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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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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John 11
11
The Death of Lazarus
1There was a man named Lazarus who was sick. He lived in the town of Bethany, where Mary and her sister Martha lived. 2(Mary is the same woman who put perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) Mary’s brother was Lazarus, the man who was now sick. 3So Mary and Martha sent someone to tell Jesus, “Lord, your dear friend Lazarus is sick.”
4When Jesus heard this he said, “The end of this sickness will not be death. No, this sickness is for the glory of God. This has happened to bring glory to the Son of God.” 5Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days 7and then said to his followers, “We should go back to Judea.”
8They answered, “But Teacher, those Jews there tried to stone you to death. That was only a short time ago. Now you want to go back there?”
9Jesus answered, “There are twelve hours of light in the day. Whoever walks in the day will not stumble and fall because they can see with the light from the sun.#11:9 from the sun Literally, “of this world.” 10But whoever walks at night will stumble because there is no light.”
11Then Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus is now sleeping, but I am going there to wake him.”
12The followers answered, “But, Lord, if he can sleep, he will get well.” 13They thought Jesus meant that Lazarus was literally sleeping, but he really meant that Lazarus was dead.
14So then Jesus said plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15And I am glad I was not there. I am happy for you because now you will believe in me. We will go to him now.”
16Then Thomas, the one called “Twin,” said to the other followers, “We will go too. We will die there with Jesus.”
Jesus in Bethany
17Jesus arrived in Bethany and found that Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for four days. 18Bethany was about two miles#11:18 two miles Literally, “15 stadia,” almost 3 km. from Jerusalem. 19Many Jews had come to see Martha and Mary. They came to comfort them about their brother Lazarus.
20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to greet him. But Mary stayed home. 21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But I know that even now God will give you anything you ask.”
23Jesus said, “Your brother will rise and be alive again.”
24Martha answered, “I know that he will rise to live again at the time of the resurrection on the last day.”
25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection. I am life. Everyone who believes in me will have life, even if they die. 26And everyone who lives and believes in me will never really die. Martha, do you believe this?”
27Martha answered, “Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God. You are the one who was coming to the world.”
Jesus Cries
28After Martha said these things, she went back to her sister Mary. She talked to Mary alone and said, “The Teacher is here. He is asking for you.” 29When Mary heard this, she stood up and went quickly to Jesus. 30He had not yet come into the village. He was still at the place where Martha met him. 31The Jews who were in the house comforting Mary saw her get up and leave quickly. They thought she was going to the tomb to cry there. So they followed her. 32Mary went to the place where Jesus was. When she saw him, she bowed at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33When Jesus saw Mary crying and the people with her crying too, he was very upset and deeply troubled. 34He asked, “Where did you put him?”
They said, “Lord, come and see.”
35Jesus cried.
36And the Jews said, “Look! He loved Lazarus very much!”
37But some of them said, “Jesus healed the eyes of the blind man. Why didn’t he help Lazarus and stop him from dying?”
Jesus Raises Lazarus From Death
38Again feeling very upset, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave with a large stone covering the entrance. 39He said, “Move the stone away.”
Martha said, “But, Lord, it has been four days since Lazarus died. There will be a bad smell.” Martha was the sister of the dead man.
40Then Jesus said to her, “Remember what I told you? I said that if you believed, you would see God’s divine greatness.”
41So they moved the stone away from the entrance. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me. 42I know that you always hear me. But I said these things because of the people here around me. I want them to believe that you sent me.” 43After Jesus said this he called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The dead man came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with pieces of cloth. He had a handkerchief covering his face.
Jesus said to the people, “Take off the cloth and let him go.”
The Jewish Leaders Plan to Kill Jesus
(Mt. 26:1–5; Mk. 14:1–2; Lk. 22:1–2)
45There were many Jews who came to visit Mary. When they saw what Jesus did, many of them believed in him. 46But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus did. 47Then the leading priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the high council. They said, “What should we do? This man is doing many miraculous signs. 48If we let him continue doing these things, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come and take away our Temple and our nation.”
49One of the men there was Caiaphas. He was the high priest that year. He said, “You people know nothing! 50It is better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed. But you don’t realize this.”
51Caiaphas did not think of this himself. As that year’s high priest, he was really prophesying that Jesus would die for the Jewish people. 52Yes, he would die for the Jewish people. But he would also die for God’s other children scattered all over the world. He would die to bring them all together and make them one people.
53That day the Jewish leaders began planning to kill Jesus. 54So Jesus stopped traveling around openly among the Jews. He went away to a town called Ephraim in an area near the desert. He stayed there with his followers.
55It was almost time for the Jewish Passover festival. Many people from the country went to Jerusalem before the Passover. They went to do the special things to make themselves pure for the festival. 56The people looked for Jesus. They stood in the Temple area and asked each other, “Is he coming to the festival? What do you think?” 57But the leading priests and the Pharisees had given a special order about Jesus. They said that anyone who knew where he was must tell them so that they could arrest him.
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