|
| Chapter 11 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
|
1 ¶ Now a certain man was sick named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (It was that Mary who had anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) 3 Therefore his sisters sent unto Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick." 4 When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 When He heard therefore that Lazarus was sick, He stayed two days still in the same place where He was. 7 Then after that He said to His disciples, "Let us go into Judea again." 8 His disciples said unto Him, "Master, the Jews of late sought to stone Thee, and goest Thou thither again?" 9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. 10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth because there is no light in him." 11 These things said He, and after that He said unto them, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awaken him out of sleep." 12 Then said His disciples, "Lord, if he sleep he shall do well." 13 However Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He had spoken of the taking of rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus said unto them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent that ye may believe. Nevertheless let us go unto him." 16 Then Thomas, who was called Didymus, said unto his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." 17 ¶ Then when Jesus came, He found that he had lain in the grave four days already. 18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about two miles away, 19 and many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. 20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him; but Mary sat still in the house. 21 Then Martha said unto Jesus, "Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee." 23 Jesus said unto her, "Thy brother shall rise again." 24 Martha said unto Him, "I know that he shall rise again at the resurrection on the Last Day." 25 Jesus said unto her, "I am the Resurrection and the Life. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; 26 and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?" 27 She said unto Him, "Yea, Lord, I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, who should come into the world." 28 And when she had so said, she went her way and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, "The Master has come, and calleth for thee." 29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came unto Him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met Him. 31 The Jews then, who were with her in the house and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, "She goeth unto the grave to weep there." 32 Then when Mary had come where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying unto Him, "Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother would not have died." 33 ¶ When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping who came with her, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled, 34 and said, "Where have ye laid him?" They said unto Him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then said the Jews, "Behold, how he loved him!" 37 And some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?" 38 Jesus therefore again, groaning in Himself, came to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, "Take ye away the stone." Martha, the sister of him that was dead, said unto Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he hath been dead four days." 40 Jesus said unto her, "Said I not unto thee that if thou would believe, thou should see the glory of God?" 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. 42 And I knew that Thou hearest Me always, but because of the people who stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me." 43 And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" 44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said unto them, "Loose him, and let him go." 45 ¶ Then many of the Jews who came to Mary and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. 47 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council and said, "What shall we do? For this man doeth many miracles. 48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe in him, and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation." 49 And one of them named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, "Ye know nothing at all, 50 nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not." 51 And he spoke this not of himself, but, being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; 52 and not for that nation only, but that also He should gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. 53 So from that day forth, they took counsel together to put Him to death. 54 Jesus therefore walked no longer openly among the Jews, but went thence unto a region near the wilderness into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with His disciples. 55 And the Jews’ Passover was nigh at hand, and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. 56 Then they sought for Jesus and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, saying, "What think ye--that he will not come to the feast?" 57 Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command that if any man knew where He was, he should report it, that they might take Him. |
