Johnchapter 11
57 verses · John, by tradition · AD 85 to 95 · The Gospels
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
Introduction
John, by tradition, The Gospels, John Overview.
The writer of this Gospel walked to Bethany with Jesus, and he tells this chapter as a witness who knew the family by name. He wrote for readers who had never seen Jesus and who faced death as every believer does. The chapter brings the seventh and greatest of the signs he chose to record. It also turns the rulers from argument to a settled plan to kill. Listen for how slowly Jesus moves and how plainly He speaks about death. Listen also for what He says about Himself before He says anything to the dead. Read it as the hinge between the signs and the cross.
Context
- Who
- Readers who had buried their own dead by these customs
- What
- The seventh sign of the Gospel, the raising of Lazarus at Bethany, and the council's decision that follows it to put Jesus to death.
- Where
- Bethany, a village under two miles from Jerusalem, then the council in Jerusalem and the town of Ephraim near the wilderness.
- When
- Late winter or early spring before the last Passover of the ministry, about AD 30 or 33 on the two dates most often given for the crucifixion.
- Why
- To show Jesus as the resurrection and the life, and to explain how His greatest sign led the rulers to plan His death.
Historical context
Burial happened the same day, because a body decays fast in that climate. The corpse was washed, packed with aromatic spices, and wrapped in strips of linen with a separate cloth binding the jaw closed, then laid on a shelf inside a rock-cut tomb sealed with a heavy stone. There was no embalming; the spices masked the smell.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The four days are mentioned deliberately. A common belief of the period held that the soul hovered near the body for three days and departed on the fourth, when the face became unrecognisable. By naming the fourth day and having Martha say there will be an odour, John removes any possibility of a swoon or a mistake.
Mourning was loud and professional. Even a poor family hired wailing women and flute players, and the neighbours came out from Jerusalem, two miles was a short walk, so the scene at the tomb has a crowd in it, which is why so many witnesses are reported.
The council meeting that follows is politics of the coldest kind. Caiaphas, high priest that year, argues that it is expedient that one man die for the people rather than that the whole nation perish, and the fear he names is specific: if this movement grows, the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. Within forty years they did exactly that.
Significance
The shortest verse in the Bible sits in the middle of this chapter, and its position is the argument: knowing he is about to raise the man, he weeps anyway. Readers grieving their own dead were shown a Lord who does not treat grief as a failure of faith.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
For John, this is the sign that sets the cross in motion. The raising of Lazarus is what convinces the council to act, so the act that gives life to one man is what costs Jesus his own. Caiaphas said more than he knew.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Lazarus Is Sick, and Jesus Waits Two Days
John 11:1-2
a man named Lazarus was sick: Lazarus lived at Bethany with Mary and her sister Martha. John identifies Mary here by an act told later at 12:3, anointing the Lord with perfume and wiping His feet with her hair. The name Lazarus is the Greek form of Eleazar, God has helped.
John 11:1
“A certain man was sick - The resurrection of Lazarus has been recorded only by John. Various reasons have been conjectured why the other evangelists did not mention so signal a miracle. The most probable is, that at the time they wrote Lazarus was still living. The miracle was well known, and yet to have recorded it might have exposed Lazarus to opposition and persecution from the Jews. See Joh 12:10-11. Besides, John wrote for Christians who were out of Palestine. The other gospels were written chiefly for those who were in Judea.”
3 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
John 11:1
“And one named Lazarus was sick. The Evangelist passes on to another narrative, which contains a miracle eminently worthy of being recorded. For not only did Christ give a remarkable proof of his Divine power in raising Lazarus, but he likewise placed before our eyes a lively image of our future resurrection.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
John 11:1
“Here was a brother named Lazarus; his Hebrew name probably was Eleazar, which being contracted, and a Greek termination put to it, is made Lazarus. Perhaps in prospect of this history our Saviour made use of the name of Lazarus in that parable wherein he designed to set forth the blessedness of the righteous in the bosom of Abraham immediately after death, Luke xvi.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
John 11:1
“The chapter we have now begun is one of the most remarkable in the New Testament. For grandeur and simplicity, for pathos and solemnity, nothing was ever written like it. It describes a miracle which is not recorded in the other Gospels—the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Nowhere shall we find such convincing proofs of our Lord's Divine power. As God, He makes the grave itself yield up its tenants. Nowhere shall we find such striking illustrations of our Lord's ability to sympathize with His people. As man, He can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.”
was to anoint the Lord with perfume: Mary, the sister of Lazarus, is marked by the perfume and the hair of 12:3. Augustine holds that she had anointed the Lord once before, as the woman of Luke 7. Calvin and Theophylact see two different women.
John 11:2
“It was that Mary which anointed - There is much disagreement between learned men relative to the two anointings of our Lord, and the persons who performed these acts. The various conjectures concerning these points the reader will find in the notes on Mat 26:7, etc., but particularly at the end of that chapter. Dr. Lightfoot inquires, Why should Bethany be called the town of Martha and Mary, and not of Lazarus?”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
4 more voices on this verse
John 11:2
“The woman who was a sinner, of whom Luke gives an account, anointed Christ at Jerusalem, where he dwelt; but Mary afterwards anointed him at Bethany, which was her own village.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
John 11:2
“It was that Mary who afterward anointed, &c. She was more known than her elder sister Martha, and as such is named before her.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
John 11:2
“With a purpose does the Evangelist make mention of the names of the women, showing that they were distinguished for their piety. Wherefore also the Lord loved them.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
John 11:2
“She "anointed THE LORD," says the Evangelist--led doubtless to the use of this term here, as he was about to exhibit Him illustriously as the Lord of Life.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
John 11:3-4
The sisters send no request, only word that the one He loves is sick. His answer names the end before He has seen the man: the sickness is for the glory of God and the glorifying of the Son. Their word for love is phileo, the love of friends.
John 11:3
“The women send to the Lord, ever wishing to have Him near them, but on this occasion sending under a fair pretext on account of him who was sick. For they believed that if Christ would only appear the sufferer would be set free from his disease. And they gently remind Him of the love which He had for the sick man, drawing Him thither especially by this means; for they knew that He took thought for this man.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
3 more voices on this verse
John 11:3
“THAT DISCIPLE WHOM JESUS LOVED is not at all backward to record that Jesus loved Lazarus too: there are no jealousies among those who are chosen by the Well-beloved. Jesus loved Mary, and Martha, and Lazarus: it is a happy thing where a whole family live in the love of Jesus. They were a favoured trio, and yet, as the serpent came into Paradise, so did sorrow enter their quiet household at Bethany. Lazarus was sick.”
John 11:3
“Lo, he whom thou lovest is sick. The message is short, but Christ might easily learn from it what the two sisters wished; for, under this complaint, they modestly state their request that he would be pleased to grant them relief.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
John 11:3
“Whom thou lovest - Joh 11:5. The members of this family were among the few special and intimate friends of our Lord. He was much with them, and showed them marks of special friendship Luk 10:38-42, and they bestowed upon him special proofs of affection in return. This shows that special attachments are lawful for Christians, and that those friendships are especially lovely which are tempered and sweetened with the spirit of Christ.”
The sickness is real, and Lazarus will die. Barnes and Wesley read will not end in death as a death that would not last. Chrysostom marks the glory of God and the glory of the Son as one glory.
John 11:4
“The Lord now says this, not that the men may go away and report it to the sisters of Lazarus, but as God foretelling what should come to pass, because He saw that the conclusion of the affair would be for the glory of God; not that the sickness came upon the man for this reason, that He should be glorified; for it would be silly to say this; but since it had come, He also saw that it would result in a wonderful end.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:4
“This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God - The event of this sickness will not be death, in the usual sense of the word, a final separation of his soul and body; but a manifestation of the glorious power of God.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
John 11:4
“It was for the glory of God, for it was that the Son of God might be glorified thereby, as it gave him occasion to work that glorious miracle, the raising of him from the dead. As, before, the man was born blind that Christ might have the honour of curing him ( ch. ix. 3 ), so Lazarus must be sick and die, that Christ may be glorified as the Lord of life.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
John 11:5-6
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister: John says Jesus loved Martha, her sister and Lazarus. Told that Lazarus was sick, He stayed two days where He was. Verse 6 joins the waiting to the love with a single so.
