Who was Lazarus in the Bible?

from the old testament

• Lazarus is not mentioned in the Old Testament.

from the new testament

• The Bible mentions two men named Lazarus. One is Lazarus, who was resurrected, while the other is a man in a story Jesus told about life after death.
• The first Lazarus lived in Bethany with his sisters Mary and Martha (John 11:1). He was also Jesus’ friend (John 11:11). Lazarus became ill (John 11:2), so Mary sent for Jesus (John 11:3). Jesus, intending to resurrect Lazarus from the dead, delayed returning (John 11:6, 14–15).
• When Jesus reached Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for four days (John 11:17). Martha was a little upset and/or hurt that Jesus had been so late (John 11:21), though she still trusted that He could help (John 11:22).
• At the tomb, Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:40), explaining His delay to show them who He and God were. Jesus then called for Lazarus to come out, and he came out alive (John 11:43–44).
• News of Lazarus’ resurrection spread, and crowds gathered to see not only Jesus but also the resurrected man (John 12:9). However, the chief priests were not pleased. Because people were believing in Jesus based on Lazarus’ resurrection, they plotted to kill Lazarus in addition to Jesus (John 12:10–11). Scripture doesn’t tell us more than that, including what became of the plot or of Lazarus.
• The other man, Lazarus, appears in a story Jesus told in Luke 16:19–31. Scholars have long debated whether Jesus was relaying a real event, and thus this Lazarus was also a real man, or whether this was a parable, and thus “Lazarus” was simply the name Jesus gave to one of the characters. Regardless, this Lazarus is a minor character in the story, a poor man who died at the same time as a rich man. The story focuses on the rich man’s destiny, noting that though he was rich in life, he was impoverished in Hades because he was unrighteous. Lazarus is a counterpoint figure who illustrates the destiny of the righteous.

implications for today

Because the Bible mentions two men named Lazarus, we must draw two separate but related implications.

Regarding the one Jesus resurrected, we know very little about him. This is likely intentional because his story is not about what he did, but about how Jesus used His death to show who He was and the glory of the Father (John 11:4, 40–44). Through this resurrection, we learn that Jesus has authority over death, something He would later demonstrate through His own death and resurrection (Romans 6:9). This is why the chief priests wanted to kill both Jesus and Lazarus: because Lazarus being alive again was a clear sign that Jesus was the Son of God. It also shows that He is God’s Son. When He came back to life, he defeated death (2 Timothy 1:10) and showed that He has authority over life and death (Revelation 1:18). Because of this authority, Jesus will one day return to resurrect everyone and judge them for their sin (John 5:28–29). Anyone who has not repented and trusted in Him will then be cast into the lake of fire for eternity (Revelation 20:15).

The story about the other Lazarus teaches us important realities for those who die before Jesus’ return. In the story of him and the rich man, we learn that once one dies, one’s eternity is fixed; there are no longer opportunities to repent. A fixed separation exists between those currently in Hades and those in the same location as where the poor man Lazarus went to be with Abraham. This story warns us not to judge our eternal state by how well this life is going but by our relationship with Jesus.

Let us learn from both men named Lazarus that Jesus has authority over death and that we must make our peace with God through Him now (2 Corinthians 5:20–21) or be forever under God’s wrath (Romans 5:9).