Lived: Approximately 1st century AD (around 1-33 AD)
Lazarus lived in Bethany, a small village about two miles east of Jerusalem—roughly where the modern Palestinian town of al-Eizariya sits today on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives. He shared a home with his sisters Mary and Martha and was part of Jesus’ inner circle of friends.
During Lazarus’ lifetime, the Roman Empire was at its height under Emperor Tiberius, and the Colosseum’s predecessor—the Theatre of Marcellus—had just been completed in Rome. Meanwhile, Chinese astronomers were making some of the first recorded observations of sunspots.
Lazarus is famous for one extraordinary event: he died, was buried for four days, and was raised back to life when Jesus called him out of the tomb. This miracle became so well known that religious leaders plotted to kill Lazarus because his continued existence drew people to faith in Jesus. He spent the rest of his life as living proof that death doesn’t have the final word.