John 11:5
“Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus - Therefore his staying two days longer in Bethabara was not through lack of affection for this distressed family, but merely that he might have a more favorable opportunity of proving to them how much he loved them. Christ never denies a less favor, but in order to confer a greater.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
John 11:5
“No wonder that those miserable skeptics who have carped at the ethical system of the Gospel, as not embracing private friendships in the list of its virtues, have been referred to the Saviour's peculiar regard for this family as a triumphant refutation, if such were needed.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
He stayed where He was for two days: The two days were deliberate. Barnes holds that Lazarus died soon after the sisters sent word, so the stay brought Jesus to a tomb four days old. Chrysostom and Theophylact say the wait left no one able to call the death a sleep.
John 11:6
“He abode two days - Probably Lazarus died soon after the messengers left him. Jesus knew that (Joh 11:11), and did not hasten to Judea, but remained two days longer where he was, that there might not be the possibility of doubt that he was dead, so that when he came there he had been dead four days, Joh 11:39. This shows, moreover, that he intended to raise him up. If he had not, it could hardly be reconciled with friendship thus to remain, without any reason, away from an afflicted family.”
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:6
“And He deferred His arrival in order that He might not heal him while sick, but raise him when dead; which is a work of greater power, so that He would be more greatly glorified.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7patristic
John 11:6
“When he heard he was sick, he abode two days still . . . where he was--at least twenty-five miles off. Beyond all doubt this was just to let things come to their worst, in order to display His glory. But how trying, meantime, to the faith of his friends, and how unlike the way in which love to a dying friend usually shows itself, on which it is plain that Mary reckoned.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
John 11:7-8
Let us go back to Judea sends them toward the place where the Jews had just taken up stones to stone Him, at 10:31. The disciples name the danger in their reply and ask why He is going back there. That stoning came at the winter feast of 10:22.
John 11:7
“Now when the Lord said: Let us go into Judaea again, He seems almost to declare "Even though the people there are unworthy of kindness, yet now that an opportunity presents itself of conveying them some advantage, let us go back to them;" but the disciples in their love for Him think it right to try to hinder Him, and moreover as men they suppose that He would be unwilling to put Himself in peril by going amongst the Jews.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7patristic
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:7
“We should notice, in this passage, how mysterious are the ways in which Christ sometimes leads His people. We are told that when He talked of going back to Judea, His disciples were perplexed. It was the very place where the Jews had lately tried to stone their Master—to return there was to plunge into the midst of danger. These timid Galileans could not see the necessity or prudence of such a step. "Are You going there again?" they cried. Things such as these are often going on around us.”
John 11:7
“To go to Judea, which was so lately made too hot for them, was a saying that proved them. But Christ did not say, " Go you into Judea, and I will stay and take shelter here;" no, Let us go. Note, Christ never brings his people into any peril but he accompanies them in it, and is with them even when they walk through the valley of the shadow of death.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Rabbi is the disciples' word for their teacher. Chrysostom hears fear for Jesus, and more for themselves, in their question. Clarke reckons the attempt to stone Him a few weeks back, Henry at least two months, and Barnes about four.
John 11:8
“The Jews of late sought to stone thee - It was but a few weeks before that they were going to stone him in the temple, on the day of the feast of the dedication, Joh 10:31.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:8
“His disciples said unto him, master,.... Addressing him very reverently, and with great concern for his safety, as well as their own: the Jews of late, or but now, sought to stone thee; as they had attempted to do twice in a very little time; see Joh 8:59; and goest thou thither again? where there are so many enemies; and so much danger, and but little hope of doing much good; whereas here he was among his friends, and in safety, and very useful.”
John 11:8
“Though it was at least two months ago, the remembrance of the fright was fresh in their minds. [2.] They marvel that he will go thither again. "Wilt thou favour those with thy presence that have expelled thee out of their coasts?" Christ's ways in passing by offences are above our ways.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
John 11:9-10
twelve hours of daylight?: The daylight has twelve hours, and a man who walks in them sees by this world's light and keeps his footing. The man who walks at night has no light and stumbles. The Jewish day ran twelve hours from sunrise to sunset, longer in summer and shorter in winter.
John 11:9
“Consider what I have said, that the Light is Christ. Everyone who will walk in his commandments will not be laid hold of by evil. These twelve hours that are in the day are the twelve apostles. The devil … is compared with the night. He who walks in the will of the devil will stumble because he does not have the light of Christ.”
Athanasius of Alexandria · written before 373 · Homily on the Resurrection of Lazaruspatristic
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:9
“Twelve hours - The Jews divided the day from sunrise to sunset into twelve equal parts. A similar illustration our Saviour uses in Joh 9:4-5. See the notes at that place. If any man walk - If any man travels. The illustration here is taken from a traveler. The conversation was respecting a journey into Judea, and our Lord, as was his custom, took the illustration from the case before him. He stumbleth not - He is able, having light, to make his journey safely. He sees the obstacles or dangers and can avoid them.”
John 11:9
“If any man walk in the day he stumbleth not - As if he had said, So there is such a space, a determined time, which God has allotted me. During that time I stumble not, amidst all the snares that are laid for me.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
if anyone walks at night: Night is the hour without light. Henry reads the saying first of Jesus, who walks in the daylight of His appointed hours. Chrysostom takes the night as the life of a man who does evil, and Augustine and Origen read the twelve hours as the apostles.
John 11:10
“But if a man walk in the night,.... After the sun is set, and there is no light in the air and heavens to direct him: he stumbleth; at everything that lies in the way, because there is no light in him; there being none from above communicated to him.”
John 11:11-13
Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep speaks of death as sleep. The disciples hear good news, that sleeping means he will get better, and John states the meaning for the reader before Jesus states it. The Greek verb for sleep here gives the word cemetery, a sleeping place.
John 11:11
"A worthy cause draws Me towards Jerusalem;" for so much is signified by the words: Our friend is fallen asleep; "and if we should let it pass neglected, we should incur the reputation of being devoid of compassion. Wherefore we must avoid the disgrace of such conduct, and run to the help of our friend, despising the plots of the Jews."
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
4 more voices on this verse
John 11:11
"The phrase here employed, 'our friend Lazarus,' means more than 'he whom Thou lovest' in Joh 11:3, for it implies that Christ's affection was reciprocated by Lazarus" [LAMPE].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
John 11:11
“Our friend Lazarus sleepeth - This he spoke, just when he died. Sleepeth - Such is the death of good men in the language of heaven. But the disciples did not yet understand this language.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
John 11:11
“Lazarus sleepeth - Is dead. The word “sleep” is applied to death, 1. Because of the resemblance between them, as sleep is the “kinsman of death.” In this sense it is often used by pagan writers. 2. However, in the Scriptures it is used to intimate that death will not be final: that there will be an awaking out of this sleep, or a resurrection.”
John 11:11
“There is a covenant of friendship between Christ and believers, and a friendly affection and communion pursuant to it, which our Lord Jesus will own and not be ashamed of. His secret is with the righteous. Those whom Christ is pleased to own as his friends all his disciples should take for theirs.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Sleep in sickness was a sign of recovery. Barnes cites the Jewish saying, recorded by Lightfoot, that such sleep shows the disease has eased. Chrysostom hears a hope that the trip to Judea was needless.
John 11:12
“Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep,.... Soundly, quietly, and comfortably, and takes rest in it: he shall do well; or "be saved" from the disease; he will be delivered from it; he will recover out of it; it is a sign the distemper is leaving him, and he is growing better, and will be restored to his health again: the Ethiopic version renders it by many words, "he will be well", and "will awake", and "will live". Sound sleep is a sign of health.”
