1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
This is the first mention of a "Lazarus" in John's Gospel. Lazarus is only mentioned in Luke and John's Gospel. Luke's account tells a parable about a rich man and "a poor man named Lazarus" who dies and experiences a sort of resurrection to Abraham's side.
Why is the literal miracle is only described in John's Gospel? This has been a problem to some readers, as they believe it undermines the authenticity of the miracle. Surely, a miracle like raising a person from the dead would have more than one account, right?
And yet, this is not the only instance of Jesus raising a person from the dead. He raises Jairus' daughter, which is recorded in the three Synoptic Gospels. He raises the widow's son at Nain, which is only in Luke's Gospel. And here in John, we have a third account of Jesus raising a person from the dead.
Perhaps resurrection was not as uncommon in Jesus' ministry as we have come to believe?
Some have speculated that the sources for the other Gospels were not eye-witnesses to this miracle. So, it was omitted from their accounts.
It is also worth mentioning that the Gospels are not an attempt to record every single second of Jesus' earthly life. They are written to convey a greater truth about who Jesus is and why their readers should believe in him.
Here's where I land: Each Gospel includes an account of Jesus raising a person from the dead. If I believe that Jesus did it once, then I have no problem believing he did it multiple times. And I also believe that he will raise a great many people from the dead in the hopefully near future. (More on this later)
Finally, it is worth mentioning at the beginning of this chapter that this miracle that is about to take place is, perhaps, the most consequential miracle Jesus performed. I'll get into the "why" in a little bit, but the raising of Lazarus indicates this miracle may have been the match in the powder keg for the "let's kill Jesus" plot hatched by the Pharisees, out of fear for how the crowds may react to the spread of this miracle.
2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill.
You may remember this story from earlier in the Gospel...
Except, you don't. Sequentially, it does not take place until the next chapter. This may seem like an interesting decision on John's end, and yet, it is important to remember that this Gospel was written ~70 years after Jesus' death and resurrection. The other Gospels have been composed, and beyond that, many of the stories of Jesus are well-known by oral recounting.
Mary's anointing of Jesus must have been a well-known story by this time. So, John uses an allusion to that story to provide his readers with context.
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.”
This seems strange. Jesus spent considerable time in Bethany. This is where Jesus stayed during the last week of his life. It is in proximity to Jerusalem.
Surely, he must have interacted with Lazarus hundreds of times. And yet, this is the first time Lazarus is explicitly mentioned in this Gospel, but we also know -- from this verse -- that Jesus loved Lazarus!
Again, the Gospels are not a full biography of Jesus' earthly life. But they are all about one guy! They are written with a singular purpose, which I mentioned before. Lazarus (or really any character not named Jesus) is specifically mentioned when his life intersects with the larger narrative of who Jesus is, what he has come to do, and why we should believe in him.
"does not lead to death" or οὐκ ἔστιν πρὸς θάνατον - the preposition πρὸς has many renderings, but in this case it denotes a movement towards a final goal or state. So, Jesus is saying, "This illness does not lead to death in a lasting state."
Obviously, Lazarus does truly die and remains dead for a number of days. Otherwise, this resurrection is not very impressive. But he's not going to stay dead.
This has happened for "the glory of God... the Son of God may be glorified through it." What does this mean? Lazarus died not to stay dead, but that God's glory may be revealed in His Son raising him from the dead. And God's glory lasts forever.
Jesus knows that this miracle will solidify his enemies' resolve to arrest him, which will lead to his death, which leads to His Resurrection. In his death and Resurrection, the full glory of the Son of God is revealed to the whole world.
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.
Jesus loves Martha and Lazarus + he knows that Lazarus is significantly ill = So, he stays two days longer?
Why doesn't Jesus go to Lazarus immediately? If you go back to John 7, Jesus makes it a point that he won't act to satisfy the expectations of the people around him. He doesn't go to Jerusalem with his family for the Feast.
Instead, as always, he acts according to his Father's will and timing.
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?”
Remember from the end of John 10, Jesus called himself equal and one with God, just outside of the Temple, and the Jews tried to stone him.
Jesus escapes from them and goes across the Jordan, where he spends some amount of time teaching and baptizing.
Obviously, it was a short enough period of time that his disciples think those people are still worked up enough to stone him.
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.”
The "twelve hours" or "day" is the time appointed to Jesus' earthly ministry.
Jesus' point is this: I came here to do a job. I am going to work until the day ends, or the job is completed.
This is what Jesus proclaims from the cross in John 19:30, "Τετέλεσται" or "It [my job] has been completed properly."
My takeaway is this: Do what you're called to do, while you can still do it.
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.”
I love that Jesus describes it as falling asleep. Really, much of the Bible describes it in this way. And the disciples misunderstand what he is saying because he is operating from a totally different position of power.
The solution is simple, Jesus only needs to go and wake him up.
Fortunately, for both the disciples and us, Jesus is able to speak to our level of incomprehension. Verse 14, in my translation goes, "Obviously, I am not talking about literal sleep. The dude is dead."
He is not fazed by Lazarus' death, nor is he surprised. All it takes for Jesus to bring a person back into life is his voice. It has performative power to change anything and everything.
Jesus is glad that his disciples will get to witness this miracle. In a perfect world, surely the disciples see Jesus raise the dead and think... "Nothing can keep this guy down." And later on in this Gospel we'll see that John "believes" when he sees the grave clothes, even if he does not fully understand what's happening.
But beyond the road to the cross life for the disciples is going to be difficult, even after his resurrection. They will cling to memories like these.
