What is the importance of the story of Lazarus in the novel, Transcendent Kingdom?

The story of Lazarus, which Gifty contemplates in Chapter 40, is a symbol of Gifty's distress and confusion after Nana's death and her hope that her mother's mental health condition will improve. She tries to make sense of Jesus' decision to raise Lazarus from the dead, remarking, "Why would Jesus steal his own thunder in that way, and why did we not sing songs for Lazarus, the man who God thought deserved to live again?" (195). She is seeking some sort of logic in religion and death where there is none. She also wishes her mother would get out of bed and recover from her mental health collapse—that she would rise again like Lazarus.