John Chapter 11

From The Open Bible Project

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

• (1) Christ, in restoring the rotting body of his friend to life, shows an example both of his mighty power, and also of his singular good will toward men: and this is also an image of the resurrection to come.
• (a) Where his sisters dwelt.

11:2 It was that Mary who had anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother, Lazarus, was sick.

11:3 The sisters therefore sent to him, saying, "Lord, behold, he for whom you have great affection is sick."

11:4 But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, that God's Son may be glorified by it."

11:5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

11:6 When therefore he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days in the place where he was.

• (2) In that thing which God sometimes seems to linger in helping us, he does it both for his glory, and for our salvation, as the end result of the matter clearly proves.

11:7 Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let's go into Judea again."

11:8 The disciples told him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and are you going there again?"

• (3) This alone is the sure and right way to life, to follow God boldly without fear, who calls us and shines before us in the darkness of this world.

11:9 Jesus answered, "Aren't there twelve hours of daylight? If a man walks in the day, he doesn't stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

• (c) All things happen in a proper way and are brought to pass in their due time.

11:10 But if a man walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light isn't in him."

11:11 He said these things, and after that, he said to them, "Our friend, Lazarus, has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may awake him out of sleep."

• (d) The Jews used a milder kind of speech and called death "sleep", and this same manner of speech is found in other languages, who call the place of burial where the dead are laid waiting for the resurrection a "sleeping place".

11:12 The disciples therefore said, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover."

11:13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he spoke of taking rest in sleep.

11:14 So Jesus said to them plainly then, "Lazarus is dead.

11:15 I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe. Nevertheless, let's go to him."

11:16 Thomas therefore, who is called [35] Didymus, [See John Footnotes 35] said to his fellow disciples, "Let's go also, that we may die with him."

11:17 So when Jesus came, he found that he had been in the tomb four days already.

11:18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about [36] fifteen stadia [See John Footnotes 36] away.

11:19 Many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother.

• (4) God, who is the maker of nature, does not condemn natural emotions, but shows that they ought to be guided by the rule of faith.

11:20 Then when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary stayed in the house.

11:21 Therefore Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn't have died.

11:22 Even now I know that, whatever you ask of God, God will give you."

11:23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."

• (e) That is, will recover life again.

11:24 Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies.

11:26 Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

11:27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, God's Son, he who comes into the world."

11:28 When she had said this, she went away, and called Mary, her sister, secretly, saying, "The Teacher is here, and is calling you."

11:29 When she heard this, she arose quickly, and went to him.

11:30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was in the place where Martha met him.

11:31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and were consoling her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, "She is going to the tomb to weep there."

11:32 Therefore when Mary came to where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn't have died."

11:33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,

• (5) Christ took upon himself together with our flesh all affections of man (sin alone excepted), and amongst them especially mercy and compassion.
• (f) These are signs that he was greatly moved, but yet these signs were without sin: and these affections belong to man’s nature.

11:34 and said, "Where have you laid him?" They told him, "Lord, come and see."

11:35 Jesus wept.

11:36 The Jews therefore said, "See how much affection he had for him!"

11:37 Some of them said, "Couldn't this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have also kept this man from dying?"

11:38 Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it.

11:39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days."

11:40 Jesus said to her, "Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would see God's glory?"

11:41 So they took away the stone [37] from the place where the dead man was lying. [See John Footnotes 37] Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, "Father, I thank you that you listened to me.

11:42 I know that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude that stands around I said this, that they may believe that you sent me."

11:43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"

11:44 He who was dead came out, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Free him, and let him go."

11:45 Therefore many of the Jews, who came to Mary and saw what Jesus did, believed in him.

11:46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees, and told them the things which Jesus had done.

• (6) The last aspect of hard and ironlike stubbornness is to proclaim open war against God, and yet it does not cease to make a pretence both of godliness and of the profit of the nation.

11:47 The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, "What are we doing? For this man does many signs.

• (g) The Jews called the council sanhedrin: and the word that John uses is Synedri.

11:48 If we leave him alone like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."

• (h) That is, take away from us by force: for at that time, though the high priest’s authority was greatly lessened and weakened, yet there was some type of government left among the Jews.

11:49 But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all,

• (7) The raging and angry company of the false church persuade themselves that they cannot be in safety, unless he is taken away, who alone upholds the Church. And the wisdom of the flesh judges in the same way in worldly affairs, which is governed by the spirit of giddiness or madness.

11:50 nor do you consider that it is advantageous for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish."

11:51 Now he didn't say this of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,

• (8) Christ sometimes turns the tongues, even of the wicked, so that even in cursing they bless.

11:52 and not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.

• (i) For they were not gathered together in one country, as the Jews were, but were to be gathered from all quarters, from the east to the west.

11:53 So from that day forward they took counsel that they might put him to death.

11:54 Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews, but departed from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim. He stayed there with his disciples.

• (9) We may give place to the rage of the wicked, when it is expedient to do so, but yet in such a way that we do not swerve from God’s calling.

11:55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand. Many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.

11:56 Then they sought for Jesus and spoke one with another, as they stood in the temple, "What do you think--that he isn't coming to the feast at all?"

11:57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had commanded that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it, that they might seize him.