There are two biblical characters named Lazarus. The most prominent is Lazarus of Bethany, a close friend of Jesus, whose sisters are Martha and Mary. Jesus resurrects Lazarus after he has been dead for four days in John 11. The raising of Lazarus is the last sign reported in John’s gospel and is the incentive for the authorities wanting to arrest Jesus.

The other Lazarus is found in Luke 16:19-31 — Jesus tells a parable about an unnamed rich man and a very poor man, named Lazarus, whose circumstances are reversed after they die. Interestingly, of all Jesus’s parables in the four gospels, Lazarus is the only character given a name.