Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:
(John 11:1) Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister, Martha.
At the end of the last chapter, Jesus had departed from the Feast of the Dedication in Jerusalem to a place beyond the Jordan River. Sometime afterward, a man named Lazarus of Bethany, fell ill. We are told later that Mary and Martha are his sisters.
(2) (It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)
John made a parenthetical statement to explain to us who Mary was. Although the incident of her anointing Jesus's feet with ointment and wiping His feet with her hair had not actually happened yet chronologically (as we will read about it in the next chapter), John wrote this account after both had happened, and chose an event he knew his listeners would know about to explain who Mary was.
(3) Therefore his sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."
Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick. Apparently, Lazarus was a dear friend of His. We read of Jesus being a guest at the house of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-39. It seems He had come to know and love Lazarus, as well.
(4) When Jesus heard, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby."
When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, He told either the messengers or His disciples who were likely with Him, that Lazarus's sickness would not result in death, at least not permanently, but would be used for the glory of God and that His Son Jesus might also be glorified through it.
(5) Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. (6) When He had heard that he was sick, He abode two days still in the same place where He was.
Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus; yet after He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was for two more days.
(7) Then after that, He said to His disciples, "Let us go into Judea again."
After the two days Jesus tarried, He then told His disciples He wanted to go back to Judea.
(8) His disciples said to Him, "Master, the Jews of late sought to stone You, and You go there again?"
Jesus's suggestion surprised the disciples, and they reminded Him that the Jews there had sought to stone Him and wondered why He would want to go back there.
(9) Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world. (10) But if a man walks in the night, he stumbles because there is no light in him."
I believe Jesus's point was that He had an allotted time in which to do His work, represented by a twelve hour daytime. As long as He worked in the day, He would not stumble or be stoned because He was walking and working in the time in which His Father's light protected Him. But once that light left Him and it was dark, then would He be killed, but not until then.
(11) These things He said, and after that, He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep."
Jesus then told them that Lazarus was sleeping, and He wanted to go back to Judea (specifically to Bethany in Judea) to wake him.
(12) Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps, he shall do well." (13) However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought He had spoken about taking rest in sleep.
The disciples said that if Lazarus was sleeping, it was good for his healing, but of course, Jesus spoke of Lazarus as having died, not merely resting in sleep.
(14) Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. (15) And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent you may believe; nevertheless, let us go to him."
Jesus explained to His disciples that He meant that Lazarus was dead. He then told them that for their sakes He was glad He had not been there before he died. They would now be able to observe a far greater miracle than they had yet seen and would have no lingering doubts, if there were any, that He was the Messiah.
(16) Then Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go that we may die with Him."
Thomas, also called Didymus meaning Twin, must have had a twin sibling. He said to his fellow disciples that they should go with Jesus to die with Him, expecting that the Jews would indeed succeed in killing Jesus this time.
(17) Then when Jesus came, He found that he had been in the grave four days already.
Lazarus must have died very soon after his sisters sent word to Jesus. I imagine it took the messenger at least a day to reach Him, and then Jesus stayed two more days, and then probably it took at least a day to get to Lazarus. He had now been dead four days.
(18) Now Bethany was near to Jerusalem about fifteen furlongs off.
Bethany was in Judea, near Jerusalem, about two miles east of Jerusalem. This was probably mentioned to show that it was easy for Jews to come to the place.
(19) And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother.
Indeed, we are told that many Jews did come to Bethany to see Martha and Mary in order to try to comfort them after their brother had died.
(20) Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went out and met Him, but Mary sat in the house.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she ran out to meet Him while Mary stayed behind in the house.
(21) Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. (22) But I know, that even now, whatever You ask of God, God will give You."
Martha told Jesus that if He had been there before Lazarus died, she knew he would not have died. Then she demonstrated great faith in Jesus when she added that even then, after he had died, that she was sure whatever He asked of God, God would grant Him. It may not be that she was certain of Jesus's deity, but she knew He was from God and that God provided miracles through Him.