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:12
“If he sleep, he shall do well - That is, if he sleep only, etc. Though the word sleep frequently meant death, (see Act 7:60; 1Co 11:30; 1Co 15:18, 1Co 15:20), yet, as it was an ambiguous term, the disciples appear here to have mistaken its meaning. Because, in certain acute disorders, the composing the patient to rest was a favorable sign; therefore the words, If he sleep, he shall do well, or recover, became a proverbial forth of speech among the Jews.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
John 11:12
“Sleep is often nature's physic, and reviving to its weak and weary powers. This is true of the sleep of death; if a good Christian so sleep, he shall do well, better than he did here. [2.] A greater concern for themselves; for hereby they insinuate that it was now needless for Christ to go to him, and expose himself and them.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
They thought that Jesus was talking: The disciples thought Jesus was talking about actual sleep. Henry holds they should have known that Scripture often calls death a sleep, and Clarke points to the same figure at Acts 7:60. Chrysostom counts the saying among the riddles Jesus often spoke to the disciples.
John 11:13
“They, not understanding the force of the words, thought that Jesus spake of taking rest in sleep, which when sick men can do, they generally experience refreshment; wherefore the disciples say: "It is not worth while to go and disturb Lazarus from his sleep, for it does not benefit a sick man to awake him out of sleep." And this they said, wishing to hinder Him from the journey by remarking that it was not meet to go into the midst of those murderers for the sake of doing something which would produce no good result.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
1 more voice on this verse
John 11:13
“Let us not therefore condemn all those as heretics who mistake the sense of some of Christ's sayings. It is not good to aggravate our brethren's mistakes; yet this was a gross one, for it had easily been prevented if they had remembered how frequently death is called a sleep in the Old Testament. They should have understood Christ when he spoke scripture language.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
John 11:14-15
Lazarus is dead ends the figure, spoken plainly once the disciples have missed it twice. He tells them He is glad for their sake that He was not there, so that they may believe. He names the death from beyond the Jordan.
John 11:14
“Then said Jesus unto them plainly,.... Without a figure, when he perceived they did not understand him, and yet it was a very easy and usual metaphor which he had made use of; but such was the present stupidity of their minds, that they did not take in his meaning: wherefore, without reproaching them with it, he said to them in so many words, Lazarus is dead. The Persic version reads, "Lazarus is dead indeed", as he really was.”
1 more voice on this verse
John 11:14
“Christ takes cognizance of the death of his saints, for it is precious in his sight ( Ps. cxvi. 15 ), and he is not pleased if we do not consider it, and lay it to heart.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
for your sake I am glad: Jesus says He is glad for their sake. Barnes explains that at Bethany the sisters' pleas would have moved Him to heal a sick man, and the greater sign would be lost. Augustine notes the disciples already believed, so believe here means a deeper faith.
John 11:15
“The disciples therefore not understanding that He had called death by the name of sleep, He made His meaning clearer, saying: He is dead. And He says that He is glad, not out of a love of glory, because He was going to do the marvellous deed, but because this was going to become for the disciples a ground of faith.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:15
“I am glad ... - The meaning of this verse may be thus expressed: “If I had been there during his sickness, the entreaties of his sisters and friends would have prevailed with me to restore him to health. I could not have refused them without appearing to be unkind.”
John 11:15
"It is beautifully congruous to the divine decorum that in presence of the Prince of Life no one is ever said to have died" [BENGEL]. that ye may believe--This is added to explain His "gladness" at not having been present.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Let us also go is the first word recorded from Thomas. He counts the trip to Judea a death sentence and volunteers to share it. Didymus is the Greek for twin, the same sense as the Aramaic name Thomas.
John 11:16
“Thomas, which is called Didymus - Thomas, or תאום Thaom, was his Hebrew name, and signifies a twin - one who had a brother or a sister born with him at the same time: Didymus, Διδυμος, is a literal translation of the Hebrew word into Greek. In Gen 25:24, Esau and Jacob are called תומים thomeem, twins; Septuag. διδυμα, from διδυμος, a twin - from the Anglo-Saxon, to double.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
John 11:16
“Thomas in Hebrew, as Didymus in Greek, signifies a twin. With him - With Jesus, whom he supposed the Jews would kill. It seems to be the language of despair.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
John 11:16
“The language of Thomas has indeed zeal, but it also has timidity; it was the outcome of devout feeling, but it was mixed with littleness of faith. For he does not endure being left behind, and even tries to persuade the others to adopt the same resolution: nevertheless he thinks that they are destined to suffer [death] at the hands of the Jews, even against the will of Christ, by reason of the murderous passion of the Jews; not looking at the power of the Deliverer, as he ought rather to have done.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
John 11:16
“Here, however, though alleged by many interpreters there is nothing of the sort. He perceives clearly how this journey to Judea will end, as respects his Master, and not only sees in it peril to themselves, as they all did, but feels as if he could not and cared not to survive his Master's sacrifice to the fury of His enemies.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
I Am the Resurrection and the Life
John 11:17-19
four days in the tomb: had already passed when Jesus arrived. The rabbis held that the soul stayed near the body for three days and left when decay began, a belief Lightfoot cites here. The fourth day put the death past question.
John 11:17
“Promised salvations, though they always come surely, yet often come slowly. He found his friends that survived in grief. Martha and Mary were almost swallowed up with sorrow for the death of their brother, which is intimated where it is said that many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
John 11:17
“In the grave - It was sometimes the custom to embalm the dead, but in this case it does not seem to have been done. He was probably buried soon after death.”
Bethany was near Jerusalem: Bethany lay fifteen stadia east of Jerusalem. Barnes notes that news from the village would soon reach the chief priests. Henry counts the raising as done near Jerusalem, after the man ill thirty-eight years and the man born blind.
John 11:18
“Bethany was nigh Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs--rather less than two miles; mentioned to explain the visits of sympathy noticed in the following words, which the proximity of the two places facilitated.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:18
“Notice is taken of this, that this miracle was in effect wrought in Jerusalem, and so was put to her score. Christ's miracles in Galilee were more numerous, but those in or near Jerusalem were more illustrious; there he healed one that had been diseased thirty-eight years, another that had been blind from his birth, and raised one that had been dead four days.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
John 11:18
“He mentions also the length of days that had intervened after the death of Lazarus for this reason, that the miracle may be the more marvelled at, and lest any one should chance to say that He had come after one day, and that Lazarus was not dead, but He had raised him up from sickness.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
many of the Jews had come: Many Jews came out to console the sisters. Clarke describes three days of weeping and seven of lamentation within about thirty days of mourning. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the custom put many witnesses from Jerusalem at the tomb.
John 11:19
“Many of the Jews - Probably their distant relatives or their friends. To comfort - These visits of consolation were commonly extended to seven clays (Grotius; Lightfoot).”
Martha heard that Jesus was coming: Martha went out to meet Jesus, while Mary stayed at home. Luke gives the same two women in the same postures, Martha serving and Mary seated at the Lord's feet, at Luke 10:39 and 40. She leaves the mourners in the house to reach Him first.
John 11:20
“Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him--true to the energy and activity of her character, as seen in Lu 10:38-42. (See on Lu 10:38-42). but Mary sat . . . in the house--equally true to her placid character.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
3 more voices on this verse
John 11:20
“Perhaps Martha was the more eager to do such things as might be necessary; wherefore also she first went and met Him: but Mary was the more intelligent. Wherefore, as possessing a more sensitive soul, she remained at home, receiving the attentions of her consoling friends; but Martha, as a simpler person, started off, intoxicated indeed with her grief, but nevertheless acting with more vigour.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
John 11:20
“She waived all ceremony and compliment to the Jews who came to visit her, and hastened to go and meet Jesus. Note, When God by his grace or providence is coming towards us in ways of mercy and comfort, we should go forth by faith, hope, and prayer to meet him.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
John 11:20
“Martha - went and met him - Some suppose she was the eldest of the two sisters - she seems to have had the management of the house. See Luk 10:40. Mary sat still in the house - It is likely that by this circumstance the evangelist intended to convey the idea of her sorrow and distress; because anciently afflicted persons were accustomed to put themselves in this posture, as expressive of their distress; their grief having rendered them as it were immovable. See Ezr 9:3, Ezr 9:4; Neh 1:4; Psa 137:1; Isa 47:1; Luk 1:79; and Mat 27:61.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
John 11:21-22
if You had been here: Lord, if You had been here carries no charge against Him. Martha adds what she still holds, that God will give Him whatever He asks of Him. The raising goes past what she has in mind.
