John 11 - The NIV Application Commentary on the Bible: One-Volume Edition

The Death of Lazarus (11:1–16). Bethany was a village just east of Jerusalem over the Mount of Olives, about one and a half miles away. When he was in Jerusalem, Jesus used Bethany as his base. This is why the Gospels contain multiple stories related to the village and why Jesus likely lived here during the final week of his life.

Here in this small Judean community lives a family extremely dear to Jesus; Mary, Martha, and Lazarus may have become something like an extended family for Jesus. No indication is given that they live together, and we should not assume it. It would be most natural for them all to be married. That Jesus loves this family is affirmed again and again.

It is interesting that the women know how to find Jesus. Does this suggest that they have been keeping up with his movements? Or is there a network of supporters the sisters tap? Although they do not request Jesus to come, it is implied, since he is well-known as a healer and later both women express regret that if Jesus had only come on time, Lazarus would not have died. No doubt they are in a dilemma. They know about the hostility of the Jerusalem’s leadership toward Jesus and conclude that for Jesus to visit would mean considerable risk.

When Jesus hears the report about Lazarus’s illness, his response parallels his comments about the man born blind. The final result of this tragedy is that God will be glorified, not that death will win the victory. The tragedy is not by God’s design, but God will use it for an opportunity to glorify his Son.

John reports that Jesus does not respond immediately and come to Bethany. He waits two days. Note that Jesus’s delay is not the cause of Lazarus’s death. When Jesus arrives in Bethany, Lazarus has been dead for four days. It likely took the messengers one day to find Jesus, Jesus continues to work where he is two days, and then he takes one more day to travel to Bethany. This means that Lazarus likely died right after the departure of the messengers. When they meet Jesus, Lazarus is already buried.

Nevertheless, we should assume that in the narrative Jesus has divine knowledge of what is happening in Bethany. If Jesus has this knowledge and if he knows the moment of Lazarus’s death, his delay serves not to promote the death but to heighten the significance of his own miraculous work. His aim is to reveal the glory of God’s work in him and thereby to promote the faith of his followers.

The decision finally to go up to Judea must have been frightening to Jesus’s disciples. Throughout the story we have learned of the growing tensions surrounding Jesus’s contact with the religious leadership. During the previous autumn celebration at the Feast of Tabernacles, the authorities tried to arrest him, and rumor was out that they wanted to kill him. At one point a crowd tried to stone Jesus. A few months later at Hanukkah they tried to arrest him, and again there was the threat of stoning. The threat is not simply to Jesus but to his disciples as well, so that Thomas speaks up, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (v. 16).

We should probably see these words as another case of Johannine irony. Thomas likely does not understand the profound truth he utters. This parallels the role of Caiaphas later in the chapter, when the high priest says that Jesus’s death will be expedient for the nation (vv. 49–50). Indeed, it will be—but not as Caiaphas imagines it. So too being a disciple will pose dangers, even martyrdom, for anyone who follows Jesus.

Jesus Comes to Bethany (11:17–37). When Jesus finally arrives in Bethany, Lazarus has been dead for four days. This note is significant. There was a well-known Jewish belief that the soul of a dead person remained in the vicinity of the body for three days, but once decomposition set in, the soul departed. John wants us to know clearly that Lazarus is truly dead and that the miracle of Jesus cannot be construed as a resuscitation.

Lazarus’s death was not a private period of mourning for his family. Life in New Testament Palestine was lived publicly, and community ties were strong. Formal mourning lasted for seven days, and it commenced immediately on the day of burial, which took place on the same day as death. We can assume that Lazarus was buried in a rock-cut tomb of the type that has been discovered throughout the hills of Judea. After a year or so, the body was removed, and the bones were placed in a limestone burial box (an ossuary). The tomb was closed (and reopened for further burials) with a wheel-shaped “rolling stone” fitted to cover the entrance in a stone channel.

Therefore, when Jesus arrives on the outskirts of Bethany, the tomb is closed, and there is tremendous commotion surrounding Martha and Mary. The extent and passion of mourning reflects the honor and esteem of Lazarus in the village. Friends and family from far off came to join the scene. By referring to Jerusalem, the text increases our sense of Jesus’s jeopardy when he arrives. His presence in Bethany just over the Mount of Olives would certainly become known to his enemies in Jerusalem.

