Jesus is the resurrection and the life. In this chapter, we will see it.
Please read John 11:1-7
The Death and Resurrection of Lazarus
1 Now a certain man named Lazarus was sick. He was from [a]Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived. 2 It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, he [our brother and Your friend] whom You love is sick.” 4 When Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness will not end in death; but [on the contrary it is] for the glory and honor of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” 5 Now Jesus loved and was concerned about Martha and her sister and Lazarus [and considered them dear friends]. 6 [b]So [even] when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed in the same place two more days. 7 Then He said to His disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
Jesus always knows what is happening. Thus He knew that Lazarus was meant to die so that God could reveal a little more of His deity. God’s plan. Jesus always followed God’s plan for Him.
Please read John 11:8-16
8 The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi (Teacher), the Jews were only recently going to stone You, and You are [thinking of] going back there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours [of light] in the day? Anyone who walks in the daytime does not stumble, because he sees [by] the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because there is no light in him.” 11 He said this, and after that said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him.” 12 The disciples answered, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 However, Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was referring to natural sleep. 14 So then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 And for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 Then Thomas, who was called Didymus (the twin), said to his fellow disciples, “Let us go too, that we may die with Him.”
There’s something comforting about how Jesus never calls death death unless His disciples don’t understand it. It’s always ‘sleep’. Which technically must be what it is since all the faithful will be resurrected, whether it’s immediately or only when He returns. Because He will return.
He is the Life
Please read John 11:17-27
17 So when Jesus arrived, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb [c]four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away; 19 and many of the Jews had come to see Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning [the loss of] their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him, while Mary remained sitting in the house. 21 Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give to You.” 23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise [from the dead].” 24 Martha replied, “I know that he will rise [from the dead] in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “[d]I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, relies on) Me [as Savior] will live even if he dies; 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me [as Savior] will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed and continue to believe that You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of God, [e]He who was [destined and promised] to come into the world [and it is for You that the world has waited].”
Oh that we would say the same. He is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed, the Son of God. And yes, He was destined and promised to come into the world and it is for Him that the whole world waited.
Please read John 11:28-29
28 After she had said this, she left and called her sister Mary, privately whispering [to her], “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.” 29 And when she heard this, she got up quickly and went to Him.
When He asks, go. When He calls, answer. He is God and our King and the One who loves us unconditionally at all times.
Please read John 11:30-37
30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met Him. 31 So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her, saw how quickly Mary got up and left, they followed her, assuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 When Mary came [to the place] where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her sobbing, and the Jews who had come with her also sobbing, He was [f]deeply moved in spirit [to the point of anger at the sorrow caused by death] and was troubled, 34 and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him [as a close friend]!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the blind man’s eyes, have kept this man from dying?”
I wonder whether sometimes death clears the body of the reason it is needed. Yet even Jesus cries with us when we hurt with the pain of grief.
Please read John 11:38-40
38 So Jesus, again deeply moved within [to the point of anger], approached the tomb. It was a cave, and a boulder was lying against it [to cover the entrance]. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be an offensive odor, for he has been dead four days! [It is hopeless!]” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe [in Me], you will see the glory of God [the expression of His excellence]?”
This glory, the glory of God is brilliant and delightful. Because this showing was a resurrection and that means glory is life and love and joy and so so bright.
Please read John 11:41-44
41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes [toward heaven] and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 I knew that You always hear Me and listen to Me; but I have said this because of the people standing around, so that they may believe that You have sent Me [and that You have made Me Your representative].” 43 When He had said this, He shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 Out came the man who had been dead, his hands and feet tightly wrapped in burial cloths (linen strips), and with a [burial] cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and release him.”
Yes, He is the Son of God, the One through whom all has been made and the Life and the Resurrection and so much more too.
Please read John 11:45-46
45 So then, many of the Jews who had come to [be with] Mary and who were eyewitnesses to what Jesus had done, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went back to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
There will always be those who don’t believe. Those who see what Jesus does as wrong or threatening to whatever they think is their leadership.
Please read John 11:47-53
Conspiracy to Kill Jesus
47 So the chief priests and Pharisees convened a council [of the leaders in Israel], and said, “What are we doing? For this man performs many signs (attesting miracles). 48 If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our [holy] place (the temple) and our nation.” 49 But one of them, [g]Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year [the year of Christ’s crucifixion], said to them, “You know nothing at all! 50 Nor do you understand that it is expedient and politically advantageous for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” 51 Now he did not say this [simply] on his own initiative; but being the high priest that year, he [was unknowingly used by God and] prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not only for the nation, but also for the purpose of gathering together into one body the children of God who have been scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.
This was the plan of God: Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also for the purpose of gathering together into one body the children of God who have been scattered abroad.
Not just the Jews scattered, but all the world who would come to faith through all time from then to when He returns.
Please read John 11:54
54 For that reason Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but left there and went to the district that borders on the uninhabited wilderness, to a town called Ephraim; and He stayed there with the disciples.
He knew where He could go to temporarily escape those wanting Him dead. In other words, His Time.
Please read John 11:55-57
55 Now the Passover of the Jews was approaching, and many from the country went up to Jerusalem before Passover to purify themselves [ceremonially, so that they would be able to participate in the feast]. 56 So they were looking for Jesus as they stood in the temple [area], and saying among themselves, “What do you think? Will He not come to the feast at all?” 57 Now the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it so that they might arrest Him.
He does in fact show up, but at this point they are only questioning whether He will or not.
Footnotes
[a] John 11:1 -He was from [a]Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived.- Two cities named Bethany are mentioned in the NT. This one is located on the east side of the Mount of Olives, about two miles from Jerusalem, on the road to Jericho; the other city is “Bethany across the Jordan” (1:28) in Perea.
[b] John 11:6 –6 [b]So [even] when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed in the same place two more days.- The delay by Jesus was to assure everyone that Lazarus was truly dead, as the context which follows makes clear.
[c] John 11:17 -He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb [c]four days.- Jesus purposefully stayed away for four days after Lazarus’ death. The Jews believed the soul hovered around the body for three days during which there was still hope. After four days all hope was gone.
[d] John 11:25 -“[d]I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, relies on) Me [as Savior] will live even if he dies;- The fifth of the memorable “I am” statements. See note 6:35.
[e] John 11:27 -“Yes, Lord; I have believed and continue to believe that You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of God, [e]He who was [destined and promised] to come into the world [and it is for You that the world has waited].”- The Coming One was a Messianic title.
[f] John 11:33 –33 When Jesus saw her sobbing, and the Jews who had come with her also sobbing, He was [f]deeply moved in spirit [to the point of anger at the sorrow caused by death] and was troubled,- In Greek this term suggests an emotional indignation or sternness. Jesus was angry at the sorrow caused by death. It occurs four more times in the NT in reference to Jesus’ words or His feelings. See Matt 9:30; Mark 1:43; John 11:38; 13:21.
[g] John 11:49 –49 But one of them, [g]Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year [the year of Christ’s crucifixion], said to them, “You know nothing at all!- High priest from a.d. 18-36. Annas, his father-in-law, was officially high priest only from a.d. 7-14, but he exercised great influence and power during the term of Caiaphas.