John 11: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Lazarus of Bethany falls sick, and his sisters Martha and Mary send word to Jesus, who stays where he is for two more days before going to Judea. By the time he arrives Lazarus has been in the tomb four days; Jesus talks with Martha and Mary, weeps, and at the tomb calls Lazarus out alive. Many who saw it believed in him, but others reported it to the Pharisees, and the chief priests and Pharisees met and began planning to kill Jesus. Jesus withdrew to a town called Ephraim while crowds coming for Passover looked for him and orders were out for his arrest.

Claim by Claim

1. 11:1
   • A certain man was sick.
   • The sick man was named Lazarus.
   • Lazarus was from Bethany.
   • Bethany was the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
2. 11:2
   • This Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with ointment.
   • This Mary wiped the Lord's feet with her hair.
   • Mary's brother Lazarus was sick.
3. 11:3
   • The sisters sent word to Jesus.
   • The sisters said, Lord, the one you love is sick.
4. 11:4
   • Jesus heard the message.
   • Jesus said this sickness is not unto death.
   • Jesus said the sickness is for the glory of God.
   • Jesus said the purpose is that the Son of God might be glorified by it.
5. 11:5
   • Jesus loved Martha.
   • Jesus loved Martha's sister.
   • Jesus loved Lazarus.
6. 11:6
   • When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed two days in the place where he was.
7. 11:7
   • After that Jesus said to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.
8. 11:8
   • The disciples called Jesus Master.
   • The disciples said the Jews had recently sought to stone him.
   • The disciples asked whether he was going there again.
9. 11:9
   • Jesus asked whether there are not twelve hours in the day.
   • Jesus said that if anyone walks in the day he does not stumble.
   • Jesus said the reason is that he sees the light of this world.
10. 11:10
    • Jesus said that if anyone walks in the night he stumbles.
    • Jesus said the reason is that the light is not in him.
11. 11:11
    • Jesus said these things.
    • After that Jesus said to them that their friend Lazarus sleeps.
    • Jesus said he was going to awake Lazarus out of sleep.
12. 11:12
    • The disciples said, Lord, if he sleeps he will recover.
13. 11:13
    • Jesus had spoken of the death of Lazarus.
    • The disciples thought he had spoken of resting in sleep.
14. 11:14
    • Then Jesus told them plainly that Lazarus was dead.
15. 11:15
    • Jesus said he was glad for their sakes that he was not there.
    • Jesus said the purpose was that they might believe.
    • Jesus said, let us go to him.
16. 11:16
    • Thomas was called Didymus.
    • Thomas said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.
17. 11:17
    • When Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been four days in the tomb.
18. 11:18
    • Bethany was near Jerusalem.
    • Bethany was about fifteen stadia away.
19. 11:19
    • Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary.
    • They came to comfort them concerning their brother.
20. 11:20
    • Martha heard that Jesus was coming.
    • Martha went and met him.
    • Mary remained sitting in the house.
21. 11:21
    • Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.
22. 11:22
    • Martha said she knows that even now whatever he asks of God, God will give him.
23. 11:23
    • Jesus said to her that her brother will rise again.
24. 11:24
    • Martha said she knows he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
25. 11:25
    • Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.
    • Jesus said that the one who believes in him will live even though he dies.
26. 11:26
    • Jesus said that everyone who lives and believes in him will never die.
    • Jesus asked her whether she believes this.
27. 11:27
    • Martha said, Yes, Lord.
    • Martha said she has believed that he is the Christ.
    • Martha said he is the Son of God.
    • Martha said he is the one coming into the world.
28. 11:28
    • After saying this Martha went away.
    • Martha called her sister Mary secretly.
    • Martha said the Teacher is present and calls for her.
29. 11:29
    • When Mary heard this she rose quickly.
    • Mary went to Jesus.
30. 11:30
    • Jesus had not yet come into the village.
    • Jesus was still in the place where Martha met him.
31. 11:31
    • The Jews were with Mary in the house comforting her.
    • They saw that Mary rose quickly and went out.
    • They followed her.
    • They supposed she was going to the tomb to weep there.
32. 11:32
    • Mary came to where Jesus was.
    • Mary saw Jesus.
    • Mary fell down at his feet.
    • Mary said, Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.
33. 11:33
    • Jesus saw Mary weeping.
    • Jesus saw the Jews who came with her weeping.
    • Jesus groaned in the spirit.
    • Jesus troubled himself.
34. 11:34
    • Jesus asked where they had laid him.
    • They said, Lord, come and see.
35. 11:35
    • Jesus wept.
36. 11:36
    • The Jews said, See how he loved him.
37. 11:37
    • Some of them asked whether this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, could not have kept this man from dying.
38. 11:38
    • Jesus was again groaning in himself.
    • Jesus came to the tomb.
    • The tomb was a cave.
    • A stone lay upon the tomb.
39. 11:39
    • Jesus said to take away the stone.
    • Martha was the sister of the dead man.
    • Martha said, Lord, by now he stinks.
    • Martha said he has been dead four days.
40. 11:40
    • Jesus asked her whether he had not told her that if she believed she would see the glory of God.
41. 11:41
    • They took away the stone.
    • Jesus lifted up his eyes.
    • Jesus said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
42. 11:42
    • Jesus said he knew that the Father always hears him.
    • Jesus said he spoke because of the people standing by.
    • Jesus said the purpose was that they might believe that the Father sent him.
43. 11:43
    • After saying this Jesus cried with a loud voice.
    • Jesus called, Lazarus, come forth.
44. 11:44
    • The dead man came out.
    • His feet and hands were bound with graveclothes.
    • His face was bound about with a napkin.
    • Jesus said to them to loose him and let him go.
45. 11:45
    • Many of the Jews had come to Mary.
    • They saw what Jesus did.
    • They believed in him.
46. 11:46
    • Some of them went to the Pharisees.
    • They told the Pharisees what Jesus had done.
47. 11:47
    • The chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council.
    • They said, What are we doing?
    • They said this man does many signs.
48. 11:48
    • They said that if they let him alone this way, all will believe in him.
    • They said the Romans will come and take away both their place and their nation.
49. 11:49
    • One of them was named Caiaphas.
    • Caiaphas was high priest that year.
    • Caiaphas said to them that they know nothing at all.
50. 11:50
    • Caiaphas said they do not consider that it is expedient for them that one man die for the people.
    • Caiaphas said it is expedient that the whole nation not perish.
51. 11:51
    • Caiaphas did not say this of himself.
    • Being high priest that year, he prophesied.
    • He prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation.
52. 11:52
    • He prophesied that Jesus would die not for the nation only.
    • He prophesied that Jesus would gather into one the scattered children of God.
53. 11:53
    • From that day they took counsel to put Jesus to death.
54. 11:54
    • Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews.
    • Jesus went from there to the country near the wilderness.
    • Jesus went to a city called Ephraim.
    • Jesus stayed there with his disciples.
55. 11:55
    • The Passover of the Jews was near.
    • Many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover.
    • They went up to purify themselves.
56. 11:56
    • They sought Jesus.
    • They spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple.
    • They asked what the others thought.
    • They asked whether he would not come to the feast.
57. 11:57
    • The chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment.
    • The commandment was that if anyone knew where Jesus was, he should report it.
    • The purpose was that they might seize him.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

