For either he willed that Lazarus be dead, or he did not: if so, then he wept fictitiously; if not, then his will was discordant from the divine will, and he willed something that he did not bring about.
I respond: There was a threefold human will in Christ, namely of reason, of natural affection, and of sensuality, as Hugh says; and by the will of natural affection, which is a velleity, he willed something which nevertheless he did not will absolutely; and on account of this he suffered compassion and wept, as he wept over Jerusalem. It should be understood, however, that Christ did not weep on account of the death of Lazarus, but on account of our misery, which was signified in the death of Lazarus.
Whence we read that the Lord wept first at the raising of Lazarus, and then he bewailed human infirmity.
Second, over Jerusalem, Luke nineteen, and then he bewailed our blindness; whence: If you also had known.
Third, on the cross; Hebrews five: Offering with tears; and then he bewailed our malice.
These are the three origins of sins and the three punishments inflicted upon us for sins, which were mitigated by the merit of his tears.
58. Question III. Likewise it is asked concerning this, that he prayed: because he prayed insofar as he was man; and insofar as he prayed, he raised: therefore insofar as he was man he raised: therefore his manner of raising does not differ from the manner of Peter.
I respond: As is clear in the text, he neither prayed nor gave thanks in order to receive the power of raising, as others did, nor in order to make himself believed to be less than the Father; because, as Chrysostom says, this was not necessary; but in order to show himself in conformity with God and his power not discordant from the Father.
Therefore what he objects—that he raised insofar as he prayed—is false: because he raised insofar as he was God, and prayed insofar as he was man.
The second part of the chapter, concerning the miracle itself.
59. When he had said these things etc. The preambles to the wondrous raising of Lazarus have been set forth; here are set forth the concomitants and consequences; and he proceeds in this section as follows. First is set forth the powerful calling of Lazarus himself: second, his resurrection: third, his loosing: fourth, the consequent edification of some, but the destruction of others.
(Verse 43). The authoritative calling of Lazarus is indicated in this, that he cried out with a loud voice: Lazarus, come forth: he speaks imperiously: Come, and cries out with a loud voice, because at his voice the general resurrection will take place, according to what was foretold above in the fifth chapter: "The hour comes, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life, but those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment."
60. (Verse 44.). And immediately he came forth. Here the second point is touched upon, namely the raising of Lazarus at the Lord's command: on account of which he says: And immediately he who had been dead came forth; in which is noted the obedience of the creature to the Creator; Mark 4: "Who, do you think, is this, that the wind and the sea obey him?" Origen: "While all things obey the Creator, the rational creature alone is found disobedient." Nor did the bonds hinder him; whence he says: Bound hand and foot with wrappings. Bound: this is a synecdochical construction: with wrappings, that is, with bandages in which the hands and feet were wrapped; and his face was bound with a cloth; and therefore he came forth not by his own movement, but by divine power. Christ used this power in his death; Matthew 27: "The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose."
Jesus said to them: Unbind him. Here the third point is touched upon, namely the loosing of the one who was bound. In the literal sense, he is unbound by the ministers because the Lord, although he could do everything himself, nevertheless wills to communicate his power to others. Bede: "He who could raise the dead could have loosed the bandages; but on account of unity and undivided charity, he says to the ministers: Unbind him and let him go. " Chrysostom: "He did not wish to lead the resurrected man with him, so that he might teach us to avoid the pomp of the world."
61. (Verse 45.). Many therefore of the Jews. Here the fourth point is touched upon, namely the edification of some and the destruction of others. On account of those who were edified unto faith, he says: Many therefore of the Jews, who had come to Mary and Martha and had seen what he did, believed in him. Who had come: Proverbs 13: "He who walks with the wise shall be wise"; above in chapter 4: "Many believed in him," etc. On account of the others, who were made worse, he says:
62. (Verse 46.). But certain of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done: whence by one and the same event, some advanced and others fell away: 2 Corinthians 2: "To some we are the odor of death unto death, to others the odor of life unto life"; therefore Luke 2: "Behold, this one is set for the ruin and the resurrection of many in Israel."
63. Morally, four things are to be noted in the raising of Lazarus: first, that the Lord asks where he is; second, he commands the stone to be removed; third, he causes him to come forth; fourth, he sets him before the disciples to be unbound.
First, therefore, the Lord asks where the sinner is when he shows him the vileness of his sin. Thus the Lord was asking of Adam in Genesis 3: Adam, where are you? And Jeremiah 3: Lift up your eyes to the heights and see where you have not been made to lie down.
Second, he commands the stone to be removed, when he causes a person to cease from the habit of sin, which like a heavy stone drags downward. Therefore the penitent soul said in the Psalm: My iniquities have gone over my head, and like a heavy burden they have weighed upon me. Augustine: "How difficult it is for him to rise whom the mass of evil habit weighs down"! Lamentations 3: My life has fallen into the pit, that is, into the death of sin, and they have placed a stone over me, that is, a burial. Whence it should be noted that the Lord raised one who was dead in the house, Matthew 9, that is, a sinner dead in sins through consent; outside the house, that is, through evil deed; in the tomb, through evil habit, as here.
Third, he commands him to come forth, when he causes him to confess his own iniquity. To come forth is to come from what is hidden into the open; whence Proverbs 28: He who hides his crimes shall not prosper; but he who confesses and forsakes them shall obtain mercy. Augustine: "When you despise, you lie dead; if you greatly despise, you lie in the tomb; when you confess, you come forth."
Fourth, he entrusts the loosing to the disciples, because then comes the priestly power, which has no place before confession. But the Lord commands that they show themselves to the priests for loosing: in Luke 17, concerning the cleansed lepers, it was said to them: Go, show yourselves to the priests; and the Lord gave them this office, below in chapter 20: Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.
And it should be noted that Lazarus, having been raised, came forth bound with a threefold bond, because a threefold difficulty remains in a person after the remission of sin. For the bound face signifies difficulty in knowing, the binding of the feet signifies difficulty in willing rightly, the binding of the hands in doing good. Concerning these, Matthew 22: Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the outer darkness. But he is loosed from these bonds when through the enjoined satisfaction he is loosed from this threefold bond and restored to his former state. Samson sought this state, Judges 16: Remember me, O God, for good, and restore to me now my former strength.
64. Therefore the chief priests gathered, etc. This part of the book, which begins there: There was a man sent from God, in which the Incarnate Word is treated, was divided into three parts. In the first, the incarnation of Christ and the manifestation of the Incarnate One are treated; in the second, the passion; in the third, the resurrection.
Second, the passion of the Incarnate Word is treated in two ways.
Here therefore begins the second part. The intention therefore of this part up to the twentieth chapter is to treat of those things which pertain to the Passion; and this part is divided into two, because some things pertain to the Passion as preliminaries, while others as accompanying circumstances. First therefore it treats of the antecedents; and second, of the concomitants, at the beginning of the eighteenth chapter: And when Jesus had said these things, He went forth etc.