About a month before His own death and resurrection, Jesus visited Bethany and performed His third miracle of resurrection, raising Lazarus from the dead. This resurrection, the most extraordinary of all His great works while in the flesh, foreshadowed His own resurrection, made a profound impression in Jerusalem, and stirred the wrath of the Sanhedrin to decide to murder Him. After this miracle, He withdrew to the wilderness of Ephraim for private time with His disciples before the Passover and His final hours. Jesus often visited the friendly, peaceful, and loving home of Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus. With Lazarus' death imminent, the family experienced illness and grief, learning that the wisdom of godly love does not always shield its recipients from suffering, sorrow, and death. The sisters sent a simple message to Jesus, showing their faith in His ability to heal: Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick. Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus in a personal way, appreciating their different personalities—Martha's resilience and energy, Mary's contemplative grace, and Lazarus' quiet, unassuming nature. When news of Lazarus' sickness reached Him, Jesus already knew healing was needed, yet He delayed His arrival, allowing the sickness to end in death. He assured His disciples that the sickness would not have death as its final result, as God permitted it for the furtherance of the Father's purpose and His glorification, as well as the glorification of Jesus Himself. The delay puzzled His friends, but the distressed sisters learned that God's delays are not denials, and unrelieved suffering can be necessary to perfect character. As Jesus left for Bethany, He described death softly to those around Him, saying, Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up, indicating its temporary nature. When His disciples misunderstood, thinking He meant natural sleep, Jesus clarified plainly, Lazarus is dead. Through this miracle, He demonstrated power over life and death, using Lazarus' death to glorify God and identify Himself as the Messiah.

Christ's conduct just prior to raising Lazarus from the dead reveals His deep compassion and sensitivity to human suffering. When Jesus saw Mary weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. This scene of death and despair deeply moved and upset Him, even to the point of indignation. His weeping shows the pain that sin brings, as it results in death and sorrow. When tempted to sin, we must remember that Jesus wept, emphasizing the curse of sin. Jesus' weeping reveals His nature as a compassionate friend, demonstrating that it is right and natural to sympathize with others in their afflictions. Sorrow at the death of friends is not improper, and His example shows that heartfelt mourning in the face of death does not indicate a lack of faith but honest sorrow at the reality of suffering and death. In performing this miracle, Jesus did not require help, yet He commanded His disciples to take away the stone and to loose Lazarus and let him go. By involving them in the event, He shows that we participate in God's way of life with Him, using His power wisely and never wastefully or unnecessarily. After His prayer, Jesus, with a strong, confident voice, shouted to Lazarus, and he walked from his grave alive. This almost incredible event had diverse results: many Jews believed in Him, but it angered His enemies, making them more determined to rid themselves of Him. The miracle served as a sign by which it might be known that He was sent by God, authenticating His mission and embodying spiritual truth in the wonder itself, foreshadowing the spiritual restoration of all things.

Lazarus appears in the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man found in Luke 16:19-31, a teaching vehicle that begins with the same phrase used to introduce the Parable of the Unjust Steward, confirming that it is indeed a parable rather than a historical account. His name means "God helps," which proves fitting given his desperate circumstances. Described in Greek as a poor man rather than merely a beggar, Lazarus is portrayed as utterly destitute, covered in oozing sores, and so weak he could not even fend off the dogs that licked his wounds. He lay at the gate of a wealthy man clothed in purple and fine linen, hoping only for scraps from the rich man's table, scraps he apparently never received. His extreme poverty, illness, and inability to protect himself from unclean animals marked him as someone of the lowest social and ritual status in that culture. Despite these hardships, Lazarus is revealed to have lived a life pleasing to God. Upon his death, he is "carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom," a phrase that connects directly to end-time prophecy rather than describing an immediate journey to heaven. The imagery of angels gathering the elect corresponds precisely to Christ's second coming as described in Matthew 24:30-31, indicating that Lazarus represents one who will be raised in the first resurrection. His placement "in Abraham's bosom" draws on the ancient reclining posture at meals, where one leaning back would rest near another's chest area, symbolizing an intimate, honored relationship. This positions Lazarus as an intimate companion of Abraham, the father of the faithful, signifying that Lazarus had become a true spiritual son of Abraham through conversion, in contrast to the rich man who was only a physical descendant. Notably, no burial is mentioned for Lazarus, suggesting he was so despised that he received no honorable burial at all, perhaps discarded or placed in a pauper's grave. Yet this omission serves to highlight the reversal of fortunes: while the rich man received a splendid burial, only Lazarus is shown receiving the reward of resurrection and fellowship with Abraham in the Kingdom of God. The contrast between Lazarus and the rich man illustrates the parable's deeper purpose, delivered as a rebuke to the Pharisees who loved money and justified themselves before men while neglecting genuine love for their neighbors. Lazarus typifies the weak, poor, sick, and marginalized whom the Pharisees stepped over and refused to acknowledge. His eventual exaltation into Abraham's presence demonstrates that covenant relationship with God depends not on physical lineage but on faithful, compassionate living. The account also references the historical Lazarus of John 11, whose actual resurrection failed to produce genuine repentance among the Jewish leaders, reinforcing Abraham's statement that Moses and the prophets are more persuasive than any return from the dead. Through Lazarus, the parable teaches that true righteousness is measured by love toward one's brother, not mere possession of scriptural knowledge or descent from Abraham.