CHAPTER 11

(A.D. 33)

LAZARUS

¹Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus (was not the same Lazarus of Lk., Chpt. 16, who had died sometime before now), of Bethany (a small village about two miles from Jerusalem, situated on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives), the town of Mary and her sister Martha (the sisters of Lazarus).

²(It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair (the anointing took place very shortly before the Crucifixion, and after the event of Lazarus being raised from the dead), whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

³Therefore his sisters sent unto Him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick (refers to more than a mere malady, but a life-threatening affliction, which, in fact, did take his life, at least at the time).

⁴When Jesus heard that, He said, This sickness is not unto death (the Greek Text actually says, he shall not fall prey to death, which is the way it should have been translated), but for the Glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby (this tells us that even though the Lord does not receive glory from sin or sickness, He definitely does receive glory in delivering men from sin, and from healing the sick).

⁵Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus (the result of a long acquaintance).

⁶When He had heard therefore that he (Lazarus) was sick (seems to indicate that a messenger was sent before Lazarus died, with Lazarus dying shortly after he had left, but the messenger did not know this when he approached Christ), He abode two days still in the same place where He was (He did so on instructions from the Holy Spirit; in fact, the Spirit told Him that Lazarus had died).

JUDAEA

⁷Then after that said He to His Disciples, Let us go into Judaea again (Reynolds said, The use of the word again points forcibly back to the last visit, when He told both friends and foes that the Good Shepherd would snatch His Sheep from the jaws of death, even though He lay down His Own Life in the doing of it).

⁸His Disciples said unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone You; and You are going there again? (How different this language is from that of His Own brothers [Jn. 7:3-5].)

⁹Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? (Our Lord is using this terminology as an analogy.)If any man walk in the day, he stumbles not, because he sees the light of this world (refers to the sun shining according to the rotation of the Earth).

¹⁰But if a man walk in the night, he stumbles (using a natural expression to express a Spiritual Truth), because there is no light in him (destroys the doctrine of the inner light as claimed by man in natural birth; in truth, man within himself has no Spiritual Light).

¹¹These things said He: and after that He said unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleeps (Jesus is not teaching soul sleep here; at death, it is only the body of the Believer that sleeps, not the soul and the spirit, which immediately go to be with Christ; actually, the soul and spirit of Lazarus went down into Paradise at this time, because Jesus had not yet been glorified); but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep (refers to the fact that the Holy Spirit had told Jesus to raise this man from the dead).

¹²Then said His Disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well (they did not know what Jesus was actually saying).

¹³Howbeit Jesus spoke of his death (this proclaims the fact that John, who wrote this account, does not hide the fact of the spiritual dullness of the Disciples): but they thought that He had spoken of taking of rest in sleep (they put a carnal interpretation on His statements).

¹⁴Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

¹⁵And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there (portrays the fact that if Jesus had been there, Lazarus would not have died; Jesus would have healed him), to the intent you may believe (has reference to the fact that the Holy Spirit instructed Jesus to perform the Miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead for a variety of reasons; among them, to teach the Disciples the fact of the coming Resurrection); nevertheless let us go unto him.

¹⁶Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow-Disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him (this statement, as given by Thomas, proclaims the fact that the Disciples had given up hope of a Messianic Kingdom, which they had thought would come immediately).

THE RESURRECTION

¹⁷Then when Jesus came, He found that he (Lazarus) had lain in the grave four days already (on the fourth day of death, decomposition begins to set in; so there was no doubt about the death of this man).

¹⁸Now Bethany was near unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off (about two miles from Jerusalem):

¹⁹And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother (this shows that the family could well have been one of some wealth, position, and importance).

²⁰Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him (implies that Jesus, upon coming close to Bethany, stopped short of coming into the town; knowing the animosity against Him, He did not desire to attract any undue disturbance, especially at this time; evidently He had sent someone to their home to inform them He had arrived, with information as to where He was): but Mary sat still in the house (someone had to be in the house to meet the people who came to pay their respects).

²¹Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if You had been here, my brother had not died (evidently she does not seem to think of Jesus as raising her brother from the dead).

²²But I know, that even now, whatsoever You will ask of God, God will give it You (the terminology used by Martha shows it was still unclear to her exactly Who Jesus was).

²³Jesus said unto her, Your brother shall rise again (very plainly, Jesus tells her what is about to happen; but in her doubt, she misunderstands).

²⁴Martha said unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in the Resurrection at the last day (proclaims what she had probably learned at the feet of Jesus [Dan. 12:2, 13; Jn. 6:39-40, 44, 54; 12:48]).

²⁵Jesus said unto her, I am the Resurrection, and the Life (in effect, He is saying, Martha, look at Me, you are looking at the Resurrection and the Life; this shows that Resurrection and Life are not mere doctrines, but in reality a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ): he who believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live (speaks of the coming Resurrection of Life, when all the Sainted dead will rise [I Thess. 4:13-18]):

²⁶And whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die (whoever believes in Me will live Eternally). Do you believe this? (The Resurrection is the end of death; consequently death has no more to do with the Redeemed; it has done all it can do; it is finished! the Redeemed live in the imparted life that put an end to it; for them, the old life, its death and judgment no longer exist.)

²⁷She said unto Him, Yes, Lord: I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world (proclaims her belief in the Lord in a different light than she had known Him previously; she now believes that Jesus is God!).

JESUS AND MARY

²⁸And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly (she relates to her sister what Jesus had just said), saying, The Master is come, and calls for you (has to be one of the most beautiful statements found in the entirety of the Word of God).

²⁹As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto Him (she did such with a great spirit of anticipation).