John 11:21
“When said Martha unto Jesus,.... When she was come to him, Lord, if thou hadst been here my brother had not died: which expresses much faith, but with a mixture of weakness, as if the presence of Christ was necessary for the working a cure; whereas he could as well have restored her brother to health absent, as present, had it been his will, as he did the centurion's servant, and the nobleman's son of Capernaum.”
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:21
“Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died--As Mary afterwards said the same thing (Joh 11:32), it is plain they had made this very natural remark to each other, perhaps many times during these four sad days, and not without having their confidence in His love at times overclouded. Such trials of faith, however, are not peculiar to them.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
John 11:21
“What Martha says, amounts to this. "Not for this reason," she says, "did my brother die, because the nature of man is subject to death; but because Thou wast not present, Who art able by Thy word to conquer death." But in her grief, wandering beyond propriety, she considered that the Lord was no longer able to do anything, as the time for help had gone by; and she thought that He had come, not for the raising again of Lazarus, bat that He might console them.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
But even now I know that God: Martha still believes God will give Jesus whatever He asks. Barnes and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hear a hope that He might raise her brother even now. Chrysostom and Theophylact hear a weak faith that sees Him as a man who must ask of God.
John 11:22
“But I know that even now,.... At this distance of time, though her brother had been in the grave four days: whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee; whether Martha had such a clear notion of the deity of Christ, as yet, as she afterwards had, is not so certain: however, she was persuaded that he had great interest with God, and that whatever he desired of him was granted to him; and though she does not mention the resurrection of her brother, yet it seems to be what she had in view.”
3 more voices on this verse
John 11:22
“And the words: Whatsoever Thou shalt ask of God He will give Thee, are the words of one who is almost afraid to ask plainly what she wishes; nevertheless she stumbles concerning the truth in that she speaks not as to God, but as to one of the saints; His being seen in the flesh causing her to think that whatsoever He should ask as a saint, He would receive from God; not indeed knowing that, being in His Nature God and the Power of the Father, He possesses irresistible might over all things.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
John 11:22
“But I know that even now, &c.--Energetic characters are usually sanguine, the rainbow of hope peering through the drenching cloud. whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee--that is, "even to the restoration of my dead brother to life," for that plainly is her meaning, as the sequel shows.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
John 11:22
“I HOPE that there are a great many persons here who are interested in the souls of those around them. We shall certainly never exercise faith concerning those for whose salvation we have no care. I trust, also, that we are diligent in looking after individuals, especially those who are among our own family and friends. This is what Martha did—her whole care was for her brother. It is often easier to have faith that Christ can save sinners in general, than to believe that He can come into our own home and save some particular member of our household.”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2249: “Even Now” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
John 11:23-24
Your brother will rise again can be heard two ways, and Martha has in mind the one she was taught. She answers with the resurrection at the last day, which the Pharisees held and the Sadducees denied. Daniel 12:2 is where that hope is written.
John 11:23
“Jesus saith unto her, thy brother shall rise again. Christ knew what she meant, and accordingly gave her an answer, and yet in such general terms, that she could not tell whether his meaning was, that he should rise now, or at the general resurrection.”
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:23
“Thy brother shall rise again - Martha had spoken of the power of Jesus. He said nothing of himself in reply. It was not customary for him to speak of himself, unless it was demanded by necessity. It cannot be doubted that by rising again, here, Jesus referred to the act which he was about to perform; but as Martha understood it, referring to the future resurrection, it was full of consolation. The idea that departed friends shall rise to glory is one that fills the mind with joy, and one which we owe only to the religion of Christ.”
John 11:23
“His being seen in the flesh causing her to think that whatsoever He should ask as a saint, He would receive from God; not indeed knowing that, being in His Nature God and the Power of the Father, He possesses irresistible might over all things. For if she had known that He was God, she would not have said: If Thou hadst been here; for God is everywhere.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
he will rise again in the resurrection: Martha knows the resurrection at the last day. Augustine says she was certain of that day and uncertain of any sooner rising. Cyril and Barnes hear in her answer a wish she keeps unspoken, that Jesus give her brother life now.
John 11:24
The woman having heard this and being ashamed now to say: "Raise him to life," yet in some degree instigating Him to do the work at once, seems somewhat to be saddened at the postponement of the time, saying: "I know that he shall rise again at the last day, but I long to see before that time the resurrection of my brother."
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:24
“First, She accounts it a faithful saying that he shall rise again at the last day. Though the doctrine of the resurrection was to have its full proof from Christ's resurrection, yet, as it was already revealed, she firmly believed it, Acts xxiv.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
John 11:24
“I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection - The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead was then commonly received; and though it was our Lord who fully exemplified it by his own resurrection, yet the opinion was common, not only among God’s people, but among all those who believed in the God of Israel. The Jewish writings after the captivity are full of this doctrine. See 2 Maccabees 7:9, 14, 23, 36; 12:43; 14:46; Wis. 5:1, 7, 17; 6:6, 7. See also Josephus and the Targums, passim.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
John 11:25-26
I am the resurrection and the life moves the last day into the person standing before her. Whoever believes in Him will live though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in Him will never die, two promises for two fears. Do you believe this asks Martha for herself.
John 11:25
“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life,.... Signifying, that he was able of himself to raise men from death to life, without asking it of his Father; and that he could do it now, as well as at the general resurrection; at which time Christ will be the efficient cause of it; and which will display both his omniscience and his omnipotence; as his resurrection is the earnest and pledge, and will be the model and exemplar of it.”
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:25
“As death comes by sin, it is His to dissolve it; and as life flows through His righteousness, it is His to communicate and eternally maintain it (Ro 5:21). The temporary separation of soul and body is here regarded as not even interrupting, much less impairing, the new and everlasting life imparted by Jesus to His believing people.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
John 11:25
“I am the voice of life that wakens the dead. I am the good odor that takes away the foul odor. I am the voice of joy that takes away sorrow and grief.… I am the comfort of those who are in grief. Those who belong to me are given joy by me. I am the joy of the whole world. I gladden all my friends and rejoice with them. I am the bread of life.”
Athanasius of Alexandria · written before 373 · Homily on the Resurrection of Lazaruspatristic
everyone who lives and believes in Me: Will never die speaks of the death that lasts. Augustine and Clarke read it of believers who die in the body and live forever. Origen notes that Jesus asks Martha whether she believes this so that her answer would show her faith to all standing there.
John 11:26
“Assuredly a fruit and reward of faith in Christ is eternal life, and in no other way does this come to the soul of man. For although we are all raised to life through Christ, yet this [eternal life given to the faithful] is the true life, namely, to live unendingly in bliss; for to be restored to life only for punishment differs nothing from death. If therefore any one notices that even the saints, who have received promises of life, die; this is nothing, for it is only what naturally comes to pass.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
1 more voice on this verse
John 11:26
“Shall never die - Or, Shall not die for ever. Though he die a temporal death. he shall not continue under its power for ever; but shall have a resurrection to life eternal. Believest thou this? - God has determined to work in the behalf of men only in proportion to their faith in him: it was necessary, therefore, that these persons should be well instructed concerning his nature, that they might find no obstacles to their faith.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
You are the Christ, the Son of God: Martha answers yes and confesses Him as the Christ, the Son of God, the One coming into the world. John uses those same titles for his own purpose in writing the Gospel at 20:31. The confession matches Peter's at Matthew 16:16.
