THE RAISING OF LAZARUS

The Gospel of John

Chapter 11

Only John records the raising of Lazarus from death.  This omission on the part of the other gospel writers seems strange in the light of the incident’s powerful testimony until the danger to Lazarus (from the bigotry of the religious leaders) is recalled to mind (John 12:10-11).  John wrote his gospel after the others and possibly after Lazarus’ death.  “The common opinion is that it (John’s gospel) was written at Ephesus after his return from Patmos, and of course as late as the year 97 or a.d. 98”… Barnes.

Barnes, in his preface to John’s gospel writes, “It has been remarked that there are evidences in this Gospel that it was not written for the Jews. The author explains words and customs, which to a Jew would have needed no explanation. See John 1:38, 41; 5:1-2; 7:2; 4:9.”  If this were so then John would not have expected his letter to fall into the hands of Lazarus’ enemies thus ensuring no added danger to Lazarus.

The raising of Lazarus was not resurrection but resuscitation, for Lazarus would die and be resurrected at the last day as will all other believers.  Jesus was the first fruits of the resurrection, then “afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” 1 Corinthians 15:20-22.  

The Jewish leaders proved, by their continued persecution of the Lord and of Lazarus, that they were men of hardened and calloused souls.   Such wanton unbelief seems incomprehensible to people of faith, yet Peter assures us that unbelief of the Scriptural record is as incomprehensible (2 Peter 1:19-21). 

Peter who had just testified to having seen “the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” and that he, with James and John “were eyewitnesses of his majesty”, yet refers his readers back to “a more sure word of prophecy” a word which had come, “not in old time by the will of man: but (by) holy men of God (who) spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost”. 

There is no assurance to be had, other than from God’s inspired word and certainly not from any man’s personal and individual interpretation of events.  Peter is saying here that even his testimony to the transfiguration is not to be compared with the written testimony of God’s word regarding the coming of God the Anointed Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ.  Today we have both the promise and its fulfilment recorded in God’s word. 

The events of this chapter took place just prior to the Passover during which our Lord was crucified, and were, because of the graphic demonstration of God’s power in the raising of Lazarus, an aggravation to the already hostile religious hierarchy.  Such hateful rejection of all that was so obviously of God is evil of the deepest kind and speaks volumes to the depravity of man and the rebellion of the satanic forces that are blinding and driving men to their ruin. 

Vss. 1-2

“Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)”

In these verses John introduces three people whom Jesus loved (vs.5).  We find this Lazarus only in John’s gospel, and what is known of him is relative only to the miracle of his being raised from the dead and to his sisters. 

In identifying Mary John mentions an event future to this point in his narrative, an event where she anoints Jesus and wipes his feet with her hair (John 12:3 also found in Matthew 26:7).  In Luke 10:38-42 and John 11:20, Mary is seen to have a quiet and meditative nature, one which desired truth and which the Lord commended.  It is from her anointing of Jesus and his appraisal of her action (John 12:7; Matthew 26:12-13) that we can assume Mary to have had some understanding of his coming death, an understanding that no other disciple shared.

The Holman Bible Dictionary has Martha as meaning “lady [of the house]” or “mistress”, which in the light of her actions is highly descriptive.   Their article on Martha is worthy of quotation. 

“True to her name, Martha is portrayed as a person in charge: she welcomed Jesus as a guest in her home (Luke 10:38); she was concerned with meeting the obligations of a hostess, whether preparing food (Luke 10:40; John 12:2) or greeting guests (John 11:20).  Together with Mary, she sent for Jesus when Lazarus was ill (John 11:3).

Luke 10:38-42 contrasts Martha’s activist discipleship with Mary’s contemplative discipleship.  The church cannot minister without “Marthas” who are willing to serve alone.  (Jesus’ gentle rebuke serves as a perpetual reminder not to major on minor matters.  Jesus must not be neglected in the name of service.)  In John 11:21-27, Jesus led Martha from an inadequate to a lofty confession.  Faced with the realities of death, Martha, however, later doubted (John 11:39).”

They go on to say that some scholars identify Martha as the wife (widow) or daughter of Simon the leper based on a harmonizing with Matthew 26:6-13 and Mark 14:3-9.  

Vss. 3

“Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.”