(23) Jesus said to her, "Your brother shall rise again." (24) Martha said to Him, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
Jesus told her that her brother would rise again. Although she surely wished for Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead at that moment in time, she may not have been certain about which resurrection Jesus meant. She told Him she knew he would rise again in the resurrection in the last day.
(25) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. (26) And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
Jesus told Martha that He Himself was the resurrection and the life. As He had said before in John 5:21, just as God raised up the dead and gave them life, Jesus Himself could give life to whomever He wanted. In addition, those who were spiritually dead and destined for death and hell, He could give life to and resurrect. Jesus was life; whoever believed in Him, even though he had been spiritually dead, would then live forever. All those living in Him would be resurrected and would live forever. Jesus asked Martha if she believed that.
(27) She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who should come into the world."
Whether she had fully comprehended it or not before, Martha told Jesus she now firmly believed He was the Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah for whom they had been looking forward to.
(28) And when she had so said, she went her way and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, "The Master has come and calls for you." (29) As soon as she heard, she arose quickly and went to Him.
As Martha had gone out to meet Jesus on His way to her, she then left Jesus where she had met Him and went back to call her sister Mary. She told her that Jesus had come and was looking for her. Mary got up quickly and went out to meet Jesus.
(30) Now Jesus had not yet come into the town but was in that place where Martha met Him.
Jesus had not made it into town yet but was still in the place where Martha had met Him.
(31) The Jews then who were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, "She goes to the grave to weep there."
Martha had spoken to Mary secretly about Jesus being there, so when she rose up quickly and went out of the house, the people who had been with her, comforting her, assumed she had gone to her brother's grave to weep for him. They followed her.
(32) Then when Mary had come where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
When Mary had come to Jesus, she fell down at His feet and told Him, like her sister had, that if He had been there earlier, her 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.
When Jesus saw Mary weeping and the people weeping with her, He was troubled in His human spirit and even showed some sign of it. Jesus knew what He was about to do, yet He had love and sympathy for those hurting so at that moment, and human emotions came forth. As the word "embrimaomai" that was translated as "groaned" always meant "to snort with anger, to have indignation, to blame, to sigh with chagrin, to murmur against," any sympathy He may have had was more because of the fact they all had such weak faith.
(34) And said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." (35) Jesus wept.
Jesus asked where they had laid Lazarus. They told Him to go with them to see. Then Jesus even 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?"
The people who had been with Mary thought Jesus wept purely out of love for Lazarus, but of course, He knew what He was about to do for Lazarus, so his emotions were more for the sad state of his sisters and perhaps even for some of them who would not believe in Him and come to a similar state, only permanent. I believe the sense of verse 37 is that while some people remarked at how much Jesus loved Lazarus, others were wondering out loud why Jesus wouldn't have prevented his death if he loved him so much, if after all, He was one who could open the eyes of the blind.
(38) Jesus therefore again groaning in Himself, came to the grave. It was a cave and a stone lay on it.
Jesus, knowing what these people were saying, again groaned in His spirit. This time there is no doubt that it was more a groan of chagrin and irritation. The same word "embrimaomai" translated as "groaning" from verse 33 is used here. It is not the same word that was translated as "groanings" in Romans 8:26 where the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. That word was "stenagmos" and meant "a groaning or a sigh." So Jesus groaned within Himself at what the people were saying and then came to the grave. It was a cave with a stone on it.
(39) Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time he stinks for he has been dead four days."
Jesus told them to take away the stone. Martha, the one who said that she believed Jesus was Christ and could do whatever He willed, now objected, saying that the smell would be too bad because Lazarus had been in the grave for four days.
(40) Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?"
Jesus indeed reminded Martha that He had told her if she believed, she would see the glory of God in that though he were dead, he would live (verse 25). She had said she believed He was the Christ and could do whatever He willed.
(41) Then they took away the stone where the dead man was laid. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me."
They took away the stone from the cave where Lazarus lay dead. Jesus lifted His eyes toward heaven and thanked His Father for hearing Him. I don't believe that Jesus had to ask the Father to raise up Lazarus, because as God Himself, Jesus had that power. I believe the thanks was more broad, that He had been given that power when God first willed that Jesus come into the world. It was predestined Jesus would be fully human, but He was also God and had the power of God. I believe Jesus always wanted to be in communion with God. Additionally, I'm sure He wanted the people to see His union with God.
