Hiii, This Might Be Weird, But Who Is Lazarus? I'm Not Religious, So I've Tried Searching For Who He

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.

Shadowed Hearts/Winter Souls (Chapter Fifteen)

MASTERLIST

******************

It took James only fifteen minutes to ready Zima for the journey, laying a warmer blanket down before cinching the saddle, working the bit gently into the stallions mouth and crooning softly to the big animal wen Zima picked up on his anxiety and pranced a little in the stall. “Easy, lovely.” James whispered, patting at the soft nose. “Easy, we’ll ride fast tonight, let you out to run for a while, you’ll like that moya krasota, won’t you?” “You really are leaving.” Tony’s voice at the door made James tense, but he kept his voice neutral to reply, “I have a job to do, Tony. A war to win and I’ve been away too long. Of course I am really leaving.” Tony didn’t answer, and James secured the bridle under Zima’s head and went to get his pack. “I assumed you would be locked away in your room to avoid Natalia’s meddling, or at the very least drinking in the kitchen with the others. I should be flattered my leaving have such an effect on the family. The last time I left, Natalia threw a vase at me and told me not to come back so I must be moving up in her estimation.” “She cracked a tea kettle against the wall when she came downstairs.” Tony said flatly and James snorted. “So no, I’d say her estimation of you hasn’t risen at all.” “And it shouldn’t.” James slung his pack over Zima’s back. “Maybe one day she’ll stop being angry when I disappoint her.” “Maybe.” Tony allowed. “But we always hold the people we love in high estimation. That’s what allows our hearts to break over and over every time a loved one lets us down.” “I think any leftover love Natalia had for me disappeared the last time I left.” “If you think Talia doesn’t love you anymore, you’re being purposefully stubborn and purposefully foolish.” The words came sharper than Tony had intended but he made no attempt to soften them. “A man like you doesn’t survive in war for this long without knowing how to read people, and Natalia might have been a spy before but now she’s just a woman trying to keep the people she loves close and safe. If you can’t see that, you’re being stupid. Purposefully stupid.” “Are we calling each other names now, Tony?” “Is me calling you stupid worse than you calling me nothing but a warm body?” “…no.” James ground his teeth together and hissed out a breath. “And I apologized for that.”

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genuinelysurpriseditsbutter

7 years ago

May you find exactly what you want at the thrift shop, in your price range, next time you’re there.

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genuinelysurpriseditsbutter

5 years ago

Fairest of Them All (Six)

SNOW WHITE MASTERLIST HERE

****************************

“He was heading for the coast.” Steve rasped through a split lip and a quickly bruising eye, held in place by chains and a collar wrapped round his neck and secured to the wall, head forced up by Obadiah’s grip at his chin. “When we ran into each other he was– he was heading the same way I’d come from. Towards the coast.”

Sunset stared at him for several minutes, searching the Alpha’s face for any sign of deceit, any hint he might be lying to try and protect his mate but Steve was too exhausted to try that sort of thing. The mate sickness had set in hard now that he didn’t even have blankets scenting like the Omega Prince to keep it at bay, and his body was beaten down, worn from four days in the dark dungeons with little food or water.

“If you’re lying, I’ll kill you.” she finally said and Obadiah let go of the other Alpha with a frustrated snarl, shoving him back against the rough wall. “Do you hear me, Alpha Prince? I have no qualms about ending your life, I don’t care what it will do to the Omega.”

“I’m not lying.” Steve hung his head, chains clanking as he wrapped his arms around his midsection. “We didn’t talk much when we were together–” Obadiah snorted something no doubt vulgar and Steve cringed away from the sound. “–but he talked about the water and flowers and having a responsibility to his Kingdom. Then in the morning he headed towards the coast.”

Apparently satisfied that Steve was speaking truth enough, Sunset sniffed and turned away, skirts whirling about her ankles and jewelry clinking at her wrists as she snapped her fingers at the guard. “Do not increase his rations until I say so. And not a word to anyone else about who he is, do you understand?”

“Yes ma’am.” the guard averted his gaze from Sunset, uncomfortable with the burnt scent of her magic that follower her through the air. “No increase in rations, not a word to anyone else.”

“Obadiah!” Sunset called for him over her shoulder on her way out of the dungeons, but the Regent King ignored her, his eyes firmly trained on the Alpha in the cell.

“When you were with my nephew–” he began, not missing the way Steve tensed in his chains. “–did you notice anything odd about him?”

“He’s perfect.” Steve said warily. “Why?”

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genuinelysurpriseditsbutter

6 years ago

I want my husband to have this accent

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genuinelysurpriseditsbutter

4 years ago

okay pLEASE tell me you’ve seen the avatar recreations by anthpo on youtube they are HILARIOUS

IM SCREAMING AT THE SUKI AND YUE CAMEOS (link)

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genuinelysurpriseditsbutter

6 years ago

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genuinelysurpriseditsbutter

4 years ago

Gosh dammit muffin! Now I can't get the idea of long haired andorogynous zuko out of my head, and I'm like "what if he'd never done the bald ponytail thing and just let his hair grow back, so by the show he had long ass hair" and then I was like "what if he joined the gaang after crossroads and figured that the best way to go incognito was as a woman since people were looking for the PRINCE. Anyway now i'm staring down a blank google doc so thx.

Yesss.