11:1

Bethany was a village about two miles east of Jerusalem, on the far side of the Mount of Olives. It is a different place from the Bethany beyond the Jordan mentioned earlier in this book.

11:2

John describes an event he has not yet narrated; he tells it later, in chapter 12. Pouring scented oil on a guest was a normal mark of honor, but pouring it on the feet and wiping them with loosened hair was not: a woman's hair was ordinarily bound up in public, and letting it down was an intimate act.

11:3

People said "Lord" to show great respect. It is a bit like saying "sir."

11:4

"Glory" in this book does not mean fame or praise in the modern sense. It is the visible weight and splendor of God made evident, something a person could be said to see.

11:7

Judea was the southern region around Jerusalem. Jesus had withdrawn across the Jordan River, outside Judean territory, which is why going back is presented as a decision.

11:8

The King James "Master" here translates the Aramaic title "Rabbi," meaning teacher. Stoning was the traditional penalty for blasphemy, carried out by a crowd rather than by an executioner, which is why a mob could attempt it on the spot.

11:9

Daylight was divided into twelve hours regardless of the season, so an hour was longer in summer and shorter in winter. "Twelve hours in the day" means the whole span of usable light, not a fixed clock measurement.

11:11

Calling death "sleep" was a common and gentle way of speaking, in Greek and in Jewish usage alike. The disciples take it literally, which is the point of the next two verses.