The story follows the two sisters as each makes contact with Jesus. First Martha, then Mary, talk with Jesus; this is followed by the miracle itself. The sorrowful complaints of both women (vv. 21, 32) are virtually the same.

Martha meets Jesus before he enters the village (v. 30), and her words in verse 21 are an affirmation of faith in Jesus’s healing ability. Despite what she says in verse 22, she likely does not expect Jesus to raise Lazarus from death since in verse 39 she objects when Jesus wants to roll open the tomb. Instead, she is expressing faith, not wanting to imply any criticism of Jesus since he was not in Bethany to rescue her brother. Martha’s words can be paraphrased: “If you had been here, you could have healed Lazarus. Nevertheless, I still believe in you, that God works through you mightily.”

But Jesus pushes Martha to a second, deeper level of discussion (vv. 23–27). Martha misses the more immediate application Jesus has in mind. His correction leads to one of the most famous and significant “I am” sayings in John’s Gospel. Jesus does not say that he can provide resurrection and life. That in itself would be astounding. Jesus says that he is resurrection and life (v. 25).

In other words, eternal life and rescue from the finality of death are not merely gifts obtained by appeal to God; they are aspects of what it means to live a life in association with Jesus. If Jesus is life, then those who believe in him will enjoy the confidence and power over death known by him. This does not mean that Jesus’s followers will not die a physical death (v. 25b), but that life will be theirs beyond the grave; they will not suffer death in eternity. Moreover, they will have a life now and do not have to await the end of human time and history in order to enjoy the benefits of Jesus’s power.

Jesus’s question to Martha, “Do you believe this?” (v. 26) is asking if her faith can embrace a belief in Jesus’s lordship over death itself. If it is true that in Jesus the power of resurrection life is present in Bethany, the logical implication is that this may lead to something for Lazarus. Lazarus’s resurrection becomes a proof of Jesus’s statement.

She says yes, when undoubtedly the implications of this yes are beyond her comprehension. She is trusting in Jesus’s power as a personal commitment, but she is also ready to make a cognitive commitment to who Jesus must be. If he has this sort of authority, he must also be the “the Messiah, the Son of God” (v. 27).

Mary then enters the scene while Jesus is still outside the village and inaccessible to the crowd. It is a deeply touching scene, since Jesus knows that his ministry here is not simply to Lazarus but to both of these women whom he has known. Mary (like her sister) explains in dismay their sorrow over Jesus’s absence while Lazarus was alive, and then is overcome with grief. The NIV’s “weeping” leaves the impression of quiet tears of sadness, but the Greek tells a different story. The verb klaiō describes loud wailing and crying, which is echoed by the people standing around Mary (v. 33a).

When Jesus sees and hears their wailing, he is moved powerfully. But the NIV’s “deeply moved” may not be the best reading of the Greek verb embrimaomai (v. 33b). For humans it describes outrage, fury, or anger. This is seen in the explanation John attaches: Jesus was not only outraged but “troubled.”

Why is he outraged in the deepest level of his being? He is certainly not angry at Martha, Mary, or their mourners. Rather, he is overcome by the futility of this sorrowful scene in light of the reality of the resurrection. Jesus is angry at death itself and the devastation it brings.

Jesus’s tears are not for Lazarus. He knows what good surprises are in store for his good friend. Jesus’s tears should be connected to the anger he is feeling so deeply. The public chaos surrounding him, the loud wailing and crying, and the scene of a cemetery and its reminders of death—all the result of sin and death—together produce outrage in the Son of God as he works to reverse such damage.

Lazarus Is Raised to Life (11:38–44). As Jesus steps to the tomb itself, he is “once more deeply moved” (v. 38). The verb used here is the same one as in verse 33 (embrimaomai), which suggests he is outraged at what he sees. The Lord of life is now directly confronting his opponent, death, symbolized in the cave-tomb before him.

Martha’s response in verse 39 is critical for John’s report of the scene. She warns that since Lazarus has been dead four days, decomposition has set in and there will be an odor. All of this serves to remind us that Lazarus is truly dead and that the miracle of Jesus is not simply one of resuscitating his friend. He must be “awakened” from death.

