John 11
11
Lazarus Dies
1A man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived. 2Mary would later pour perfume on the Lord. She would also wipe Jesus’ feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick in bed. 3So the sisters sent a message to Jesus. “Lord,” they told him, “the one you love is sick.”
4When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory. God’s Son will receive glory because of it.” 5Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6So after he heard Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days. 7And then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
8“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short time ago the Jews there tried to kill you with stones. Are you still going back?”
9Jesus answered, “Aren’t there 12 hours of daylight? Anyone who walks during the day won’t trip and fall. They can see because of this world’s light. 10But when they walk at night, they’ll trip and fall. They have no light.”
11After he said this, Jesus went on speaking to them. “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,” he said. “But I am going there to wake him up.”
12His disciples replied, “Lord, if he’s sleeping, he will get better.” 13Jesus had been speaking about the death of Lazarus. But his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15For your benefit, I am glad I was not there. Now you will believe. But let us go to him.”
16Then Thomas, who was also called Didymus, spoke to the rest of the disciples. “Let us go also,” he said. “Then we can die with Jesus.”
Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus
17When Jesus arrived, he found out that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem. 19Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary. They had come to comfort them because their brother was dead. 20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him. But Mary stayed at home.
21“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “I wish you had been here! Then my brother would not have died. 22But I know that even now God will give you anything you ask for.”
23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24Martha answered, “I know he will rise again. This will happen when people are raised from the dead on the last day.”
25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even if they die. 26And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27“Yes, Lord,” she replied. “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God. I believe that you are the one who is supposed to come into the world.”
28After she said this, she went back home. She called her sister Mary to one side to talk to her. “The Teacher is here,” Martha said. “He is asking for you.” 29When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30Jesus had not yet entered the village. He was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31Some Jews had been comforting Mary in the house. They noticed how quickly she got up and went out. So they followed her. They thought she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32Mary reached the place where Jesus was. When she saw him, she fell at his feet. She said, “Lord, I wish you had been here! Then my brother would not have died.”
33Jesus saw her crying. He saw that the Jews who had come along with her were crying also. His spirit became very sad, and he was troubled. 34“Where have you put him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35Jesus wept.
36Then the Jews said, “See how much he loved him!”
37But some of them said, “He opened the eyes of the blind man. Couldn’t he have kept this man from dying?”
Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead
38Once more Jesus felt very sad. He came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone in front of the entrance. 39“Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad smell. Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days.”
40Then Jesus said, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see God’s glory?”
41So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up. He said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. 42I know that you always hear me. But I said this for the benefit of the people standing here. I said it so they will believe that you sent me.”
43Then Jesus called in a loud voice. He said, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The dead man came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with strips of linen. A cloth was around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the clothes he was buried in and let him go.”
The Plan to Kill Jesus
45Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary saw what Jesus did. So they believed in him. 46But some of them went to the Pharisees. They told the Pharisees what Jesus had done. 47Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
“What can we do?” they asked. “This man is performing many signs. 48If we let him keep on doing this, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come. They will take away our temple and our nation.”
49One of the Jewish leaders spoke up. His name was Caiaphas. He was high priest at that time. He said, “You don’t know anything at all! 50You don’t realize what is good for you. It is better if one man dies for the people than if the whole nation is destroyed.”
51He did not say this on his own because he was high priest at that time. He prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation. 52He also prophesied that Jesus would die for God’s children scattered everywhere. He would die to bring them together and make them one. 53So from that day on, the Jewish rulers planned to kill Jesus.
54Jesus no longer moved around openly among the people of Judea. Instead, he went away to an area near the desert. He went to a village called Ephraim. There he stayed with his disciples.
55It was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast. Many people went up from the country to Jerusalem. They went there for the special washing that would make them pure before the Passover Feast. 56They kept looking for Jesus as they stood in the temple courtyard. They asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the feast at all?” 57But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders. They had commanded anyone who found out where Jesus was staying to report it. Then they could arrest him.