³⁰Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met Him (probably a very short distance from the home of the sisters).

³¹The 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 goes unto the grave to weep there (they little knew what was about to happen!).

³²Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His Feet (represents, in a sense, her anticipation), saying unto Him, Lord, if You had been here, my brother had not died (the same words as uttered by her sister Martha; they believed, but I think it was still very difficult for them to grasp the fact that He would raise their brother from the dead, even though he had been dead for some four days).

COMPASSION

³³When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled (Reynolds said, At that time, there flashed upon His Spirit all the terrible moral consequences of which death was the ghastly symbol.),

³⁴And said, Where have you laid him? They said unto Him, Lord, come and see (they would lead Him to the tomb).

³⁵Jesus wept (tears of sorrow because of the terrible specter of death, brought on the human race by sin).

³⁶Then said the Jews, Behold how He loved him! (However, His tears had to do with a far greater degree of misery than was evident here.)

³⁷And 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? (This seems to have been said by some of the onlookers with some sarcasm.)

³⁸Jesus therefore again groaning in Himself comes to the grave (if there is anything which symbolizes all the pain and hurt resulting from the Fall of man, the grave or tomb is that example; Death is such an enemy!). It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it (presents the striking end of all men, for it is appointed unto men once to die).

³⁹Jesus said, Take ye away the stone (presents one of the most poignant moments in human history). Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said unto Him, Lord, by this time he stinks: for he has been dead four days (her Faith seems to wane and weaken when she stands before the cold reality of this tomb).

⁴⁰Jesus said unto her, Said I not unto you, that, if you would believe, you should see the Glory of God? (Corruption, whether physical or moral, is no obstacle to Him Who is the Resurrection and the Life.)

PRAYER

⁴¹Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up His Eyes, and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me (proclaims this as a thanksgiving for that which had already been prayed and heard).

⁴²And I knew that You hear Me always (this speaks of relationship beyond our comprehension): but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that You have sent Me (the people heard Him pray to the Father, and now they will see the Father answer His Prayer; consequently, the proof of Who He is will be undeniable).

LAZARUS

⁴³And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth (constitutes a Command, and from the Creator of the Ages; considering that He is the Resurrection and the Life, had He not called Lazarus by name all the other Sainted dead would have come forth as well!).

⁴⁴And he who was dead came forth (constitutes the greatest Miracle in human history), bound hand and foot with graveclothes (his legs were, no doubt, bound separately with him able to walk, but with some difficulty): and his face was bound about with a napkin (concerns a cloth which had been tied over his face, but which he had probably partially removed). Jesus said unto them, Loose him, and let him go (refers, as is obvious, to this burial shroud being taken off his body; Lazarus had been called up from Paradise where he had been for the past four days; one can only surmise as to what happened when the Voice of Jesus rang out in that place concerning Lazarus).

⁴⁵Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on Him (Jesus would later say, blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed [Jn. 20:29]).

⁴⁶But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done (how is it that individuals could observe the type of Miracle just witnessed, and still oppose Christ?).

PHARISEES

⁴⁷Then gathered the Chief Priests and the Pharisees a Council, and said, What do we? (This presents both the Pharisees and Sadducees joining in their denunciation of Jesus, even though they were normally bitter enemies between themselves.) for this Man does many Miracles (presents not all of them denying the Miracles, but some actually admitting to their veracity).

⁴⁸If we let Him thus alone, all men will believe on Him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation (in fact, the Romans did exactly that; their rejection of Christ brought it all about; how spiritually blind they were!).

⁴⁹And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the High Priest that same year (presents the political spectrum of this high office), said unto them, you know nothing at all (could be translated, you do not understand the dangers we face!),

⁵⁰Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not (Williams said, the death of Jesus, proposed and commanded by the High Priest, was resolved upon that fearful moment; for the raising of Lazarus, had brought their malignity to a head.).

⁵¹And this spoke he not of himself (actually means that their condemning Jesus to death, even though evil and wicked for which they would pay dearly, would be used of God for the Redemption of mankind): but being High Priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that Nation (once again fell out to that which was ordained by God, but which in no way absolved these of blame);

⁵²And not for that Nation only (refers to the fact that when Jesus died, He died for the entirety of the world, not for Israel only), but that also He should gather together in one (one body consisting of both Jews and Gentiles) the Children of God who were scattered abroad (the Apostle Paul would be given the meaning of the New Covenant, which was the meaning of the Cross that would establish the Church).

⁵³Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put Him to death (if men reject Christ, the next step is to kill Him, i.e., repudiate Him for Who and What He is).

⁵⁴Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews (the raising of Lazarus from the dead was the great Miracle that brought all of this to a climax); but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with His Disciples (seems to represent a place in connection with Bethel [II Chron. 13:19]; it was probably about fifteen miles north of the Jerusalem of that day).

⁵⁵And the Jews Passover was nigh at hand (He was the True Passover, and would fulfill the Type by dying on Calvary): and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves (pertained to going through a Levitical, ceremonial cleansing from touching the dead and other unclean things [Num. 9:6-10]).

⁵⁶Then sought they for Jesus (seems to present the authorities seeking Him in order that He be arrested), and spoke among themselves, as they stood in the Temple, What think ye, that He will not come to the Feast? (In almost every place, hundreds, if not thousands, of people seeking to hear Him or be healed by Him surrounded Him; so, their task of arresting Him would not be easy!)

⁵⁷Now both the Chief Priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where He were, he should show it, that they might take Him (they had determined that He must be stopped, and at all costs; the truth is that it cost them everything, both life and soul).