The Raising of Lazarus and the Historical Deeds of Jesus

The raising of Lazarus from the dead has proven to be a problematic story for biblical scholarship. Despite its significance in featuring Jesus raising a man who had been dead for four days and in being a catalyst for Jesus’s death, it is only mentioned in the Gospel according to John, possibly the latest of the canonical Gospels. Of course, the Lazarus story also raises the question that has inspired much discussion: Can a historian qua historian rationally affirm a miracle claim for a historical event? I argue that it is possible for a historian following a sound methodology to affirm that a miracle claim is the most likely explanation for an event. In the specific case of the Lazarus story, I argue that the most likely explanation is that it substantially reflects a genuine historical memory of one of Jesus’s deeds.