John 11 is stupendous. As one writer said, it is the
centrepiece of the Fourth Gospel.
John’s Gospel is usually said to be in two halves. The book
of signs, where Jesus speaks to the crowds. That ends in Chapter 12. Then from
Chapter 12 to the end, the Book of Glory.
So, this chapter stands at the centre of the story, because
the raising of Lazarus is the last sign, the last miracle, and it is because of
this miracle that the Book of Glory, the road to execution begins. The council
decides to kill Jesus because of Lazarus’ resurrection.
But it is also a central chapter because this is where the
themes and the symbols of the Gospel are intensified. The volume has been
turned up, the colours become stronger,
So here we have the greatest ‘I am’ saying, ‘I am the
resurrection and the life’; we have the greatest miracle – a dead man is
raised; we have the personal love of Jesus for the family, so we know their
names. We don’t know the name of the lame man in John 5, or the blind man in
John 9 – but we know Lazarus, Martha, and Mary; we know that Jesus has a close
relationship with his Father, but here we can listen to him talking to His Father.
And here we have the whole Sanhedrin meeting, and none other than the High
Priest says – this Jesus must die. It is definite.
And there is one more reason why I think we can call John 11
the centre piece of the Gospel. This is the chapter speaks into our human story
of suffering and death - and into the pain of unanswered prayer. We sent the
message that our brother was ill – you didn’t come. Nearly all of us have been
there. This is surely one of the best chapters in the Bible that deals with the
issue of suffering – the suffering of death and doubt.
Death is answered by resurrection
Doubt about God’s goodness is answered by the poignant fact
that Lazarus’ resurrection caused Jesus’ execution. We will now only sleep –
but Jesus, He suffered and was crucified and was cut off from God. That is
goodness.
Let us go through this wonderful chapter.
1 – 3.
We start with a sad scene. Lazarus of Bethany, a village less
than two miles from Jerusalem, is ill. He has two sisters, Mary and Martha and we know from Luke 10
that Jesus was a guest in Lazarus’ home. This family and Jesus, they are
friends. And the writer tells us the story which we have in chapter 12
about how Mary anointed Jesus’s. He wants us to understand how devoted this
family were.
And there’s something else. Mary anointed Jesus’ body – for
burial. For death. That is spelt out in 12:7. So the suffering and death of
Jesus stand in the background of this story about Lazarus and his sisters. In
fact, all through the story the writer is reminding us of the coming death of
Jesus. So we have Thomas saying ‘Let’s go to Jerusalem to die with him’. That
will happen, but not in this chapter. We have a Mary weeping outside a grave. That
will happen, but it is another Mary, Mary Magdalene, not Mary of Bethany. And
we have a large stone in front of a cave. Just like there was in front of
Jesus’ grave. And then of course at the end, Caiaphas says that Jesus must die.
The death of Jesus begins the story, the death of Jesus ends the story.
So, a devoted family with a problem, a sick brother. What
should they do? It’s obvious. They must send Jesus a message. He loves them and
so He will come and Lazarus will get better. Their thinking is exactly like my
thinking and your thinking. We are devoted followers of Jesus, He loves us, so
when we have a problem, we just have to pray and all will be well.
But – we have learned in this Gospel that Jesus does not act
in the way we would expect him to act. We expect him to respect and welcome
Nicodemus, but Nicodemus has to talk first; we don’t expect him to talk to the
woman of Samaria, but he does; we expect him to show sympathy to the royal
servant whose son is ill, but he rebukes him…and so now…we expect Jesus to come
and heal his friend Lazarus.
But He doesn’t.
4 – 6.
Jesus says and does the exact opposite of what we expect.
Illness leads to death. That was in the minds of Mary and Martha. That’s why
they have sent the message.
But what does Jesus say? ‘This illness does not lead to
death.’ And everyone who knows the story is thinking – but that’s not right.
Lazarus’ illness did lead to death. And all of us know people who have got sick
– and their illness led to death.
As always with Jesus, here we have a choice. We can dismiss
this talk as foolishness or we can think it through. It is not so complicated.
There is only one answer. Our view of death and Jesus’ view of death must be
different.
We see death as being final. The last word. The place of no
return. But that is not Jesus’ view. Here we must take in the fact that we are
being told that there are two types of death. There is the one that Lazarus
will experience, which Jesus does not call death; and there is another one.
We will find out more about these two types of death as we go
through the chapter.
Mary and Martha thought that Jesus should come and help them.
We think the same. But that is not Jesus’ priority. Jesus’ priority is always
God’s glory. This glory isn’t just praise for God. Jesus’ first miracle was
about showing his glory to his disciples – the water being turned into wine.
See 2:11. Now too in chapter 11 it is the same. The priority is God’s glory.