11:12

The King James "he shall do well" means he will recover. Falling into a natural sleep was read as a sign that a fever had broken.

11:16

"Thomas" is Aramaic and "Didymus" is Greek, and both words mean twin. The verse is giving the same nickname twice, once in each language.

11:17

Burial took place on the day of death, since bodies were not embalmed. Four days mattered: a common belief held that the spirit lingered near the body for three days, so by the fourth day death was regarded as settled beyond any doubt.

11:18

A furlong translates the Greek "stadion," about six hundred feet. Fifteen of them is a little under two miles, an easy walk of well under an hour.

11:19

Formal mourning ran seven days, during which relatives, neighbors and acquaintances came to the bereaved household to sit with them and share the grief. A large crowd of visitors was normal and expected, not a sign of unusual wealth or status.

11:24

Many Jews of this period, the Pharisees among them, expected that at the end of the present age God would raise all the dead together for judgment. The Sadducees denied it. Martha is placing her brother in that general future raising, not expecting anything now.

11:27

"Christ" is the Greek word for anointed, the same title as the Hebrew "Messiah." Kings and priests were installed by having oil poured on them, so the word carries the sense of the one God has commissioned and installed.

11:31

Visiting the tomb to weep during the days of mourning was ordinary practice, so the assumption in this verse is the obvious one to make.

11:33

The King James "groaned in the spirit" suggests only sorrow, but the Greek verb is used elsewhere of a horse snorting and carries anger or fierce indignation. The word behind "was troubled" means stirred or agitated himself. Translators have long disagreed about what exactly Jesus is reacting to here, and the Greek does not settle it.

11:35

The Greek uses a different verb for Jesus than for the mourners around him. They are wailing, the loud public grief expected at a death; he sheds tears quietly.

11:38

Tombs were caves, natural or cut into soft rock, holding a family's dead over generations. A stone slab or disc set against the entrance kept out animals.

11:39

Jewish burial did not involve embalming; the body was washed, wrapped in cloth with spices to mask the smell, and sealed in. By the fourth day in a warm climate, decay would be advanced, and Martha's objection is practical, not squeamish.

11:41

Standing with the eyes lifted was the ordinary posture for prayer, not a special gesture. Kneeling with a bowed head is a later habit.

11:44

The body was wrapped in strips of linen packed with aromatic spices, which stiffened as they dried. The King James "napkin" translates a word for a face cloth or sweat cloth, not a table napkin.

11:46

The Pharisees were a movement, largely of laymen, known for strict observance of the Law and for their own detailed traditions of interpreting it. They were influential with ordinary people and were not, as a group, the priests.

11:47

The "chief priests" were the priestly aristocracy who ran the temple, drawn mostly from the rival party, the Sadducees. The "council" is the Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish court of seventy-one members presided over by the high priest. Where the King James says "miracles," the Greek word is "signs," this book's regular term for an act that points beyond itself.

11:48

"Our place" most likely means the temple. Under Roman rule the Jewish leadership kept limited self-government and control of the temple, privileges Rome could and did revoke where it suspected unrest.

11:49

Caiaphas held the office for roughly eighteen years, from about AD 18 to 36. The high priest was appointed and could be dismissed by the Roman governor, so the post was no longer strictly for life; "that year" points to the decisive year in question rather than implying a yearly rotation.

11:50

"Expedient" in 1611 meant advantageous or to our benefit, without the shabby suggestion of cutting a moral corner that the word often carries today.

11:51

To prophesy here means to speak a message that comes from God, whether or not the speaker grasps what he is saying. There was an established belief that the high priest could be given divine guidance by virtue of his office.

11:52

"Scattered abroad" refers to the Jews living outside the homeland, spread through the Mediterranean world and beyond, usually called the dispersion or diaspora. The comment is the writer's, extending Caiaphas's words past what he meant by them.

11:54

Ephraim was a town probably twelve to fifteen miles northeast of Jerusalem. The "wilderness" is dry, thinly inhabited country, the barren land falling away toward the Jordan valley, not forest.

11:55

Passover was the yearly festival recalling Israel's escape from slavery in Egypt, and pilgrims flooded Jerusalem for it. Arriving early was practical: ritual impurity, from contact with a corpse for example, barred a person from eating the Passover meal, and the cleansing rites could take up to a week.

11:56

The temple was an enormous walled complex of open courts, and those courts were the ordinary public meeting place of the city, where news and rumor circulated.