The Death of Lazarus, 1-16

11:1 Now a certain man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived. 11:2 (Now it was Mary who anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and wiped his feet dry with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) 11:3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, look, the one you love is sick.” 11:4 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.” 11:5 (Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.)

The raising of Lazarus is a key part of John’s narrative:

• it is the last and greatest of the ‘sign miracles’
• it foreshadows Jesus’ own death and resurrection
• it actually precipitated these events Jn 11:45–53, 57; cf. 12:10–11

The story is told, as Kruse points out, in six scenes.

The view of Chennattu, that…

‘the narrative seems to go back to some experience in the life of Jesus and Lazarus, which early Christians believed to be real’ (DJG, 2nd ed., art. ‘Lazarus’)

…seems extraordinarily weak, coming as it does in a publication that aspires to being ‘evangelical and critical at the same time’.

A recently-discovered ‘secret’ gospel of Mark tells a similar story, but without naming Lazarus.

Some scholars raise a doubt about the very existence of Lazarus by pointing to the same name being used in Luke’s parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31).  But, since this name was the third most popular male name among Palestinian Jews (after Simon and Joseph), the theory is groundless.

Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived – This is the first mention of these sisters by John.  They are named in Lk 10:38, although their village is not mentioned there.  Perhaps John expected his readers to know their names, from Luke’s Gospel.  Lazarus, on the other hand, has been introduced as if for the first time by John.  So it is plausible to suppose that the women had survived into old age, and were well known in the Christian community, but that Lazarus was now dead (awaiting the final resurrection).

Mary…who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair – This incident has not yet been narrated by John.  See Jn 12:1-8.  Kruse surmises that John expected his readers to know about it already, perhaps from Mt 26:1-13 or Mk 14:3-9, or from oral tradition.

‘The sister’s reference to their brother as the one Jesus loves is touching. It hints at friendships and relationships that are barely explored in the Gospels, and it suggests that some at least felt peculiarly loved by him.’ (Carson)

Not all sickness is a punishment for sin. Lazarus’ illness was not related to sin in his life. Jesus said that his sickness was “for the glory of God.” Lazarus was allowed to suffer and die that Christ might have the opportunity to call him forth from the tomb. In this way Jesus’ deity was exhibited to all. F. B. Meyer wrote, “The child of God is often called to suffer because there is nothing that will convince onlookers of the reality and power of true religion as suffering will do, when it is borne with Christian fortitude.” Notice that the important thing is how we respond to suffering.

“The one you love is sick” – As in Jn 2:3, this is an implied request for help.  The indirectness of the pleas reflects a certain politeness found in a number of cultures to this day (Kruse).

‘The sickness of those we love is our affliction. The more friends we have the more frequently we are thus afflicted by sympathy; and the dearer they are the more grievous it is. The multiplying of our comforts is but the multiplying of our cares and crosses.’ (MHC)

If Jesus was still on the other side of the Jordan, he would have been some distance from Bethany when he heard the news.

A few scholars have surmised from this description of Lazarus as ‘the one you love’ that he was the beloved disciple of Jn 13:23 and a key source for the material found in the Fourth Gospel.  But, as Ian Paul comments:

‘There is little narrative sense in naming Lazarus here, then obscuring his name later, so this is not really persuasive.’

“This sickness will not lead to death” – It sounds as though Jesus is saying that Lazarus would recover from his sickness.  In fact, of course, Lazarus would die (Jn 11:14), but his death would not be final.

We may suppose that Jesus is ‘telescoping’ what would happen for the sake of the sisters.  If he had sent the message back: “Your brother will die from his sickness, but I will raise him back to life”, this would, not doubt, have been met with the same response as he would receive from Martha in v24.

“…but to God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it” – Jesus focus here is not on the immediate problem, but its final resolution; this is parallelled in Jn 9:1-3.

Ian Paul notes:

‘The narrator is careful to juxtapose the comment of Jesus’ love for the family with his apparent inaction; in response to petition, his apparent failure to act is not a sign that he does not love them. Rather, his love will be shown in the final resolution of the situation, even if that comes later than expected.’

Cyril of Alexandria comments:

‘Jesus saw that in the end, Lazarus’ illness and death would be for the glory of God. This is not to say that the sickness came on Lazarus so that God should be glorified, for it would be silly to say this, but rather, since the sickness had come upon Lazarus, Jesus foresaw the wonderful conclusion to Lazarus’ illness.’