But both in John 2, and here in John 11, that glory is
closely connected to Jesus’ suffering. In John 2, the best wine, is the blood
of Christ. That is the foundation for the wedding celebration. Here in John 11
God’s glory will involve Jesus being condemned to death for raising Lazarus.
Jesus says the exact opposite of what we expect; and does the
exact opposite. We expect him to immediately go to Bethany to help his friends.
He doesn’t. The writer brings this out brilliantly in v. 5 and 6. In v. 5 we
are told how much Jesus loves Martha and Mary and Lazarus – so we expect him to
go. And then in v 6 we read, ‘So – because He loved them – he stayed two days
more’.
Many suggest that Jesus waited because He needed to know the
Father’s will. As a friend he wanted to go; as a Son he had to hear from the
father – especially because Bethany was so near to Jerusalem, so it was very
likely that if he went there, he would face arrest. That was to be the Father’s
choice, not even Mary or Martha’s.
But…we must not think that because Jesus waited and prayed
this does not mean that He does not care for Mary and Martha, he does. They
think that the most important thing is that Lazarus is healed. Jesus wants them
to experience more. He wants them to see a resurrection.
God’s love does not give us what we think we want or need.
God’s love is giving us what is best for us. That is why we have – because
Jesus loved them, so he waited two more days.
Now we have a section with the disciples 7 – 16
Somehow Jesus found out that Lazarus has died – and now he
decides to go. That is too late for the sisters. And too dangerous for the
disciples. At the end of chapter 10, the Jews in Judea were wanting to stone
Jesus. So, that’s not a good place to go. No wonder they question him.
Jesus’ answer in v. 9 is important. It’s not about what we
think is dangerous or not, it is whether we are walking with the light or not.
It’s God’s protection that matters, not our fear. Jesus is challenging the
disciples to trust that He has heard from God, that this journey is going to
happen in the day, not the night.
Now he explains the reason, and here we find out how Jesus
views the sort of death that Lazarus has experienced. It is sleep. The
disciples misunderstand him and so we are told plainly that Lazarus has died.
But Jesus will wake him up.
That is why he earlier said that the illness will not lead to
death. We call what has happened to Lazarus death, but Jesus calls it sleep. But
He is the one – the only one - who has to wake him up. That is why He has to go
to Judea.
The disciples don’t want to go to Judea. From the look on
their faces you can see what they think. As soon as we get there – we’ll get
arrested and executed. So now Thomas speaks for them all. It’s pretty negative
– but Thomas is loyal.
OK, this is what you want to do Jesus. You want to go to
Judea to get stoned. Well, we are disciples. So, we have to follow you. So,
come on guys, let’s go so we can all die together.
Jesus might have smiled to himself listening to Thomas. Thomas
thinks he will go to Bethany and die. That does not happen. The opposite
happens. Thomas goes to Bethany and sees a resurrection.
And so they travel towards Bethany and we have the encounter
with Martha
17 – 27, let’s read
The reference to the four days is important. The Jews
believed that the spirit of a person hovered near the corpse for three days.
But on the fourth day, that was it. There was no hope. This means that Lazarus
was absolutely dead. His sister confirms this when she worries about the smell
coming from the body in v. 39. So now we have a scene that is very ordinary in
Iran. Many have come to mourn with Mary and Martha.
First illness, then death – and now grieving. It is intense
and painful. Nearly all of us have been there. All of us will go. There is no
escape. But there is hope. People hear that Jesus is coming, the
message comes to where all the mourners are. So – He hasn’t forgotten them.
Yes. Jesus might not come according to our time-table, but He
comes, even when it is very dangerous for Him. Remember Bethany is very near
Jerusalem.
v. 20 is important. Martha hears that Jesus is coming, and,
according to the custom in the East, she got up to welcome Jesus. When an
important person comes to visit you, you go to the airport. Martha acts
according to the custom. She does the right thing. And that is according to her
character from Luke 10. She is the busy one, the active one.
As soon as she sees Jesus she blurts out the accusation. ‘If
you had been here my brother would not have died.’ That is a statement of
faith, it is also full of disappointment, almost suggesting that it is Jesus’
fault that Lazarus has died.
But Martha then comes with more faith, ‘Even now…whatever you
ask – God will give you’. Martha has understood that when Jesus comes into the
story, anything can happen. It changes everything.
There is now a misunderstanding about resurrection. Jesus says
Lazarus will rise again – meaning very soon. Martha thinks Jesus is talking
about the final judgement.
And so we have Jesus’ magnificent ‘I am the resurrection and
the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and
everyone who lives and believes in me, shall never die.’
