John 11:1-44
This is going to be a rather large encounter, so I’m breaking it into 3 parts. Part 1 will be about Lazarus being raised from the dead. Part 2 will be the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. It may seem controversial, but I will explain all that using scripture to back my view up. I find it interesting that the author of John’s gospel mentions a future event in this passage, or at least later when Mary anoints Jesus in the next chapter of John.
And there was a certain one ailing, Lazarus from Bethany, of the village of Mary and Martha, her sister. And it was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ailing.
Therefore, the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is ailing.” And hearing this, Jesus said, “This ailment is not to death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
And Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. [These are the only 3 people whom we are told that Jesus loved specifically. Yes, Jesus loves the whole world, but the gospels never single any one else out in this aspect.]
Therefore, when He heard that He was ailing, then indeed He remained two days in the place where He was.
Then after this, He said to the disciples, “We should go again to Judea.”
The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, there are now Jews seeking to stone You, and You are going there again?”
Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. And if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
He said these things, and after this He said to them, “Lazarus our friend has fallen asleep, but I will go, that I may wake Him.” Therefore, His disciples said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be saved.” But Jesus had spoken about his death, yet they thought that He had spoken about the rest (coming) from sleep. Therefore, Jesus then said to them freely, “Lazarus has died. And I rejoice for your sake that I was not there, that you might believe. But we must go to him.”
Therefore, Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to the fellow-disciples, “We should also go, that we may die with Him.”
Then Jesus came and found him already in the tomb, having been there four days. And Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, that they might comfort them concerning their brother. Therefore, when Martha heard that Jesus came, she met Him, and Mary kept sitting in the house.
Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now, I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give to You.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that He will rise again in the resurrection in the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, even if He may die, he will live. And every one who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God Who comes to the world.”
And saying these things, she went away, and privately called her sister Mary, saying, “The Teacher is present, and He calls for you.” And when she heard this, she rose up quickly and came to Him. And Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him.
The Jews, therefore, who were with her in the house, and who were comforting her, seeing that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going away to the tomb, that she may weep there.” Therefore, when Mary came to where Jesus was, seeing Him, she fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, and He said, “Where have you laid Him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”
Jesus wept.
Therefore, the Jews said, “Behold, how He loved him.” And certain ones said, “Was not this One, Who opened the eyes of the blind man, also able to cause this one not to have died?”
Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb, and it was a cave, and a stone was lying on it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who had died, said to Him, “Lord, he already smells bad, for he has been dead four days.”
Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
Therefore, they took away the stone [where the dead man was laid]T. And Jesus lifted His eyes upward, and said, “Father, I thank You that You hear Me. And I know that You always hear Me. But because of the multitude that is standing by, I said it, that they might believe that You sent Me.”
And saying these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
And he who died came out, being bound with grave-clothes, feet and hands, and his face was wrapped about with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Untie him, and let him go.”
Number of Fish: 1
Total fish: 124
There is a lot going on in this passage. We are told twice that Jesus loved Lazarus, so much that He wept over the death of Lazarus. (verse 36) Even the Jews took note of that.
153 Fish 