John 11:1-45
Lesson Focus
Jesus is supremely interested in our belief in him. Jesus’ resurrection of Lazarus is performed so that we may believe, and belief requires that we participate in God’s saving work in the world.
Lesson Outcomes
Through this lesson, students should:
Understand that Jesus’ resurrection of Lazarus was a demonstration of His divine power to strengthen our belief in Him.
Explore how participating in God's work involves helping others experience new life in Christ.
Reflect on their role in "unbinding" others as they walk in their new faith journey.
Catching up on the Story
After Jesus heals the blind man, John’s narrative moves directly into confrontation with the religious leaders. Jesus declares that he is the good shepherd. He knows his sheep, their needs, and how to protect them. At one point, the religious leaders want Jesus to declare if he is the Messiah. Jesus responds that he has told them plainly, but they have not believed. Jesus then proclaims, “The Father and I are one.” (John 10:30). As the Jews are about to stone him, they declare that they want to stone Jesus, not for his good works, but for blasphemy or making himself out to be God. Jesus escapes from the Jews and crosses the Jordan River to the area where John had been baptizing earlier.
The Text
John begins chapter eleven with news that a man from the town of Bethany, Lazarus, is ill. Lazarus is the brother of Mary and Martha. Mary, John tells us, is the one who anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume, although this does not happen until chapter twelve. Jesus’ initial response is one of caring but not concern. Even though Lazarus is someone for whom Jesus cares, Jesus knows that the illness will not ultimately end in death. Rather, Lazarus’ illness will help proclaim the glory of God through the Son. With no sense of urgency, Jesus remained where he was for two days after he received the news of Lazarus’ sickness.
After the two days were up, Jesus decided that it was time to head to Judea, where the town of Bethany is located. Keep in mind the confrontation that Jesus just had in Judea as he was almost stoned and arrested. Certainly, Jesus has not forgotten this, and neither have his disciples. The disciples question the wisdom of returning to Judea. Jesus responds with one of those sayings that we have come to expect from him in the Gospel of John. There are twelve hours of daylight, and those who walk while there is light will not stumble, but those who walk at night will stumble because they have no light. Jesus has already declared himself to be, in chapter nine, the light of the world. Jesus must do the work now, during the time of light, while he is here. Additionally, the light signifies the will of God. For Jesus and the disciples, it is daytime, and the will of God is clear: they must go to Judea so that God may be glorified through the Son of God.
Jesus then says that Lazarus has fallen asleep and he is going to wake Lazarus from sleep. The disciples, as they often do, misunderstand Jesus’ statement. For someone who is ill, sleep is a good thing. When Lazarus wakes up, he will be well and rested. This is not, however, what Jesus means. Lazarus, Jesus says, is really dead. In fact, Jesus is glad that they had not gone to Bethany sooner so that the disciples’ faith in Jesus might grow. Obviously, the disciples already believe in Jesus, or they would not follow him around the countryside. Each new sticky situation or wondrous miracle offers a chance for growth in faith. “Faith can neither be stationary nor complete: faith always becomes.”
At this point, it is apparent that Jesus’ delay was intentional. Regardless of the cause of Lazarus’ illness, Jesus waited so that Lazarus might die so that Jesus might raise him from the dead. Thomas, for his part, is ready to go and die with Jesus if that’s what going to Judea means.
In the next scene, we find that Jesus is close to arriving at Bethany. We are told that Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days. It’s important to note that the people of Jesus’ day believed that the soul lingered around a dead body for three days, but not longer than that. The fact that Lazarus has been dead for four days is significant in that the soul would have departed. This means that Lazarus’ raising from the dead is an actual resurrection rather than merely a resuscitation.
We are also told that Bethany is just two short miles from Jerusalem. It was close enough for many friends and family to join Mary and Martha in their mourning. John uses the word “Jews” to describe those who come to mourn with Mary and Martha. It is the same word he has used for those at the center of resistance against Jesus. [Remember, however, that not all Jews resisted Jesus]. The death of Lazarus brings together people who are for Jesus and those who are against him so that they might witness Jesus’ defeating death.
Jesus is still on the road when Martha hears of his coming. Martha rushes out to meet him on the way and immediately scolds him for not coming sooner. Martha believes that if Jesus had been there before Lazarus died, he would not have died. Her phrase, “But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him” (John 11:22), hints at her faith that Jesus might even be able to undo Lazarus’s death.
Jesus responds that, indeed, Lazarus will rise again. Martha confesses her belief in the final resurrection of the last days. She does not understand what Jesus has meant. Jesus seeks to clarify things for her. He declares that he is (I am) the resurrection and the life. Once again, this “I am” echoes God’s revelation to Moses on Mount Sinai and every other time in the Old Testament that God reveals himself to Israel. Every time Jesus says “I am” in the Gospel of John, he asserts his divinity. Jesus essentially says, “Everyone who believes in me will have life after death. Death, even though we may all experience it, is not the final thing.” Jesus wants to know if Martha believes this. Her confession is not exactly what we would expect. Rather than a simple “yes” confessing her belief in life after death, she confesses that Jesus is the Messiah, the very Son of God, the one coming into the world to make all things right.