We have to pause here. This chapter started with illness and
death. That is our life too. We will get sick and die. But already back in v. 4
Jesus has said that Lazarus’ illness would not end up in death. Then Jesus
talked about death being sleep. And now he promises Martha – and all who share
her faith – that when we believe in Christ, we will never die. Yes, we will
have to experience that sleep, but then there is resurrection and life,
forever.
It is sometimes possible to get so involved in different
questions in theology and problems in the church that we forget the power and
authority of John 11: 25 and 26. Christ is the resurrection and the life. There
is no death in his presence. Believers in Christ will never die. Right now we
begin to taste that life, and after we have a sleep, then we will experience
that life in full. We will never die.
Now we return to the house, and Mary, 28 - 37
You can see her now running back to the house with a spring
in her step. There is hope in her heart. There is peace in her eyes. She enters
the room full of tears and despair. People notice her calm and wonder, but she
speaks to no one. Instead she goes straight to her sister.
Mary didn’t go with Martha. She stayed in the house. We don’t
know exactly why she didn’t go, but it is possible she was feeling angry with
Jesus. She thought that Jesus loved her family, and especially her. But He had
come late. And so there is a sea of dark emotion and doubt in her heart. Mary
had a broken heart. Yes, she was weeping for her brother; but she was also
weeping because of Jesus.
She is not the only one. There are many Marys in our world.
Now Martha bends down and whispers some beautiful words into
her ears: ‘The teacher is here and is calling for you’.
Jesus had never forgotten about
Mary. As soon as Martha came alone, Jesus noticed that Mary was not there. This
mattered to Jesus, her broken heart was important to Jesus. He wants to see
her. And so he sends the message with Martha. And He wants to see her
privately. Look at v.30 – Jesus stays where he met Martha. He does not enter
the village where there would be no privacy. Funerals in the East can be very
busy.
As soon as Mary hears that Jesus is calling for her she jumps
up and runs to him. She has energy. When we are suffering it is not abstract
answers we want, Job can tell you that. No, it’s His presence. We want to hear,
‘The teacher is here and is calling for you’. That is what gives us energy. His
presence.
The Jews who were with Mary think she is going to the tomb.
That is the normal place for someone who is mourning to go. So they want to be
with her. That is why they are there. The presence of others brings comfort.
But it isn’t enough. It is the presence of Jesus we need, and, like Mary, we
need to run to him, not the grave of the loved one.
Mary falls at Jesus’ feet. She is full of emotion. Her face
is full of tears. But she has come to Jesus – and the other Jews have come too.
That is what is important. Her brother is still dead. But Jesus is there.
What she says to Jesus is exactly the same as what Martha
says – if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Faith that Jesus
could have healed a sick Lazarus, but He has come late. Now her brother is
dead.
What Mary says to Jesus is the same as Martha, but what Jesus
says to Mary is completely different from what He says to Martha.
To Martha Jesus was strong, God like – ‘I am the resurrection
and the life’, but to Mary Jesus is very human. He sees her and the others
crying and he too then weeps.
And twice we read that he is ‘deeply disturbed’ in his spirit
(v. 33, 38). The Greek word is ‘ebrimaomai’ which can be used for the
snorting of horses. It means there is deep emotion, even anger inside Jesus
about this situation.
What is this deep disturbance about? Some commentators say it
is Jesus – as a man – feeling grief over the death of a friend. That is true.
There is often grief and anger when someone dies. Others say there is anger
because of the despair of the mourners. Jesus is upset that though they believe
He opened the eyes of someone who was blind, they are not ready to believe that
Jesus can raise the dead. That is also possible true.
But perhaps something deeper is going on here. You remember how
I said that Jesus’ own death is very much in the background in this story,
starting with the reference to Mary anointing his body for burial, and now, in
v. 38 we have almost the same picture we have after Jesus’ death. A cave with a
stone lying across it. I think it is here that we understand what Jesus means
by death. Remember, I said this chapter tells us about two types of death. One
is like sleep. That was the death Lazarus experienced
But there is another death. And as Jesus goes towards
Lazarus’ tomb He sees this death. This is the death full of God’s wrath. This
is the death where there is complete separation. This is the death of total
darkness. And this is the death Jesus was going to experience. Seeing Lazarus’
tomb, He saw his own. But his tomb was not going to be the place of
sleep that it had been for Lazarus. It was going to be hell. He saw this – and
so he was deeply disturbed.
Now we come to one of the greatest miracles in the Bible. The
raising of Lazarus., 38 - 44
Let’s focus here on Jesus. Yes, he has a time of being
‘greatly disturbed’ (33, 38), but now he has complete authority. He gives the
command for the stone to be removed. He rejects Martha’s suggestion about the
body smelling and encourages Martha to believe to see the glory of God. And
then He looks upward (41). Martha was looking down. Jesus looks up. There is a
very different smell when you look up.
