A story from the Holy Land

About twenty years ago I made my first visit to Bethany and the site of the tomb of Lazarus. It was in January and there were very few visitors at that time in the Holy Land. Bethany is only two miles from Jerusalem on the other side of the Mount of Olives. However, because of the Israeli security wall you can't walk there. The only way is either by taxi or bus which takes a very roundabout route to the village where Lazarus lived. It is now an Arab village called Al Laziriya.

Anyway, my friend Fr Lawrence Jones and I got there. The place was pretty deserted. We found the beautiful Franciscan church and were beginning to find our way to the site of the tomb when an  elderly Arab gentleman volunteered to be our guide. He led us through the church garden naming all the plants as we went along. We met a Franciscan, who looked at us and without saying a word gave us a look which undoubtedly meant we were caught!

The Arab gentleman took us to Lazarus' tomb and then played out the whole scene of his dramatic resurrection. It was brilliant. A tour de force. I wondered how many times he had told the story. he shouted " Lazarus come out", at the door of the grave. For those who have been to Bethany getting down to the tomb is quite a deep descent though well worth it. At the end of our visit we knew we had to give the man a tip. We duly did so. It was not enough. The gentleman said he had sixty four grand children. We had to give some more. Thankfully he was satisfied. I can't read the story of Lazarus without recalling the day Lawrence and I ha a virtuoso performance of the story with a sting in the tale