Bible story
Jesus Wept: The Raising of Lazarus and Rembrandt's Painting
In John 11, Jesus arrives in Bethany four days after his friend Lazarus has died, weeps with Lazarus' sisters Mary and Martha, and then calls Lazarus out of the tomb. Rembrandt's Raising of Lazarus at LACMA in Los Angeles shows the call itself, with Jesus' raised hand at the center.
Updated
The painting
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn
The Raising of Lazarus, c. 1630-1632
Oil on wood panel
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Public domain work, free image download (LACMA) · museum record · credits
Accession M.72.67.2
John 11:35
Oil on panel; LACMA notes it is Rembrandt's only painting of this miracle, though he also drew and etched the subject.
Jesus wept.
John 11:35 (KJV)
The story
Lazarus of Bethany, brother of Mary and Martha, falls sick, and his sisters send for Jesus. By the time he arrives, Lazarus has been in the tomb four days (John 11:17). Martha meets him on the road; Mary falls at his feet weeping. Jesus is moved, and then comes the shortest verse in the King James Bible: "Jesus wept." At the tomb he has the stone rolled away, prays, and "cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth" (John 11:43). Lazarus walks out still wrapped in grave clothes.
The context
John's Gospel calls Jesus' miracles "signs", and this is the last and largest of them before the Passion. It is also a turning point in the plot: right after it, the council begins to plan Jesus' death (John 11:53). The two short lines, a man weeping and a man shouting a name, sit only eight verses apart.
Look at the painting
Rembrandt painted this as a young artist in Leiden. The tomb is a dark cave; Jesus stands above the grave with one hand raised, and the onlookers lean back in shock as Lazarus' pale face appears at the edge of the grave. Follow the light: it falls on the raised hand and on the faces watching, not on Lazarus first.
Sources
Verse text from public-domain translations, quoted exactly with the reference. Paintings are named with their museum. Candlelit Bible is independent and not affiliated with any church or museum.