he would have to tell us .
The novel by Richard Beard gives us a ‘ surprising , spellbinding and utterly original ’ ( Sunday Herald ) account of the life of Lazarus , starting from the meagre account in St John ’ s Gospel , whose ‘ reliability as a historian is questionable ’ Mark is considered to be the most accurate of the Gospel writers , Matthew and Luke are based on Mark , John is the only one who tells us the story of Lazarus , but John is ‘ closer to the type of writing known as creative non-fiction ’ ( Beard ). John selects seven of the best of Jesus ’ miracles , starting with the water-into- wine , building up to the climatic seventh event , the death and resurrection of Lazarus . This is the sign that announces the arrival of the messiah and precipitates the death of Jesus . In Beard ’ s novel it happens close to ‘ Palm Sunday ’, with the author telling us that the Sanhedrin came to interrogate Lazarus while Jesus had his triumphal entry into Jerusalem .
John provides a minimal amount of biography : “ A man named Lazarus , who lived in Bethany , was ill .”( John 11.1 ) Beard tells us of Bethany as it is today , of a house shown as the one Lazarus had lived in with his sisters Martha and Mary . John does not record any specific symptoms of the sickness . Beard speculates at length what it could have been from all the known deceases of the time , he develops the illness until he sees Lazarus utterly disfigured by it , while after he emerges from the tomb he was healed completely . Lazarus ’ life and surroundings are vividly imagined : He is a rich man- since he can afford a tomb with two chambers and linen grave clothes , very luxurious for the time . Also his sister Mary , who later was to pour that expensive perfumed ointment over Jesus ’ feet , would by herself not have been able to buy it , had not her brother done so . Among all the people Jesus knows Lazarus is unique in the New Testament , not in coming back from the dead , but in being named as Jesus ’ friend . Jesus has disciples , some of whom he loves , but Lazarus is his only recorded friend . And famously , unforgettably , in the shortest verse of the Bible , Lazarus can make Jesus weep .
Beard tries to find out where and when this friendship started . There is no biblical explanation for it , but there are other sources of information than the Gospels . Beard constantly tries to build up the biography of Lazarus from ‘ informal records ’, e . g . medieval legends , paintings , he is a recognisable figure on frescoes and marble reliefs throughout the ancient world . There are also a number of modern writers , who have written about him or about the
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