John 11:27
“Again, when Martha in a later passage acknowledged Him to be the Son of God, she no more made a mistake than Peter and Nathanµl had; and yet, even if she had made a mistake, she would at once have learnt the truth: for, behold, when about to raise her brother from the dead, the Lord looked up to heaven, and, addressing the Father, said-as the Son, of course: "Father, I thank Thee that Thou always hearest me; it is because of these crowds that are standing by that I have spoken to Thee, that they may believe that Thou…”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Praxeaspatristic
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:27
“I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, &c.--that is, And having such faith in Thee, I can believe all which that comprehends. While she had a glimmering perception that Resurrection, in every sense of the word, belonged to the Messianic office and Sonship of Jesus, she means, by this way of expressing herself, to cover much that she felt her ignorance of--as no doubt belonging to Him.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
John 11:27
“Yea, Lord - This was a noble confession. It showed her full confidence in him as the Messiah, and her full belief that all that he said was true. See Mat 16:16.”
Jesus Wept at the Tomb of His Friend
John 11:28-30
The Teacher is here is spoken aside, away from the mourners filling the house. Mary gets up quickly and goes to Him, called by name through her sister. Jesus is still outside the village, where Martha first met Him.
John 11:28
“I SUPPOSE by Martha's whispering the word, "The Master," in Mary's ear, that it was the common name by which the sisters spoke of our Lord to one another in His absence. Perhaps it was His usual name among all the disciples, for Jesus said, "You call me Master and Lord: and you say well; for so I am." It often happens that for persons whom we love we have some special title by which we speak of them familiarly when we are in the circle of those who join in our esteem of them.”
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:28
“She went away to call her sister, that she also might share the happiness which arose from the expected event, and receive at once in common with herself the dead one raised again beyond all hope. For she had heard the words: Thy brother shall rise again. And she told the good news of the coming of the Saviour to her sister secretly, because there were sitting by her some of those Jews who felt ill-will towards Christ for His wondrous works.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
John 11:28
“The Master is come - This was the appellation which he had in the family; and from these words it appears that Christ had inquired for Mary, desiring to have her present, that he might strengthen her faith, previously to his raising her brother.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
she got up quickly and went: Mary got up quickly when she heard. Chrysostom notes that her grief did not keep her in the house with the mourners. Spurgeon draws from the two sisters that believers who love one Lord can be in different states of mind at the same hour.
John 11:29
“As soon as she heard that,.... That Christ was come, and inquired for her, and wanted to see her: she arose quickly, and came unto him; having an equal affection for him as her sister Martha; and which she showed, by leaving her comforters at once, and by making the haste she did, to another and better comforter: both Martha and Mary, out of their great love to Christ, break through the rule for mourners mentioned in note, See Gill on Joh 11:19, of not going out of the door of the house the first week of mourning.”
Jesus had not yet entered the village: Jesus waits outside the village. Burial places lay outside towns and villages, so Clarke places Him near the tomb. Chrysostom reads the slow approach as His choice to act at their asking, when the sisters came to Him.
John 11:30
“Jesus was not yet come into the town - As the Jewish burying places were without their cities and villages, it appears that the place where our Savior was, when Martha met him, was not far from the place where Lazarus was buried. See the note on Luk 7:12.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
John 11:30
“Not many passages in the New Testament are more wonderful than the simple narrative contained in these eight verses. It brings out, in a most beautiful light, the sympathizing character of our Lord Jesus Christ. It shows us Him who is "able to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him," as able to feel as He is to save. It shows us Him who is One with the Father, and the Maker of all things, entering into human sorrows, and shedding human tears.”
John 11:31-32
supposing she was going to the tomb: The mourners follow Mary, supposing she was going to the tomb, and their own guess walks them there. Mary falls at His feet and gives back her sister's words, that her brother would be alive had He been there. That crowd becomes the witness of verse 45.
John 11:31
“Saying, She goeth unto the grave - Syriac, “They thought that she went to weep.” They had not heard Martha call her. The first days of mourning among the Jews were observed with great solemnity and many ceremonies of grief.”
she fell at His feet: Mary fell at His feet. Theodore notes that this is said of Mary alone, and Chrysostom calls her the more fervent sister, heedless of the Jews around her. Bede reads her few words as the speech of someone weeping.
John 11:32
“Certainly Mary says that death had happened to her brother prematurely through the absence of the Lord, and says that He had come to the house, when the time for healing had passed by: and it is possible also from this to conjecture that she said this as to God Himself; although she did not speak accurately, from thinking that He was not present even though absent in the body. But being more accurate and intelligent than Martha, she did not say: Whatsoever Thou shalt ask of God God will give Thee.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
1 more voice on this verse
John 11:32
“Then when Mary was come where Jesus was,.... Where Martha met him, and where she left him. Travellers tell us, that close by a well, about a stone's cast out of the town of Bethany, is showed the place where Martha met our Lord when he came to raise Lazarus, and where Mary, being called also, met him; but this is not to be depended on, nor is it of any moment to know it.”
John 11:33-34
He was deeply moved in spirit: The Greek behind deeply moved is embrimaomai, a word for a snort of anger or a groan of indignation. Jesus looks at Mary weeping and the mourners weeping with her, and that is what it stirs in Him. The anger stands against death itself, as Westcott reads it.
John 11:33
“Or thus we must understand the words: He groaned in the spirit and was troubled, viz:----as equivalent to: "Being moved to compassion by reason of many weeping, He in a manner gave commandment to His own Spirit to overthrow death before the time, and to raise up Lazarus." And it is not as being ignorant that He asks: Where have ye laid him? For He Who had known of Lazarus' death when He was in another part of the country, how could He be ignorant about the tomb?”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7patristic
3 more voices on this verse
John 11:33
“He groaned in the spirit - The word rendered “groaned,” here, commonly denotes to be angry or indignant, or to reprove severely, denoting violent agitation of mind. Here it also evidently denotes violent agitation - not from anger, but from grief. He saw the sorrow of others, and he was also moved with sympathy and love. The word “groan” usually, with us, denotes an expression of internal sorrow by a special sound. The word here, however, does not mean that utterance was given to the internal emotion, but that it was deep and agitating, though internal.”
John 11:33
“He troubled himself - An expression amazingly elegant, and full of the highest propriety. For the affections of Jesus were not properly passions, but voluntary emotions, which were wholly in his own power. And this tender trouble which he now voluntarily sustained, was full of the highest order and reason.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
John 11:33
“The word here rendered "groaned" does not mean "sighed" or "grieved," but rather "powerfully checked his emotion"--made a visible effort to restrain those tears which were ready to gush from His eyes. and was troubled--rather, "troubled himself" (Margin); referring probably to this visible difficulty of repressing His emotions.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jesus asks where they have put Lazarus. Barnes reads the question as a man sharing their grief, letting the mourners lead Him to the tomb. Chrysostom gives the purpose, that all be done at their asking so no one could suspect the sign.
John 11:34
“Where have ye laid him? . . . Lord, come and see--Perhaps it was to retain composure enough to ask this question, and on receiving the answer to proceed with them to the spot, that He checked Himself.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:34
“And said, where have ye laid him?.... This he might say as man, though he, as the omniscient God, knew where he was laid; and that it might appear there was no juggle and contrivance between him, and the relations of the deceased; and to raise some expectation of what he intended to do; and to draw the Jews thither, that they might be witnesses of the miracle he was about to work. They say unto him; That is, Martha and Mary, Lord, come and see; it being but a little way off.”
John 11:34
“Where have ye laid him? - Jesus spoke as a man. In all this transaction he manifested the deep sympathies of a man; and though he who could raise the dead man up could also know where he was, yet he chose to lead them to the grave by inducing them to point the way, and hence, he asked this question.”
Jesus wept: is the shortest verse in the English Bible. The verb is dakryo, quiet tears, set beside the loud weeping of Mary and the Jews around Him. It stands only here in the New Testament.
John 11:35
“Jesus wept - It has been remarked that this is the shortest verse in the Bible; but it is exceedingly important and tender. It shows the Lord Jesus as a friend, a tender friend, and evinces his character as a man. And from this we learn: 1. That the most tender personal friendship is not inconsistent with the most pure religion. Piety binds stronger the ties of friendship, makes more tender the emotions of love, and seals and sanctifies the affections of friends.”
