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John 11:17-44

Good News Translation (GNT)

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Jesus the Resurrection and the Life
17  When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus
   had been buried four days before.
18  Bethany was less than two miles from
   Jerusalem,
19  and many Judeans had come to see Martha
   and Mary to comfort them about their brother's
   death.
20  When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
   she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed
   in the house.
21  Martha said to Jesus, "If you had been here,
   Lord, my brother would not have died!
22  But I know that even now God will give you
   whatever you ask him for."
23  "Your brother will rise to life," Jesus told her.
24  "I know," she replied, "that he will rise to life
   on the last day."
25  Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and
   the life. Those who believe in me will live,
   even though they die;
26  and those who live and believe in me will
   never die. Do you believe this?"
27  "Yes, Lord!" she answered. "I do believe
   that you are the Messiah, the Son of God,
   who was to come into the world."

Jesus Weeps
28  After Martha said this, she went back and
   called her sister Mary privately.
   "The Teacher is here," she told her, "and is
   asking for you."
29  When Mary heard this, she got up and hurried
   out to meet him.
(30  Jesus had not yet arrived in the village, but
   was still in the place where Martha had met
   him.)
31  The people who were in the house with Mary
   comforting her followed her when they saw
   her get up and hurry out. They thought that
   she was going to the grave to weep there.
32  Mary arrived where Jesus was, and as soon
   as she saw him, she fell at his feet.
   "Lord," she said, "if you had been here, my
   brother would not have died!"
33  Jesus saw her weeping, and he saw how
   the people with her were weeping also; his
   heart was touched, and he was deeply moved.
34  "Where have you buried him?" he asked them.
   "Come and see, Lord," they answered.
35  Jesus wept.
36  "See how much he loved him!" the people
   said.
37  But some of them said, "He gave sight to the
   blind man, didn't he? Could he not have kept
   Lazarus from dying?"

Lazarus Is Brought to Life
38  Deeply moved once more, Jesus went to the
   tomb, which was a cave with a stone placed
   at the entrance.
39  "Take the stone away!" Jesus ordered.
    Martha, the dead man's sister, answered,
   "There will be a bad smell, Lord. He has been
   buried four days!"
40  Jesus said to her, "Didn't I tell you that
   you would see God's glory if you believed?"
41  They took the stone away. Jesus looked up
   and said, "I thank you, Father, that you        listen to me.
42  I know that you always listen to me, but I say
   this for the sake of the people here,
   so that they will believe that you sent me."
43  After he had said this, he called out in a loud
   voice, "Lazarus, come out!"
44  He came out, his hands and feet wrapped in
   grave cloths, and with a cloth around his face.
   "Untie him," Jesus told them, "and let him go."

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Commentary taken from
'The Applied New Testament Commentary'
(Kingsway)

The Death of Lazarus
John 11:1-45

Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha. They lived in Bethany which was less than two miles from Jerusalem.

Mary was the one who later anointed Jesus with expensive perfume. When Lazarus became sick, his sisters sent messengers to Jesus, who was staying on the other side of the Jordan River, about sixteen miles away.

The messengers told Jesus: "The one you love is sick." Jesus knew Lazarus and his sisters well, and had great love for them. Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death - that is, Lazarus will survive in the end."

The purpose of Lazarus' sickness was to bring glory to God and to God's Son, Jesus. Even while Jesus was saying this, He knew that Lazarus had already died. Lazarus had died just after the messengers had been sent.

Because He knew that Lazarus was already dead, Jesus did not go immediately. He waited for two days. He knew that He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, and whether He did it two days later or four days later didn't make that much difference.

He waited until it was the right time for Him to go. Bethany was located near Jerusalem in the province of Judea, where the Jews had several times tried to kill Jesus.

His disciples knew it was very dangerous to return to Judea. In New Testament times, no one had watches. Daylight was considered to be twelve hours long. (In winter months the "twelve hours" would be shorter.)

In those hours he can easily see by this world's light, that is, the sun. Therefore, a man must work while he has opportunity. A man's life is like twelve hours of daylight. A man must finish his work before he dies.

Even though there was danger in Judea, Jesus had work there that had to be done while He was still on earth - while there was still light. There were still "one or two hours of daylight" left in His life, and the Jews could not kill Him until His work was done.

At night it is difficult for a man to walk, because he has no light. This has a spiritual meaning. While Jesus is with us, there is spiritual light. But when we walk without him, there is no light in us, in our souls.

The man who does not have the light of Jesus in his soul will surely stumble. Jesus then told His disciples that Lazarus had fallen asleep. He meant that Lazarus had died. Often in the Bible, to fall asleep means "to die".

For believers in Jesus, death is like sleep. Christians never completely die, but they will awake again. The disciples, who did not know Lazarus was dead, thought that Jesus only meant that Lazarus had fallen asleep in an ordinary way. In that case, they thought, he would recover.

Jesus told His disciples plainly that Lazarus was actually dead. He knew this by supernatural means; no one had told Him. Then He said, " for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe."

