John 11

1 – 2

There was a man named Lazarus who was sick. He lived in the town of Bethany, where Mary and her sister Martha lived.

Mary is the woman who later put perfume on the Lord and wiped His feet with her hair. Mary's brother was Lazarus, the man who was now sick.

Jesus had made friends with this family and was often invited into their home. Luke 10:38

3. So Mary and Martha sent someone to tell Jesus, “Lord, [Lazarus] the one You love is sick.”

They did not say that Jesus must heal their brother. People get into trouble when they begin to say that God has to do something for them.

4. When Jesus heard this He said, “This sickness will not end in death. It is for the glory of God. This has happened to bring glory to the Son of God.”

Make a note of passages which show the difference between a sickness to death, a sickness of chastisement (1 Corinthians 11:30) and a sickness to the glory of God (John 9:3).

5. Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

When we have an emergency the first thing the devil says to us is that God does not care about us. John wants to make sure that we know that Jesus loved this family even though He did not immediately help them.

6 But when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was for two more days.

The Jews believed that a dead person may be able to come back to life, but not after three days.

7. Then Jesus said to His followers, “Let us go back to Judea.”

Jesus is saying, “I have a plan and I know what I am doing.”

8. The followers said, “But Teacher, the Jews there tried to kill You with stones. That was only a short time ago. Now You want to go back there?”

Instead of talking this way, let our words be His words and our plans be His plans.

9 – 10

Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the daylight, he will not stumble because he can see by this world's light. But if anyone walks at night he stumbles because there is no light to help him see.”

You have nothing to fear if you are walking in the light.

11 – 13

After Jesus said this, He added, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. But I am going there to wake him .” The followers said, “But Lord, if he can sleep, he will get well.” Jesus meant that Lazarus was dead. But Jesus' followers thought that He meant Lazarus was really sleeping.

If they were listening closely they would see that Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead. False teachers say that we continue to sleep when we die. The Bible says, “To be away from the body is to be present with the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 5:8

14 – 15

So then Jesus said plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there so that you may believe. But let us go to him now.”

We complain to the Lord when He does not fix our problems immediately. Sometimes God is getting ready to solve our problem, but He is waiting until it looks impossible. This way, what He does will be seen as coming from God and not from us.

16. Then Thomas (the one called the Twin) said to the other followers, “Let us go, too. We will die with Him.”

If we die, let us die at His door . Because they are always listed together, some teachers think that Matthew and Thomas were twins. Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15

17 – 20

Jesus arrived in Bethany. There He learned that Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for four days. Bethany was about two miles from Jerusalem.

Many Jews had come there to comfort Martha and Mary about their brother. Martha heard that Jesus was coming, and she went out to meet Him. But Mary stayed at home.

Jesus had been staying across the Jordan River, about 20 miles from Bethany. This would take about two days of walking. Bethany is on a hill and Martha would have been able to see Jesus and His disciples coming down the road.

21 – 22

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give You anything You ask.”

We do not know what to do, but we are watching to see what You will do. 2 Chronicles 20:12

What will You do for Your great name? Joshua 7:9

23 – 25

Jesus said, “Your brother will rise and live again.” Martha answered, “I know that he will rise and live again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will have life even if he dies.

Jesus is saying, “I am about to raise him.”

26 – 27

And he who lives and believes in Me will never die. Martha, do you believe this?” Martha answered, “Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God. You are the One who was coming to the world.”

We either trust the Lord or we do not. There is no middle ground. He has a purpose for not doing anything until we believe. He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Matthew 13:58

28 – 31

After Martha said this, she went back to her sister Mary. She talked to Mary alone . Martha said, “The Teacher is here and He is asking for you.”

When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Jesus. Jesus had not yet come into the town. He was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews were with Mary in the house, comforting her. They saw Mary stand and leave quickly. They followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to cry there.

Martha talked to Mary privately, so that the people would not hear that Jesus was coming. Mary needed some time alone with the Lord without a crowd of people listening in. We all need some time alone with the Lord.

32 – 33

But Mary went to the place where Jesus was. When she saw him, she fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Jesus saw that Mary was crying and that the Jews who came with her were crying, too. Jesus groaned in His heart and was deeply troubled.

