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Read John 11:1-11
1 Now a man named Lazarus was ill. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay ill, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is ill.’
4 When he heard this, Jesus said, ‘This illness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.’ 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judea.’
8 ‘But Rabbi,’ they said, ‘a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?’
9 Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the day-time will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.’
11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.’
Read John 11:1-2
1 Now a man named Lazarus was ill. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay ill, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.)
No – we haven’t read about her doing that, it’s in John 12:3. As we saw in the introduction there is a lot that John had had to leave out of his gospel, which frustratingly includes how and where Jesus became friendly with this family at Bethany.
Remember that Jesus was currently staying where John had baptised ‘across the Jordan’, an area considered to be beyond Judea.
Read John 11:3
3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is ill.’
They couldn’t bring themselves to directly ask Jesus for a healing miracle, but once he knew that Lazarus was ill surely the natural response would be for him to come?
Read John 11:4
4 When he heard this, Jesus said, ‘This illness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.’
Jesus was well aware that Lazarus was very seriously ill, and that he would shortly die. We know how this story ended – and so did Jesus! So he could confidently tell the disciples that it would not end with Lazarus dead, and all glory would go to God and his son.
Read John 11:5-6
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
6 So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was two more days,
There are those who try to suggest that there was ‘something going on’ between Jesus and Mary, and it may have been a rumour even in John’s time.
I like the way that John says ‘Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus’, simply hinting that Mary wasn’t singled out for Jesus’ love (see also verse 20).
The word 'so' seems to emphasise the connection between Jesus’ love for the family and his delay in going to them! Therefore we need to ask: what is the connection?
Jesus was staying about a day’s journey north of Bethany, so from verse 17 it is obvious that Lazarus had died soon after the messenger had been sent, and the family were already grieving his death. Nothing would be gained by leaving immediately, but waiting two more days would make the coming miracle undeniable.
Read John 11:7-8
7 and then he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judea.’
8 ‘But Rabbi,’ they said, ‘a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?’
It was now less than six months before the Crucifixion; Jesus knew that, but the disciples had no idea. They thought that deliberately putting yourself in danger so soon after escaping from it seemed very foolish. I wonder if he disciples felt that they too were at risk.
Read John 11:9-10
9 Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the day-time will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.’
Jesus knew that this was his eleventh hour, but he had to demonstrate that it was actually safest to walk in the light, doing the will of God. Hiding in the shadows was not why he was here.
Now read John 11:11-16
11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.’
12 His disciples replied, ‘Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.’ 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14 So then he told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’
16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’
Look at the first three verses
11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.’
12 His disciples replied, ‘Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.’
13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
Were the disciples really so dense? Or were they still catching at straws to avoid a journey into danger?
Read John 11:14-15
14 So then he told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’
Why did Jesus say: ‘I am glad I was not there’?
Either because Jesus couldn’t have refused to heal Lazarus or simply that Death couldn’t have visited him with Jesus there (John 11:21).
Why did Jesus say: ‘so that you may believe’? What did they not believe?
That Jesus actually had power over death itself.
Read John 11:16
16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’
Now that they were aware that Lazarus was dead (and probably buried), Thomas thought that the only way to be with him would be if they all died too. For now, he was even prepared to follow Jesus to his death.
Now read John 11:17-37
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 ‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’
23 Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’
24 Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’
25 Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’
27 ‘Yes, Lord,’ she replied, ‘I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. ‘The Teacher is here,’ she said, ‘and is asking for you.’ 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 ‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked.
‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’
37 But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’
Read John 11:17
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
One day’s journey for the messenger, two days delay, and one day to travel to Bethany.
Read John 11:18-19
18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.
‘The Jews of Jerusalem’ were precisely those who wished Jesus dead. Lazarus may have been of their number, or at least he was well-known enough for many of them to want to pay their respects.
How many was ‘many Jews’?
There were several Greek words John could have used:
Few: (little, small, short – Mark 8:7)
Some: (an indefinite number – John 11:46)
Many: (many, great, large – John 11:55)
A number of: (a large number, crowd, multitude – John 12:12)
Crowd: (a large gathering of common people – John 12:9)
Read John 11:20
20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
Is it fair to suggest that Mary was distraught and couldn’t face seeing the one who she thought could have saved her brother – but chose not to?
Read John 11:21
21 ‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
This was the thought in everyone’s mind. They knew that Jesus could have healed him and maybe they felt guilty that they hadn’t sent for Jesus earlier.
Read John 11:22
22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’
She desperately clutched at straws while still not actually believing that Lazarus could be brought back from the dead (v24).
Read John 11:23-24
23 Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’
24 Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’
Martha assumed that Jesus was trying to comfort her in the knowledge that they would eventually be re-united at the last day. Jesus was quick to pick up on that, and asked if that was what she truly believed. But he went on to say that he was not only the resurrection, but life here and now – did she also believe that?
Read John 11:25-26
25 Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’
This is the basis of all faith. All we have to do to have life now, and with Christ in glory, is to believe in Jesus; a simple step, which many in the crowd that day would take, yet for many others it is a step too far. Why is that?
