I have always felt sorry for Lazarus.  I mean, dying once is bad enough; but this poor fellow had to go through the whole ordeal a second time!  And for what?  At first glance, it seems as though he was recalled to this earth for the mere purpose of fortifying his sister’s faith.  Then he would have to go through the process of dying once again. 

We are all familiar with the story.  Jesus receives the news while He is in Perea that His friend Lazarus is ill.  He says, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” (John 11:11) Jesus apparently uses a word which can mean either sleep or death.  The Greek word is kekoimetai, from which we get our English word “cemetery.” The disciples suppose Him to mean natural sleep, and not being very eager to go into Judea w…