John 11:34 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”

NIV: Where have you laid him?' he asked. 'Come and see, Lord,' they replied.

NASB: and He said, 'Where have you laid him?' They *said to Him, 'Lord, come and see.'

CSB: "Where have you put him? " he asked."Lord," they told him, "come and see."

NLT: Where have you put him?' he asked them. They told him, 'Lord, come and see.'

KJV: And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.

NKJV: And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

Scripture often shows God asking questions of human beings. In every case, the point is not to gain information—God already knows. The purpose of God asking questions (Genesis 3:9; 4:9) is the same as a parent who asks questions of a child, such as "what did you do?" or "should you be touching that?" Here, Jesus follows that pattern by asking to be shown where Lazarus' body is buried (John 11:17). As with other moments, this is an opportunity for the surviving sisters—Martha and Mary—to further validate their faith through action.

In the prior verse, Jesus was shown to be troubled and agitated by the emotions of the crowd. The following verse proves that Jesus wasn't unhappy with their sorrow. Rather, He is indignant at the fact that they experience sorrow, at all. The purpose of Jesus' earthly ministry was to resolve the problems of sin and death (John 10:10). His experience as a fully-human man allows Him to sympathize with our struggles in a meaningful way (Hebrews 4:15–16).

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 gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. 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”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.

Accessed 5/2/2024 1:27:39 PM