3 more voices on this verse
John 11:35
“Jesus wept - Out of sympathy with those who were in tears all around him, as well as from a deep sense of the misery sin had brought upon human nature.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
John 11:35
“A GREAT storm was stirring the mind of Jesus. We find, on looking at the original, that He was indignant and troubled. We have a very literal translation in the margin of the Revised Version. And instead of reading, "He groaned in the spirit and was troubled," we find it, "He was moved with indignation in the spirit and troubled Himself." What was this indignation? We cannot think that it was caused by the unbelief of His friends, or even by the pretended sympathy of those malicious Jews who hastened to accuse Him to the Pharisees.”
John 11:35
“But was there nothing in those tears beyond sorrow for human suffering and death? Could these effects move Him without suggesting the cause? Who can doubt that in His ear every feature of the scene proclaimed that stern law of the Kingdom, "The wages of sin is death" (Ro 6:23), and that this element in His visible emotion underlay all the rest?”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
John 11:36-37
See how He loved him reads the tears rightly as far as it goes. Others in the crowd ask why the one who opened the eyes of the blind could not keep Lazarus from dying. Chapter 9 is their measure.
John 11:36
“Then said the Jews, behold, how he loved him! Lazarus; for they supposed that these tears were shed purely on his account; and by all circumstances they could not but judge, that they proceeded from an hearty and sincere affection to him; and it was amazing to them, that his love to him should be so strong, when he was no relation, only, as they imagined, a common friend. Christ's love to all his people, even when they are dead in trespasses and sins, is wonderful, and passes knowledge.”
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:36
“Behold how he loved him! - And when we see him pouring out his blood and life upon the cross for mankind, we may with exultation and joy cry out, Behold how he hath loved Us!”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
John 11:36
“Certainly the Evangelist, seeing the tearless Nature weeping, is astonished, although the suffering was peculiar to the flesh, and not suitable to the Godhead. And the Lord weeps, seeing the man made in His own image marred by corruption, that He may put an end to our tears. For for this cause He also died, even that we may be delivered from death.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7patristic
Some of the Jews ask why Jesus let Lazarus die. Chrysostom and Clarke hear His enemies turning His tears into weakness. Wesley hears a strange mix of faith and unbelief in men who never thought He could raise the dead.
John 11:37
“Could not this man, which opened the eyes, etc. - Through the maliciousness of their hearts, these Jews considered the tears of Jesus as a proof of his weakness. We may suppose them to have spoken thus: “If he loved him so well, why did he not heal him? And if he could have healed him, why did he not do it, seeing he testifies so much sorrow at his death?”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:37
“Could not this person have even caused, that this man should not have died? - Yet they never dreamed that he could raise him again! What a strange mixture of faith and unbelief.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
John 11:37
“But this disposition to dictate to divine power, and almost to peril our confidence in it upon its doing our bidding, is not confined to men of no faith.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Lazarus, Come Forth!
John 11:38-39
came to the tomb: Jesus comes to the tomb, stirred as in verse 33. The tomb is a cave with a stone across the entrance, the ordinary burial of a family with means. Martha objects that by now there is a smell, and John calls her there the sister of the dead man.
John 11:38
“It was a cave, etc. - It is likely that several of the Jewish burying-places were made in the sides of rocks; some were probably dug down like a well from the upper surface, and then hollowed under into niches, and a flat stone, laid down upon the top, would serve for a door. Yet, from what the evangelist says, there seems to have been something peculiar in the formation of this tomb.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
4 more voices on this verse
John 11:38
“It was a cave - So Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their wives, except Rachel, were buried in the cave of Machpelah, Gen. xlix, 29-31. These caves were commonly in rocks, which abounded in that country, either hollowed by nature or hewn by art. And the entrance was shut up with a great stone, which sometimes had a monumental inscription.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
John 11:38
“Here we understand the groaning as if it were the will struggling with a sort of movement according to its power, both because He rather sternly reproved His grief, and the tears which were about to be shed from His grief. For, as God, He in the way of a master reproves His Manhood, bidding it be manly in sorrowful circumstances; or by His God-befitting movement He distinctly lays it down that we must hence forward overthrow the powerful influence of death.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
John 11:38
“These verses record one of the greatest miracles the Lord Jesus Christ ever worked, and supply an unanswerable proof of His divinity. He whose voice could bring back from the grave one that had been four days dead, must indeed have been very God! The miracle itself is described in such simple language that no human comment can throw light upon it. But the sayings of our Lord on this occasion are peculiarly interesting, and demand special notice. We should mark, first, our Lord's words about the STONE which lay upon the grave of Lazarus.”
John 11:38
“Jesus again groaning in himself--that is, as at Joh 11:33, checked or repressed His rising feelings, in the former instance, of sorrow, here of righteous indignation at their unreasonable unbelief; (compare Mr 3:5) [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Human hands take away the stone. Chrysostom reads the order as making the Jews standing there witnesses of all that followed. Barnes notes that four days in the tomb, with the smell Martha fears, rules out a faint.
John 11:39
“Jesus said, Take ye away the stone--spoken to the attendants of Martha and Mary; for it was a work of no little labor [GROTIUS]. According to the Talmudists, it was forbidden to open a grave after the stone was placed upon it.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:39
“THERE lay Lazarus in the grave, dead. His restoration to life was utterly hopeless upon any ordinary principles. Certainly Lazarus could not raise himself! His affectionate sisters could not, with all their weeping, give him a resurrection nor could the disciples call back the departed spirit and reanimate the decaying corpse. If was a hopeless case, for who could revive a dead man who had lain in the grave so long that he had begun to stink? This is a parallel case with that of every unconverted sinner in the world.”
John 11:39
“Four days - This proves that there could be no deception, for it could not have been a case of suspended animation. All these circumstances are mentioned to show that there was no imposture. Impostors do not mention minute circumstances like these. They deal in generals only. Every part of this narrative bears the marks of truth.”
The promise of verse 4 comes back at the mouth of the tomb. Believing comes first and the seeing follows, which is the order He gives her. Martha has just objected, and He says it to her.
John 11:40
A most excellent thing is faith, when it is produced from an ardent mind; and it has such great power that not only is the believer healed, but in fact others also have been healed besides them that believed; as the paralytic let down [through the tiles] at Capernaum, by the faith of those who carried him; and as Lazarus, by that of his sister, to whom the Lord said: If thou believest, thou shall see the glory of God; all but saying: "Since Lazarus, being dead, is not able to believe, do thou fill up that which is lacking…
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
1 more voice on this verse
John 11:40
“If thou wouldest believe, etc. - So it appears that it is faith alone that interests the miraculous and saving power of God in behalf of men. Instead of δοξαν, the glory, one MS. reads δυναμιν, the miraculous power.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
John 11:41-42
They take the stone away before anything has been seen. Jesus lifts His eyes and begins, Father, I thank You, giving thanks before the man comes out. He says the words aloud for the people standing there, so they may believe the Father sent Him.
John 11:41
“Lifted up his eyes - In an attitude of prayer. See Luk 18:13; Mat 14:19. I thank thee that thou hast heard me - It is possible that John has recorded only the sum or substance of the prayer on this occasion. The thanks which Jesus renders here are evidently in view of the fact that power had been committed to him to raise up Lazarus. On account of the people, and the signal proof which would be furnished of the truth of his mission, he expressed his thanks to God.”
3 more voices on this verse
John 11:41
“They took, then, the stone there from the mouth of the tomb. The whole crowd marveled, witnessing the smell of pus of Lazarus, who was decayed. He had rotted so that they were not able to approach within the tomb because of the smell of his body and its decay.”
Athanasius of Alexandria · written before 373 · Homily on the Resurrection of Lazaruspatristic
John 11:41
“There is not the least show of this. He wrought the miracle with an air of absolute sovereignty, as the Lord of life and death. But it was as if he had said, I thank thee, that by the disposal of thy providence, thou hast granted my desire, in this remarkable opportunity of exerting my power, and showing forth thy praise.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
John 11:41
“He prayed (says LUTHARDT well) not for what He wanted, but for the manifestation of what He had; and having the bright consciousness of the answer in the felt liberty to ask it, and the assurance that it was at hand, He gives thanks for this with a grand simplicity before performing the act.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
I knew that You always hear Me: Jesus says the Father always hears Him. Origen reads the thanks as the Father answering prayer before it was spoken, and Hilary and Chrysostom say the Son prayed aloud for the people. Hippolytus notes they had called it blasphemy that He named God His Father.