In this chapter we find a record of a very important miracle of Jesus, it was not the last miracle before the cross but it was to have a very great affect on his followers and enemies. Jesus had raised others from the dead but Lazarus had been dead and buried in a tomb for four days. It was a miracle the Jewish leaders could not deny or avoid. In this chapter we see that Christ has the ultimate power, if Jesus could not control death then everything else he did was a waste of time. 1 Cor 15:19. Death is our last enemy 1 Cor 15:26 but this miracle shows that Jesus has all power over mans enemy death. Three groups of people are affected by this event. v1-16 The Disciples. Jesus was at Bethabara, about 20 miles from Bethany John 10:40 when the messenger came from Bethany of the sickness of Lazarus. If The messenger had travelled quickly he could have just made that journey in one day. Jesus now does a strange thing, He waits a further 2 days so that by the time Jesus and the disciple arrived at Bethany Lazarus had been dead for four days. v4 Was this a message Jesus gave to the messenger to take to Mary & Martha? If this was the case by the time he arrived back at Bethany Lazarus would have been dead. "Sickness not unto death" must have hit Mary and Martha hard when they had just buried Lazarus. Jesus was telling them to trust Him no matter what had happened. The disciples must have been very confused by the actions of Jesus, He loved Lazarus but did not go to his help, He deliberately delayed. Why had He not healed Lazarus from the distance, He had done this before with the noble man’s son John 4:43-54. Jesus was working to God’s plan. The fact that God was prepared to sacrifice His beloved Son on the cross because of His love for us shows that love and suffering do go together in God’s plan. God’s plan for each of us may involve periods of sadness and the problems of life. Mary and Martha’s message had not told Jesus what to do, just "we need your help" They knew that it would be dangerous for Jesus to return to Judea, they were perhaps praying for Him to just ‘speak the word’ from Bethabara. The message Jesus sent "Trust me, I am the Son of God, it is for The glory of God." was telling them to live by faith and not by sight. Why did Jesus delay? He was following a divine timetable, this miracle was going to show who He was to all the people. Jesus also knew that this miracle would cause the Jewish leadership to seek to destroy Him even more. v9-13 Jesus calms the disciples fears, "we are working to the Fathers timetable, He will protect us all." But the disciples did not understand the schedule or that Lazarus was ‘a sleep,’ to them a sign of getting better. v14 The Bible often refers to death for a believer as ‘sleep’ Acts 7:60; 1 Cor 15:51-55; 1 Thess 4:13-18 v15 This event is to increase your faith. v16 Thomas, was a man full of doubts John 20:24-28 but this verse shows that he was willing to risk his own life for Jesus. Jesus was not only concerned about His disciples faith but also the two sisters. v17-40 The Sisters. Mary and Martha were very different in their personalities, Martha was the one who was always working, while Mary was the one who enjoyed thinking and listening. It was Martha who ran to meet Jesus, but both sisters had the same thoughts, "If only you had been here," v21 and v32. A feeling of disappointment but also their faith could be seen, that Jesus could have done it ‘IF.’ Martha was quick to show her faith. v22. Jesus was quick to respond to this with a promise of her brothers rising from death, v23. Jesus was thinking of the present, Martha was thinking of the future resurrection on the Day of Judgement. The reply of Jesus is the 5th "I AM" statements. It is here we see a wonderful promise of a future, a promise of resurrection. 2 Tim 1:10. If you believe, you have a future. Jesus confirms that one day believers would be raised from the dead, v25 Rom 6:4,5; Gal 2:20; 1 Thess 4:13-18 v27 Martha believes in Jesus and uses 3 titles for Jesus; Lord, Messiah(Christ);The Son of God; to prove it. v28 Martha goes and calls Mary secretly, the house may have been full of Jewish leaders and she was protecting Jesus. But they misunderstood her actions when she left to meet Jesus v31. They must have had a surprise when she meet Jesus and fell at His feet. As Jesus saw the sadness and weeping for Lazarus He "groaned within and was troubled," He could see the terrible effect on man of sin in the world. The fear of death for each one. v34 Jesus knew that Lazarus had died yet asked where he was buried, Jesus never used His divine powers when His human abilities were able to do the task. v35 Shows the humanity of Jesus, a love for Lazarus and his sisters was showing, but He may also have been thinking that Lazarus was in heaven, away from all the problems and pain of life and He was about to bring Lazarus back to this worlds situation. v37 Did they think that Jesus could not have done anything to help Lazarus, were His tears of sadness and regret? No one expected a miracle. v38 they reach the cave being used as a grave, "Open the cave." Martha’s faith fails at this point, "his body is starting to rot away by now." Jesus reminds her of His promise v40. v41-57 The Spectators. v41 Jesus prayed, He thanks the Father for hearing his prayer, what prayer? Perhaps when He first knew about Lazarus as the Father revealed His plan, but now the prayer of Jesus is for the benefit of the unbelieving spectators. v43-44 Jesus calls Lazarus to rise from the dead, Lazarus appears still bound in the grave clothes, must have been difficult to walk bound up like that, perhaps God gave him a helping hand? The ‘living witness’ of the miracle touched many hearts and God brought many to believe in His Son. v46 "But some went their way to the Pharisees" These people saw Jesus prove that He had the power of God in Him, He was the Messiah, but they did not believe. v47-52 The chief priest and council (Sanhedrin) were called to a meeting to discus the situation. They were worried about their position not who Jesus was. Caiaphas makes a divine statement without realizing it, "it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people." v53 From that day the official decision was that Jesus must die. Matt 12:14; Luke 19:47. The Leaders thought that they had everything in control, but they did not realize that they were all part of God’s plan. Act 2:23. v54-57 Jesus now withdraws Himself from public view to Ephraim. While the crowds gather for the Passover in Jerusalem, the leaders were hunting for Jesus everywhere in Jerusalem. |
Easy English Translation
| Back to previous page | Return to Home Page |
| The Gospel According to St. John |
