#jesus and lazarus

[biniehoo]

Raising of Lazarus ✨️

[icaruspendragon]

girls will be like, “i don’t have catholic guilt. i use the imagery when writing because it’s fun to play around with!” and then write this:

[souporsaladnatural]

How did they manage to accidentally write dean and cas so insanely romantically in cas' first fucking episode what the fuck

[tomicscomics]

03/24/2023

Silly Rabbi!

___

JOKE-OGRAPHY: My favorite part of this one is that I've added/paraphrased almost nothing here.  In the Bible story, Jesus is told that His good friend Lazarus has died, so He plans to go bring him back from the dead (or "awaken him").  He tells the disciples that Lazarus has "fallen asleep", but the disciples take that literally and try to comfort Jesus by saying Lazarus will awaken on his own.  Jesus reiterates very clearly that by "fallen asleep", He means Lazarus died.  Thomas is reluctant to let Jesus go to Judea, because last time they were there, apparently Jesus riled up the Jews with His "Son of God" wallamaguckery, but Jesus doesn't let a silly little thing like angry people plotting to arrest and murder Him get in the way of an unslumber party with His best pal!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Before the mantle of the earth was cooled, before the sea was sealed in its basin, before the sky was locked in place above the clouds, and before the first "Tomic" was officially published, a cartoon was drawn.  Now, it is reborn.  This is not technically a "Tomics Resurrection", because the original did not bear the "Tomics" name.  No, this was after the era of sand and scholars but before the era of blood and time, and now, it's our very first "Proto-Tomic Resurrection".  I've taken a random digital Jesus comic that I drew for my own amusement before my Tomics days and made it part of the official Tomics family.  Here's the original for reference.  You'll note a drastic change in character design, background art, and handwriting, and hopefully you'll agree I've improved, or else we're going to have some major problems:

[dramoor]

The Raising of Lazarus of Bethany

(Icon by Tatiana Nikolova-Houston)

[purpleishpandas]

"If you would rather wait until your school makes the morning news that is your choice"

"You cannot stop me, if you try I promise you will regret it"

"You're a fox, you don't belong here" "Neither do any of you"

"Your captain is free to take his grievances up with me if he has something to say about it. I'm sure he knows where to find me"

"Renee flashed Riko a peace sign out the window as she put the pedal to the floor"

RENEE WALKER, THE WOMAN YOU ARE

[mathmusicreading]

Currently thinking about the title of Supernatural season 4 episode 1 "Lazarus Rising". It's so simple and so evocative. I think I get something extra from it because I love Terry Pratchett, Discworld, Hogfather, Discworld's Death, and the quote "where the falling angel meets the rising ape". (Do the Destiel shippers go wild with this? The Cas fans supporting his love for humanity and even creating free will? They should.) But just on it's own, it's referencing coming back to life and the phrasing has connotations of ascension and empowerment. It also avoids connotations of zombies or likening Dean to Jesus Christ.

On that note, I wonder how much Supernatural meant to parallel Dean Winchester to Lazarus of Bethany, and Castiel to Jesus for that matter. (With how little I engage with Supernatural canon, I think my thoughts on Chuck's relationship with Castiel are mixed and not set, but for fun right now: Castiel is Chuck's favorite angel, and Chuck hates it and hates him for it!)

Dean was dead for four months, much like Lazarus was dead for four days. (Dean was also in hell for 40 years, a significant number and amount of time in the Bible. And moving away from the Christianity angle, four is a fitting motif with Dean's death given "four" sounding like "death" in Mandarin Chinese.)

Dean is "the righteous man", while part of the title with which Lazarus is venerated is "Righteous Lazarus".

If "risen dead" evokes zombies and "risen from the dead" invokes Jesus, then "Lazarus rising" conveys that the subject of resurrection is a normal human, and the key is that they are resurrected by a great power who is good. Specifically, Lazarus is resurrected by Jesus, the Son of God, and Dean is resurrected not by a necromancer or demon, but by the angel Castiel, sent on a holy mission.

Jesus did not immediately save Lazarus, rushing to heal him upon hearing of his illness, but waited two days before traveling to and resurrecting Lazarus after he died. I can't help but feel like this is similar to Castiel's not rescuing Dean until 40 years into Dean's sentence in Hell, after he had broken on the rack and become a torturer shedding blood in Hell.

