Who was Lazarus and why did Jesus raise him from the dead?

This week's blog was a little easier on me, because (in my mind), John is so different from the other three Gospel's. John's book was certainly a page turner and while it was a little hard for me to get through and understand Matthew, Mark, & Luke sometimes, I just could not stop reading John. I know, it sounds crazy, but it's true, I enjoyed it. The only problem was, I had 100 questions that I feel like I could have asked, but I decided on one, finally. That being said, my question is: Who was Lazarus and why did Jesus raise him from the dead? As I was reading, I ran across this man, Lazarus, who I had heard of before, but not read anything about, and here it is in John, all about his death and Jesus raising him. 



Lazarus of Bethany is not mentioned in the other gospel's and that is why the story about him interested me so much. If this was such a miracle and a sign, why was it not mentioned in the other gospel's?(That is besides the point though and if I ramble off in that direction, we might be here all day). John 11 is the first the reader here's about Lazarus. So, who was he? According to Infoplease, Lazarus of Bethany was a friend and follower of Jesus. Also, according to another website, American Catholic, Lazarus was also the brother of Mary and Martha. In John 11:1-4, we learn that Lazarus was clearly someone Jesus loved and cared about very much. The sisters even said to Jesus, "Lord the one who you love is ill." John 11:3. So, as we can see, Lazarus of Bethany was someone very close to Jesus and the brother of Mary and Martha. Although this is good information, and tells us the basics of who Lazarus was I wanted to dig a little bit deeper into who exactly Lazarus of Bethany was, obviously he had to be someone besides just a friend/follower of Jesus and someone's brother. So, according to Nostos, Lazarus was a saint of the Greek Orthodox Church and he was born in Bethany. Jesus actually knew Lazarus' father Simon and would often times visit their home when he was near by, this is how Lazarus formed a close bond with Jesus. Also, Lazarus was around 30 years old when he became ill.

Now, why did Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, especially after 4 days? Why didn't Jesus just get to town and heal him before he died? This was the part of the story that I didn't really get. Did Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead because he loved him that much? Did he do it to prove he was the Son of Man? Or, was it because of something else? According to John 11:17, by the time Jesus got to Bethany, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days, and was probably with God in Heaven at this point(just my personal opinion, I don't honestly know). According to most websites, and essentially according to the bible, the reason Jesus raised Lazarus was because it was a miracle. According to our text, "The raising of Lazarus is one of the last of the seven great signs that punctuate John's Gospel." I believe Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, not only because it was a sign and a miracle, but also because he loved him and cared for him and wishes he would have been there to heal him when he was extremely ill. Jesus was performing signs and miracles to prove to people that he was the Son of Man and that it was nearing time for his crucifixion and resurrection.