And then we have Jesus’ prayer. It is full of trust. ‘Father,
you hear me. I know this. You always hear me.’ That’s the intimacy between the
Father and the Son. They are working together. They are one in their activity.
And their activity is for others – for the crowd, so that they believe’
After the prayer – a loud command from Jesus. This takes us
to 5:25 when Jesus talked about the dead hearing the voice of the Son of God.
That is why Lazarus’ illness did not lead to death, because Jesus knew he was
going to hear his voice.
Lazarus comes out, and we have Jesus’ last command. ‘Unbind
him and let him go’. This is a great miracle – or to use the author’s word – a
great sign. What does it point to? It points to the fact that Jesus is who He
says He is. He told Martha, ‘I am the resurrection and the life’, and now He
proves it. It points to the fact of Jesus’ own resurrection. Very soon He would
conquer death for ever.
And it points to the fact of our resurrection. We are not
going to experience that second death of hell and separation from God. We are
only going to experience the first type of death, which Jesus calls sleep. We
are not going to die. We are going to fall asleep, and then just like Lazarus
we will hear Jesus’ voice, and we will be raised to first be judged, for we all
must appear before the judgement seat of God, and then to enter life in all its
fullness without tears or suffering or death.
We will only sleep – because Jesus truly died. And the
certainty of that death starts immediately after the resurrection of Lazarus.
From the joy of life outside the tomb, we go to a deathly
council meeting – 45 – 53. It’s good to understand the crucial role the
resurrection of Lazarus plays in the execution of Jesus. Many believe in Him
after the miracle, but some tell the Pharisees and a meeting of the council),
the Sanhedrin, is called. There were about 70 leaders in the Sanhedrin, and
they were responsible for the temple and the religious life of Israel. This is
an important gathering and it happens because of the raising of Lazarus.
This council know that Jesus has healed a lame man, given
sight to a blind man, and now that he has raised someone from the dead. Yet
they never think they should believe in Jesus. It is very plain who Jesus is –
but they reject this. The reason is explained in v. 48. If Jesus continues to
perform these miracles, the crowd will call him the Messiah and so the Romans
will come and destroy the temple and the nation. Note they say ‘our holy
place’. That was the problem. They thought the temple was theirs, not God’s. So
they feel that their status is threatened. As Caiaphas then says – with this
view it is much better that one person dies to save the whole people– and their
jobs. This is a callous way of thinking. The guilt or innocence of Jesus does
not matter. The only thing that matters is that they keep their authority. It’s
all about them, it’s not about God, it’s not about truth, it’s not about
justice. So – if killing Jesus helps them, that is what has to happen.
There are three ironies in this part of the story.
The first is when Caiaphas says, ‘You know nothing at all’.
You will remember how especially in Chapter 7 and Chapter 9 the Pharisees kept
on saying – ‘We know, we know’. But they didn’t know. Now, at last, none other
than the High Priest is saying what is true. They really don’t know anything.
And, secondly, Caiaphas, himself did not know anything. He
was completely wrong. He thought that by killing Jesus he would save the nation
and the temple. No. In AD70 the Romans came and destroyed the temple. The only
people who were saved were the followers of Jesus who left Jerusalem before the
Romans came.
The final irony is that while Caiaphas was amoral, yet
through him there is prophecy. For all the wrong reasons he wants to kill
Jesus, but God will take this and use it for the salvation of the whole world.
The result of this meeting is cold. Jesus must die. Jesus
must have heard about this meeting and so left the Jerusalem area and went to
Ephraim, about twelve miles north of the city.
We leave this chapter with a great sense of tension. It is
like a film where the bad guys are waiting for the hero to come to the town to
kill him, and everyone is wondering if he will come or not.
We will find out in the next chapter.
John 11. What a chapter. Full of tension, full of different
characters – Jesus, Thomas, Martha, Mary, Caiaphas, full of truth…
So let’s end by with a proclamation of the greatest truth in
this chapter.
We Christians have the answer for man’s greatest problem -
death
Jesus is the resurrection and the life
Death is only a sleep. We will not die, we will not go to
hell, because Jesus has gone to hell for us. Like Lazarus we will hear Jesus’
voice and we will be raised from the dead.
So, as his illness and suffering did not lead to death; so
too for us – our illness will not lead to death. It will lead to the glory of
God.
These are just a few thoughts to help you read this
magnificent chapter. I hope they do, but much more than that I hope we will all
keep on reading his chapter again and again, until we experience our own death
and resurrection.
In the next chapter there are more contradictions - a feast for Jesus where his body is prepared for burial; the entry of a king, on a donkey.
See here - https://sternfieldthoughts.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-gospel-of-john-anointing-of-jesus.html
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