Jesus did not merely heal Lazarus when he was sick, but resurrected him after death, for God's glory and that people might believe in Jesus' own coming resurrection. (God resurrecting Castiel, anyone?) I think Supernatural canon is not explicitly clear, and it may be widespread fanon or a popular fan head canon that Castiel was sent immediately to rescue Dean, but wow the similarity to Jesus and his mission if Cas couldn't reach Dean or wasn't sent until after Dean broke because of heaven's ultimate plan to carryout the apocalypse, rescuing Dean not being about saving a righteous man but about breaking the first seal to Lucifer's cage.

Not full of meaning, but Jesus resurrected Lazarus in his tomb and still wrapped in his grave cloths. So for the people jokingly asking why Castiel left Dean in his coffin, six feet under, instead of zapping him out, it's because we're really leaning into the Jesus angle. (Is Cas lobotomized Jesus?!)

And the kickers now that we've gone through all that: Jesus wept. He was moved with compassion for Lazarus' sisters and friends. He mourned Lazarus' death even while on the way to resurrect him. It was well known by all that he loved Lazarus. Take that how you will and run with it, Cas fans and Destiel shippers!

Last thing not being included with the rest because you can't as easily get it just from reading John 11:1-44 or doing an internet search for Lazarus. DiscIaimer that above, I got the title with which Lazarus is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church from Wikipedia, and so too the following Biblical interpretation/theological commentary.

The miracle of the raising of Lazarus is the climax of John's "signs". It explains the crowds seeking Jesus on Palm Sunday, and leads directly to the decision of Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin to plan to kill Jesus. Theologians Moloney and Harrington view the raising of Lazarus as a "pivotal miracle" which starts the chain of events that leads to the Crucifixion of Jesus. They consider it as a "resurrection that will lead to death", in that the raising of Lazarus will lead to the death of Jesus, the Son of God, in Jerusalem which will reveal the Glory of God.[17]

Dean's resurrection led to Castiel's death. Castiel died because he saved and loved Dean. When Castiel first laid a hand on [Dean] in Hell, he was lost! Castiel died because Chuck is a Pharisee that can't accept his manly everyman main character (sorry, Sam) is bisexual instead of straight. Chuck can be bisexual, but the manly everyman main character has to be straight, and so he killed Castiel for it. Dean too if you believe Chuck won.

And if the point of Lazarus' resurrection is Jesus' divinity, then the point of Dean's resurrection is that the angel is gay and Dean is bi!

[fyncherly]

listen. hear me out. no don't run.

Lazarus from The Bible = Uncle Lazarus from The Suckening

i shall leave it at this for now.

[alphaalnitak]

My latest bash- Neteyam in oceanic, formal clothes! They better reserrect my boy 😡

[themistas]

idk. there's something about sam winchester. as soon as he's born it's like fate itself punishes him for it. cursed to be The One, vessel of lucifer, sacrifices himself so that the apocalypse doesn't happen -- but he's raised soulless, and when he gets his soul back -

suffering clings to him, everything haunts him.

it's like he's not allowed to be at peace, not allowed to breathe. he's born and he's robbed of a normal life because desperate people do desperate things, and all he is is collateral damage. he's robbed of a normal life, because - actually - he wasn't ever supposed to have one. he's so smaller than god and he runs around in his palm, desperately trying to get off it. it's not a comfortable ride.

and at first he gets to avoid it. as a young stanford dropout he gets to squeeze through it. but fate catches up and catches him by the collar, and people die, and people drown around him, and he can't even surface himself.

there used to be a time dean could take it all for him. but once he's back from hell, it's as if everything screamed at him to go back there, to never rise again. dean wants the trials, and man - sam doesn't even get that. the promise lies empty, devoid of any hope on the floor.

all he gets is a hellhound, standing above him, pouring out a bath, a touch of you're it! down on him. it's hateful. it's disgusting. it's horrible.

and i haven't seen more, i'm for now stuck with a sam that's starting yet another quest that begs for suffering, but.

this man sees a light at the end of the tunnel. he has hope. he has faith. fate will have him again and again and again. but they will never own, not even touch his soul.

it's been reclaimed.