Read John 11:27
27 ‘Yes, Lord,’ she replied, ‘I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’
Martha truly believed: the Saviour promised for so long was here – the very Son of God. That was all that Jesus needed to hear, so he seems to have ended that conversation and asked to see her sister.
Read John 11:28
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. ‘The Teacher is here,’ she said, ‘and is asking for you.’
Do we ever seem to be like Martha? Speaking with her Lord she willingly confesses ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of God’, but to her sister she refers to him only as ‘The Teacher’.
Read John 11:29-31
29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
There is a large cemetery that has been in existence for at least the last three thousand years and by now covers the entire western and much of the southern slopes of the Mount of Olives. It is believed by the Jews to be the place where the Messiah will begin his reign (from Zechariah 14:4), and was (and still is) therefore considered the favoured site to be buried. It may be that Lazarus was buried there although there is a cave in Bethany which traditionally has been considered to be the site of ‘Lazarus’ Tomb’.
(Note: There are no very ancient remains in modern-day Bethany; some think it grew up as pilgrims began to visit the cave, with villagers happy to abandon the original site in order to maximise trade).
News of Jesus’ coming had quickly reached Bethany, and Martha had hurried to meet him, presumably near to Lazarus’ tomb where Jesus was now waiting for Mary.
Read John 11:32
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’
It was so obvious to Mary, as it had been to Martha too: ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died’; and her distress caused her to fall at his feet.
Read John 11:33-34
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 ‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked.
‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied.
Jesus was by now surrounded by a large number of people, openly weeping. Not just the professional mourners, but family and friends who were deeply distressed. What do you make of the phrase ‘he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled’?
(The Greek word ‘tarasso’, translated here as ‘deeply moved… and troubled’ is studied in detail in John 15i). It means to be troubled / disturbed / perplexed / thrown into confusion
Read John 11:35
35 Jesus wept.
Why?
Jesus could only do what his Father commanded. Here he was to perform a miracle and restore Lazarus to life; yet humanly speaking perhaps he would have preferred not to have caused so much grief. Perhaps too he was well aware that his own death was now only weeks away.
Read John 11:36-37
36 Then the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’
37 But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’
Even now some were being critical of Jesus, but at the same time they were admitting that the healing of the blind man was an undeniable fact.
Now the next section - read John 11:38-44
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 ‘Take away the stone,’ he said.
‘But, Lord,’ said Martha, the sister of the dead man, ‘by this time there is a bad odour, for he has been there four days.’
40 Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?’
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.’
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth round his face.
Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go.’
Read John 11:38-39
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 ‘Take away the stone,’ he said.
‘But, Lord,’ said Martha, the sister of the dead man, ‘by this time there is a bad odour, for he has been there four days.’
Mary was practical, and she knew that Lazarus was irrefutably dead. She also knew that after four days the smell of death would be unbearable. Some have tried to suggest that Lazarus was simply in a coma, but everyone in that crowd knew the facts.
Read John 11:40
40 Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?’
This was a challenge to believers and unbelievers alike. For those who believed, their faith would be strengthened and they would truly experience the glory of God. For those who did not believe, how could they continue to refuse the God of Glory?
Read John 11:41-44
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.’
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth round his face.
Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go.’
In what way does the phrase ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go.’ Speak to us of our conversion experience? and of our own future resurrection experience?
We can now look at the final section - read John 11:45-57
45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
‘What are we accomplishing?’ they asked. ‘Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.’
49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, ‘You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realise that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.’
51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.
55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, ‘What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?’ 57 But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.
Read John 11:45-46
45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
The heart of man still responds like this. There are those who gladly believe and others who simply become more and more entrenched in their unbelief.
(‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ Luke 16:31)
What was in the minds of those who ‘went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done’?
Read John 11:47-48
47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
‘What are we accomplishing?’ they asked. ‘Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.’
The very existence of Priests and Pharisees depended on the Temple, and the Mosaic Law. The authority they claimed was based on the fact that it was only they who could interpret and apply the traditions and rituals that now controlled the people.
They knew enough of Jesus’ teaching to realise that if all the people turned to him, they might then start to ignore the rules and rituals, and also their claims of authority; if that happened the people would become ungovernable and the Romans would be very quick to step in to fill that void.
In their eyes Jesus was not only a threat to their power but also to the very existence of the Jewish Nation. His claims and proofs that he was the Messiah they were all looking for, were preposterous and could not be believed.
Read John 11:49-53
49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, ‘You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realise that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.’
51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
There was only one obvious solution – kill Jesus. Caiaphas had been made High Priest in AD 18 by the Roman prefect Valerius Gratus (Who preceded Pontius Pilate, and who had deposed Caiaphas’ father-in-law Annas) and he too was very keen to retain his position.
Read John 11:54
54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.
It was now only a matter of weeks before the final Passover. The Disciples may well have been on edge because of the plain threats to Jesus’ life, and may well have wondered why they were not returning to Galilee. Jesus had other things on his mind.
Read John 11:55-57
55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, ‘What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?’ 57 But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.
Because of the need to perform ritual cleansing, and as transport was so uncertain, people coming to Jerusalem for Passover from further afield would arrive during the weeks before and would gather in the Temple courts. Jesus was the name on everyone’s lips, and everyone was on the lookout for him.