This family was on such familiar terms with Jesus that they could, without hesitation, send word to him of Lazarus’ ill health and remind him of his affection for Lazarus.  In other places, men of faith have reminded God of his declared love and challenged him to fulfil his promise. 

Moses is a prime example and in Exodus 33:12-13 we see him reminding the LORD of his demands and also of the fact that so far he hadn’t done anything to help fulfil those demands.  Also, Moses says “thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.  Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight…” see also Jeremiah 14:21 cf. Daniel 9:15-19.   The believer can ask whatever he/she wills if what is asked is in conformity to God’s revealed will.  Martha and Mary had seen the power of God at work in the miracles of Jesus, they had witnessed his love and compassion for others therefore they sent this gentle request “he whom thou lovest is sick”.

Vss. 4-6

“When Jesus heard that, he said, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.”

According to John 10:40 and 1:28, Jesus was at Beth-ab-a-ra (on the Jordan) when he received news of Lazarus’ sickness.  He stayed there a further two days and found Lazarus to have been in the grave for four days by the time he eventually arrived at Bethany.  Bethany is about thirty kilometers from the Jordan (about a day’s journey), so it is certain that Lazarus was already dead by the time Jesus heard of his sickness. 

That Jesus knew this can be presumed from verse 14 and in his comments about the sickness being not unto death but for the glory of God.  The tone of the passage is such as to make it clear that the Lord knew Lazarus was dead but the sickness would not result in that being a permanent state; that it was in fact allowed for the purpose of displaying the glory of God through the glorification of his Son.  By affirming the love Jesus had for these people, John attempts to reassure his readers of Christ’s good intentions regarding them; that the purpose of his delay was the glory of God and that there was no careless disregard intended.  God would be glorified in his Son when his rational creatures saw and believed and gave thanks to him for his grace, and for his power over death.

Vss. 7-10

“Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judea again. His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again? Jesus answered, are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.  But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.”

The disciples were anxious regarding Jesus’ safety, yet the Lord told them that as the daylight hours were allotted for man to work so must he be about his father’s business and while he was on that business there could be no danger of falling until God’s predetermined hours were done.

As believers in Christ and therefore children of God, we too can be about our Father’s business without fear of what the world might say or do.  If we walk in the sunshine of God’s providence there can be no occasion for stumbling.  When the pressures of life tempt us to doubt we will not stumble, but will see our way by means of truth, and in knowing that truth will experience eternal life.  If we do not have the light of God’s word, then the pressures of life will extinguish hope and we will stumble and be led astray.  

Vss. 11-16

“These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him. Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.

Jesus was preparing his disciples for his own coming resurrection, but he did it gradually.  Lazarus would not die (vs.4), but would be awakened from sleep (vs.11).  Upon their misunderstanding of his meaning (vs.12), he bluntly tells them that Lazarus was dead.

We, with the benefit of hindsight, can see the inference of his words, for the Lord knew Lazarus was dead yet was going to Bethany so that he might “awaken him out of sleep”.  He was going so that he might awaken Lazarus from death.  The disciples made no connection between his words but had their minds on temporal and earthly things (vs.16). 

Their absence from Bethany and the death of Lazarus was a benefit to the disciples, for up to this moment they had no comprehension of the reality of resurrection but would begin to realize the power of God when they witnessed the coming to life of a man who had suffered the corruption of death (vs.39). Compare Psa. 16:9-10

Vss. 17-20

“Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.  Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:  And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.”

Bethany was a short distance from Jerusalem, which allowed many to come to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother, but it also allowed for a large and cosmopolitan crowd to witness what was to come and to testify to what they would see (vs.46).    

Vss. 20-22

“Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.  But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.”

Martha’s faith was based on what she had seen and heard and she believed that as Jesus had healed the sick, given sight to the blind and healed the crippled, he could have as easily restored her brother to health.  But here her faith was stretched to a suggestion only, that even now in the extremity of her brother’s burial Jesus could ask of God and whatever he asked would be done.  There is no definite request because her faith was not such as could move mountains (or bring a body back from corruption).  Although too great for Martha’s faith, it was not beyond her hope. 

Vss. 23-27

“Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.  Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?  She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” 

Martha believed in the Scriptures for she related the words “Thy brother shall rise again” spoken by Jesus regarding the resurrection at the last day.  The Jews had a number of scriptures upon which a belief in resurrection could be firmly founded, and others that they had not grasped.  In regards to the resurrection Jesus pointed the Sadducees to God’s own words found in Exodus 3:6, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” then told them that God was not the God of the dead but of the living (Matthew 22:31-32). Here we see Jesus relating life after death with resurrection, making resurrection a certainty.

