Jesus of Nazareth is a figure famous for performing numerous forms of miracles. Instantaneous healing, control over the elements, and paying off taxes with fish money are impressive, but none of these have the visceral appeal of resurrection. Death is unlike any hardship we face in life, because it is the end of life. It drives many of our decisions throughout life, slowly but surely losing the subtlety of its influence as the years march on. Death is one of the few universal themes in human experience, and Jesus claimed to overcome it. That certainly seems like a miracle worth investigating in this series. For this week’s post, I will be analyzing the Raising of Lazarus account found in John 11:1-44 [1].



In keeping with the previously established approach, we will first attempt to review this account in a naturalistic light. The easiest way to dispute a supernatural reading of the text is by proving Lazarus was never truly dead in the first place. No specific details are given about the nature of Lazarus’ illness, other than the fact that he was sick for at least two days prior. One reasonable explanation is that he appeared to be dead to those around him because they were unable to identify signs of life. This has actually happened on several occasions in modern times, whereby a combination of poor life sign evaluation [2] and hasty funeral planning has led to ‘resurrection’. Such events are quite rare, since people are generally competent in identifying death. Even in ancient times, the pulse [3] and breath were known to be signs of life. This is true in both the Middle Eastern region in general, but also specifically in Jewish culture [4]. So while Lazarus being falsely identified as dead is unlikely, it is still possible. Currently, a coma seems to be the most feasible explanation, since he would be immobile and his sickness may have given a deathly pallid complexion. That still doesn’t answer the question of if he was dead by the time Jesus arrived.



At this point in our analysis, Lazarus would be in the grave for 4 days before Jesus’ visit. Upon cursory investigation, oxygen levels would be low, but asphyxiation would not necessarily kill him in that time frame. In terms of nourishment, Lazarus would be on the very edge of surviving without water [5], but given the conditions, likely alive. Despite this, Lazarus would likely not have responded to Jesus’ command, as those in a coma do not respond to external stimuli. There are notable exceptions wherein patients respond to sounds with personal meaning to them[6]. Similarly, such occurrences are also rare, but have been recorded in hospital conditions amenable to recovery. Lazarus would have suffered from low oxygen levels and severe dehydration – both of which would make an otherwise well individual incoherent. On the other hand, we find that Jesus’ behavior in this account shows a deliberate attempt to resurrect a dead Lazarus.



One of the strangest components of the narrative is how long Jesus takes to arrive on the scene. Jesus had first waited for two days after initially hearing of his ailing friend just to ensure that he would be dead. He then arrives 4 days late to the funeral, which is not by mistake. Jews believed that the soul lingered around the grave for three days after physical death[7]. By waiting longer than that time period, a resurrection would be viewed as physically and spiritually impossible. These contextual details support a literal interpretation of Lazarus being raised from the dead. However, in a similar fashion to the Walking on Water account, John later precludes a fictional reading of the text.



Lazarus is primarily known for his raising in John 11. However, one crucial detail that is often overlooked is that he appears later on in chapter 12:1-10. Lazarus is noted as sitting next to Jesus at a dinner before Passover. Perhaps more interestingly, John writes that a crowd “came, not only on account of him[Jesus] but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.”[8] Once again, we find an example of Jesus’ miracles being written as historical, rather than exclusively spiritual events. This suggests that many of the other miracles were written with the same intention. Despite this intention, multiple other miracle accounts do not lend themselves to being considered compelling evidence of the supernatural. An overview of this will be the subject of next week’s post.

Author’s note on death by asphyxia:



Lazarus could’ve very well been in a coma until the day of burial, but burial risks asphyxiation. A human consumes 0.5 L O2/min, and the oxygen content of air is 21%. Assuming Lazarus was only in the grave for 4 days, the grave would’ve had to be roughly 14.5 cubic meters to sustain him until Jesus arrived. This is on the same order of the sizes of rock cut graves in Palestine. Here, I assume negligible oxygen was released by the tomb’s opening. Martha tells Jesus that there will be a stench when they open the tomb, which indicates they would have attempted to prevent any malodorous air leak.



Sources

John 11:1-44 Lusher, A. (2018, January 09). The bizarre cases of people ‘waking up’ after being declared dead. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/halloween-come-back-life-waking-dead-funerals-mortuaries-confirm-russia-egypt-a8023916.html Hajar, R. (2018). The pulse in ancient medicine part 1. Heart Views, 19(1), 36. doi:10.4103/heartviews.heartviews_23_18 Encyclopedia Judaica: Medicine. (2008). Retrieved from https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/medicine Spector, D. (2018, March 08). Here’s how many days a person can survive without water. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/how-many-days-can-you-survive-without-water-2014-5 Rix, K. (2013, May 6). The Strange Day When Bugs Bunny Saved the Life of Mel Blanc. Retrieved from http://www.openculture.com/2013/05/the_strange_day_when_bugs_bunny_saved_the_life_of_mel_blanc.html Midrash Tanchuma, Miketz 4 John 12:1-10