Message from Bethany

John 11:1-4 (NASB)

¹ Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. ³ So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." ⁴ But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it." ⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. ⁷ Then after this He *said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." ⁸ The disciples *said to Him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?" ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ "But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." ¹¹ This He said, and after that He *said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep." ¹² The disciples then said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." ¹³ Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. ¹⁴ So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, ¹⁵ and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him." ¹⁶ Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, so that we may die with Him."

Today we will begin looking in John 11 at the story of the resurrection of Lazarus. John does a really good job with the setup, so let's just jump right in.

John 11:1-4

Our story begins with a message being delivered to Jesus from Mary and Martha. John points out that this is the same Mary of Luke 7: 37-38. Obviously this is also the same Mary and Martha from Luke 10: 38-42 (when Mary chooses the good part). The contenet of the message grave (pun nearly unintended), Lazarus is sick and near death.

The sisters refer to their brother as someone whom Jesus loved. They obviously believed that there was a special relationship between their brother and their Lord. As Lazarus approaches death's doorstep, they are desperate for him. One thought leaps to mind, “Send for the Lord, He has healed so many people. Surely he will help.”. They oped their that message  would bring Jesus to them with all possible haste.

Now, the journey between Peraea and Bethany would have taken about a day. If you do the math, it is quite possible, even likely, that when Jesus received the message, Lazarus was already dead. Yet Jesus says the sickness is not unto death. Was Jesus wrong, or did we lose something in the translation? It is possible that Jesus is saying that the final result of Lazarus’ sickness would not be death, but rather that God the Father and the Son of God would be glorified by it. This is what Jesus meant: Lazarus gets sick. Lazarus dies. Jesus revives Lazarus form the dead. Glory to the Father! Glory to Jesus!

John 11:5-6

After receiving a plea like this one, you might expect that Jesus would drop everything and head out for Bethany. But that's not how it happened, is it?  Jesus decides to tarry two days before setting out. Does the text tell us what was so important that Jesus can't or won't go with immediacy? Yes, it does, actually.  It was because Jesus loved Mary,  Martha, and Lazarus. On the surface this seems like a non-sequitur. In our sinful and limited minds, it just doesn't seem to follow.  Was it because he loved lazarus that he let allowed Him to die.Was it because He loved Mary and Martha that he would let them grieve their brother’s death for four days before coming to them? How does tarrying two days when they need Him most demonstrate His love for them?  More about this later.

John 11:7-10

When the time to tarry was fulfilled, Jesus announced to his disciples that it was finally time to head out for Bethany.  His disciples then found it necessary to remind Him about what happened the last time they were in Judea.  The Jews there tried to lay hold of Jesus and stone him. Back up to chapter 10 to see what the disciples were talking about. It has now been about four months since that happened.  The disciples were not in any hurry to return to Judea. They believed that if Jesus went there again, the Jews would succeed at stoning Him.  If Thomas' statement in verse 16 is any indication, they also believed that they would likely end up dead as well.

What Jesus says next seems almost cryptic. What was Jesus point about the light of day and the darkness of night? God supplies the light of day for us to do the work that He requires of us. If you do what He has ordained, you remain in the light. Otherwise you are stumbling in the darkness of night. They had nothing to fear as long as they remained in the light with Jesus.  The father had a job for Jesus to do in Bethany and Jesus could not be stopped until He completed all that the Father required from Him. The same was true of the disciples.  It would take a long time before they would come to fully understand this. 

John 11:11-16

Jesus states the reason that they are going back to Bethany. He speaks about the death of Lazarus, calling it sleep. This was a common euphamism in that time.The problem was that the Jews of this time also believed that sleep was one of the stages of sickness.  They believed that sleep was an important part of the healing process. Today we embrace this belief as well. The disciples’ confusion is understandable. They still thought that in verse 4 Jesus meant that Lazarus was not going to die from his sickness.  When the confusion of the disciples is revealed Jesus speaks more plainly. Lazarus is dead.

He then says something rather disturbing in verse 15. He was glad that he did not heal Lazarus so they may believe. From our perspective, the meaning is clear. Put yourself in the place of the disciples. Without the benefit of the full context of what was about to happen, this must have been a very disturbing statement. This statement also explains how Jesus tarrying two days before beginning his journey to Bethany demonstrated His love for Mary and Martha. It was so they may believe as well

Thomas' willingnes to follow Christ, even if it leads to death could be commendable in any other situation.  But here, it shows that he just does not quite get what Christ is saying.  It is hard for me to criticize.  I probably would have been just as clueless.  How about you?

Final thoughts

What does this passage reveal to us about Christ. Ceratinly it punctuates the fact that He has power over death. But what it truly shows us is His heart.  Luke 19:10 says  "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." That is what Christ was all about here on earth. Lazarus was sick and died.  Not important.  Mary and Martha and their friends and family were distraught with grief.  Doesn't matter.  The disciples were fearing for their lives as they returned to Judea. All of this human frailty and suffering pale in comparison to the intended outcome.  Souls would be saved.