16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
First explicit appearance of Thomas in the Gospel!
My professor at Seminary calls this an inclusio: The first half and the last half of this book are framed with a doubting Thomas and a dead man rising (his words not mine).
Thomas believes that Jesus is guaranteeing his own death by going to Judea.
He does not understand why Jesus is choosing to do this, but he believes just enough to follow him.
After his glorification, Jesus will open the Scriptures to them. They will receive the Holy Spirit. They will understand him more fully. They will understand all that he accomplished, all he fulfilled, why things happened the way they did, and how this whole story is all about him. These moments will take on new clarity.
17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
The four days have a special significance in Jewish belief.
Some believed that the spirit of a person would hover over their body for three days. Upon, the fourth day, the spirit would depart and there would be no chance of a return to the body. (Jewish mysticism)
So, according to mystics, Lazarus would have been hopelessly dead?
However, I believe the more logical explanation for the inclusion of four days is this: Jews preferred that a body be buried as soon as possible.
Really, any longer than three days is unacceptable. The body needs to be put to rest. They did not do anything to preserve the dead body, so really, this was in everyone's best interest.
So, Lazarus is dead and buried. This is not a fresh death. He is in the grave and his body is starting the process of returning to the earth. Super dead. Very dead. Dead dead.
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.
The death and burial may happen quickly, but the mourning process for the family and the community lasted for seven days. This is called the shiva.
This was a communal mourning, grieving, and if you were a part of this community, it was expected that you shared in it. Depending on your relationship to the deceased, you grieved differently, for different lengths of time.
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.”
Martha is correct in saying that Jesus can cure any illness.
Yet, she clearly does not fully understand who she's dealing with.
This is something that happens quite often with Jesus. It reminds me of John 5, where Jesus asks the man if he wants to be made well. The man responds that he has no one to take him down to the healing pool of Bethesda, when the water is stirred by the angel.
In that moment -- only in his own mind and without realizing it -- he is limiting the help that Jesus can provide.
Jesus is standing before him, capable of doing anything and asking him if he wants to be well. Yet, he thinks there's only one option.
Now, Jesus is standing before Martha, capable of doing anything, but she doesn't understand the extent of his power. She sees only what has been and can be. She doesn't understand that she can ask for more.
Think about this reality in your own life. Are you limiting the ways your own ability to ask? Jesus invites you to ask anything in his name.
Verse 22 is amazing. She is saying that she trusts him, even when it seems like her brother's situation is hopeless.
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.”
Jesus is telling her EXACTLY what's about to happen, and yet, she is still trying to put limits on what he is capable of doing in that moment.
And she does not understand Jesus' role in the resurrection of the dead.
The gifts of God are not exclusively for the life to come. God desires to give you good gifts. TODAY. Every 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.”
This is one of the 7 "I am" statements made in John.
"I am the resurrection" - Jesus is not part of the resurrection process. He is the whole shebang. It all hinges on Jesus.
He is the Resurrection. In the same way that all things were made through him in the beginning, so it is that all things will find new life again in Him at the resurrection.
"...shall never die" - This is not physical, temporary death; this is eternal death.
Martha's response is, once again, incredible. She may not understand fully the implications of Jesus' statements, especially to her immediate future, but she believes. The stakes have never been higher for her. Her brother is dead, and this guy she's talking to is claiming to be his only hope.
I find my faith has almost nothing to do with my comprehension. There's so much I don't understand, but the Spirit intercedes where I am weak.
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. 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.”
Mary and Martha have the same response to Jesus.
Commentators have noted the difficulty in knowing the force or tone behind either of these two statements from the sisters. Are they angry? What is the implication behind what they're saying to Jesus?
Even if they are angry, it is still a declaration of the faith they have in Jesus, which I think is incredible.
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. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”
When I lost my brother, I'd argue that my experience of grief often had an inseparable element of anger.
You are desperately sad and desperately angry. There were many times within those first few months where I questioned God and His will.
The word for "deeply moved" is ἐνεβριμήσατο. The best way to describe this word and its meaning is to have you think of an angry horse.
Horses snort in displeasure, or when something has riled them up. The noise is a natural expression of their anger. And so it is with Jesus.
Jesus is indignant, aggrieved. The word for "troubled" is ἐτάραξεν. This means he is disturbed by the situation.
Sin and death are the enemies of the Kingdom of Heaven. They are insatiable, ravenous in their destructive power, and they exacted a heavy toll on this community. I think of Isaiah 5, "Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure,". These things are the antithesis of the Kingdom.
Jesus is King; he is the one who conquers death. These things will not stand with Jesus. "He will swallow up death forever." (Isaiah 25)
Now, Jesus is angry and moved in such a way that he will end their suffering.
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?”
The word for how Jesus "wept" is different than how the crowd is "weeping" in this passage. They have different roots and different meanings, altogether.
The crowd's weeping is loud, audible, uncontainable.
Jesus "wept" or Ἐδάκρυσεν, which is to say he shed tears.
Think about a time where you empathized with another person's sadness. Jesus shared in our humanity. He experienced grief, like we experience grief. He mourns with and for these people.
And Jesus really did love Lazarus, so the experience of this separation was something the fullness of his humanity could understand.
But an important distinction to make is that Jesus' tears do not come from a place of hopelessness, whereas, that could be the case for some in this crowd.
I take verse 37 as genuine confusion. These people know Jesus; they know his reputation. Surely, some of them have seen him perform miraculous healings. They are likely confused why it came to this in the first place.
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