John Chapter Eleven
Death of Lazarus
11:1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
John once again provides his readers background information for the following event. He introduces us to Lazarus from Bethany. Not the same Bethany where Jesus and His disciples were last reported as visiting at the end of chapter ten (being on the east side of the Jordan River), this town was less than two miles from Jerusalem. John tells us that it was also the village of Mary and her sister Martha. He identified Mary as the woman who anointed Jesus with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair (even though the wiping of the feet is a later event that will be recorded in chapter twelve, most readers would have already known about it, see also Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; John 12:1-8).[1] In Luke’s account he reported the same two sisters were previously visited by Jesus (see Luke 10:38-42). Lazarus was their brother and he was sick, so they sent for Jesus. The message was simply, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” When Jesus heard the message, He stated that this illness will not lead to death, it is for the glory of God so that the Son of God may be glorified through the illness.
11:5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
John adds a curious statement, that Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus so when He heard that Lazarus was ill, He stayed two more days where He was at (in or around Bethany on the eastern shore of the Jordan River). Why would Jesus wait two more days? When quickly read it does not sound like a loving relationship. But going back to what Jesus said when He first heard (see verse 4), He said this illness would not lead to death. Being Omniscient He would have known what was going to happen, but He never said that Lazarus wouldn’t die, just that this illness would not result in death and that it will bring glory to God and the Son of God. Some believe that Jesus knew that Lazarus was already dead so there was no need to hurry back. Staying two more days would strengthen the impact of the miracle that was soon to be performed. But, why would John write that Jesus loved them? Possibly to prevent a reader from coming to the conclusion that Jesus was indifferent towards them and did not care, which could happen if these verses were read quickly.
11:7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?”
The disciples bring up a valid concern, at least from their perspective, that they just left Judea because the Jews threatened to stone Jesus (see John 10:31-39) and now He wants to return. What His disciples did not understand was that Jesus’ arrest and death would be on God’s timing and until then there was no real danger. There will always be a huge gap between God’s wisdom and timing versus man’s wisdom and timing. Another reminder why Christians always need to keep their eyes on Jesus while listening to the Holy Spirit.
11:9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
Jesus answers with a short parable. In most ancient cultures a full day was equally divided into two twelve-hour periods, twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of nighttime. Jesus noted that during the day people don’t stumble as they can see. But during the night they stumble because there is no light. This relates to them having Jesus with them, as He is the Light of the World, they will be okay traveling back to Judea and Bethany. Those that walk in the night, referring to the Jews, those that do not have the light in them, will fail to harm Jesus before His time.
11:11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Jesus informs His disciples that they are going back to Bethany where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived. He uses the euphemism that Lazarus had fallen asleep and that He needed to go there to wake him. The disciples couldn’t understand why Jesus was needed to wake him, if he was just sleeping, he would just wake up on his own. Jesus responds by directly saying that Lazarus had died. He then tells them that He was glad that He wasn’t there at the time, for their sake. The miracle that He will soon do will make it clear to both the disciples and many of the Jews, that Jesus has authority over death. It will strengthen their belief in Him.
One of the disciples named Thomas, also known as the Twin (‘Thomas’ in Hebrew means ’Twin’, ‘Didymus is the Greek equivalent), who, due to his doubting after Jesus’ resurrection (see John 20:24-28), has been labeled by theologians, commentators and various teachers as a doubter. This short, one verse, reference to Thomas offers a different viewpoint. Thinking that Jesus would be arrested and executed if they went back to Judea, Thomas was ready to die with and for Jesus, demonstrating his love and courage.
I Am...The Resurrection and The Life
11:17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.
John again sets the stage for this event. First, we are told that Lazarus had died and has been in the tomb four days. Secondly, the town of Bethany was just outside Jerusalem (informing the reader they were back in Judea), and that many mourners had gathered to console Martha and Mary for the loss of their brother Lazarus.[2]
11:20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
When Martha found out that Jesus was near, she went out to meet Him before arriving at the house. Mary remained at home, some believe she was too upset with Jesus to go out and greet Him. This doesn’t seem likely as she will soon quickly respond to His request for her to come (see verses 28-29). When Martha met up with Jesus, she told Him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Martha understood that Jesus was sent by God and through that relationship, has power and authority. Except she did not think that included power over death. If Jesus would’ve been there during Lazarus’ illness, she knew that Jesus could have healed him, but now that he is dead, the most she could hope for was the potential of something beneficial from God. Jesus tells her that her brother will rise again. Not understanding that Jesus was referring to raising him up right now, Martha responded that she knew that Lazarus would rise again during the resurrection of believers near the end of time in the future. Then Jesus told her: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Martha answered Him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” Jesus identified Himself as being THE Resurrection and THE Life. There is no other way one can live after death except through Jesus, plus, as He is the Creator of all Life He is the source of all life, truly THE LIFE. He alone conquered death for all of humanity, salvation is only available by accepting Jesus as their Savior. Martha truly believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the Son of God!
When Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” There are two popular viewpoints used to interpret these powerful words. The first is that Jesus is referring to a future event when He returns, those that have died prior to that event will be resurrected with their glorified bodies, and those that are alive at that time will never die (also receiving their new bodies). The second most-popular view is that Jesus is proclaiming that believers will experience death but not the second death (see Revelation 20:11-15).
Jesus Weeps
11:28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.
After Martha confessed that she believed that Jesus was the Christ, she was asked by Jesus to have Mary come join them. John does not specify why she attempted to privately send the message, but undoubtedly she was trying to avoid a large crowd of mourners to follow. When Mary received the message she quickly got up and went to see Jesus.
11:30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Since Jesus had not moved from the location where Martha met up with Him, it is likely that Jesus did not want to visit them at home, he wanted them to witness a miracle. When Mary approached Jesus she said the same thing her sister did moments earlier, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” At that time she too did not fully understand who He is, she saw death as being final, the end.
11:33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.
Jesus saw Mary crying and the mourners crying. The text reads that He was, “deeply moved,” the Greek ‘enebrimēsato’[3] means to “storm with anger,” to be enraged or be indignant. Jesus could have potentially been enraged and moved in His spirit over a number of elements: 1) everyone’s lack of understanding who He was, with all of His teaching and the signs and wonders He performed, the people still did not believe that He had authority over death; 2) a friend that He loved had died; 3) the mourners were taking advantage of the situation and acting like pagans; and 4) knowing the ultimate cause of death being sin and how disobedience to God has led to tremendous suffering and the reality of death. John then reports that Jesus was also greatly troubled, a human response to a loved-one dying.
11:34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So 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 also have kept this man from dying?”
Jesus asks where Lazarus was buried, so they lead Him to the cemetery. Jesus was then seen crying (Greek ‘edakrysen’,[4] found only this one time in the Bible, it refers to shedding a tear, as opposed to the other references in this chapter to weeping, Greek ‘klaiō’,[5] which refers to loud crying and wailing). The Jews noted that Jesus must have loved Lazarus. John then adds that some of them taunted Him by saying that He healed a blind man, that He could have prevented Lazarus from dying.
Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead
11:38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”
As Jesus approaches the tomb, He is again deeply moved (same word as in verse 33). John records that the tomb was a cave with a stone that laid against the opening. Jesus asks them to remove the stone. Martha, perhaps thinking that Jesus just wanted to see Lazarus, then interrupts and questions Him, saying that it has been four days since he died and that there will be a foul smell (or “he stinketh,” KJV). They still lacked faith in Jesus, this may have been the reason why He was once again indignant.
11:40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Jesus asks her to remember, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” Even though John and none of the other gospel writers reported this statement prior to this event, the words satisfy Martha (Jesus did state something similar in verses 20-27, and earlier in verse four). So they removed the stone from the cave’s opening. At that time Jesus looked up and prayed to His Father, thanking Him for listening and that for the benefit of the people witnessing that they may believe that you sent me, He called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” Then Lazarus, still wrapped in cloth, came out of the cave. Many speculate that if Jesus didn’t call Lazarus by name, that others may have risen from the dead. Jesus then told them to unbind him from the cloth wrappings so Lazarus could be free and walk again.
Considerations
Alive and Free, But Still Bound
When Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave, it is interesting to note that he came out still wrapped in the linen strips from his head to his toes. Until such time the linen strips were removed, Lazarus was still incapacitated, alive but still bound. Sadly, this curious situation can be a model of many Christians today. Jesus not only gave us eternal life with Him in heaven, He also has given us life and freedom in this life. Each Christian has been given a role, a task, or perhaps best described as a responsibility to serve as Jesus’ ambassadors (see Matthew 28:18-20; 2 Corinthians 5:20). A means to help others find Jesus. He did all the work, Jesus has freed them from the bondage of sin, but for many they are still ‘wrapped’ in their old sins and beliefs. They have not yet been transformed from the ways and limited thinking (often in the form of presuppositions) of the world and other religions. The apostle Paul would remind us that the transformation of the mind can only come from God and from knowing His Word (see Romans 12:1-2), but he also wrote that God brings other people into the lives of believers to equip them for His service (see Ephesians 4:11-16), people that will help unwrap the ‘world’ off them, freeing them so that they can be ministers of the gospel message too. Here’s a quick question for anyone reading this, are you still wrapped or now an unwrapper?