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genuinelysurpriseditsbutter

1 month ago

Marzipan Boy part 1

Tim shot a quick message to Tam, letting her know that he would be busy for a while, and then he shoved his headphones on and pushed the button to darken the windows of his office.

Tam thought he was taking a nap, and encouraged his daily hour of “dark time”.

Tim was NOT taking a nap, he was watching the love of his life play video games (sue him, he might doze off once or twice during the stream, but it wasn’t on purpose.)

“Good afternoon, gamers. It’s NightenGames here, and I have not had enough coffee.”

Chuckling at the semi-regular intro, Tim took a sip of his dark roast and settled back into his desk chair.

“Today we’re playing Elder Ring- My friend PharaohTuck finally finished setting up my mods.”

Tim wasn’t entirely sure what exactly the mods NightenGames used did, but apparently they were necessary for him to play. The Yeddit threads were full of speculation- from control mods meant for metahumans/aliens, to cheats to make the games easier.

Very few fans believed that one- Nighten died too many times to be cheating with his mods.

“Ooooh, what a fancy character creator! Alright, folks- who should we mock this time? I’m seeing a lot of votes for Lex Luthor in the chat, a few for Bruce Wayne- which, let me remind you, I’ve already done both Wayne and Luthor in the last month, so they’re out.”

This was why Tim had originally followed NightenGames- the streamer would pick a rich person and then pretend to be them for the entire stream, as if they were playing the game. Yeddit had checked- most of the quotes Nighten used were straight from public videos of the target.

“Tim Drake, huh? CEO of Wayne Industries? Isn’t he, like, the same age as me? I dunno, guys- like, nepo baby for suresies, but…”

Tim startled at the sound of his own name, and swooned a little at the way it rang out in Nighten’s rich baritone.

“You’re right, BarleyWater32, I have not picked on Tim Drake yet. In my defense… I have no defense. He’s hot and I’d smash. Don’t want to spoil my minuscule chances, right? Right. Anyways. Oh! Oliver Queen, I can do him. Well, not DO him, but- make me shut up.”

Blinking at his computer, Tim couldn’t help but flush at the knowledge that his internet crush thought he was “hot and would smash”.

Tim would smash too, honestly. He’d done his research. Daniel ‘Danny’ Nightengale was VERY attractive behind the virtual avatars he used.

“Let me pull up Ollie-boy’s avatar- ah ha! Can’t miss that mustache anywhere.”

The avatar finally popped up in the video- Nighten didn’t usually have one up until the chat had chosen a victim, even if he did have a standard avatar for after he was done gaming.

If he had to pick, Tim liked the avatar for Queen the best. He wore a silly pair of green sunglasses, and his matching green mustache twirled far beyond his face- the real Oliver would never, but the mockery was funny.

“Ahem. Yes. Hello. My name is Ollie Queen and I’m richer than anyone else in this city. Let’s get this bread!”

Elder Ring went well- through some chance Nighten picked an archery build for his run through, which Tim thought was quite ironic- and the stream went on for a whole hour before Nighten switched to his standard avatar.

“Okay, folks, I’m going to shut down now- and Tim Drake? If you’re watching? DM me.”

Nighten chuckled a little, like he’d made an impossible request, but Tim was vibrating in his seat, reaching for his phone to DM the streamer.

The video ended abruptly, and Tim’s autotimer on the darkened windows ran out.

Tam was standing expectantly outside of the door, smiling serenely in- but her arms were full of folders that she undoubtedly need signatures on.

With a sigh, Tim took off his headphones, dropped his cell on his desk, and waved her in. Work waited for no man.

~~~

“Danny, are you sure you don’t want me to make you an avatar for one Tim Drake?”

“Positive, Tuck.”

Tucker pouted and draped himself over the back of the couch, leaning his head into Danny’s space as he worked on his essay.

“It would give you an excuse to watch videos of your cruuuuush!”

Danny felt his face go hot, and he shoved Tucker’s face away from his ear.

“Get off, man. I have to finish this paper before midnight.”

His friend stood straight, presumably looking at the clock on the oven.

“Oof, bro.”

10:30PM wasn’t a great time to be writing an essay. Danny knew he should have done it earlier, but, well. He had to film and edit a video for his second channel. UTube wasn’t earning him money yet, but hopefully soon?

Who was he kidding? He would probably have to go back to Vlad for money soon, and he hated the thought of it.

It was hard enough to live in this ramshackle Gotham apartment with both Tucker and Sam, keep up with UTube and streaming, and get through school, without having to cater to Vlad’s whims on top of it.

Sam had only promised to help with his portion of rent for two years, and he was almost hitting that deadline. He hated taking advantage of her guilt for getting him killed in the first place, but she had insisted, even if she couldn’t sustain it for their whole college career.

Danny groaned and turned his attention back to his paper.

11:15 rolled around, and Danny finished checking his paper for mistakes before sending it in. He shut his laptop, planning to brush his teeth before crashing out on the couch.

Tucker had already gone to bed, and Sam was out on an internship trip for the week, so he didn’t have to worry too much about being disturbed after he fell asleep.

His phone chimed with a donation notification and he lazily opened the message.

Tucker came running out of his and Sam’s bedroom, wrapped in a bathrobe and wielding a Creep Stick at Danny’s resulting screech.

“TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS? FROM TIMOTHY DRAKE-WAYNE?”

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genuinelysurpriseditsbutter

6 years ago