Joh 11 | ISV | STEP | The Death of Lazarus Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

John 11

1 The Death of Lazarus

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.Luke 10:38-39 2 Mary was the woman who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was the one who was ill.Matt 26:7; Mark 14:3; John 12:3 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ^{▼▼Lit. sent to him} saying, “Lord, the one whom you love is ill.”

4 But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness is not meant to end in death. It is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”John 9:3, 40 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 Yet, when he heard that Lazarus ^{▼▼Lit. he} was ill, he stayed where he was for two days.John 10:40

7 After this he said to the disciples, “Let's go back to Judea.”

8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi ^{▼▼Rabbi is Heb. for Master and/or Teacher}, the Jews were just now trying to stone you to death, and you are going back there again?”John 10:31

9 Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours in the day, aren't there? If anyone walks during the day he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.John 9:4 10 But if anyone walks at night he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”John 12:35 11 These were the things he said. Then after this he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am leaving to wake him up.”Deut 31:16; Dan 12:2; Matt 9:24; Acts 7:60; 1Cor 15:18, 51

12 So the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.” 13 Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was speaking about resting or sleeping.

14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. 15 For your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let's go to him.”

16 Then Thomas, who was called the Twin, ^{▼▼Gk. Didymus} said to his fellow disciples, “Let's go, too, so that we may die with him!” 17 Jesus the Resurrection and the LifeWhen Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus ^{▼▼Lit. he} had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles ^{▼▼Lit. fifteen stadia} away, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20 As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

22 But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give it to you.”John 9:31

23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”Luke 14:14; John 5:29

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. ^{▼▼Other mss. lack and the life} The person who believes in me, even though he dies, will live.John 1:4; 3:36; 5:21; 14:6; Col 3:4; 1John 1:1-2; 5:10-11 26 Indeed, everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe that?”

27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, ^{▼▼I.e. the Messiah} the Son of God, the one who was to come into the world.”Matt 16:16; John 4:42

28 When she had said this, she went away and called her sister Mary and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you!”

29 As soon as Mary ^{▼▼Lit. she} heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet arrived at the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with her, consoling her in the house, saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, thinking that she had gone to the tomb to cry there.John 11:19

32 As soon as Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”John 11:21

33 When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was greatly troubled in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, “Where have you put him?”

They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”

35 Jesus burst into tears.Luke 19:41 36 So the Jews said, “See how much he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Surely the one who opened the eyes of the blind man could have kept this man from dying, couldn't he?”John 9:6

Jesus Brings Lazarus Back to Life 38 Groaning deeply again, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, “Remove the stone.”

Martha, the dead man's sister, told him, “Lord, there must be a stench by now, because he's been dead for four days.”

40 Jesus said to her, “I told you that if you believed you would see God's glory, didn't I?”John 11:4, 23 41 So they removed the stone.

Then Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. 42 I know that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.”John 12:30

43 After saying this, he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet tied with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a handkerchief. Jesus told them, “Untie him, and let him go.”John 20:7

45 The Jewish Council Plans to Kill Jesus Matthew 26:1; Mark 14:1-2; Luke 22:1-2Many of the Jews who had come with Mary and had observed what Jesus did believed in him.John 2:23; 10:42 46 Some of them, however, went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the high priests and the Pharisees assembled the Council ^{▼▼Or Sanhedrin} and said, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs.Ps 2:2; Matt 26:3; Mark 14:1; Luke 22:2; John 12:19; Acts 4:16 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our temple ^{▼▼Lit. place} and our nation.”

49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, told them, “You don't know anything!Luke 3:2; John 18:14; Acts 4:6 50 You don't realize that it is better for you ^{▼▼Other mss. read for us} to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.”John 18:14 51 Now he did not say this on his own initiative. As high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not only for the nation, but that he would also gather into one the children of God who were scattered abroad.Isa 49:6; John 10:16; Eph 2:14-17; 1John 2:2 53 So from that day on they resolved to put him to death.

54 As a result, Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews. ^{▼▼I.e. Jewish leaders} Instead, he went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness. There he remained with his disciples.2Chr 13:19; John 4:1, 3; 7:1

55 Now the Jewish Passover was approaching, and before the Passover many people from the countryside went up to Jerusalem to purify themselves.John 2:13; 5:1; 6:4 56 They kept looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? Surely he won't come to the festival, will he?”John 11:7 57 Now the high priests and the Pharisees had given orders that whoever knew where he was should tell them so that they could arrest him.