By Peter Amsterdam
August 1, 2017
The third and last description of Jesus raising someone from the dead is found only in the Gospel of John. This account contains much more detail than the other two found in the Synoptic Gospels,1 so it will be split into two articles.
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to 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.2
This is the first mention in John’s Gospel of sisters Mary and Martha. In the next chapter of this Gospel we hear more about them, as we read the account of Jesus eating at their house, with Martha cooking and Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with an expensive ointment.3 Luke’s Gospel also describes how Jesus visited their home and Martha served, while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to His teaching.4
Lazarus (the Greek form of the Hebrew name Eleazar), the brother of Martha and Mary, was seriously ill, and his sisters sent a message to Jesus informing Him of the situation. It appears that Jesus had a close relationship with the two sisters and their brother, as the sisters describe Lazarus as “the one Jesus loved,” and we’re told that He loved all three of them. The message the sisters sent to Jesus was an implied request for Him to come. We see a similar implied request earlier in John’s Gospel at the wedding in Cana:
When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”5
They didn’t outright ask Him to come, perhaps because at this point in John’s Gospel, Jesus had left Judea due to an incident where the Jews had tried to kill Him by stoning.
The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. … Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.6
Jesus stated that the sickness does not lead to death, but rather was for the glory of God, and that Jesus would be glorified through it. It’s unclear to whom Jesus was speaking. It could have been His disciples, or it could have been the messenger who came from Martha and Mary. Later, Jesus said to Martha: “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”7 Jesus’ statement was somewhat cryptic, since Lazarus did die, but the ultimate issue of this sickness would not be death. Rather it would be “for God’s glory.”8 In addition to an opportunity for God to manifest His glory, the episode also foreshadowed Jesus’ own death and resurrection.
When he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”9
Having been told that Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, it seems odd that He stayed where He was, on the other side of the River Jordan, for two days. However, Bethany was only a few kilometers from Jerusalem, and He had earlier fled that area to avoid arrest and had crossed the river to an area that was safer for Him. Once Jesus decided to go to Bethany, His disciples objected, as they feared for His safety, knowing that the Jewish religious authorities wanted to kill Him.
The Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.10
After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.11
Addressing His disciples’ concern, Jesus spoke about walking in the day as opposed to walking in the darkness of night, which is a concept He referred to several times in this Gospel.
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”12
“The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.”13
“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”14
When His disciples warned Him of the danger facing Him if He returned to Judea, He basically told them that He needed to work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.15 He expressed that it was safe for Him to go to help His friend Lazarus, as His hour had not yet come, and there was still work to be done.
After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”16
Before He raised Jairus’ daughter17 Jesus had said “the child is not dead but sleeping,” and here He again used a metaphor about sleep to represent death. Like those in Jairus’ house, the disciples misunderstood what Jesus meant when He spoke about Lazarus being asleep. If Lazarus was resting, that may mean he was on the mend and perhaps they didn’t need to return to Judea and face danger. Jesus then cleared up any misunderstanding.
Jesus stated that He was glad He wasn’t there. Perhaps this is because if He’d been there, He would have healed Lazarus before he died; but by arriving after Lazarus died, a dual purpose would be fulfilled—both the Father and Son would be glorified and the disciples may believe. These two things would be achieved because, as we will read, Lazarus would rise from the dead and his death would not be the end of the story. Therefore God was glorified, and the disciples’ faith was deepened.
