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John 11

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Lazarus is Sick; Jesus Delays 1–16

1
Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. ​
2
(It was that Mary which 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 had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. ​
7
Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.
8
His disciples say 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 saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. ​
12
Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
13
Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
14
Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. ​
15
And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.
16
Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. ​

Jesus Encounters Martha and Mary 17–37

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 fifteen furlongs off: ​
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 said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. ​
22
But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.
23
Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
24
Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at 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 saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which 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 is come, and calleth for thee.
29
As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.
30
Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.
31
The Jews then which 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 goeth unto the grave to weep there.
32
Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
33
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which 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, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? ​

The Raising of Lazarus 38–44

38
Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. ​
39
Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. ​
40
Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest 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 which 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 saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. ​

The Plot to Kill Jesus 45–53

45
Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on 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 do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
48
If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on 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 this spake he 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 that were scattered abroad. ​
53
Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.

Jesus Withdraws; Passover Approaches 54–57

54
Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to 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 sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think ye, that he will not come to the feast?
57
Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take him. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for John 11

Verse 1

Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha — Bethany (Bethania) lay near Jerusalem (v.18); Jesus had lodged there (Matt 21:17), and Martha had received him into her house in 'a certain village' (Luke 10:38). Lazaros is the Greek form of the Hebrew Eleazar.

Verse 2

anointed the Lord with ointment — Aleipho, to oil with perfume. John names Mary by an event he narrates in the next chapter: 'Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair' (John 12:3).

Verse 3

he whom thou lovest — The sisters name no request, only the love. The verb is phileo, friendly affection, the word of v.36, 'Behold how he loved him!'; v.5 uses agapao of Jesus' love for the whole household. Their message is sent, not carried, to Jesus across the Jordan (10:40).

Verse 4

not unto death — Lazarus does die (v.14), so the words mean death is not the sickness's end. Its purpose is 'the glory of God', as in 'the works of God should be made manifest in him' (John 9:3); Jesus repeats the thought to Martha in v.40. 'Glorified' is doxazo.

Verse 6

he abode two days still — The verse opens 'when he had heard therefore': the delay follows from the love of v.5, not against it. Meno is to stay. Jesus later says he was 'glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe' (v.15), and arrives to find four days passed (v.17).

Verse 8

the Jews of late sought to stone thee — The disciples' rhabbi, 'my master', recalls the stones taken up in the temple (John 8:59) and again in John 10:31. Judaea was the place Jesus had just left (10:39–40); their question is the background of Thomas's words in v.16.

Verse 9

twelve hours in the day — Hora is the hour, and the day has twelve. Jesus answers the fear of stoning with the image of daylight: walking in it, a man does not stumble. The same thought: 'I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day' (John 9:4); 'Walk while ye have the light' (John 12:35).

Verse 11

sleepeth — Koimao, to put to sleep, used of death; 'awake him out of sleep' is exupnizo, found only here in the KJV New Testament. Jesus said of Jairus's daughter, 'the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth' (Mark 5:39). The disciples take it literally (vv.12–13).

Verse 14

plainly — Parrhesia, open, unveiled speech: 'Lazarus is dead'. It is the word in 'Now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb' (John 16:29), and in v.54, where Jesus 'walked no more openly'. The figure of sleep (v.11) is set aside because it was misunderstood (v.13).

Verse 16

Thomas, which is called Didymus — Thomas is Aramaic for 'twin' and Didymos is the Greek for the same; John gives both again at 20:24 and 21:2. 'That we may die with him' answers the disciples' warning of v.8: the 'him' is most naturally Jesus, whose danger they had named.

Verse 17

four days already — The grave is mnemeion, a tomb; v.38 calls it a cave. Jesus had waited two days (v.6) after the message, and the four days are counted from Lazarus's burial. Martha repeats the count in v.39: 'he hath been dead four days'.

Verse 18

fifteen furlongs — Stadion, a furlong; fifteen is under two miles. John gives the distance to explain why 'many of the Jews' from Jerusalem were at the house (v.19), and so were witnesses of what followed (vv.31, 45).

Verse 20

Mary sat still in the house — Kathezomai, to sit down. Martha, who 'received him into her house' (Luke 10:38), goes out to meet him (hupantao), while Mary, the sister who sat at the Lord's feet to hear his word (Luke 10:39), stays until called (v.28). Each sister speaks the same opening words (vv.21, 32).

Verse 21

if thou hadst been here — Mary says the identical words in v.32, and some of the Jews ask the same in v.37. The sisters had sent word to him (v.3) and he had stayed two days (v.6); her words state both a conviction of his power and what his absence had cost.

Verse 24

at the last day — Martha states the hope of resurrection 'at the last day'. Jesus had used that very phrase: 'I will raise him up at the last day' (John 6:40; also 6:39, 44, 54). Her answer is correct but looks ahead; Jesus' reply (v.25) brings the resurrection into his own person.