The Plot to Kill Jesus
11:45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
John reports that many of the Jews (undoubtedly the majority of them were the mourners) that came with Mary that witnessed Lazarus being brought back to life after being dead for four days, believed in Jesus. He also reported that some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus did. People witnessed the same event but had two very different responses (see Considerations below).
11:47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard what Jesus did, they convened a council (Sanhedrin) meeting to discuss what they are doing to do with Jesus. They admit that Jesus has performed many signs but fail to see God in Him, they are more concerned over their status, jobs, and their version of Judaism (the structure by which they have their status and jobs). They see the Jews accepting Jesus as the Messiah and potentially turning away from the traditional system of their religion that gave them a national identity, their economy (life around the Temple and affiliated festivals) and of course their main concern, their current form of leadership. Everything they believed in could collapse quickly, especially if the Romans perceived these changes.
11:49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
The high priest Caiaphas spoke out rebuking the council’s thinking. He was the appointed high priest, but since he was appointed by Rome and not by God, many considered Annas the high priest (Caiaphas’ father-in-law). Which is why the gospels refer to two high priests.[6] John is not suggesting that a high priest’s term was one year, he is simply reporting that Caiaphas was high priest that year.
Caiaphas said that it is better for them that one man die instead of their nation dying. From his perspective he was saying that killing one person would end their fears of loosing their status, jobs, and national identity. But John also notes that God had a different insight to offer, same words, different meaning. Essentially inferring that the death of one man would not only be able to stop the condemnation of the people of Israel, but the entire human race. John relays that Caiaphas did not come up with that idea on his own, that he received a prophecy that Jesus would die for the nation and ultimately bring together all of God’s children that have been scattered around the world (Jews and Gentiles). So the council decided to have Jesus executed.
11:54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.
To prevent any further encounters with the Jewish leaders, Jesus no longer walked where He could be easily seen or followed. He left the area around Bethany (see verse one) and went and stayed in the town of Ephraim, approximately eight miles north of Jerusalem.
11:55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. 56 They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” 57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.
John notes that the time to celebrate the Passover was near. This is the third Passover mentioned in John’s gospel account (see John 2:13; 6:4). In order for a Jew to participate in any of the festivals ordained by God (see Leviticus chapter 23), they needed to be ceremonially clean[7] (see Leviticus 15:31; Numbers 9:6, see also Numbers 5:3; 19:13, 20). Since the Feast of Unleavened Bread was a mandatory-to-attend festival which was the day after Passover, people often came earlier just in case they could not retain their ceremonial cleanliness during their trek to Jerusalem. As some of the cleansing rituals required one week to complete. It is believed that during the three pilgrimage festivals that the population of Jerusalem often exceeded one million people. Everyone was looking for Jesus, some to see and hear Him teach, while others wanted to have Him arrested and executed. He was the topic of discussions and rumors throughout the city and inside the Temple. Some wondered whether or not He would attend Passover. The chief priests and the Pharisees told people to be on the look out for Jesus and if He was spotted they were to be notified so they could arrest Him.
Considerations
The dilemma is what to do about Jesus. At this time people had to make a decision regarding Jesus as His teaching, signs, and wonders forced them to think. They had to either accept He was telling the truth and that He has authority over death, or consider He was a fraud.[8] Now, before we begin to condemn the Jewish leadership for their self-righteous blindness of seeing who Jesus really is, we should first think about what would we have done? Imagine if someone like Jesus showed up today and did miraculous things and whose teachings were different than what you were taught in church. Some of you would accept the person because the miracles offered legitimacy to his words. Others would immediately deny him because of what he taught did not match the teachings you understood to be correct. Yet there would likely be others that would take what they heard and diligently search and study the Bible to see if what they were previous taught was true (like the Bereans, see Acts 17:11). Which one would you be? We are still faced with the same dilemma today. God is calling us to be open-minded enough to study the Bible and be willing to closely examine what we were previous taught (or previously understood to be correct) and compare it with the truth of the Bible and let the Holy Spirit guide our decision. Those decisions may result in some painful changes, but they will ultimately strengthen us. If the Holy Spirit is leading you to reevaluate a long-held belief don’t be afraid to change. But we always need to understand, God will NOT lead in a direction or understanding that is contrary to the Bible. All believers are to regularly study the Bible, no exceptions!
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[1] See commentary under Matthew 26:6-7 regarding the differences and similarities of the varied accounts of Jesus' anointing.
[2] See commentary under Matthew 9:18-26 regarding the use of professional mourners.
[3] Strong’s Greek 1690.
[4] Strong’s Greek 1145.
[5] Strong’s Greek 2799.
[6] See commentary and Considerations under Matthew 26:3-5.
[7] See commentary under Matthew 23:27-28.
[8] See also Considerations under Matthew 5:19-20 "Authority."