Genesis 22.5 shows that Abraham believed in a physical resurrection; If Isaac was to be sacrificed, in order to return with Abraham he must be brought back to life.

Job believed that though he would suffer physical corruption in death “yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” Job 19:26-27

Isaiah 26:19 reads, “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.”

Daniel wrote, “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”  Daniel 12:2

And in Hosea 13:14, though in the first instance it is referring to a temporal redemption of the Southern Kingdom i.e. Ephraim; there is a powerful picture of resurrection; “O grave, I will be thy destruction”.

Martha believed in the promise of resurrection, but Jesus took the opportunity to teach her the foundation and purpose of resurrection. Whoever believes in me he said, because I am the source of resurrection and of life even though that person were physically dead (as is Lazarus), yet shall he live:  And whoever both lives and believes in me shall have everlasting life.  See also John 5:21, 6:39, 40,44; cf. John 3:15, 16, 1:12, 5:24, 6:47-54. 

Jesus is saying that whoever believes pist-yoo'-o; to have faith, that is, credit; to trust in him is placing their trust in one who is both resurrection and life, and the force of these two words is emphasized by who it is that makes the claim.   I am the resurrection, and the life. 

John, whose whole focus regarding the Lord Jesus is summed up in the first five verses of his gospel, saw him as the God of creation, the very source of light and life, and this is seen throughout his gospel in his testimony to the teachings of Christ.  Every time Jesus used the expression I am he was claiming to be God. 

To see this we must first look at Exodus 3:14 where the Almighty God tells Moses, I AM THAT I AM and that Israel was to know him as I AM.  The name is derived from the doubling of the Hebrew haw-yaw); to exist, that is, be or become, come to pass.  The words express absolute, and therefore unchanging and eternal being and are the foundation to the name Jehovah yeh-ho-vaw; (the) self-Existent or eternal.

Other passages where we find Jesus using this expression of absolute being are John 6:35, “I am the bread of life”; John 8:12, “ I am the light of the world”; John 10:7  “I am the door of the sheep”; John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd”; John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life”; John 15:1 “I am the true vine” and perhaps the most telling of all, John 8:58 “Before Abraham was, I am”.  One who makes such claims is either Divine or insane and there are very few sane people willing to call Christ mad.

The hope of resurrection then is certain because it rests upon the absolute and therefore unchanging and eternal Being of Christ who loved us and gave himself for us (Galatians 2:20).

Vss. 28-32

“And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.  As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.  Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.  The 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 goeth unto the grave to weep there.  Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.  When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,”

After talking with Martha Jesus stayed where he was leaving Martha to fetch her sister and those who had come to them. He was very deliberately setting the scene for his most significant miracle.

Paul writes that if “Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.  Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1Corinthians 15:17-19), showing the fundamental importance of resurrection.  The raising of Lazarus was therefore a momentous introduction to the eternal future available to mankind, a repudiation of the Sadducean beliefs and a powerful answer to the Pharisee’s rejection of Jesus’ Messianic claims.    

Mary’s words are almost identical to her sisters but show her acceptance of the Divine will by leaving it at: “if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died”.  It was not for her to suggest further action on the matter, but her weeping affected Jesus for we are told that he groaned in the spirit and was troubled.

The word for groaned is the Greek em-brim-ah'-om-ahee; (to snort with anger); to have indignation on, that is, (transitively) to blame, (intransitively) to sigh with chagrin; and when used as it is in conjunction with troubled tar-as'-so; to stir or agitate himself, we see Jesus offended by sin and affected by the agony and heartache it has introduced into the world.    

Vss. 34-38

“And said, where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.  Jesus wept.  Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!  And 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?  Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave.  It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.”

Even though the Jews from Jerusalem had accepted as fact the miracles Jesus had performed, their question shows unbelief.  Martha had shown a positive and active faith, “even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee” (vs.22); Mary a passive yet real faith in her acceptance of the Divine will (vs.32); yet these Jews showed a limitation in their regard for Christ.  They are saying in effect, ‘this man’s powers are limited, he cannot be Messiah’.  Jesus feels their limitations and again groaning within himself goes to the cave in which Lazarus’ body lay.