The word “groaned” here is the same word in Romans 8:26 where the Holy Spirit groans inside of us with words that cannot be explained.

Jesus was “weeping with those who weep” as He weeps because of the human way of looking at things as hopeless. Romans 12:15

34 – 36

He asked, “Where did you bury him?” “Come and see, Lord,” they said. Jesus cried. So the Jews said, “See how much He loved him.”

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses , for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin. Hebrews 4:15

37. But some of them said, “If Jesus healed the eyes of the blind man, why did He not keep Lazarus from dying?”

This is a mocking, evil spirit always accusing God of not doing enough for us.

38. Again Jesus was deeply moved in His heart. He came to the tomb. The tomb was a cave with a large stone covering the entrance.

The original language says, “He got control of His emotions.”

39 – 40

Jesus said, “Move the stone away.” Martha said, “But, Lord, it has been four days since he died. There will be a bad smell.” Martha was the sister of the dead man.

Then Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

Martha has already forgot what Jesus said in verse 23. Do not doubt what God has told you in the dark when you are later in the light.

Do not be surprised at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice. John 5:28

41 – 43

So they moved the stone away from the entrance. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard Me.

I know that you always hear Me, but I said these things because of the people here around Me. I want them to believe that you sent Me.” After Jesus said this, He cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

If He did not call Lazarus by name, everybody in the graveyard would have risen from the dead.

44 - 45

The dead man came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with pieces of cloth, and he had a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take the cloth off of him and let him go.” There were many Jews who had come to visit Mary. They saw what Jesus did. And many of them believed in him.

People may have heard that Jesus raised a young boy and a young girl from the dead, but they could have thought that these were just stories (Luke 8:54, Luke 7:11-17). Now they have seen it with their own eyes. This is not the first time that someone was raised from the dead. 2 Kings 13:21

Lazarus later became a walking miracle and his life was a testimony that nobody could speak against. John 12:9 – 17, John 12:11

Many of us know that our lives are a walking miracle.

46. But some of them went to the Pharisees. They told the Pharisees what Jesus had done.

Even raising someone from the dead does not change some hard hearts. Luke 16:31

47. Then the leading priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the Jewish council. They asked, “What should we do? This man is doing many miracles.”

The Arabs say, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” The Pharisees and Sadducees hated each other but this miracle made the Sadducees so angry that they even decided to join with their enemies against Jesus. The Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection. Matthew 22:23

48. If we let him continue doing these things, everyone will believe in Him. Then the Romans will come and take away our temple and our nation.”

This is their reason for not trusting the Lord. Do you have some reason for not trusting the Lord in all things?

49 – 50

One of the men there was Caiaphas. He was the high priest that year. Caiaphas said, “You people know nothing! It is better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed, but you do not see this.”

Caiphas is saying, “Let us kill Him.” The nation of Israel kept rebelling against the Romans and was destroyed in 70 A.D.

51 – 52

Caiaphas did not think of this himself. He was high priest that year. So he was really prophesying that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation and for God's scattered children. This would bring them all together and make them one .

So that in Himself He might make [Jew and Gentile] into one new man, thus establishing peace. Ephesians 2:15

53 – 54

That day they started planning to kill Jesus. So Jesus no longer traveled openly among the Jews. He left there and went to a place near the desert. He went to a town called Ephraim and stayed there with His followers.

Ephraim has never been found and they were not able to find Him. It must been a very isolated place. The historian Josephus says that Ephraim was a small town near Bethel. It may have been called Ephron. 2 Chronicles 13:19

55 – 57

It was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast. Many from the country went up to Jerusalem before the Passover. They went to do the special things to make themselves clean.

The people looked for Jesus . They stood in the Temple and were asking each other, “Is He coming to the Feast? What do you think?” But the leading priests and the Pharisees had given orders about Jesus. They said that if anyone knew where Jesus was, he must tell them. Then they could arrest Jesus.

Some people are looking for Jesus for the wrong reasons. Just because someone is curious about Jesus does not mean that they are ready for Him to change their life. Judas may have heard that there was money to be made from the Pharisees.