(42) "And I knew that You hear Me always, but because of the people who stand by, I said it that they may believe that You have sent Me."
In fact, Jesus went on in His prayer to say that He knew God always heard Him, meaning He always had the authority to do the things He did in order to bring about God's purpose. It was because of the people with Him that He said this, so that they would know His union with God and believe that He had indeed been sent by God.
(43) And when He had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"
After Jesus had finished His prayer, He called out to Lazarus in a loud voice and told him to come forth out of the cave.
(44) And he who was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes and his face was bound with a napkin. Jesus said to them, "Loose him and let him go."
Lazarus came forth out of the cave still bound with all his graveclothes and even his face wrapped in a napkin. Jesus told the people to unwrap him and let him go free.
(45) Then many of the Jews who came to Mary and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed in Him.
Many of the Jews who had been with Mary at her house and followed her, saw what Jesus had done, and they believed in Him.
(46) But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees and told them what things Jesus had done.
It's incredible that some people could witness such a miracle and not be moved to Jesus! Their cold hard hearts were set against Him and against truth and regardless of what He had done, they only wished to use it against Him, and they ran to tell the Pharisees what Jesus had done. Raising the dead! How can that be seen as anything other than what it was? It was just as Jesus said in Luke 16:31, "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead." We must see this as an important lesson about how we should never be so hard and set in our ways and have our minds so closed that we cannot see truth, especially the truth about Jesus. If one's hard heart constantly pushes Jesus away, there will come a time when he will be blinded and unable to see the truth of Jesus (Psalm 81:12, Romans 1:21, John 7:34).
(47) Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, "What do we do? For this Man does many miracles."
Then the Pharisees and the chief priests formed a council and discussed what they should do about Jesus. Imagine! Their problem was that He performed many miracles! And they could not see the truth about how it was that Jesus could do miracles.
(48) "If we let Him thus alone, all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation."
There we have it! If they allowed Jesus to go on as He was, all the people would come to believe in Him, and they would lose their power! Their lust for power blinded them to the truth of Jesus. As Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
(49) And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that same year, said to them, "You 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 not perish."
The high priest Caiaphas reproved their slow deliberation over Jesus. Didn't they understand that one man should die for the good of the nation as a whole? The end justified the means.
(51) And this he spoke not of himself, but being high priest that year, He prophesied that Jesus would die for that nation, (52) And not for that nation only, but also that He should gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.
Caiaphas spoke that not from himself, but by the Spirit of God, he unknowingly prophesied about Jesus, one Man dying in order to save the whole nation, and in fact, the world. Jesus would gather together all His people from all over the world into one church.
(53) Then from that day forth they took counsel together to put Him to death.
From that day forward the Pharisees and chief priests deliberated about how they would put Jesus to death.
(54) Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews but went from there to a country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.
After that, Jesus did not walk openly among the Jews but went to a country near the wilderness to a town called Ephraim. Biblical scholars are not sure exactly where this town was, but the point is that Jesus moved away from Jerusalem to a more remote place and stayed there with His disciples.
(55) And the Jews' Passover was near at hand, and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.
Then came the time that the Passover was near, and many people went out of the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to prepare and purify themselves before the Passover meal.
(56) Then they sought Jesus and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, "What do you think, that He will not come to the feast?"
The chief priests and Pharisees looked for Jesus among the people making their way to Jerusalem for the Passover. They wondered among themselves whether or not He would come to the feast.
(57) Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment that if any man knew where He was, he should show it that they might take Him.
The chief priests and Pharisees had given a commandment beforehand that if anyone knew where Jesus was, they must report it so that they could seize Him. That is surely why they doubted that He might come.
The bulk of this chapter was centered around Jesus's raising Lazarus from the dead. It is a beautiful picture of the resurrection and the life that is in Jesus. Jesus can raise the most rotten sinful life to everlasting life when one believes in and gives his life over to Jesus for the atonement of his sins!
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