John 11:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

NIV: Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

NASB: Now a certain man was sick: Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

CSB: Now a man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

NLT: A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha.

KJV: Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.

NKJV: Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.

Lazarus, Martha, and Mary are a brother and two sisters apparently very close to Jesus (Luke 10:38–42; John 11:5). Other passages in the New Testament suggest Jesus visiting their home (Matthew 21:17), speak of Mary lavishing Jesus with expensive oil (John 11:2), and show the sisters referring to Jesus as their "teacher" (John 11:28). Scripture does not explicitly say what the relationship was between Jesus and Lazarus, though all accounts point to them being very close (John 11:3; 36). Since Lazarus is said to have been at home, and is not mentioned in other incidents related to Jesus, he was clearly not travelling with Jesus.

Despite sharing a name, the Lazarus resurrected by Jesus is not the same person as the Lazarus mentioned in Jesus' Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19–31). At the very least, the brother of Mary and Martha does not appear to have been poor, since he was able to host Jesus and His followers during their travels. There is still an interesting connection to that parable, however. In Luke, Jesus points out that some people are so hardened against truth that they wouldn't even believe if someone was resurrected (Luke 16:27–31). The gospel of John proves this true, as Jesus' enemies will react to Lazarus' resurrection by seeking to have both him and Jesus killed (John 11:53; 12:9–11).

John 11:1–16 sets up the most spectacular of Jesus' earthly miracles: the resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus is given word that Lazarus is sick but delays several days before leaving to see the family. As it turns out, by the time this message gets to Jesus, Lazarus has already died. The disciples assume Jesus won't go back to Judea, since local religious leaders want to kill Him. When Jesus plans to head into dangerous territory, His followers are frightened and pessimistic. The following passage will show Jesus arriving four days after Lazarus had passed away.

Jesus has left the vicinity of Jerusalem to avoid hostile religious leaders. While gone, He receives word that a good friend, Lazarus, is sick. In fact, Lazarus has died by the time this message reaches Jesus. He purposefully waits a few days before returning to Bethany, arriving four days after Lazarus' burial. In front of Lazarus' mourning sisters—who Jesus weeps with—and an assembled crowd, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead in a stirring and spectacular miracle. This is the seventh of John's seven ''signs'' of Jesus' divine power. In response, religious leaders coordinate in their effort to have Jesus murdered.

After giving sight to a man born blind (John 9), Jesus sparred with religious leaders on at least two occasions (John 10). After another failed arrest attempt, Jesus left the area and went out where Jerusalem's politics had little influence. In this chapter, He returns to resurrect a recently-departed friend, Lazarus. That results in a renewed commitment from Jerusalem's religious leaders to have Jesus murdered. As the crucifixion draws near, Jesus will stage His triumphal entry in chapter 12, and then begin His final teachings to the disciples.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.