[icaruspendragon]

hiii, this might be weird, but who is Lazarus? I'm not religious, so I've tried searching for who he is, but I can't seem to get a clear answer and was wondering if you could explain him?

ah yes, lazarus of bethany. a man i consider to be equal parts friend and foe.

lazarus lived in bethany with his two sisters, mary and martha. and when we meet him, he’s sick. so much so that his sisters send for jesus of nazareth saying, “lord, your dear friend is very sick.”

jesus of nazareth was in jerusalem when he received the message. and despite being only a few miles from bethany, and despite jesus loving martha and mary and lazarus, he waited. he didn’t go to them straight away. he waited. he waited until lazarus died and then said, “lazarus’ sickness will not end in death. no, it happened for the glory of god so that the son of god will receive glory from this.”  

and when jesus finally made it to bethany he was told lazarus had already died. that he has already been in the grave for four days. and when martha, sister of lazarus got word that jesus was coming, she went to meet him. and mary, sister of lazarus did not. and when martha saw jesus she said to him, “lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

and jesus said to her, “your brother will rise again.”

but then mary arrived and she saw jesus and she fell at his feet and she said, “lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” and she wept over her brother. because she loved him and he was gone. and jesus should have been there. because if jesus had been there, her brother would not have died.

and jesus saw her weeping. and he saw the other people wailing with her. because lazarus was deeply loved. and now he was gone. and they had sent for jesus. they had prayed for a miracle. and that miracle didn’t come until it was four days too late. and they didn’t know that jesus was going to bring lazarus back. they didn’t know that jesus had waited that long to teach a lesson. to prove a point. they just knew jesus was too late. and now they were forced to grieve.

and then a deep anger welled up in jesus. and he was deeply troubled. and jesus asks, “where have you put him?” and the people say, “lord, come and see.” and he does. and when he sees, jesus weeps. when he sees, we get the shortest verse in the bible. a mere two words to sum up an entire town’s grief. two words to convey the loss of a sibling. two words are offered for the preventable death of a loved man.

jesus is four days too late. and jesus?

jesus wept.

and the people who loved lazarus turned to him and said to jesus, “see how much he loved him!”

jesus loved lazarus. and then he let him die.

and some of the people said about jesus “this man healed a blind man. couldn’t he have kept lazarus from dying?”

and then jesus, who knew all along that he would revive lazarus. jesus, who let all those people mourn. jesus, who let those sisters lose their brother. jesus, who let them weep. jesus, who wept with them. that very same jesus said to those who loved lazarus, who mourned him, jesus of nazareth said to them, “didn’t i tell you that you would see god’s glory if you believe?”

and then the stone of lazarus’ tomb was rolled aside. and then jesus looked up to heaven and said, “father, thank you for hearing me. you always hear me, but i said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” and then jesus shouted, “lazarus, come out!” and he did.

lazarus the dead man came out, his hands and feet and face wrapped still in burial cloth. and then jesus of nazareth told them, “unwrap him and let him go!”

and then lazarus of bethany became lazarus of the grave. lazarus of the grave that will never be left behind even though he has risen and relinquished. lazarus of the grave who did not make good his escape unscathed. lazarus of the grave who will now check each darkened doorway as death and his sting is keenly felt.

lazarus was a man. a man whose family loved him. a man whose sisters sent for a miracle. a man whose sisters mourned him in the four days it took for that miracle to show up. a man who was made an example for no reason other than being loved by jesus. a thing that we are all told to be. loved by our savior.

lazarus is a man who makes me wonder three things. firstly, if jesus had been there that my brother may not have died. secondly, if jesus of nazareth too weeps for me. and thirdly, if jesus loves us and we in turn love him too like the scriptures command, why does he use us in the lessons he teaches.

why must we be the men he makes believers of?

so lazarus was just a man whose crime was loving jesus. and martha was just a girl whose crime was loving her brother. and they both suffered a miracle because of it.

[the-dance-of-italy]

Yeshua and Eleazar drawing right before holy week starts...;;

[littlemissbigears]

short chaotic friend and tall gentle giant friend

[dramoor]

The Resurrection of Lazarus by Charles Sellier, 1857

[lonely-dog-draws]

jeezy boy fanart

[fangledeities]

Monica Bellucci (Italian, born 1964)

The Raising of Lazarus, c. 1630/1632. Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669).