John 11:42
“And I knew that thou hearest me always,.... Which was not only a support to the faith of Christ, as man, but is also to his people, whose advocate, intercessor, and mediator he is.”
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:42
“And I knew - “As for me. So far as I am concerned. I had no anxiety, no doubt as to myself, that I should always be heard; but the particular ground of gratitude is the benefit that will result to those who are witnesses.” Jesus never prayed in vain. He never attempted to work a miracle in vain; and in all his miracles the ground of his joy was, not that he was to be praised or honored, but that others were to be benefited and God glorified.”
John 11:42
“Of course it is agreeably to His self-humiliation as a Man that the Christ thus speaks in a lowly manner, not according to the excellency of the Godhead: and He offers His thanks to the Father not on account of Lazarus only, but for the life of all men. For being good, He is of one mind with the Father in bringing back to life the nature of man which had fallen into liability to corruption through its disobedience; and there is no distinction between His goodness and that of the Father.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7patristic
John 11:43-44
Lazarus, come out is called in a loud voice. The name held the call to one man, and Augustine's line is that a call without it would have emptied every tomb. He comes out with feet and hands still bound in linen, and the crowd is told to unwrap him.
John 11:43
“In many things our Lord Jesus stands alone as a worker. No other can unite His voice with the fiat which says, "Lazarus, come forth!" Yet, in certain points of gracious operation, the Master associates His servants with Him, so that when Lazarus has come forth He says to them, "loose him, and let him go." In the raising of the dead, He is alone, and therein majestic and Divine—in the loosing of the bound He is associated with them and still remains majestic—but His more prominent feature is condescension.”
his face wrapped in a cloth: The dead man came out still bound in linen. Clarke describes the strips wound around the body and limbs, with a separate cloth for the face. Chrysostom and Cyril read the order to unwrap him as making the people touch the living man and so become witnesses.
John 11:44
“Bound hand and foot with grave-clothes - Swathed about with rollers - κειριαις, from κειρω, I cut. These were long slips of linen a few inches in breadth, with which the body and limbs of the dead were swathed, and especially those who were embalmed, that the aromatics might be kept in contact with the flesh.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:44
“And he came forth bound hand and foot with grave clothes - Which were wrapt round each hand and each foot, and his face was wrapt about with a napkin - If the Jews buried as the Egyptians did, the face was not covered with it, but it only went round the forehead, and under the chin; so that he might easily see his way.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
John 11:44
“Let our opponents-that is, they who speak against their own salvation-inform us [as to this point]: The deceased daughter of the high priest; the widow's dead son, who was being carded out [to burial] near the gate [of the city]; and Lazarus, who had lain four days in the tomb,-in what bodies did they rise again? In those same, no doubt, in which they had also died. For if it were not in the very same, then certainly those same individuals who had died did not rise again.”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies 5.13.1patristic
The Council Plots: One Man Should Die for the Nation
John 11:45-46
believed in Him: Many who had come to console Mary saw what Jesus did and believed in Him. Some of them carried the report to the Pharisees instead, and that report calls the council of verse 47. Both groups had watched the same man walk out.
John 11:45
“Then many of the Jews which came to Mary,.... To her house, to comfort her, and that came along with her to the grave: and had seen the things which Jesus did; in raising the dead body of Lazarus, and causing him to walk, though bound in grave clothes: believed on him; that he was the true Messiah: such an effect the miracle had on them; so that it was a happy day for them, that they came from Jerusalem to Bethany to pay this visit.”
1 more voice on this verse
John 11:45
“The text has a certain ambiguity. Were those who went to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus had done—were they from those many Jews who saw the things that he had done and believed in him and wished to win over those who were hostile to him by the announcement about Lazarus? Or were they the others not among the many who believed who, since what had happened did not bring about faith in Jesus, intended as much as possible to stir up the wicked jealousy in the Pharisees against him by the announcement about Lazarus?”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Commentary on the Gospel of John 28.77-78patristic
some of them went to the Pharisees: Some who saw the sign went to the Pharisees. Origen notes the text leaves open whether they were believers hoping to win the Pharisees or enemies bringing a charge. Barnes observes that the same sign led many to believe and hardened others.
John 11:46
“But some of them went their ways - Astonishing! Some that had seen even this miracle steeled their hearts against it; and not only so, but conspired the destruction of this most humane, amiable, and glorious Savior! Those who obstinately resist the truth of God are capable of every thing that is base, perfidious, and cruel.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
John 11:47-48
This man is performing many signs: The chief priests and Pharisees call the Sanhedrin, two parties usually at odds with each other. Their stated fear is the Romans coming to take away their place and their nation. No one in the room disputes the sign.
John 11:47
“Of course the Pharisees also cease to wonder and are turned to grief, and when they see Him stronger than death, they take counsel to kill Him. Not considering His unspeakable authority, but thinking of Him as a mere man, they said: What do we? for this Man doeth many signs. Although they ought rather to have believed from this that He was indeed the Christ, of Whom the inspired Scripture had previously proclaimed in many places that He would be a Worker of many signs.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7patristic
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:47
“A council - A meeting of the Sanhedrin, or Great Council of the nation. See the notes at Mat 2:4. They claimed the right of regulating all the affairs of religion. See the notes at Joh 1:19. What do we? - What measures are we taking to arrest the progress of his sentiments? For this man doeth many miracles - If they admitted that he performed miracles, it was clear what they ought to do. They should have received him as the Messiah.”
John 11:47
“These concluding verses of the eleventh chapter of John contain a melancholy picture of human nature. As we turn away from Jesus Christ and the grave at Bethany, and look at Jerusalem and the rulers of the Jews, we may well say, "Lord, what is man?" We should observe, for one thing, in these verses, the desperate wickedness of man's natural heart. A mighty miracle was wrought within an easy walk of Jerusalem. A man four days dead was raised to life, in the sight of many witnesses.”
the Romans will come and take: Rome could take away both temple and nation. Wesley reads the place as the temple and the nation as the church and state of the Jews. Chrysostom and Origen note that the Romans came all the same after the council had Jesus killed.
John 11:48
“All men will believe - And receive him as the Messiah. And this will give such umbrage to the Roman that they will come and subvert both our place - Temple; and nation - Both our Church and state.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
John 11:48
“All men will believe on him - If we permit him to work but a few more miracles like these two last (the cure of the blind man, and the resurrection of Lazarus) he will be universally acknowledged for the Messiah; the people will proclaim him king; and the Romans, who can suffer no government here but their own, will be so irritated that they will send their armies against us, and destroy our temple, and utterly dissolve our civil and ecclesiastical existence.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
John 11:49-50
who was high priest that year: Caiaphas was high priest that year, and he cuts off the debate with contempt. His proposal is that one man die for the people so the whole nation does not perish, a calculation of political cost. He held the office from about AD 18 to 36.
John 11:49
“Caiaphas - See the notes at Luk 3:2. Being high-Priest that same year - It is probable that the office of high priest was at first for life, if there was no conduct that rendered the person unworthy the office. In that case the incumbent was removed. Thus Abiathar was removed by Solomon, 1Ki 2:27. Subsequently the kings, and especially the conquerors of Judea, claimed and exercised the right of removing the high priest at pleasure, so that, in the time of the Romans, the office was held but a short time. (See the Chronological Table.)”
1 more voice on this verse
John 11:49
“That year - That memorable year, in which Christ was to die. It was the last and chief of Daniel's seventy weeks, the fortieth year before the destruction of Jerusalem, and was celebrated for various causes, in the Jewish history.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
it is better for you that one: Caiaphas speaks the language of profit. Barnes gives better for you literally as profitable, one man's death weighed against the nation. Wesley sets it beside Pilate's title on the cross, one man witnessing unaware to Christ the priest and the other to Christ the king.