Vss. 39-40

“Jesus said, Take ye away the stone.  Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.  Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?”

We have touched upon the fact that Lazarus had seen corruption; his body had lain for four days in the grave and now it had started to break down, to putrefy.  Jesus’ body was raised on the third day, evidently before the breaking down of his body began, for David had said under inspiration “Therefore my heart is glad… my flesh also shall rest in hope.  For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption” (Psalm 16:9-10).  But here in Martha’s words we have the testimony of one who lived in both the place and season of Lazarus’ death and knew that after four days he stinketh, he would be decomposing.

Jesus gave Martha one last chance to come to grips with what he was about to do and show such faith as had not yet been seen;  “If thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God”.

Vss. 41-44

“Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.  And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.  And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.  And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.”

When the stone was removed from the entrance to the cave, Jesus, for the benefit of the ‘spectators’, raised his voice in a prayer of thanks to the Father to show them that he had come in the name of the Father: that he had been sent by the Father.  Then to vindicate that claim he commanded the dead to come forth.

In his description of Lazarus bound hand and foot coming out of the cave, John is testifying to the genuineness of the event.  It is something he actually saw with his own eyes and not something he knew about from hearsay. 

When a body is wrapped for burial it would be bound hand and foot: deh'-o; to bind (in various applications, literally or figuratively): — bind, be in bonds, knit, tie, wind, all of which indicates immobility.  It is doubtful if Lazarus could have used his arms or legs because of the bindings, yet he came forth to be loosed and therefore freed.  Such a picture as this presents adds to the supernatural qualities of the whole event and would indeed have people gasping in awe, fear and wonder.  It would be no wonder that “many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.” Vs.45

Vss. 46-48

“But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.”

 “But some of them” John says went their ways, and it is obvious that their ways were the ways of unbelief.  The rejection and hatred of the Pharisees was well known yet these people took their tale to them knowing that it would stir up further antagonism against Jesus.

The Pharisees then displayed the same unbelief as in Israel’s ancient historical past; they refused to accept that God was in their midst and seeing nothing other than the world they believed man to be more powerful than Jehovah, they believed the Roman Empire was greater than their God and they took steps to ensure the appeasement of Rome.  

Vss. 49-53

“And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all,  Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.  And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;  And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.  Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.”

Caiaphas unknowingly uttered a prophetic word when he recommended Jesus’ execution.   Caiaphas had rejected the teachings of Jesus, and in doing so had rejected God’s analysis of his sin; once he had done this he had nowhere to go but to remain with spiritual and social systems based on human worth and human ingenuity.  In regard to the spiritual, it was a matter of self-righteousness; in regard to the social it was a matter of politics.  Because of his blindness he saw Jesus as the leader of a quasi-spiritual movement intending to overthrow the Pharisaic and Sadducean influence in Palestine, and believed if such a movement were to ‘rock the boat’, Rome would intervene militarily and take away both our place (Pharisaic privilege) and nation.  

John having the benefit of hindsight interpreted Caiaphas’ remarks according to a future reality, the future reality of Jesus’ death for the sins of the world, and resurrection for our justification (Romans 4:25).    

Vss. 54-57

“Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.  And the Jews’ passover was nigh at hand: and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves.  Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think ye, that he will not come to the feast? ⁷Now 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.”

Jesus, knowing the significance of the Passover to God’s plan, removed himself from any danger of a premature death by ‘hiding out’ as it were in the wilderness; away from Jerusalem into the less populated areas of Ephraim, believed to be around twenty kilometres N.E. of Jerusalem.

The Passover was nigh at hand (but more than six days (John 12:1)), and people were making their way to Jerusalem to purify themselves at the Temple for its celebration.  Jesus understood Isaiah 53 and that he was destined to be “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), therefore to fulfill the Law, his death must coincide with the ritual of the Passover. 

The chief priests and the Pharisees are seen here to be eager to fulfil their role in the greatest drama ever to be enacted in the pages of history, and Jesus bides his time.   His entry into Jerusalem must end in the fulfilment of God’s plan for the judgment of sin, and salvation for men and he is very careful to see that that happens.

To understand the ministry of Jesus, it is imperative for believers to understand the historical and prophetic reality of the Jewish Feast of Passover.