Hymnology of Lazarus Saturday and Christology

In serving the Matins of Lazarus Saturday I found the translation of one hymn especially troubling.  Since we had a heavy cycle of services I was unable to deal with looking into it at that time.  This has been pressing upon my mind again of late, so I decided to undertake researching it.  There is one hymn among the Praises of Matins which reads as follows:  

“Thou hast granted to Thy disciples, O Christ, tokens of Thy divinity, but Thou hast humbled Thyself among the crowds, wishing to conceal it from them.  Foreknowing all things as God, Thou hast foretold to the apostles the death of Lazarus; yet at Bethany, when in the presence of the people, Thou hast as man asked where Thy friend was buried, being ignorant of this.  But then Thou hast raised him four days after he was dead, and so he rendered manifest Thy power as God. O Almighty Lord Glory to Thee.”

The words in bold are my emphasis.  This translation, which is quite literal, is from the Lenten Triodion prepared by Bishop Kallistos Ware and Mother Mary.

There is another translation in the booklet, Psalm Sunday and Lazarus Saturday, published by Saint Vladimir’s Seminary which reads thus: 

O Lord, Thou didst give Thy disciples signs of Thy divinity, while concealing Thy majesty from the crowd though humility: To Thy disciples Thou didst predict the death of Lazarus, revealing Thy knowledge of future things.  But in the presence of the crowd in Bethany, Thou didst ask, “Where is my friend buried?”  For Thou, in Thy compassion for us, didst take upon Thyself our ignorance.  Then, Thou didst raise up a man who had been dead four days.  Through him, Thou hast finally revealed Thy divine power to all.  O Almighty Lord, glory to Thee!  

The words in bold, which is again my emphasis is that which is in question. It should be obvious that this rendering has a significant interpretive slant.  But is this “interpretive slant” Orthodox or theologically erroneous—could we perhaps even say “heretical”?  To say that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the God-Man had human ignorance is to separate the divine and human natures in Him and to do that is erroneous theology and I repeat: Could we perhaps even say “heretical”? 

Let us go back to the literal translation of the phrase in question:

“Thou hast as man asked where Thy friend was buried, being ignorant of this.”

Why did the hymnographer write this when in a number of places in the liturgical service for Lazarus Saturday we see the opposite?  Let us review these.  Starting with Vespers: “O Lord wishing to see the tomb of Lazarus…Thou hast asked; ‘Where have ye laid him?’  And learning that which was already known to Thee.” In the Compline Canon: “O Strange and marvelous wonder!  Although He knew the answer, yet as if ignorant the Master of all asked.”  Again the hymnographer speaking in the person of Lazarus writes: “Thou knowest all things, yet has asked where I was buried.”  Additionally, in the Matins Canon: “O Christ, Thou hast become man taking human form from the Virgin, and as a man Thou hast asked where Lazarus was buried, although as God Thou wast not ignorant of this.”  Again, “The sisters of Lazarus stood beside Christ and lamenting with bitter tears, they said to Him: ‘O Lord, Lazarus is dead.’ And though as God He knew the place of burial, yet He asked them, ‘Where have ye laid him?’”  One more to conclude: “And, though Thou wast not ignorant, Thou hast asked: ‘Where have ye laid him?’”

How is it we have this contradiction?  Why does the hymnographer, in one place, write above mentioned: “When in the presence of the people, Thou hast as man asked where Thy friend was buried, being ignorant of this.”

First let us ask: Who was the hymnographer.  In the Matins service there are three authors indicated in the canons, the service books mention Theophanes, Kosmas the monk and monk John.  There is no designation of who wrote the hymn in question.  One thing we know in reference to the hymnographers of the Church is that they were of a well to do or of the noble class in the Byzantine Empire and well educated.  They would have been well acquainted with Hellenic literature. In this hymn we see irony which was not uncommon in such literature.  Irony is a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character’s words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.  In this hymn a verbal and dramatic irony are combined. Verbal irony is when a person says one thing but means the opposite; dramatic irony is when the audience knows something that the characters do not.¹ In this Church hymn the chanter and listeners are the audience while the characters are those who were present at the raising of Lazarus.  In addition, we know that Irony is used for an emphatic effect and that is exactly what we see here.  So then, those who chant or hear this hymn should understand that this is an irony otherwise it would not be consistent with everything that preceded² it in this service nor Orthodox theology.

In concluding I would like to appeal to my readers to be careful of any Church hymnology or even Scriptures in English which may seem confusing.  In such cases we check with the clergy who have been theological trained.  We need to be obedient children of the Church.  I once heard obedience defined as such: “Obedience is a spiritual state, it is to be in harmony with the Church and the Holy Spirit.”³Amen!    

Afterword: For an examination of the topic of the omniscience of our Lord Jesus Christ see the posts: The Theology of Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko: Orthodox or Opinion.

1.    The bulk of the information on irony is taken from Google searches.

2.    The hymn in question is one of the last in the service for Lazarus Saturday.

3.    These words were spoken by Hieromonk Raphael Noika, a Romanian spiritual child of St. Sophrony the Athonite who presently lives in his homeland.