John 11:37 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?"

NIV: But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"

NASB: But some of them said, 'Could this man, who opened the eyes of the man who was blind, not have also kept this man from dying?'

CSB: But some of them said, "Couldn’t he who opened the blind man’s eyes also have kept this man from dying?"

NLT: But some said, 'This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?'

KJV: And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?

NKJV: And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”

Here, observers make the same point offered by both Martha (John 11:21–22) and Mary (John 11:32). The reason those sisters had sent for Jesus when Lazarus fell ill was in the hopes that He would arrive and cure him (John 11:1–3). The remarks from the sisters, however, had a different tone and different context to this verse. In those cases, especially with Martha, there was a sense of trust and faith in Jesus' decisions. Here, the point is being compared to Jesus' emotional reaction to seeing the mourners and making His way to Lazarus' grave (John 11:33–36).

That comparison makes this more of a puzzled, critical comment than prior remarks. Jesus' last major "sign" was to miraculously grant sight to a man born blind (John 9:1–7). Fallout from that event, and the arguments which ensued, was the reason Jesus had moved away from Jerusalem (John 10:38–40). The crowd here, clearly familiar with that event, makes the common-sense assumption that had Jesus wanted to, He could have prevented Lazarus from dying.

That conclusion is not wrong. What the crowd does not know is that Jesus has specific plans for this incident. Jesus' delay in arriving was not an accident: it was part of His plan (John 11:11–15). When He prays and calls out later, Jesus will directly state that what's happening is for the benefit of those who witness it. He certainly understands the pain this situation has caused. Yet He knows there is a greater good about to happen.

Here, again, Scripture confronts our natural habit of questioning God. The assumption behind the crowd's question is that Jesus didn't want Lazarus to live, or didn't care, since He let Lazarus die. The truth is that God has plans we can't always see or understand (Isaiah 55:8–9), but those plans have a purpose (Romans 8:28).

John 11:28–37 contains the meeting between Lazarus' sister, Mary, and Jesus. Lazarus had died even before word reached Jesus that he was sick. Even so, Jesus waited until four days had passed to arrive in Bethany. Mary repeats her sister Martha's lament that Jesus could have prevented Lazarus from dying in the first place. The crowd—probably including mourners and hostile observers loyal to local religious leaders—say the same thing. Heading to the tomb, Jesus weeps: expressing sorrow for the pain of others, despite knowing that His visit here will end in Lazarus' resurrection.

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.