The Symbolism of Darkness in the Resurrection (John 20)
In John 20, the resurrection narrative unfolds in lingering darkness until Jesus stands, embodying the true light of the new creation.
The Symbolism of Lazarus
Lazarus in John 11 is not just a miracle story, but a deliberate literary sign pointing to the death and renewal of the priesthood.
What is the deeper purpose behind the story of Lazarus, and why does John make a point of giving his name? Jesus performs many miracles where the person healed remains anonymous. Why name Lazarus?
The Greek name Lazarus derives from the Hebrew Eleazar, a prominent figure in the Old Testament. To understand Lazarus, we need to return to Eleazar’s story.
The Old Priesthood and Eleazar
When God instituted the priesthood with Moses’ brother Aaron, the office was meant to pass to Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu. But when they violated God’s law in the tabernacle, they died before the Lord, and the priesthood passed to their brothers, Eleazar and Ithamar, with Eleazar becoming high priest. Eleazar represents the replacement for a corrupt, failed priesthood.
In John’s Gospel, that is precisely what Lazarus represents: an old priesthood that has grown sick, which Jesus allows to die and then raises. Notably, the word “priest” makes its first appearance in John’s Gospel right here in chapter 11, where Lazarus dies and is brought back to life.
Consider the parallels John develops. Nadab and Abihu lost their office because they offered unauthorized fire—a false sacrifice. Immediately following the raising of Lazarus, the chief priests convene a council to plot Jesus’ death. They are preparing a false sacrifice, repeating the sin of Nadab and Abihu. Yet just as Eleazar was appointed to offer proper sacrifices after the fall of Nadab and Abihu, the corrupt priesthood will offer Jesus, while Jesus offers himself as the true sacrifice, establishing a new priesthood as its High Priest.
Lazarus serves as an enacted picture of what Jesus will accomplish: allowing the dying priesthood to pass away and inaugurating a new one founded on an acceptable sacrifice.
Foreshadowing and Gardeners
If asked about Lazarus, most readers recognize him as a foreshadowing of Jesus, who will die and rise again. That observation is entirely right. But we have to hold both insights together: the allusion backward to the priesthood of Eleazar, and the foreshadowing forward to Jesus himself. Lazarus symbolizes the old, sick priesthood, and Jesus takes its curse and penalty upon himself.
Notice also that both accounts—Nadab and Abihu’s failure and Jesus’ passion—place unusual emphasis on garments. In John’s crucifixion narrative, more space is devoted to what happens to Jesus’ clothing than to the physical crucifixion itself, echoing priestly vestments.
The concept of priesthood can feel unfamiliar today, but its fundamental purpose was to guard and care for God’s house so people could enjoy fellowship with him. The old priesthood failed to protect God’s house or cultivate it for divine hospitality. For that failure, it had to die and be renewed—a death and resurrection realized in Jesus.
In Genesis 2, Adam was placed in the garden to work it and keep it—the very verbs later assigned to the Levites and priests serving the tabernacle. When Jesus rises from the dead, Mary Magdalene mistakes him for the gardener. That is intentional Johannine irony: Jesus truly is the Gardener, the new Adam. He appears as a gardener because he embodies that calling. He will faithfully cultivate God’s house and guard it against the serpent.
And that, my friends, is why the Bible is art.