The legend of the Lazarus Bowl is one that is not widely known, nor is it widely believed by those who do know about it. This legend has its roots in biblical writings and tradition. This miracle of Jesus took place during the last year of his life, in his Perean ministry. Lazarus, along with his sisters Mary and Martha were personal friends of Jesus and were close to him. This dramatic event tookplace in Bethany, approximately two miles away from Jerusalem.

The Bible excerpt:

     "Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick."
     When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.
     Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea."
     But His disciples objected. “Teacher,” they said, “Only a few days ago the Jewish leaders in Judea were trying to kill you. Are you going there again?”
     Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours of daylight every day. As long as it is light, people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world. Only at night is there danger of stumbling because there is no light.” Then He said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.”
     The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, that means he is getting better.” They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was having a gour sake, I am glad I was not there, because this will give you another opportunity to believe in me. Come, let us go see him.”ood night’s rest, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died.
     Then He told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And for y
     Thomas, nicknamed the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us go, too - and die with Jesus.”
      When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem and many of the people had come to pay their respects and console Martha and Mary on their loss. When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him. But Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”
      Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”
     “Yes,” Martha said, “When everyone else rises, on resurrection day.”      Jesus told her: “I am the resurrection and the life.
     Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again. They are given eternal life for believing in me and will never perish. Do you believe this, Martha?”
     “Yes, Lord,” she told Him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” Then she left him and returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.” So Mary immediately went to him.
     Now Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. When the people who were at the house trying to console Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell down at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
     When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, he was moved with indignation and was deeply troubled. “Where have you put him?” He asked them.
     They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much He loved him.” But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Why could not he keep Lazarus from dying?”
     And again Jesus was deeply troubled. Then they came to the grave. It was a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them.
     But Martha, the dead man’s sister, said, “Lord, by now the smell will be terrible because he has been dead for four days.”
     Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you will see God’s glory if you believe?” So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so they will believe you sent me.” Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And Lazarus came out, bound in grave clothes, his face wrapped in a head cloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go.”

     Now, supposedly while Jesus was raising Lazarus from the dead, an old woman nearby was making a pottery bowl and Jesus's words were recorded in the clay much like a record. Science now steps in, in that it is known that everything that exists is made up of minescule particles, all of which vibrate and have a specific tone. Also, sound itself is created by vibrations.

     Based on this, one can understand how, if the vibrations were amplified or recorded in some way, the sounds present at the time of the piece's creation could, in theory, be heard. This is the ideal behind that Lazarus Bowl, that the voice of Jesus when he commanded Lazarus to rise was encrypted into a ceramic bowl being made in the vicinaty, and the words recorded are believed to hold the same power.