11:6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he remained in the place where he was for two more days. 11:7 Then after this, he said to his disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 11:8 The disciples replied, “Rabbi, the Jewish leaders were just now trying to stone you to death! Are you going there again?” 11:9 Jesus replied, “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If anyone walks around in the daytime, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 11:10 But if anyone walks around at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

He remained…where he was for two more days – This is puzzling.  We know that this was not due to lack of concern for Lazarus and his sisters, for John has emphasised Jesus’ love for them.  In fact, John seems to be saying that Jesus delayed for two more days because he loved them.

When Jesus finally arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for four days.  So, even if Jesus had set out immediately, Lazarus would have been dead for two days.

Kruse explains how this delay might have served to accentuate the miracle:

‘Nothing would have been gained by an immediate departure. However, there was something to be gained by waiting two days before setting out. The spirit of the departed was thought to hover around the body for three days in the hope of a resuscitation. The raising of Lazarus after four days, then, would be clearly seen as a manifestation of the glory of God (cf. 11:4), which would strengthen the two sisters’ faith.’

‘It is…probable that John means us to see Jesus as moved by no external forces, but solely by his determination to do the will of God. As on the occasion of the Feast of Tabernacles (Jn 7:3-10) Jesus went up to Jerusalem as and when he himself determined, not at the dictates of others. At the marriage in Cana (Jn 2:1ff) Jesus had been urged by his mother to take action. In all three cases the urge to action came from those near or dear, in all three their request was refused, in all three Jesus in the end did what was suggested, but in all three only after it had been made clear that what he did he did in God’s time, and according to God’s will.’ (Leon Morris)

11:11 After he said this, he added, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. But I am going there to awaken him.” 11:12 Then the disciples replied, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 11:13 (Now Jesus had been talking about his death, but they thought he had been talking about real sleep.)

“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep” – Another example of the Fourth Gos[pel’s fondness for highlighting double meanings: compare ‘being born again/from above’ in ch. 3, and ‘living water/running water’ in ch. 4.

The exchange about Lazarus ‘falling asleep’ as a figure of speech for dying in verses 11 to 13 is yet another example of the Fourth Gospel’s double entendre, where the difference between literal and figurative meaning expressed the difference between Jesus’ understanding and the failure to understand of his dialogue partner. Thus Nicodemus fails to understand ‘being born again/from above’, and the woman by the well fails at first to understand ‘the living/running water’. The real question, in each case, is whether Jesus’ hearers will emerge from the confusion with understanding so that they will place their trust in Jesus.

11:14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 11:15 and I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 11:16 So Thomas (called Didymus) said to his fellow disciples, “Let us go too, so that we may die with him.”

Thomas (called Didymus) – Both names mean ‘twin’ – the first in Aramaic and he second in Greek.  So, here is another hint that the Fourth Gospel was written in a context of missionary expansion, when such terms woujld need to be translated or explained.

Speaking with Martha and Mary, 17-37

11:17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days already. 11:18 (Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 11:19 so many of the Jewish people of the region had come to Martha and Mary to console them over the loss of their brother.) 11:20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 11:21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 11:22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will grant you.”

Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem – It was just over the horizon, as was Jesus’ own death.

Four days – Apparently Lazarus died shortly after the messengers left, for it was a day’s journey to Jesus beyond the Jordan (10:40). He stayed there two days and spent a day journeying back to Bethany (on the E side of the Mount of Olives).

According to the Mishnah, four days specified the period after which a person could be said with absolute confidence to be dead.

Ryle remarks:

‘The various forms of death which our Lord is recorded to have triumphed over should not be forgotten. Jairus’ daughter was just dead; the son of the widow of Nain was being carried to the grave; Lazarus, the most extraordinary case of all, had been four days in the tomb.’

Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem – This detail indicates John’s intimate knowledge of Palestine, and also suggests that he had non-Palestinian readers in mind.

The Jewish people of the region – Gk. Ioudaioi, ‘Jews,’ or (perhaps better) ‘Judeans,’.  Probably residents of Jerusalem, given the proximity of Bethany to that city.

This accounts for the presence of ‘many Jewish people’ who had come to comfort the two sisters.

Lazarus and his two sisters were evidently well known.  This may help to account for the silence of the Synoptics on this remarkable miracle: Lazarus was ‘protected’ from the curiosity and animosity which his raising would have provoked, until after he had finally departed this life.  This is sometimes referred to as ‘protective anonymity’.

The activity of Martha, and the less active, more reflective, attitude of Mary, is consistent with what we know about them from Luke’s Gospel.

11:23 Jesus replied, “Your brother will come back to life again.” 11:24 Martha said, “I know that he will come back to life again in the resurrection at the last day.” 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, 11:26 and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 11:27 She replied, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who comes into the world.”

“Your brother will come back to life again” – Most translations have ‘again’, but there is no equivalent in the original.  See this, by Bill Mounce.

