Lazarus of Bethany, brother of Martha and Mary, was a beloved friend of Christ. His name in Hebrew (Eleazar) means 'God has helped.' The Gospel of John (11) records his death in his sisters' presence, and the four-day delay before Christ arrived at Bethany.
At the tomb the Lord wept — the shortest verse in the New Testament: 'Jesus wept' (Jn 11:35). He commanded the stone to be rolled away. Then He cried with a loud voice: 'Lazarus, come forth.' Lazarus came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, his face covered with a napkin. Christ said: 'Loose him, and let him go.'
The raising of Lazarus, the seventh and greatest 'sign' of John's Gospel, set the chief priests on their final plan to kill both Jesus and Lazarus (Jn 12:9–11). Lazarus survived the Crucifixion. Tradition holds he traveled to Cyprus, was made bishop of Kition (Larnaca) by Peter and Paul, lived another thirty years, and died there a second time in peace. His tomb at the Church of Saint Lazarus in Larnaca bears the inscription 'Friend of Christ.'