John 11:50
“It is expedient that one man should die for the people - So God overruled his tongue, for he spake not of himself, by his own spirit only, but by the spirit of prophecy. And thus he gave unawares as clear a testimony to the priestly, as Pilate did to the kingly office of Christ.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
John 11:50
“Behold, the very thing of which we were speaking, the very thing which the Jews were secretly exercising themselves to bring into effect, this their high priest openly counsels them to do, even to kill the Christ; saying that it would be for the nation, although the nation was unjust. And he makes a true statement, his words being verified not by the perversity of the people, but by the power and wisdom of God.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7patristic
John 11:50
“Nor consider - Ye talk more at random than according to reason, and the exigencies of the case. There is a various reading here in some MSS. that should be noticed. Instead of ουδε διαλογιζεσθε, which we translate, ye do not consider, and which properly conveys the idea of conferring, or talking together, ουδε λογιζεσθε, neither do ye reason or consider rightly, is the reading of ABDL, three others, and some of the primitive fathers. Griesbach, by placing it in his inner margin, shows that he thinks it bids fair to be the true reading.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
John 11:51-52
he was prophesying that Jesus would die: John says the words came from the office, and that Caiaphas as high priest was prophesying the death of Jesus for the nation. The prophecy reaches past what he meant, to the scattered children of God gathered into one. God spoke truth through an unworthy mouth.
John 11:51
“I think we learn from this that we say some things on our own, by ourselves, where there is no power that inspires us to speak. But there are other things that we say when some power prompts us (as it were), dictating what we say, even if we do not fall completely into a trance and lose full possession of our own faculties, but seem to understand what we say. Now, it is possible for us, while we understand what we say on our own, not to understand the meaning of the words that are spoken.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Commentary on the Gospel of John 28.171-72patristic
1 more voice on this verse
John 11:51
“Not of himself - Though he uttered what proved to be a true prophecy, yet it was accomplished in a way which he did not intend He had a wicked design. He was plotting murder and crime. Yet, wicked as he was, and little as he intended it, God so ordered it that he delivered a most precious truth respecting the atonement. Remark: 1. God may fulfill the words of the wicked in a manner which they do not wish or intend. 2. He may make even their malice and wicked plots the very means of accomplishing his purposes.”
the scattered children of God: are gathered into one. Barnes and Augustine read them as those God would call from the Gentiles, the other sheep of 10:16. Cyril takes the phrase of all people as God's children by creation.
John 11:52
“And not for that nation only, etc. - These, and the preceding words in Joh 11:51, are John’s explication of what was prophetic in the words of Caiaphas: as if John had said, He is indeed to die for the sins of the Jewish nation, but not for theirs alone, but for the sins of the whole world: see his own words afterwards, 1Jn 2:1, 1Jn 2:2. Gather together in one - That he should collect into one body; - form one Church out of the Jewish and Gentile believers.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
John 11:52
“Caiaphas then said that the death of Christ would be for the Jews only, but the Evangelist says that it would be for all mankind. For we are all called the offspring and children of God inasmuch as He is the Father of all, having by way of creation begotten as it were and brought into existence the things that were not.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments)patristic
John 11:53-54
they plotted to kill Him: From that day the council had a settled plan to kill Him. Jesus stopped moving publicly among the Jews and withdrew with the disciples to Ephraim, a town near the wilderness. Ephraim lay in the hill country northeast of Jerusalem.
John 11:53
“For they had the desire to defile themselves with Christ's Blood, and from the moment at which the assembly took place, it received as it were a fresh start, the common consent of all to it being publicly acknowledged. For the Evangelist did not say simply: "From that hour they took counsel to commit the murder," but: "They took counsel together;" that is to say, the very thing which seemed desirable to each one individually was pleasing to them all collectively.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7patristic
1 more voice on this verse
John 11:53
“They took counsel - The judgment of the high priest silenced opposition, and they began to devise measures to put him to death without exciting tumult among the people. Compare Mat 26:5.”
He withdrew to a town called Ephraim: Jesus withdrew to Ephraim near the wilderness. Augustine holds that His power had not failed, and He showed the disciples it is no sin to withdraw from those who plot to kill. Irenaeus traces the road on from Ephraim to Bethany six days before the Passover.
John 11:54
“Then, when He had raised Lazarus from the dead, and plots were formed against Him by the Pharisees, He withdrew to a city called Ephraim; and from that place, as it is written "He came to Bethany six days before the passover," and going up from Bethany to Jerusalem, He there ate the passover, and suffered on the day following. Now, that these three occasions of the passover are not included within one year, every person whatever must acknowledge.”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies (Book II, Chapter 22), Section 3patristic
John 11:55-57
the Jewish Passover was near: The Passover was near, the third and last in this Gospel. Pilgrims went up early to purify themselves, and in the temple courts they asked one another whether He would come to the feast. The chief priests had already ordered that anyone who knew where He was report it.
John 11:55
“Passing over everything else, the Evangelist goes on to the time of the passion. And he calls it the passover of the Jews typically; for [he refers to] the true Passover, not of the Jews, but of Christians, who eat the Flesh of Christ the true Lamb. And, according to the ancient custom, those who had sinned whether wilfully or through inadvertence purified themselves before the feast; and the typical passover was not shared in by any gentile, or un-circumcised person, or stranger, or hired servant, or unclean person; all which types are spiritually fulfilled in the case of Christians.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7patristic
Will He come to the feast: Pilgrims in the temple courts asked whether Jesus would come to the feast. Barnes explains the doubt, for the Law required every man to keep the feast and the chief priests had ordered His arrest. Cyril notes the askers could be friends or enemies.
John 11:56
“The form of expression however leaves it doubtful whether the words: Think ye that He will not come to the feast?, are the utterance of those who hated or of those who loved Him. For it was not unlikely that those who believed on Him might speak to the unbelievers thus: "Since ye took counsel to put Jesus to death, and think that He is ignorant of what you have secretly planned, this will be a clear sign to you that He is God.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7patristic
1 more voice on this verse
John 11:56
“Then sought they for Jesus - Probably those of Ephraim, in whose company Christ is supposed to have departed for the feast, but, having stayed behind, perhaps at Jericho, or its vicinity, the others had not missed him till they came to the temple, and then inquired among each other whether he would not attend the feast.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
anyone who knew where He was: The order was a public decree of the Sanhedrin. Gill calls it an edict, and Clarke thinks it carried a penalty for anyone who kept His place secret. Theophylact marks that the chief priests and Pharisees gave it, so the plot came from the rulers of the people.
John 11:57
“Observe how it has been testified that he has withdrawn, that we too might know to do such at the proper time. And notice indeed that neither the chief priests nor the Pharisees knew where he was, and because they did not know, they gave commands that if anyone should know where he was, he should reveal it to them and they would seize him. But you will say in addition that anyone who plots against Jesus does not know where he is.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Commentary on the Gospel of John 28.244-46patristic
1 more voice on this verse
John 11:57
“Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees,.... Who were of the sanhedrim: had given a commandment; or published an edict, a decree of the senate: that if any man knew where he were, he should show it, that they might take him; and this made it a doubtful point with some, whether he would come to the feast or not; and was the reason why others sought for him, and inquired after him, that they might discover him to the chief priests and Pharisees, and have the promised reward.”
Keep studying
Studies16
Words12
Subjects1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, John; Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John; Augustine of Hippo; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Brooke Foss Westcott, The Gospel according to St. John; Charles Spurgeon; Cyril of Alexandria; Frederic Godet, Commentary on the Gospel of John; Hilary of Poitiers, ON THE TRINITY 10.71; Hippolytus of Rome, ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN AND THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS; Irenaeus, Against Heresies (Book II, Chapter 22), Section 3; J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, John; Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Gospel according to John; John Chrysostom; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae on John; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria; Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON JOHN 5.11.32 and Theophylact of Ohrid.