Lovers of God

Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead in Bethany

Jn 11:1-45 1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." 4 But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it." 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. 7 Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." 8 The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?" 9 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. 10 "But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." 11 This He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep." 12 The disciples then said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. 14 So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, 15 and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him." 16 Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, so that we may die with Him." 17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. 20 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. 21 Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 "Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world." 28 When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." 29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." 33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, 34 and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews were saying, "See how He loved him!" 37 But some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?" 38 So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" 41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 "I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me." 43 When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." 44 The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." 45 Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him.

The disciples had seen Jesus raise the widow’s son, and Jarius’ daughter, and yet then didn’t think that Jesus would be able to raise Lazarus from the dead.

In the previous instances where Jesus raised someone from the dead, that person had just died. In Lazarus’ case, he was in the tomb for four days, and his body would have already begun to decay. So this miracle was much greater than the other instances, and there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the person was thoroughly dead. No one has repeated such a miracle.

When Jesus says that He is the resurrection and the life, He is indicating how Lazarus’ physical death symbolizes our spiritual death, and that raising Lazarus physically is symbolic of His ability to give us spiritual life.

When Jesus said, "he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die," He meant that a person will not die spiritually even if he dies physically, and once he is spiritually dead he will be spiritually alive forever.

Jesus wept. Jn 11:35 is the shortest sentence in the Bible. Yet it says a lot. It tells us about God’s care and concern for us. We don’t have an impersonal stoic God who doesn’t show how He feels.

The Father always heard Jesus (verse 42). There is no trick to having such wonderful access to the Father. If you are blameless then the Father will also hear you. To be blameless (which is the same thing as having a clear conscience) means to have no sin in your account. If you don’t forgive those who sin against you, then your Father in heaven won’t forgive you and you will have sin in your account (Mt 6:14-15). Further, if you have sinned against someone you need to set it right by asking forgiveness and / or making restitution, just like Zaccheus did (Lk 19:8-9).

Mt 6:14-15 14 "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

Lk 19:8-9 8 Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much." 9 And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.

It was only after Zaccheus decided to make restitution that Jesus said salvation came to him.

The purpose of the miracle was to help the Jews believe that the Father sent Jesus. In Jn 11:45 we read that because of this miracle many of the Jews who came to Mary did indeed believe in Jesus.

Modern medicine has advanced a lot since the time of Jesus, and many diseases and illnesses that were fatal in Jesus time now have cures. Doctors have replaced organs, and have cured bacterial infections, and given people prosthetic limbs, and helped the blind and the dumb to some extent. However, no one has yet figured out to raise a person from the decay of death after four days.

What can you take from this miracle today? A man who has been dead for four days is symbolic of someone who has had no interest in the things of God for a long time. Such a person may be in your family or your circle of friends. You may have lost all hope that such a dead person can be made spiritual alive once more. One message of this miracle is this - don’t give up hope; if Jesus can raise someone who was dead for four days, it is not impossible for Him to turn the friend or family member that you are concerned about. Like the father of the prodigal son, you can hope for the day when the prodigal will return, and you can be ready to accept him or her when that day comes.

Even when the situation is utterly, utterly hopeless, you can still hope in God, because with God all things are possible for those who believe!