Once the decision was made to go back to Judea, the apostle Thomas made the brave and somewhat dramatic statement, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Later in John’s Gospel, Thomas’ bold words were not backed up with actions. Instead, when the time of Jesus’ crucifixion came, Thomas, along with the rest of the disciples, abandoned Jesus and fled, and after Jesus’ resurrection he expressed doubt about Jesus’ appearance to the other disciples.18
When Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 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 from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that 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, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”19
Jesus made the one-day trip across the Jordan to Bethany, and upon arriving, He was told that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days. It seems he must have died right after those sent to inform Jesus of Lazarus’ sickness had left Bethany. It took them one day to get to where Jesus was, and Jesus waited two days and then made the one-day trip. Since Jerusalem was so close to Bethany, many of the Jews from the main city came to mourn with the sisters. Craig Keener explains:
Palestinian Judaism required burial of the deceased on the day of death, but six days of intense mourning (for a total of seven) followed, in which the bereaved family members would remain at home while others came to supply food and express sympathy.20
Martha heard that Jesus had arrived, as perhaps Jesus sent someone ahead of Him to let her know He was there while He waited outside the village. Normally, during the mourning period, family members would remain in their home and those who had come to comfort the family would come to the house. In going out to meet Jesus, Martha paid Him a great honor. Mary remained in the house to continue mourning and receive visitors. Perhaps Martha met Jesus before He came to the house in order to help protect Him, because she knew He would be in danger by having reentered Judea.21
Some commentators feel that Martha’s first words to Jesus—that if Jesus had been there, Lazarus wouldn’t have died—were a mild rebuke. However, it was more likely an acknowledgment of Jesus’ power to heal, knowing that had He been there, He could have prevented Lazarus’ death. Her next words, “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you,” show her faith in Him and may be understood as an implied request. Jesus’ response, that her brother “will rise again,” reminds the reader that before leaving to Bethany Jesus told His disciples, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”
Martha’s response, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day,” reflected the belief there would be a final resurrection at the end of the age, which many, but not all, Jews believed at that time. Jesus’ response—“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”—goes far beyond the Jewish understanding of the resurrection of the last day.
Jesus’ claim to be the resurrection and the life tells us that the life He brings is the life of the age to come. It is the “eternal life” which is spoken of earlier in John’s Gospel: whoever believes in him may have eternal life.22 Those who believe in Jesus will live even though they die. Leon Morris explains:
The paradox brings out the great truth that physical death is not the important thing. For the … unbeliever death may be thought of as the end. Not so for those who believe in Christ. They may die in the sense that they pass through the door we call physical death, but they will not die in the fuller sense. Death for them is but the gateway to further life and fellowship with God. This transcends the Pharisaic view of a remote resurrection at the end of time. It means that the moment we put our trust in Jesus we begin to experience that life of the age to come which cannot be touched by death. Jesus is bringing Martha a present gift, not simply the promise of a future good.23
Jesus made the point that the resurrection to eternal life depends on belief in Him.
Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.
He then asked Martha if she believed this. Her response is a beautiful and powerful statement of her faith. Within the synoptic Gospels, in one instance when Jesus asked His disciples who they thought He was, Peter responded: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”24 This is considered to be the major declaration of the disciples’ faith in the Lord. This event isn’t recorded in the Gospel of John, but Martha’s recorded statement is equally powerful: “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” A major declaration of faith is given by a woman, which in ancient writings from the time of Christ was very rare.
(The account of Lazarus’ resurrection, and the overall topic of Jesus raising the dead, will conclude in “Raising the Dead, Part Four.”)
Note
Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptures are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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1 Matthew, Mark, Luke.
2 John 11:1–5.
3 John 12:1–8.
4 Luke 10:38–42.
5 John 2:3.
6 John 10:31, 39–40.
7 John 11:40.
8 Morris, The Gospel According to John, 478.
9 John 11:6–10.
10 John 5:18.
11 John 7:1.
12 John 8:12.
13 John 12:35.
14 John 9:5.
15 John 9:4.
16 John 11:11–16.
17 See “Raising the Dead, Part Two” in this series.
18 John 20:25.
19 John 11:17–27.
20 Keener, The Gospel of John, Volume 2, 842.
21 Ibid., 843.
22 John 3:15.
23 Morris, The Gospel According to John, 488–89.
24 Matthew 16:16. See also Mark 8:29, Luke 9:20.
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