John 11: The Decay of Lazarus

Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” – John 11:39-40

Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days and his body had begun to decay. Jesus resurrected Lazarus’s body from the tomb and his soul from Hades. He was brought back into the visible earthly realm from the unseen realm of the dead, this is why Jesus says Lazarus “has fallen asleep”.

Once dead the physical body is known to start to decay after three days, and Martha confirms this understanding with her words “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days”.

In contrast with Lazarus Jesus’s body was only in the tomb for three days, didn’t begin to decay and thus He could take His body back when He rose from the dead (literally out of the dead ones in Hades).

”…David spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His body see decay.“ ‭‭– Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭31‬‬‬ (also Acts 2:27, 13:34-35 quoting Psalm 16:10)

Lazarus was dead

Jesus said both that “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep”,  and “Lazarus is dead”, affirming that both the being ‘asleep’ and ‘dead’ were the very same thing at that point in the history of redemption.

“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up” – John 11:11

So, where was Lazarus when he was ‘asleep’ and ‘dead’? Was he merely in the tomb? No, Lazarus was of course both body and spirit, and it was only his decaying body in the tomb. Where was his spirit? As a believer in Christ the Messiah was Lazarus in the presence of the father in heaven when he was ‘asleep’? No! Can you imagine his reaction when being raised? His resurrection would have been a most dismal and disappointing miracle, to have been with the Father in the heavenly temple, free from sin and decay and then to be brought back into this world to suffer under the curse of sin again. If that were true surely Mary and Martha and Lazarus’s weeping friends would not have been so distraught. Would he not have been in a far better place?

No, Lazarus could not (yet) enter heaven. His soul had to descend into the ‘lower parts’; down into Sheol with the rest of the righteous and unrighteous dead ones. That was ‘the death’ that came from ‘the sin’ and led to separation from the Father, Son and Spirit until redemption had fully come through Christ. As Lazarus died before the resurrection of Christ his redemption had yet not been finished. Christ had not yet been offered as a once for all time sacrifice for sin to purify Lazarus from his sin, and Christ had not yet risen from the dead to defeat ‘the death’ that was over all humanity. In short, the great harvest of the resurrection had not yet begun.

Martha affirmed her understanding of the resurrection of the dead ones on the last day of that age.

“I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” – John 11:24

”For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise.“ – 1 Thessalonians 4:16

This is why Jesus said to Martha “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). When we read what Jesus said carefully it should become clear as day that what this article sets out is what is taught in scripture.

“he who believes in Me will live even if he dies”

This describes Lazarus! Here was a man who had died, but had believed in Jesus the Messiah. Lazarus would be (temporarily) raised from Sheol, but would almost certainly die again before the return of Christ some forty years later. Lazarus descended yet again into Sheol to await his resurrection to life. Truly Lazarus would live even though he died.

“everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”

As Jesus said, and Paul affirmed, those alive on the “last day” would “never die”, for they would be changed bodily into their immortal glorified bodies fit for heaven.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. – 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

But why didn’t Lazarus go straight to heaven when he died? Was his faith not in Christ the Messiah? Lazarus went to Sheol (Hades) when he died because it was impossible for him to enter heaven before Christ had ascended, because “no man has ever yet ascended into heaven” (John 3:13). If even “David himself did not ascend into heaven” (Acts 2:33) then neither could Lazarus, or anyone else.

Conditions for entering the Heaven

Before any believer could enter Heaven Christ needed to rise first and ascend. Heaven needed to be fortified and the spiritual enemies cast out.

Heaven had to be made accessible, by the father coming down with the son to make their dwelling with mankind. We see this clearly in Rev 21-22 when the salvation had come to the remnant Jews and Gentiles and the New Jerusalem came down out of Heaven as a bride adorned for her husband. It was at this point that heaven and earth united in the new creation - the new heavens and earth where righteousness dwells.

The dead in Christ had to rise in their new immortal bodies and the living saints had to be changed (1 Cor 15:51-54, 1 Thess 4:13-17).

Unlike Lazarus, Jesus’s body never decayed. He had to exit that tomb and thus Sheol (Hades) before four days had passed, because he would take His body back and ascend with that body into the heavenly realm.

Why could Jesus take His body back into heaven, but Lazarus (all everyone else) needed a new body? The body of Christ was sinless and uncorrupted. Although He had ‘been made sin for us’ (2 Corinthians 5:21) He had not been corrupted by sin. Therefore He was acceptable to the Father, with His self-same body and able to enter into the glorious presence of the father, whereas the dead in Christ (the OT and NT saints who believed in Messiah) needed to be clothed upon so that they would not be found naked (2 Corinthians 5:1-5).

Why were they naked?

They were naked because they had not yet been glorified and were awaiting their robes of righteousness, the garments of praise (Isaiah 61). The seed (the bodies of the dead) had broken and the husk lay in the ground (1 Cor 15:36-38), and their new bodies would be received at the resurrection (for the dead) and rapture (for the living).