When the stone is rolled back, Jesus prays. This prayer is interesting on several counts. First, it implies that Jesus had prayed already for Lazarus and that he is now coming to this great miracle fully prepared for what will take place. This is not a last-minute request. Second, Jesus prays publicly, and he does so “looking up” (v. 41). This was a common posture for Jewish prayer. Audible prayers were more common in Jesus’s world than private prayers. Jesus is certainly not praying to impress the audience of mourners. But his followers could use prayers to learn things about the life and thought of their Lord. Thus, Jesus is aware that his prayer is also for the benefit of these bystanders (v. 42). Finally, Jesus addresses God as “Father” (not “our” father) and shows his personal intimacy with him. He also demonstrates that his work is done in concert with God’s will, for he never acts autonomously.

The dramatic high point of the story is reached in verse 43 when Jesus calls to Lazarus to come out. This is not a whisper or a firm request. It is a shout of raw authority. When Lazarus emerges from the tomb, he is bound in grave wrappings, which were strips of fabric wound around his limbs and filled with burial spices. Jewish burials likewise tied the jaw closed and covered the face with a linen cloth.

Lazarus’s coming from the grave must have been an amazing spectacle witnessed by a growing crowd of people, many of whom carry news of this miracle back to Jerusalem. Lazarus stands before Jesus wrapped tightly. Jesus is no doubt talking to him (what does he say?), and the crowd undoubtedly shrinks back in awe. Jewish superstitions took great interest in cemeteries (as do most cultures), and strict ritual laws of purification (clean/unclean) were attached to dead bodies. Should anyone come near the man? Martha? Mary? Jesus loved Lazarus, and it is not hard to imagine him being the first to embrace his friend. Jesus remains in command and orders that someone unbind him.

The Sanhedrin Plots to Kill Jesus (11:45–57). Most of the miracles and discourses in the Book of Signs (John 1–12) led to a sharp division in the audience. The same occurs here. Many of the Jews in Bethany who witnessed the events of that day “believed in him” (v. 45). John’s sharp contrast with “some of them,” who go directly to the Pharisees, suggests that these do not believe (v. 46).

The Sanhedrin deliberations are noteworthy. There is genuine fear that the populace will accept Jesus as the Messiah. This is not simply religious rivalry but a paralyzing concern that if a messianic claimant is embraced by the city, the Roman armies will suppress it. The Romans had shown their intolerance to this sort of messianism in the past (viewing it as a political challenge), and Jerusalem’s leadership know the seriousness of the threat now.

John summarizes the view of the reigning high priest, Caiaphas. This man ruled the Sanhedrin from AD 18 to 36 and took personal responsibility for the political stability of the country. For Caiaphas, then, political expediency is the key: if there must be a sacrifice, better to lose one man than the entire nation. Therefore, the high council begins planning how they can kill Jesus.

These voices say more than even they expected. John knows this and tips us off to look beneath the surface. Indeed, both of the comments from the Sanhedrin bear some truth. The Romans will eventually come and bring their judgment on the city and its temple. But Caiaphas is also right in a way he cannot perceive. Jesus will die for the salvation of the nation. An unwitting prophecy here points to the cross since the salvation Judaism needs has less to do with Rome than it does with Jerusalem’s spiritual jeopardy.

John knows that the death of Christ will perform a work that is far more profound than anyone imagines. It is not simply for the city of Jerusalem but for the “scattered children of God” (v. 52). To a Jew, such a phrase would describe Jews living in the diaspora (or the dispersion) of gentile countries around the Mediterranean. But here John is no doubt referring to gentiles, who likewise need to come into the family of God.

Jesus cannot risk being a public figure in the same manner any longer. He knows the hour of his glorification and will not permit anyone or anything to interrupt his mission. With characteristic geographical precision, John says that Jesus moves to the village of Ephraim (v. 54). Here Jesus is safe from the Sanhedrin, but he is also close enough to attend the upcoming Passover in Jerusalem.

Residents of Jerusalem no doubt spread the story of Lazarus, and the city is buzzing with talk about the intentions of the religious authorities. An open announcement of arrest is circulating for Jesus. If he is seen, he will be captured. There will be a showdown.

But from Jesus’s point of view, his public ministry among his own people is completed. No longer will he provide any miraculous signs for them. No longer will we hear of new audiences of Jews believing in him. Jesus is finished. He now will spend concentrated private time with those families (e.g., Martha, Mary, Lazarus), friends, and followers who know him, trust him, and believe in him. Jesus will indeed return to the public square once more during the Passover feast following his triumphal entry, but only to give an impassioned plea for belief (12:44). No longer will he provide public signs that evoke belief. The next time after this he appears in public, he will be a prisoner.