John 11
Love at the Door of the Tomb
Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead and shows that his power reaches even into the grave. Yet this great act of love also leads the religious leaders to make plans to kill him.
Walking Through John 11
Love That Does Not Hurry (John 11:1-16)
1 Now a certain man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived. 2 (Now it was Mary who anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and wiped his feet dry with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) 3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, look, the one you love is sick.” 4 When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness will not lead to death, but to God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 (Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.) 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he remained in the place where he was for two more days. 7 Then after this, he said to his disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples replied, “Rabbi, the Jewish leaders were just now trying to stone you to death! Are you going there again?” 9 Jesus replied, “Are there not 12 hours in a day? If anyone walks around in the daytime, he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks around at night, he stumbles because the light is not in him.” 11 After he said this, he added, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. But I am going there to awaken him.” 12 Then the disciples replied, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 (Now Jesus had been talking about his death, but they thought he had been talking about real sleep.) 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 So Thomas (called Didymus) said to his fellow disciples, “Let us go too, so that we may die with him.”John 11:1-16 · NET Bible
Lazarus is sick in Bethany, the village where his sisters, Mary and Martha, live. John identifies Mary by the act of love he will describe in John 12:1-8. The sisters send word to Jesus because they know he loves Lazarus. Still, Jesus waits two days. His delay is not a lack of care. This illness will display God’s glory and bring honor to his Son. When Jesus decides to return to Judea, the disciples fear for his safety. His words about daylight show that he must carry out his Father’s work while the time remains. The disciples misunderstand his picture of sleep, so Jesus plainly tells them Lazarus has died. Thomas expects danger but urges the others to go. I notice that their fear does not keep Jesus from moving toward those he loves.
Hope Has a Name (John 11:17-27)
17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days already. 18 (Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 so many of the Jewish people of the region had come to Martha and Mary to console them over the loss of their brother.) 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary was sitting 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 grant you.” 23 Jesus replied, “Your brother will come back to life again.” 24 Martha said, “I know that he will come back to life 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 if he dies, 26 and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She replied, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who comes into the world.”John 11:17-27 · NET Bible
By the time Jesus arrives, Lazarus has been in the tomb four days. Many people have come from nearby Jerusalem to comfort the sisters. Martha meets Jesus with both sorrow and trust. She believes he could have prevented her brother’s death, and she still knows God hears him. When Jesus speaks of Lazarus rising, Martha thinks of the future day when God will raise the dead. Jesus brings that hope into the present by showing that life and resurrection are found in him. Resurrection means being raised from death. Those who trust him may die physically, but death cannot end the life he gives. Martha responds by naming Jesus as the Messiah, God’s promised King, and the Son of God. Her faith rests in who he is before she sees what he will do.
The Savior Who Weeps (John 11:28-37)
28 And when she had said this, Martha went and called her sister Mary, saying privately, “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.” 29 So when Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 (Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still in the place where Martha had come out to meet him.) 31 Then the people who were with Mary in the house consoling her saw her get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Now when Mary came to the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people who had come with her weeping, he was intensely moved in spirit and greatly distressed. 34 He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They replied, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 Thus the people who had come to mourn said, “Look how much he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “This is the man who caused the blind man to see! Couldn’t he have done something to keep Lazarus from dying?”John 11:28-37 · NET Bible
Martha quietly tells Mary that Jesus is calling for her. Mary gets up quickly, and the mourners follow, thinking she is going to the tomb. Instead, she falls at Jesus’ feet and tells him that Lazarus would not have died if he had been there. Jesus sees her tears and the tears of those with her. He is deeply troubled and weeps himself. John does not explain every part of Jesus’ strong response, but his sorrow and love are clear. Some people see his tears as proof of his love. Others wonder why someone who healed a blind man did not prevent this death. Don’t rush past this scene. Jesus knows what he is about to do, yet he does not treat their grief as something small.
A Voice the Grave Must Obey (John 11:38-44)
38 Jesus, intensely moved again, came to the tomb. (Now it was a cave, and a stone was placed across it.) 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell because he has been buried four days.” 40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. 42 I knew that you always listen to me, but I said this for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, and a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.”John 11:38-44 · NET Bible
Jesus reaches the tomb, a cave closed with a stone, and tells the people to remove it. Martha warns him about the smell after four days. Lazarus is truly dead; this is no mistaken diagnosis. Jesus reminds her that believing will lead to seeing God’s glory. He then thanks his Father aloud, not to persuade the Father to listen, but so the crowd may believe the Father sent him. Jesus calls Lazarus out, and the dead man comes out still wrapped in burial cloths. The people are told to free him from those cloths. Jesus gives life that no human effort could restore. This miracle points ahead to Jesus’ own resurrection, though Lazarus returns to ordinary earthly life. Jesus will rise with death forever defeated.
A Plot God Will Overrule (John 11:45-53)
45 Then many of the people, who had come with Mary and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and reported to them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees called the council together and said, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many miraculous signs. 48 If we allow him to go on in this way, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away our sanctuary and our nation.” 49 Then one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is more to your advantage to have one man die for the people than for the whole nation to perish.” 51 (Now he did not say this on his own, but because he was high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not for the Jewish nation only, but to gather together into one the children of God who are scattered.) 53 So from that day they planned together to kill him.John 11:45-53 · NET Bible
Many who see what Jesus has done believe in him. Others report it to the Pharisees, and the chief priests and Pharisees gather the ruling council. They do not deny his signs. They fear that growing belief in Jesus will bring Roman action against their temple and nation. Caiaphas, the high priest, argues that one man should die rather than the whole nation suffer. He means that killing Jesus will protect them. John explains that his words also carry a meaning Caiaphas does not grasp: Jesus will die for the nation and gather God’s scattered children into one people. God will use this cruel plan to bring rescue, without making the cruelty right. From that day, the leaders work toward Jesus’ death.
The Road Toward Passover (John 11:54-57)
54 Thus Jesus no longer went around publicly among the Judeans, but went away from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples. 55 Now the Jewish Feast of Passover was near, and many people went up to Jerusalem from the rural areas before the Passover to cleanse themselves ritually. 56 Thus they were looking for Jesus, and saying to one another as they stood in the temple courts, “What do you think? That he won’t come to the feast?” 57 (Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus was should report it, so that they could arrest him.)John 11:54-57 · NET Bible
Because of the threat, Jesus no longer moves openly among the people in Judea. He goes with his disciples to Ephraim, near the wilderness. Meanwhile, Passover draws near. Many travelers arrive in Jerusalem early to take part in cleansing practices that prepare them for worship. As they gather in the temple, they wonder whether Jesus will come to the feast. The chief priests and Pharisees have ordered anyone who knows his location to report it so they can arrest him. The chapter closes with watchful crowds and a waiting trap. Jesus’ withdrawal does not cancel his mission. The next part of John’s Gospel will show him coming toward Jerusalem and the cross. Human threats will not stop God’s saving purpose.
- Resurrection — being raised from death; Jesus has the power to give life.
- Glory — God’s greatness and goodness made known.
How does seeing Jesus weep shape the way you think he receives your sorrow?
Father, thank you for sending your Son, who has power over death and compassion for those who grieve. Help us trust his love when we cannot understand his timing. Teach us to care gently for people who are hurting.