If Jesus had been there, He would have healed Lazarus before he died. That would have been a lesser miracle. But to raise a dead man - especially one who had been dead for four days - was a very great miracle.

Such a miracle would increase and strengthen the faith of the disciples. Thomas, called Didymus, (the word Thomas means "twin" in the Hebrew language. Didymus means "twin" in the Greek language.) one of the twelve disciples, urged his fellow disciples to accompany Jesus to Judea, that we might die with him.

Thomas was ready to die for Jesus, and so were the others. But in the end, when Jesus was arrested, they all deserted Him and fled. The disciples' faith was weak.

Jesus Comforts the Sisters
Lazarus had been dead for four days when Jesus arrived at his house. It had taken the messengers one day to reach Jesus. Jesus had waited two days. Then it had taken Jesus one day to reach Bethany.

Many Jewish friends of the family had come to comfort Mary and Martha. However, as soon as she heard Jesus was coming, Martha left Mary and their Jewish friends and went out to meet Jesus.

Martha didn't rebuke Jesus for being late.
She only said that if He had been there before Lazarus died, He could have healed him. Perhaps Martha had not heard that Jesus was able to heal people even from a distance.

Then Martha expressed her faith that God would give Jesus anything He asked for. Perhaps she was suggesting to Jesus that He could raise her brother from the dead. But later, when Jesus actually went to raise Lazarus, Martha didn't think it would be possible.

Like the disciples, Martha had some faith. But when her faith was really tested, it failed.

Jesus then told Martha that Lazarus would rise again. Martha thought He meant that Lazarus would rise at the end of the world, at the last day, when there would be a resurrection of all bodies.

But Jesus was not talking only about the end of the world. He was bringing to Martha and Lazarus the power to rise from the dead even in this life.

Jesus gives us a resurrection for our bodies, and eternal life for our souls. Jesus not only gives life; He is life. That life is eternal life, spiritual life. To receive such spiritual life one must first die, and then be resurrected, or reborn.

Death to the old sinful life comes first; then resurrection; then life. To show that He had the power to give new spiritual life, Jesus gave Lazarus new physical life. To show that He could raise men from spiritual death into spiritual life, Jesus raised Lazarus from physical death to physical life.

Then Jesus told Martha that everyone who believes in Him will live, even though he dies. The believer's body dies, but his soul and spirit does not. Physical death is only a gateway to eternal life. The believer need have no fear of death. Death cannot harm our soul.

Whoever is spiritually alive and believes in Jesus will never die. This is not just some idea or theory. This is a truth we need to believe and act on. Eternal life comes only through faith. "Do you believe this?" Jesus asked Martha.

Martha believed. Especially she believed in Jesus; she believed that He was indeed the Messiah, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. To believe less than this, about Jesus, is not adequate; it will not save us.

Then Mary went out to meet Jesus. She repeated to Jesus the same words that Martha had said to Him earlier. When Jesus saw the sorrow of Mary and her Jewish friends, He Himself was deeply moved in His human spirit, in His heart.

He was troubled. It is not certain why Jesus was moved and troubled. He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead; therefore, He had no reason to feel sorrow on His own account. Some believe that He was angry at the unbelief of the Jews who were with Mary.

Others say He was troubled because He knew that after raising Lazarus, the Jewish leaders would quickly arrest Him and put Him to death. Perhaps, however, He was troubled simply by seeing the sorrow which Mary and Martha had had to endure for four days.

Jesus was a man like us and could experience sorrow. The Jews did not understand why He wept. They thought He wept because Lazarus had died and He couldn't do anything about it. The Jews asked each other, "Why couldn't Jesus have kept Lazarus from dying? What happened to His power? He healed the blind man. Why couldn't He help Lazarus?"

Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead
When Martha saw that Jesus was about to raise Lazarus, her faith faltered. "Don't you know that Lazarus has been dead for four days?" she said to Jesus.

Jesus gently rebuked Martha for her lack of faith. Jesus had told her that she would see the glory of God, as He had also told His disciples. Notice that, in order for Martha to see God's glory, faith was necessary.

Those without faith would simply see a miracle - a man rising from the dead. Those with faith, on the other hand, would see the significance of the miracle - that is, the glory of God.

Jesus knew that God would answer His request and raise Lazarus. Therefore, He first thanked God for hearing His request. Even before He received the answer to His prayer, Jesus knew that He had obtained it.

Jesus thanked God out loud, so that the people standing around could hear. He wanted them to know that it was by God's power that He was raising Lazarus. The people needed to know that Jesus did not work on His own. He had been sent by God to do the works of God.

Ordinary wonderworkers always try to glorify themselves. Jesus, however, always gave the glory to God.

Then Jesus called to Lazarus, and he came out of the tomb. He was wrapped with strips of linen. It was the Jews' custom to wrap the bodies of the dead before burial.

Lazarus' legs were wrapped separately; thus he was able to walk. It must have been an extraordinary sight! How could one not believe in Jesus after seeing such a miracle?

Among the Jews who had come to console Mary and Martha, many believed in Jesus because of Lazarus' resurrection.

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