John 11
The Death of Lazarus
Now a certain man was
sick, Lazarus from Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister, Martha.
It was that Mary who had
anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose
brother, Lazarus, was sick. The sisters therefore sent to
him, saying, "Lord, behold, he for whom you have great affection is
sick." But when
Jesus heard it, he said, "This sickness is not to
death, but for the glory of God, that God's Son may be glorified by
it." Now
Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When therefore he heard that he
was sick, he stayed two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the
disciples, "Let's go into Judea again."
The disciples told
him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and are you
going there again?"
Jesus answered, "Aren't there twelve hours of daylight? If a man walks in
the day, he doesn't stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
But if a man walks in
the night, he stumbles, because the light isn't in him."
He said these things,
and after that, he said to them, "Our friend,
Lazarus, has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may awake him out of
sleep."
The disciples
therefore said, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover."
Now Jesus had spoken
of his death, but they thought that he spoke of taking rest in sleep.
So Jesus said to them
plainly then, "Lazarus is dead. I am glad for your sakes that I
was not there, so that you may believe. Nevertheless, let's go to
him."
Thomas therefore, who
is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples,
"Let's go also, that we may die with him."
Jesus Comforts the Sisters
So when Jesus came,
he found that he had been in the tomb four days already. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem,
about fifteen stadia away. Many of the Jews had joined the
women around Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother.
Then when Martha heard
that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary stayed in the house.
Therefore Martha said to
Jesus, "Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn't have
died. Even now I know
that, whatever you ask of God, God will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
Martha said to him,
"I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last
day."
Jesus said to her,
"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes
in me will still live, even if he dies. Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die. Do you believe this?"
She said to him,
"Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, God's
Son, he who comes into the world."
When she had said
this, she went away, and called Mary, her sister, secretly, saying,
"The Teacher is here, and is calling you."
When she heard this,
she arose quickly, and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into
the village, but was in the place where Martha met him. Then the Jews who were with her
in the house, and were consoling her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up
quickly and went out, followed her, saying, "She is going to the tomb
to weep there." Therefore when Mary came to
where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying to him,
"Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn't have
died."
When Jesus therefore
saw her weeping, and the Jews weeping who came with her, he groaned in the
spirit, and was troubled, and said, "Where have you laid him?"
They told him, "Lord, come and see."
Jesus wept.
The Jews therefore
said, "See how much affection he had for him!" Some of them said,
"Couldn't this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have
also kept this man from dying?"
Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead
Jesus therefore,
again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a
stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone."
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, "Lord, by
this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days."
Jesus said to her,
"Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would
see God's glory?"
So they took away the
stone from the place where the dead man was lying. Jesus lifted up his
eyes, and said, "Father, I thank you that you
listened to me. I know
that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude that stands
around I said this, that they may believe that you sent me."
When he had said this,
he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come
out!"
He who was dead came
out, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around
with a cloth.
Jesus said to them, "Free him, and let him
go."
The Plot to Kill Jesus
Therefore many of the
Jews, who came to Mary and saw what Jesus did, believed in him. But some of them went away to
the Pharisees, and told them the things which Jesus had done. The chief priests therefore and
the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, "What are we doing? For
this man does many signs. If we leave him alone like this,
everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both
our place and our nation."
But a certain one of
them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, "You know
nothing at all, nor do
you consider that it is advantageous for us that one man should die for
the people, and that the whole nation not perish." Now he didn't say this of
himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would
die for the nation, and
not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one
the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day forward they
took counsel that they might put him to death. Jesus therefore walked no more
openly among the Jews, but departed from there into the country near the
wilderness, to a city called Ephraim. He stayed there with his disciples.
Now the Passover of
the Jews was at hand. Many went up from the country to Jerusalem before
the Passover, to purify themselves. Then they sought for Jesus and
spoke one with another, as they stood in the temple, "What do you
think--that he isn't coming to the feast at all?" Now the chief priests and the
Pharisees had commanded that if anyone knew where he was, he should report
it, that they might seize him.
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