Verse 25

I am the resurrection, and the life — Anastasis and zoe, with 'I am' joined to both. Life is his own: 'In him was life' (John 1:4). The promise has two halves: the believer who dies 'shall live' (v.25), and the believer who lives 'shall never die' (v.26). The Lord ends with a question: 'Believest thou this?'

Verse 27

the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world — Martha's three titles: Christos (anointed), Son of God, and the coming one (erchomai; cf. 'that prophet that should come into the world', John 6:14). Peter says 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God' (Matt 16:16); John writes to elicit this belief (John 20:31).

Verse 33

groaned in the spirit — Embrimaomai, to snort in displeasure; the KJV renders it 'straitly charged' in Matt 9:30 and 'murmured against' in Mark 14:5, and it returns in v.38. The cause is the weeping of Mary and the Jews; 'was troubled' (tarasso) is used again of his soul in John 12:27.

Verse 35

Jesus wept — Dakruo, to shed tears, found only here in the New Testament. Mary and the Jews 'weeping' in v.33 is klaio, loud wailing; Luke 19:41 uses that stronger verb of Jesus over Jerusalem. Bystanders read the tears as love (v.36), others as a question (v.37).

Verse 37

which opened the eyes of the blind — The reference is to the man born blind (John 9:6–7), whose healing is the sign most recent in John's narrative. The speakers grant his power over sight and doubt whether it reaches death; Jesus' answer is at the tomb (vv.43–44).

Verse 38

It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it — Spelaion, a cave, as with the cave of Machpelah where Sarah was buried (Gen 23:19). The stone across the entrance is the arrangement of Jesus' own tomb (Matt 27:60). 'Again groaning' repeats embrimaomai from v.33.

Verse 39

by this time he stinketh — Ozo, to smell, found only here in the New Testament. Martha is 'the sister of him that was dead', and her objection to removing the stone (airo, to take away) rests on the four days of v.17. Jesus' reply in v.40 recalls his words to her in vv.25–26.

Verse 40

the glory of God — Doxa, glory; the promise 'thou shouldest see' (optanomai) takes up the purpose stated in v.4, 'for the glory of God'. Jesus' words to her, 'Believest thou this?' (v.26), are now put as 'if thou wouldest believe': seeing follows believing.

Verse 41

lifted up his eyes — Jesus prays aloud, 'Father, I thank thee' (eucharisteo), before any request is spoken; the thanks looks to a hearing already given. He lifts his eyes in prayer again in John 17:1. Verse 42 states why the prayer is spoken in public.

Verse 44

bound hand and foot with graveclothes — Keiria, strips of cloth, found only here in the New Testament. The 'napkin' (soudarion) over the face is the cloth Peter later finds in Christ's own tomb, 'not lying with the linen clothes' (John 20:7). 'Loose him' (luo) is addressed to the bystanders.

Verse 45

believed on him — The same visit to Mary divides those who came: many believed, but v.46 reports others who went to the Pharisees. John later says 'by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus' (John 12:11), the reason the chief priests also sought Lazarus's death (12:10).

Verse 48

our place and nation — Topos is 'place', most likely the temple, as in 'this holy place' (Acts 6:13); ethnos is the nation, the word used again in vv.50–52. The council fears that belief in Jesus will bring the Romans (Rhomaios) down on both.

Verse 49

Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year — He is named with Annas as high priest in Luke 3:2, and John calls him 'high priest that same year' again at 18:13. The phrase 'that year' (eniautos) is repeated in v.51, preparing the reader for what his words meant.

Verse 51

he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation — Propheteuo: Caiaphas spoke 'not of himself' but by virtue of his office as high priest that year. The words were meant politically (v.50; John 18:14); John reads them as saying what Jesus' death would be, 'for' (huper) the nation.

Verse 52

gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad — Diaskorpizo, to scatter. The 'children of God' outside the nation are the 'other sheep… not of this fold' that Jesus must bring, making 'one fold, and one shepherd' (John 10:16); Paul says he has 'made both one' (Eph 2:14).

Verse 54

Ephraim — Jesus 'walked no more openly' (parrhesia, the 'plainly' of v.14) and withdrew to a city near the wilderness, where he 'continued with his disciples'. The retreat follows the council's decision to kill him (v.53); an earlier withdrawal is in 10:40, 'beyond Jordan'.

Verse 55

to purify themselves — Hagnizo, to make ritually clean. Uncleanness from a dead body had once kept men from keeping the passover (Num 9:6). The purification is before the feast; 'six days before the passover' Jesus came to Bethany (John 12:1), where Lazarus was.

Verse 57

had given a commandment — Entole, an authoritative order: anyone who knew where Jesus was must 'shew it', so that 'they might take him'. Earlier attempts to take him had failed: 'he escaped out of their hand' (John 10:39). The order is the background to the question in v.56, 'that he will not come to the feast?'