“I am the resurrection and the Life” – Martha has just confessed the common Jewish view of the afterlife.  But in Jesus, this final hope has become a reality in the present.  Paul sets out the same hope in Rom 8:19 and 2 Cor 5:17.

‘’The resurrection of Jesus provides solid, visible, tangible, public evidence of God’s purpose to…give us new bodies in a new world.’ (John Stott, The Contemporary Christian)

‘What should be the Christian’s attitude to death?  It is still an enemy, unnatural, unpleasant and undignified – in fact “the last enemy to be destroyed”.  Yet it is a defeated enemy.  Because Christ has taken away our sins, death has lost its power to harm and therefore to terrify.  Jesus summed it up in one of his greatest affirmations: “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die”.  That is, Jesus is the resurrection of believers who die, and the life of believers who live.  His promise to the former is “you will live”, meaning not just that you will survive, but that you will be resurrected.  His promise to the latter is “you will never die”, meaning not that you will escape death, but that death will prove to be a trivial episode, a transition to fullness of life.’ (Stott, The Cross of Christ, 244)

As a young man, D.L. Moody was called upon suddenly to preach a funeral sermon. He hunted all throughout the four Gospels trying to find one of Christ’s funeral sermons, but searched in vain. He found that Christ broke up every funeral he ever attended. Death could not exist where he was. When the dead heard his voice they sprang to life. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life.”

“I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who comes into the world” – Ian Paul notes that women are silent in Mark’s Gospel; they have some role in Matthew’s; become prominent in Luke’s; and have prominent roles and significant speech in John’s.  Furthermore:

‘It is no accident that it is in this gospel Mary Magdalen becomes the ‘apostle to the apostles’ as she testifies to the Twelve that Jesus is risen.’

11:28 And when she had said this, Martha went and called her sister Mary, saying privately, “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.” 11:29 So when Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 11:30 (Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still in the place where Martha had come out to meet him.) 11:31 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.

Kruse explains that Martha went and called Mary ‘privately’ was probably so that she could slip away unnoticed.  However, this proved not to be possible, v31.  ‘The people’ assuming that she was going to the tomb, thought it necessary to go with her.

11:32 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.” 11:33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people who had come with her weeping, he was intensely moved in spirit and greatly distressed. 11:34 He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They replied, “Lord, come and see.” 11:35 Jesus wept. 11:36 Thus the people who had come to mourn said, “Look how much he loved him!” 11:37 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?”

He was intensely moved in spirit – rather, ‘he was “outraged in spirit.” (Jn 11:33,38) (The translation is lexically certain, though English versions have softened it to “he groaned,” “he sighed,” “he was deeply touched,” or, as in NIV, “he was deeply moved,” thus cutting out the element of anger that is central to the meaning of the Greek word.) Jesus was angry, as the context shows, both at the devastation that sin and death work in human lives and at the unbelief that mourns bereavement despairingly, without any hope of resurrection. And the reason for his anger was not simply his distress at the distresses of others, but basically his awareness that unbelieving responses to death cannot but displease his Heavenly Father.’ (J.I. Packer, commenting on Neh 13 in A Passion for Faithfulness)

“Where have you laid him?” – This is the occasion in this Gospel when Jesus does not seem to know the answer to his own question.

Jesus wept – Notwithstanding this Gospel’s lofty Christology, it also, of the four Gospels’ presents him as the most human and the most vulnerable.

‘The fact that God the Son took a human psychology means that He experienced the whole range of human emotions. He knew, for example, the emotions of joy and contentment. Although we are never told that Jesus laughed it would be quite wrong to regard Him as living a life of gloom and despondency. His delight was to do the will of God (Psalm 40:8). The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace (Galatians 5:22). Contentment is commanded by God (Philippians 4:6). We have every reason to believe that Christ was at peace with Himself, with His environment and with God. Nevertheless, He was no stranger to the darker side of our human emotions. He felt the sorrow of bereavement at the tomb of Lazarus (and probably earlier, on the death of his father, Joseph). In Gethsemane he was ‘sore amazed’. He was afraid. He did not simply peripherally experience those emotions. He experienced them in horrendous depth. He was very heavy. He was sorrowful, ‘even unto death’. In Gethsemane he was literally so terrified of the imminent encounter between Himself as the Sin-bearer and God in His holiness that He shrank from ‘this cup’ (even though He knew it was the will of God) with a horror that exceeds any horror that we have ever known. Emotionally, He went to the outer limits of human endurance, so close to the absolute limit that He was almost overwhelmed. Christ was no stoic or robot. The lesson for ourselves is priceless. We are not called upon to be ashamed of emotion, or of its expression in tears. The Son of God understands and legitimises our emotional pain.’ (McLeod, A Faith To Live By)

Lazarus Raised from the Dead, 38-44

11:38 Jesus, intensely moved again, came to the tomb. (Now it was a cave, and a stone was placed across it.) 11:39 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.” 11:40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” 11:41 So they took away the stone. Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. 11:42 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.” 11:43 When he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 11:44 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.”

