John • #7 of 7 signs

John 11:1-46 • The raising of Lazarus...

• John's motivation to write? That we might receive eternal life by believing in Jesus.

John 20:30-31 → 30Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

• The signs that John mentions are 7 which he recorded in his gospel. They are...

► Sign 1, Water to Wine, Jesus is the master of the ELEMENTS → John 2:1-12

► Sign 2, Nobleman's Son, Jesus is the master over DISTANCE → John 4:46-54

► Sign 3, Lame Man at Bethesda, Jesus is the master over TIME → John 5:1-18

► Sign 4, Feeding of 5,000+, Jesus is the master over DIMENSION → John 6:1-15

► Sign 5, Jesus walks on water, Jesus is the master over NATURE → John 6:15-21

► Sign 6, The Man Born Blind, Jesus is the master over HISTORY → John 9:1-41

► Sign 7, The Raising of Lazarus, Jesus is the master over DEATH → John 11:1-46

• Sign 7, The Raising of Lazarus, Jesus is the master over DEATH

John 11:1-46 → 1Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

• John 10:40, compared with John 1:28 let's us know that Jesus is currently in a place known as Bethany Beyond the Jordan, which is about 20 to 25 miles or so from this Bethany (depending on the path of the roads in those days), which is close to Jerusalem.

2It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.

• The reference to "Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment" is looking forward. This anointing doesn't happen until chapter 12, but the reference is used in chapter 11 only to clarify which Mary is involved, as there are several Mary's following Jesus. His mother for one, and also Mary Magdalene.

3So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” 4But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” 5Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.

• The sisters sent for Jesus to come, assumingly to have Him heal Lazarus.

• Jesus responds to His disciples, saying "this sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God" and then calls Himself "the Son of God".

• Verse 5 and 6 are a little confusing, as we are told that Jesus loved them so much that he waited two more days before leaving. WHAT??? Shouldn't He have left the minute He heard Lazarus was sick? More on this later.

7Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?” 9Jesus 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. 10But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

• When Jesus, after waiting two days, tells the disciples that it's time to go back to Israel, they basically tell Him that He's nuts... "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?" They aren't talking about getting high, but rather getting dead!

• Jesus response in verses 9 and 10 is hard to understand. Some commentators didn't comment at all, and others alluded to a veiled inference to Jesus saying that He needed to finish His work (daylight) before they kill Him (night).

11This He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.” 12The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. 14So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.” 16Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”

• Jesus tells the disciples that "Lazarus has fallen asleep", but that He's going to wake him up.

• In their lack of understanding the true nature of Lazarus' condition, they're wondering why they need to go at all, since obviously Lazarus will recover.

• Jesus corrects their understanding by telling them plainly that "Lazarus is dead", and then adding that the purpose of their visit is "so that you may believe".

• Thomas, whom we will see later will earn the title "Doubting Thomas" after Jesus' resurrection, is one of those "glass half empty" people, and here assumes that by returning to Israel, that not only will Jesus die upon their return, but so also will the disciples. "Didymus" means "twin", and in the Greek is masculine, but we are never introduced in the Scriptures to his sibling. Maybe we will meet him in heaven!

17So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.

• This is important! This also explains why Jesus waited two more days to come. And it probably took the other two days to get there.

• This sounds really bad, but Jesus wanted to make sure that Lazarus is really and totally dead, not just "mostly dead" like in the book/movie "The Princess Bride".

18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. 20Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. 21Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” 23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”

• As Jesus is approaching Bethany, Martha comes to meet Jesus on the road.

• "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whater You ask of God, God will give to you."

► 1st she acknowledges that Jesus missed the window to heal Lazarus, BUT...

► 2nd she has hope that Jesus can raise him from the dead.

• Jesus responds by saying that "your brother will rise again". She acknowledges his resurrection at the end of time.

• Jesus responds to her response by telling her "I AM the resurrection and the life...". Martha then confesses Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of God...", affirming her total faith in Him.

28When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him.

30Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. 31Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

• Martha returns and sends Mary to Jesus, where she also said "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." She had also been followed to Jesus by many of her friends.

33When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, 34and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Jesus wept. 36So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!” 37But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?”

• When Jesus saw them all "weeping" (wailing or lamenting - the despondent grief of those with no hope), He was "deeply moved in spirit and was troubled". This phrase literally means that He was experiencing anger, outrage, or indignation. Where Martha had expressed a hope in the resurrection, Mary and her hangers-on are expressing a lack thereof. And this is troubling to Jesus.

• Jesus asks to be led to the grave, and upon arriving, it says "Jesus wept" (the shortest verse in the Bible). This word, unlike the wailing and lamenting going on around Him, simply means that He shed some tears.

• I don't think Jesus was crying for the loss of Lazarus, as He knows what's coming, but rather for the lack of faith displayed by so many around Him. Everyone around Him thinks Jesus could have saved Lazarus, as He "opened the eyes of the blind man", but had no clue that there is no limit to the power of God.

38So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.

• Jesus comes to the tomb, a cave with a stone in front, exactly what He Himself will be in in just a few days.

39Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” 40Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.”

• Jesus commands that the stone be moved. Martha, concerned about the stench from the decaying body, states that Lazarus "has been dead four days." I'm not a scientist, but I've heard that 4 days would have to be the minimum, enough for the body to have begun to decay, so that there would be absolutely no doubt by anyone about what Jesus is about to do.

• Jesus getting their attention, reminds them all that He said they would "see the glory of God".

• He then prays, thanking God, and stating in His prayer that "they may believe that You sent Me."

• I can see Him at this point, cupping His hands around His mouth like a megaphone, exclaiming with a "loud voice" (in Greek megas = loud, phone = voice, hence megaphone), "Lazarus, come forth."

• Jesus wanted to make sure that there was no doubt on the part of anyone paying attention as to what He had just said.

44The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

• At Jesus' command, "the man who had died came forth...".

• I can almost hear the gasps of the witnesses to this event when out comes Lazarus, hobbling in his funeral wrappings, no longer dead!

• Jesus commands them, in my words... "What are you waiting for? Unwrap him!"

45Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. 46But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.

• It's really amazing to me, not that some people believed, I mean come on, they just witnessed a miracle! But that some DIDN'T believe. Are you on drugs? How could anyone witness this and not only NOT believe in who Jesus is (the Creator God), but go so far as to report to the Pharisees, who want Jesus dead, where He was and what He had done.

• So here we are with two options...

► 1 - it seems to me that once you'd see a miracle like this that it would be easy to believe. But I guess not for everyone; some just don't care about the evidence, they just don't want Jesus.

► 2 - Martha at least, believed BEFORE seeing the miracle. That's the boat we are in. We can read about the miracle, but we didn't SEE it. Our only viable option is to consider the writings of the Scriptures and to either deny they are true, or to accept them as valid and believe.

• Jesus is the master over DEATH