For centuries, pastors and biblical scholars have mused about the fate of Lazarus after Jesus raised him from the dead. Did he stay in Bethany or go on a missionary journey to some place like Cyprus? Presumably, Lazarus died again. Was he martyred? Did he live to old age? Turns out, he was elected mayor of New York City.
“[Jesus] told them to remove the stone and said, ‘Lazarus, rise up!’ And he rose up with the dead man clothing on him,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared on Sunday (Feb. 16) during a worship service at Maranatha Baptist Church in Queens Village. “And so while we watch all the news and all the stories and all the things that are happening, people are dancing on my grave. They danced on my grave when I was on the 103rd precinct in the floor and Jesus said, ‘Eric, rise up!’ They danced on my grave when I was afraid to go to school when being bullied because I was dyslexic; he said, ‘Eric, rise up!’ They danced on my grave when I was told to go to the police department and they called me ‘Uncle Tom’ and names and I was fighting for reform; God said, ‘Eric, rise up!’ They danced on my grave when they shot at my car and thought that I was going to be intimated and go offline of what my mission was … and God said, ‘Eric, rise up!’ They danced on my grave when I was indicted and I was stated that ‘you will spend 35 years in jail for something you didn’t do’ and God said, ‘Eric, rise up!’”
“They dancing on my grave right now,” the Democratic politician added. “Every news headline, every report, every caller: ‘It’s over for him, he’s been dead for four days, he would never be able to come back to life, he would never resurrect.’ But God said to me, ‘Eric, rise up!’”
Screengrab as Eric Adams (at the podium on the left) speaks during a Sunday service at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church of Hollis in Queens, New York, on Feb. 16, 2025.
Apparently viewing himself as a modern Lazarus with as many lives as a cat, Adams stopped by two different churches on Sunday morning to deliver that message. It’s not that he was feeling extra spiritual. He went not to worship but to speak, not for faith but for politics as he fights to keep his job amid legal and political scandals. After his stop at Maranatha, he trekked over to Mt. Olivet Baptist Church of Hollis to deliver a similar message christening himself Lazarus and promising to defeat his political enemies as people applauded and shouted “Amen.”
“When they indicted me and they told me to step down,” Adams declared at Mt. Olivet, “I said, ‘I’m gonna step up because Jesus said, ‘Eric, you rise!’ Can I tell you about that? Can I tell you about them dancing on my grave, thinking they were going to walk into the funeral parlor and see my body in the casket only to see me in pulpit singing their funeral … because Jesus said, ‘Rise!’”
Yet, while Adams recounted the story from John 11 about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, his application reveals he misunderstands key aspects of the text. He also cast those trying to hold him accountable as “devils” and insisted God put him in office and wants him to stay. So this issue of A Public Witness heads to the city that never sleeps to combat a zombie version of a famous biblical story.
The Istanbul of Corrupt Mayors
Eric Adams is a unique political figure who has come to be known for his frequently strange behavior and off-the-cuff remarks. To get a taste of this, he once said that New York City is the world’s greatest city because any day could be a new 9/11, was caught lying about being vegan, and has said he thinks that New York gets “special energy” from underground crystals.
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