“Take away the stone” – No human help will be needed to move the stone from his own tomb.

“Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, because he has been buried four days” – In a warm climate, the body would be well into a state of decay.

“Lazarus, come out!” –

The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, and a cloth wrapped around his face – There is an apparent absurdity in thinking of Lazarus, bound hand and foot, coming out of the the grave.  Basil and others (Ryle cites Augustine, Zwingle, Ecolampadius, Bucer, Gualter, Toletus, Jansenius, Lampe, Lightfoot, and Alford) have seen this as a minor miracle, a ‘miracle within a miracle’.  But this is unnecessary.  Presumably, we should picture him as shuffling along, only partly restricted by the strips of linen (so Hutcheson and Ryle among older commentators, and Kruse, Klink among recent writers).

Ian Paul comments:

‘Verse 44 contains my favourite phrase in all the New Testament: ‘the dead man came out walking’! Dead people don’t walk—unless Jesus has spoken new life into them! And the only qualification for experiencing resurrection is to be dead in the first place.’

The same writer adds:

‘Although presented here as a narrative of what happened, like all John’s writings, it is rich in symbolic second meaning. Paul talks in Ephesians 2 of us having been ‘dead in our sins’. It is as if, in calling Lazarus out, Jesus calls each of us out of death into new life:

‘Ian Paul, come out! Come out from the tomb of your own self interest, emerge from the darkness of your insecurities and petty jealousies! Come out into the sunshine of God’s grace and breath again the air of life where there is no fear of death! Unwrap those signs of death and defeat which constrict you and prevent you living life in all its fulness!’

‘In doing this, Jesus is not just showing understanding of the human condition—he is demonstrating his power in remedying that condition.’

The Response of the Jewish Leaders, 45-57

11:45 Then many of the people, who had come with Mary and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in him. 11:46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and reported to them what Jesus had done. 11:47 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. 11:48 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.”

“Our sanctuary” – ‘topos‘ – lit. ‘our place’.  So translated by ESV, NIV.

Two main interpretations:

(a) The Temple (perhaps including the Holy City itself)

So TNIV.  Also Morris, Kruse, Carson, Klink (‘their city or more specifically…the temple’; Michaels (‘probably’); Hendriksen (‘the city of Jerusalem with its temple, perhaps with special reference to the latter’); Whitacre; Barrett (‘primarily’ the Temple, but possibly including Jerusalem).  Also older commentators, including Augustine (implies that city and Temple are meant); Calvin (‘It is uncertain whether they mean the temple or their country’); Poole; Barnes

Compare:

Acts 6:13f – ‘They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him saying that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”’ (Italics added)

(b) Power base

Bill Mounce: ‘place’ is preferred, seeing this as a statement about power.  In the face of a wonderful miracle (the raising of Lazarus), the Jewish leaders are concerned only with their own power base.

Borchert agrees:

‘The position of hēmōn (“our”) in the Greek suggests that it was not the temple and nation about which the Council was most worried. It was their role as leaders (i.e., “our place,” cf. NIV) and the nation as they knew it that would therefore be at stake if, as they thought, this Jesus fellow were permitted to continue his activity.’

So also Beasley-Murray: The fear is not that the place and nation will be destroyed, but ‘taken away’:

‘The concern of the rulers, accordingly, was primarily for their own position, not for the temple and the people.’

Matthew Henry allows for both interpretations:

‘The country in general, especially Jerusalem, or the temple, the holy place, and their place, their darling, their idol; or, their preferments in the temple, their places of power and trust.’

11:49 Then one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said, “You know nothing at all! 11:50 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.” 11:51 (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, 11:52 and not for the Jewish nation only, but to gather together into one the children of God who are scattered.) 11:53 So from that day they planned together to kill him.

Caiaphas – See Mt 26:57n.

11:54 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. 11:55 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. 11:56 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?” 11:57 (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.)

The Jewish feast of Passover was near – This is the third Passover mentioned in this Gospel.

It has been suggested that this could be translated: ‘The Passover feast of the Judeans was near.’  This opens up the possibility (championed by Colin Humphreys, in The Mystery of the Last Supper) that more than one calendar was in use at the time.  John is signalling here that he was referring to the official Jewish calendar.  The Synoptics just refer to ‘the Passover’ (not ‘the Jewish Passover’), suggesting that they were recording events according to a different, pre-exilic, calendar.