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John 11
11
The Death of Lazarus
1Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of #See Luke 10:38, 39Mary and her sister Martha. 2#ch. 12:3It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, #ver. 5, 11, 36he whom you love is ill.” 4But when Jesus heard it he said, #[ver. 11; Matt. 9:24] “This illness does not lead to death. It is for #ver. 40; [ch. 9:3; 13:31]the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
5Now #ver. 3Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6So, when he heard that Lazarus#11:6 Greek he; also verse 17 was ill, #[ch. 2:4; 7:6, 8]he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7Then after this he said to the disciples, #ch. 10:40“Let us go to Judea again.” 8The disciples said to him, #See ch. 1:38 “Rabbi, #ch. 8:59; 10:31the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9Jesus answered, #[Luke 13:33] “Are there not twelve hours in the day? #See ch. 9:4; 1 John 2:10If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10But #Jer. 13:16if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not #Jer. 13:16in him.” 11After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus #See Matt. 27:52has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16#ch. 14:5; 20:24, 26-28; 21:2; Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13 So Thomas, called the Twin,#11:16 Greek Didymus said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, #[ch. 13:37]that we may die with him.”
I Am the Resurrection and the Life
17Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb #ver. 39four days. 18Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles#11:18 Greek fifteen stadia; a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters off, 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary #ver. 31; Job 2:11to console them concerning their brother. 20#[Luke 10:38, 39]So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21Martha said to #ver. 32 Jesus, “Lord, #[ver. 37]if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, #[ver. 42; ch. 9:31]God will give you.” 23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24#[ver. 39] Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in #ch. 5:29; Luke 14:14; See ch. 6:39the resurrection on the last day.” 25Jesus said to her, #[ch. 5:21; 6:40, 44; 1 Cor. 15:21] “I am the resurrection and #ch. 14:6; [ch. 6:57; Col. 3:4]; See ch. 1:4 the life.#11:25 Some manuscripts omit and the life Whoever believes in me, #[ch. 12:25] though he die, #See ch. 3:36yet shall he live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me #ch. 6:50, 51; 8:51shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27She said to him, “Yes, Lord; #ch. 6:69; 20:31; 1 John 5:1, 5; [ch. 8:24; 13:19; 1 John 4:16] I believe that #Matt. 16:16 you are the Christ, the Son of God, #ch. 6:14; See Matt. 11:3who is coming into the world.”
Jesus Weeps
28When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, #Matt. 26:18; Mark 14:14; Luke 22:11; See ch. 13:13“The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31When the Jews #ver. 19who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, #ver. 21“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he #ver. 38; Mark 14:5 (Gk.) was deeply moved#11:33 Or was indignant; also verse 38 in his spirit and #ch. 12:27; 13:21greatly troubled. 34And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35#[Luke 19:41]Jesus wept. 36So the Jews said, “See #ver. 3how he loved him!” 37But some of them said, “Could not he #ch. 9:6, 7 who opened the eyes of the blind man #[ver. 21, 32]also have kept this man from dying?”
Jesus Raises Lazarus
38Then Jesus, #ver. 33 deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was #Isa. 22:16 a cave, and #ch. 20:1; Matt. 27:60; Mark 15:46; Luke 24:2a stone lay against it. 39Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for #ver. 17he has been dead four days.” 40Jesus said to her, #ver. 25, 26 “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see #ver. 4; [Rom. 6:4]the glory of God?” 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus #ch. 17:1lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42#[ver. 22; Matt. 26:53] I knew that you always hear me, but I said this #ch. 12:29, 30 on account of the people standing around, #ch. 17:8, 21; See ch. 3:17that they may believe that you sent me.” 43When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44#ch. 5:28, 29 The man who had died came out, #ch. 19:40 his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and #[ch. 20:7]his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
The Plot to Kill Jesus
45 # ch. 12:11; [Acts 9:42] Many of the Jews therefore, #ver. 19 who had come with Mary and #ch. 2:23had seen what he did, believed in him, 46but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47So the chief priests and the Pharisees #See Matt. 26:3 gathered #See Matt. 5:22 the council and said, #ch. 12:19; [Acts 4:16]“What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and #[ch. 6:15; 18:36, 37] the Romans will come and take away both our #Acts 21:28place and our nation.” 49But one of them, #See Matt. 26:3 Caiaphas, #ver. 51; ch. 18:13who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50Nor do you understand that #ch. 18:14it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51He did not say this of his own accord, but #ver. 49 being high priest that year #[Ex. 28:30; Num. 27:21; 1 Sam. 23:9; 30:7; Ezra 2:63; Neh. 7:65]he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52and #Isa. 49:6; 1 John 2:2 not for the nation only, but also #See ch. 10:16to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53So from that day on they #See ch. 7:1made plans to put him to death.
54Jesus therefore #ch. 7:1, 4no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.
55Now #See ch. 6:4 the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and #Luke 2:42 many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover #2 Chr. 30:17, 18; [ch. 18:28; Acts 21:24]to purify themselves. 56#See ch. 7:11They were looking for#11:56 Greek were seeking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” 57Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.
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