Martha leaves her conversation with Jesus to return to the house to inform Mary that Jesus has come. In a private conversation, she tells Mary that Jesus is calling for her. Mary gets up and goes to meet Jesus. The Jews, who were with her, follow her because they think she is going to the tomb to mourn.
Kneeling down before Jesus, she reminds Jesus, as Martha did, that Lazarus would not have died if Jesus had been there. Mary, at this point, is quite distraught. She is weeping, perhaps talking to Jesus through her tears. This causes Jesus great distress. At the beginning of the chapter, we are told that Lazarus is one who Jesus loved dearly. It is no small jump to believe that Jesus’ affection for Lazarus’ family was great. Jesus seeks to find where Lazarus has been buried. As they begin to journey toward the tomb, Jesus begins to weep.
Some of the Jews who were with him were moved by Jesus’ great love for Lazarus. Others were a little more cynical, wondering out loud if Jesus, who had healed a man born blind, could not have kept Lazarus from dying.
As they arrive at the tomb, John tells us again that Jesus is greatly disturbed. Jesus commands that the stone be taken away. Martha replies that to do so would unleash a great foul smell. After all, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Jesus reminds Martha that he has told her that if she believed, she would see the glory of God.
The stone is rolled away, and Jesus lifts his face toward the heavens and begins praying. He prays so that the crowd might know that God the Father is the one who sent Jesus the Son. Jesus is supremely confident that his prayer will be answered even before he asks it. It is interesting to see that nowhere in Jesus’ prayer does he ask for Lazarus to be raised from the dead. Not only is Jesus confident that the Father listens and responds, but the Father also knows what Jesus needs to do. The prayer also reveals the primary purpose for the episode, that is, to enable these witnesses (and now you and I) to believe that the Father has sent Jesus.
After Jesus prays, he shouts loudly, commanding Lazarus to come out from the grave. Lazarus then comes forth bound hand and foot with strips of cloth. Jesus orders those with him to unwrap him. Jesus does the resurrection, but it is the job of those of us who witness that resurrection to participate in the final moments of release. Speaking of Lazarus’ resurrection as a metaphor for Christ’s work in the lives of those who are “dead in their sins” today, Bruner says, “Jesus could have done the unwrapping himself, but he asks those with him to do it. People who have come to new life often still need unwrapping and help, though the deepest wraps have already been removed.”
So What?
John’s narrative is preoccupied with issues of Jesus’ identity. Through the stories we have looked at the last few weeks, we have encountered different characters, the woman at the well, the blind man, and now Mary and Martha, who come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the one we have been waiting for, the Son of God. Up until now, Jesus’ actions have been miraculous but never death-defying. Jesus now raises Lazarus from the dead so that we might believe.
In a way, the story of the healing of the blind man is a foreshadowing of Jesus’ trial, which will take place later in the narrative. This story is similar in that it prefigures Jesus’ death and resurrection. What Jesus did for Lazarus—defeating sickness and death—God will do for Jesus, and, in turn, Jesus will do for us. Jesus’ resurrection of Lazarus is only a small foretaste of the full and final victory over sin and death that will come through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead so that we might believe.
A second thing needs to be considered as well. At the end of the narrative, Jesus commands those who are witnesses to Lazarus’ resurrection to participate in unbinding him from his burial clothes. You and I are now witnesses to Lazarus’ resurrection, and we are witnesses to countless other acts of resurrection as our family, friends, and neighbors benefit from Christ’s saving grace. Jesus now calls us to move forward and participate in those death-defying acts by helping to remove the last vestiges of death from a new brother or sister in Christ. Plainly put, Jesus resurrects people from death in sin. We now are called to make sure that they are well prepared to walk forth in newness of life.
Discussion Questions
Read the text aloud. Then, read the text to yourself quietly. Read it slowly, as if you were very unfamiliar with the story.
Why does John go out of his way to make sure we know that Jesus cares deeply for Lazarus, Mary, and Martha?
Why do you think Jesus delayed going to Lazarus, even though He loved him?
What does Jesus mean when He says, “I am the resurrection and the life”?
How do Martha and Mary’s reactions to Jesus differ when He arrives, and what does this tell us about their faith?
Why is it significant that Lazarus had been dead for four days before Jesus raised him?
How does this miracle of raising Lazarus foreshadow Jesus’ own resurrection?
What do you think Jesus is trying to teach His disciples by saying Lazarus is only “asleep”?
Why do you think some of the onlookers doubted Jesus’ power even after witnessing His miracles?
How does Jesus' prayer before raising Lazarus help us understand His relationship with the Father?
In what ways can we, as a community, help “unbind” those who are newly experiencing life in Christ?
How might we see modern-day examples of people being "unbound" from their past life and stepping into new faith?
Works Cited
Frederick Dale Bruner, The Gospel of John: A Commentary (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2012).
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