JohnChapter 11

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Show the signFour days in the tomb

The greatest sign before Jesus' own resurrection: Lazarus has been dead for four days. Jesus shows that he is "the resurrection and the life" by calling his friend back from death.

Lazarus is sick

[John 11:1] [John 11:3]

v.1, 3

This sickness will not end in death

[John 11:4]

v.4

Jesus waited two days

[John 11:6]

v.6

Lazarus is dead

[John 11:14-15]

v.14, 15

Four days in the tomb

[John 11:17]

v.17

Mary meets Jesus

[John 11:21-22]

v.21, 22

I am the resurrection and the life

[John 11:25]

v.25

Jesus wept

[John 11:33] [John 11:35]

v.33, 35

Roll away the stone

[John 11:39-40]

v.39, 40

Lazarus, come out!

[John 11:43-44]

v.43, 44

Many came to believe

[John 11:45]

v.45

Now a man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

It was this Mary who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was the one who was ill.

So the sisters sent word to him: "Lord, the one you love is ill."

When Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness does not end in death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two more days in the place where he was.

Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go back to Judea."

The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you are going back there?"

Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the day does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

But whoever walks at night stumbles, because the light is not in him."

After saying this, he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him."

The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well."

Jesus had been speaking of his death, but they thought he meant natural sleep.

So then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead,

and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."

Then Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away,[^1] [^1]: Greek: about fifteen stadia, roughly three kilometers.

and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.

So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you."

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

Martha said to him, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies,

and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one coming into the world."

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary aside, saying, "The Teacher is here and is asking for you."

As soon as Mary heard it, she got up quickly and went to him.

Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.

The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw how quickly she got up and went out, and they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to weep there.

When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.

"Where have you laid him?" he asked. They said to him, "Lord, come and see."

Jesus wept.

So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"

But some of them said, "Could not the man who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, with a stone laid across it.

"Take away the stone," Jesus said. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by now there is a stench; it has been four days."

Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?"

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

I knew that you always hear me, but I said it for the sake of the crowd standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."

When he had said this, he called out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"

The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of linen and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him and let him go."

Many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what Jesus did believed in him.

But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the council and said, "What are we doing? This man is performing many signs.

If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."

But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all.

You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."

He did not say this on his own; but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation—

and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the scattered children of God.

So from that day on they plotted to put him to death.

Jesus therefore no longer moved about openly among the Jews, but withdrew from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with his disciples.

Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the countryside before the Passover to purify themselves.

They kept looking for Jesus, and standing in the temple they said to one another, "What do you think? Surely he will not come to the feast?"

The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where he was should report it, so that they might arrest him.

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Summary2

Chapter 11

Main Theme: Jesus reveals himself as the resurrection and the life by raising Lazarus from the dead, leading to both faith and opposition.

Content: Lazarus of Bethany becomes ill and dies, but Jesus intentionally waits two days before going there. When he arrives, Lazarus has been dead for four days. In conversation with Martha, Jesus declares, "I am the resurrection and the life," and Martha confesses him as the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus raises Lazarus from the tomb, which leads many to believe, but also causes the Jewish council to decide to kill Jesus. The high priest Caiaphas unintentionally prophesies that Jesus will die for the people.

Key Words/Images:

"I am the resurrection and the life": Jesus' declaration that he has power over death and gives eternal life to those who believe.
Four days in the tomb: Emphasizes that Lazarus was truly dead, making the miracle undeniable.
Jesus' tears (v.35): Shows Jesus' deep human compassion and love for his friends.
Caiaphas' prophecy: The high priest's statement that one man should die for the people unintentionally points forward to Jesus' atoning death.

Historical context

Historical and Cultural Context for John 11

People

Lazarus, Martha, and Mary formed a sibling group with whom Jesus had a close friendship (v. 5). The name Lazarus (Λάζαρος) is the Greek form of the Hebrew Eleazar, meaning "God has helped." The family appears to have belonged to a wealthy household in Bethany. The fact that many Jews from Jerusalem came to comfort the sisters (v. 19) indicates that the family held considerable social status.

Thomas, also called Didymus (Δίδυμος, "the Twin"), is mentioned in v. 16 where he urges the other disciples to follow Jesus to Judea. His statement, "Let us also go, that we may die with him," shows both a realistic assessment of the danger and deep loyalty toward Jesus.

Caiaphas was the high priest that year (v. 49, 51), serving from approximately 18–36 AD. His long tenure suggests he was skilled at balancing Jewish interests against Roman demands. In 1990, archaeologists discovered an ossuary in Jerusalem with the inscription "Joseph son of Caiaphas," which may have belonged to this high priest.

Places

Bethany (Βηθανία) was located on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives, about 15 stadia (approximately 3 km) from Jerusalem (v. 18). The name likely means "house of the poor" or "house of dates/figs." The present-day village of el-Azariyeh (an Arabic derivation of "Lazarus") marks the site. Archaeological excavations have uncovered remains from the first century, including a tomb that has been identified since the fourth century as "the tomb of Lazarus."

Ephraim (v. 54) was a town near the wilderness, usually identified with the village of et-Taiyibeh, about 20 km northeast of Jerusalem. Jesus withdrew there after the council decided to kill him, since the area lay on the outskirts of Judea and was safer than regions closer to Jerusalem.

Events and Customs

Burial customs in Jewish culture at this time involved burying the deceased on the same day as death, usually in a rock-cut tomb sealed with a rolling stone. The body was wrapped in linen cloths (κειρίαι, v. 44), and the face was covered with a cloth (σουδάριον). The mourning period traditionally lasted seven days (shiva), during which family and friends came to comfort the bereaved—as we see in verses 19 and 31.

Four days in the tomb (v. 17, 39) carries special significance. A widespread Jewish belief at that time held that the soul remained near the body for three days in hope of returning, but departed definitively on the fourth day when decay began. Martha's comment, "he already smells" (v. 39), emphasizes that Lazarus was unquestionably dead, making the miracle all the more remarkable.

The Sanhedrin (συνέδριον, v. 47) was the Jewish council consisting of 71 members, including high priests, elders, and scribes. They had considerable autonomy under Roman rule in religious and some civil matters, but could not carry out a death sentence without Roman approval.

Key Terms

"The resurrection and the life" (ἡ ἀνάστασις καὶ ἡ ζωή, v. 25) is Jesus' response to Martha's confession of faith in a future resurrection "on the last day" (v. 24). Belief in a future resurrection was common among Pharisees and many Jews. Jesus redefines resurrection from being merely a future event to being connected with his own person here and now.

Ἐνεβριμήσατο (v. 33, 38) is an unusually strong expression describing Jesus' reaction. The verb originally refers to "snorting" or "braying" (like a horse) and expresses deep indignation or intense emotional agitation. It may indicate Jesus' response to the power of death and the destruction sin has caused in the world.

People7

Caiaphas1 God1 Jesus24 Martha7 Lazarus8 Mary8 Thomas1

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Key words

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Timeline2