77 Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead [John 11:1–44]
The Bible passage: [John 11:1–44]
The Story:
In the village of Bethany, Lazarus was sick and dying. His sisters, Mary and Martha, sent a message to Jesus: “Lord, the one You love is sick.”
When Jesus heard this, He told his disciples, “His sickness will not end in death. He is sick so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
He stayed two more days in the place where He was. Then after that, He said to the disciples, “Let’s go to Judea again. Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. I’m on My way to wake him up.”
The disciples said, “Lord, if he is asleep, he will get well.”
However, Jesus was speaking about his death. They thought He was speaking about natural sleep.
So, Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. Let’s go to him.”
The disciples said, “Teacher, the Jews just tried to stone you, and You’re going there again?”
Jesus told them, “Aren’t there 12 hours of daylight in a day? If anyone walks during the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light. If anyone walks during the night, he does stumble, because he has no light.”
When Jesus arrived, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him. But Mary stayed in the house.
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. But I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.”
“Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her.
Martha said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection in the last days.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die - ever. Do you believe this?”
“Yes, Lord,” she told Him, “I believe You are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
Having said this, she went back and got her sister Mary, telling her privately, “The Teacher is here, and He wants you.”
As soon as she heard this, she got up quickly and went to Him.
When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet and told Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died!”
When Jesus saw her crying, He was deeply moved.
“Where is his body?” He asked.
“Lord,” they told Him, “Come and see.”
Jesus wept. Some of the Jews who were there with the family said, “See how much He loved him!” But others said, “He opened a blind man’s eyes. Couldn’t he have kept this man from dying?”
Then Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against the opening.
Jesus said, “Remove the stone.”
Martha, the dead man’s sister, told Him, “Lord, it’s been four days. His body will stink.”
Jesus said, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
They removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You heard Me. I know that You always hear Me, but I say this because of the crowd standing here, so they may believe You sent Me.”
After He said this, He shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”
The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Remove the grave wrappings and let him go.”
The Lessons:
- This is clearly a different Lazarus than the one in 76 The Rich Man and Lazarus.
- When the disciples asked Jesus about going back after the religious leaders had wanted to stone Him, He talked about walking in the light. He said something similar in [John 8:12]: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (CSB)
- Jesus tells His apostles that Lazarus was only asleep because He was going to bring him back to life.
- This is very important: Sometimes bad things happen to good people so God can be glorified.
- Martha gives testimony of her faith in Jesus.
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