John 11

1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister Martha.2 And it was that Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.3 The sisters therefore sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.4 But when Jesus heard it, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified thereby.5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.6 When therefore he heard that he was sick, he abode at that time two days in the place where he was.7 Then after this he saith to the disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.8 The disciples say unto him, Rabbi, the Jews were but now seeking to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If a man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because the light is not in him.11 These things spake he: and after this he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus is fallen asleep; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.12 The disciples therefore said unto him, Lord, if he is fallen asleep, he will recover.13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death: but they thought that he spake of taking rest in sleep.14 Then Jesus therefore said unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.16 Thomas therefore, who is called Didymus, said unto his fellow-disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.17 So when Jesus came, he found that he had been in the tomb four days already.18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off;19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother.20 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary still sat in the house.21 Martha therefore said unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.22 And even now I know that, whatsoever thou shalt ask of God, God will give thee.23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live;26 and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die. Believest thou this?27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I have believed that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, even he that cometh into the world.28 And when she had said this, she went away, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Teacher is here, and calleth thee.29 And she, when she heard it, arose quickly, and went unto him.30 (Now Jesus was not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met him.)31 The Jews then 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, supposing that she was going unto the tomb to weep there.32 Mary therefore, when she came where Jesus was, and saw him, fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,34 and said, Where have ye laid him? They say unto him, Lord, come and see.35 Jesus wept.36 The Jews therefore said, Behold how he loved him!37 But some of them said, Could not this man, who opened the eyes of him that was blind, have caused that this man also should not die?38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it.39 Jesus saith, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time the body decayeth; for he hath been dead four days.40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou believedst, thou shouldest see the glory of God?41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou heardest me.42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the multitude that standeth around I said it, that they may believe that thou didst send me.43 And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.44 He that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes; and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.45 Many therefore of the Jews, who came to Mary and beheld that which he did, believed on him.46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees, and told them the things which Jesus had done.47 The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many signs.48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.49 But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all,50 nor do ye take account that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.51 Now this he said not of himself: but, being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation;52 and not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one the children of God that are scattered abroad.53 So from that day forth they took counsel that they might put him to death.54 Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews, but departed thence into the country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there he tarried with the disciples.55 Now the passover of the Jews was at hand: and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the passover, to purify themselves.56 They sought therefore for Jesus, and spake one with another, as they stood in the temple, What think ye? That he will not come to the feast?57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given commandment, that, if any man knew where he was, he should show it, that they might take him.

JOHN 11

The Death of Lazarus

1-2  t A man by the name of Lazarus was sick in the village of Bethany. He had two sisters, Mary and Martha. This was the same Mary who later poured perfume on the Lord's head and wiped his feet with her hair.

3 The sisters sent a message to the Lord and told him that his good friend Lazarus was sick.

4 When Jesus heard this, he said, “His sickness won't end in death. It will bring glory to God and his Son.”
5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and brother. 6 But he stayed where he was for two more days.

7 Then he said to his disciples, “Now we will go back to Judea.”

8 “Teacher,” they said, “the people there want to stone you to death! Why do you want to go back?”
9 Jesus answered, “Aren't there twelve hours in each day? If you walk during the day, you will have light from the sun, and you won't stumble. 10 But if you walk during the night, you will stumble, because you don't have any light.”

11 Then he told them, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, and I am going there to wake him up.”
12 They replied, “Lord, if he is asleep, he will get better.”

13 Jesus really meant that Lazarus was dead, but they thought he was talking only about sleep.
14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead!

15 I am glad I wasn't there, because now you will have a chance to put your faith in me. Let's go to him.”

16 Thomas, whose nickname was “Twin,” said to the other disciples, “Come on. Let's go, so we can die with him.”

Jesus Brings Lazarus to Life

19 and many people had come from the city to comfort Martha and Mary because their brother had died.
20 When Martha heard that Jesus had arrived, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

22 Yet even now I know that God will do anything you ask.”

23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will live again!”

24  t Martha answered, “I know he will be raised to life on the last day, t when all the dead are raised.”
25 Jesus then said, “I am the one who raises the dead to life! Everyone who has faith in me will live, even if they die.

26 And everyone who lives because of faith in me will never really die. Do you believe this?”

27 “Yes, Lord!” she replied. “I believe you are the Christ, the Son of God. You are the one we hoped would come into the world.”
28 After Martha said this, she went and privately said to her sister Mary, “The Teacher is here, and he wants to see you.” 29 As soon as Mary heard this, she got up and went out to Jesus. 30 He was still outside the village where Martha had gone to meet him.

31 Many people had come to comfort Mary, and when they saw her quickly leave the house, they thought she was going out to the tomb to cry. So they followed her.

32 Mary went to where Jesus was. Then as soon as she saw him, she knelt at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw that Mary and the people with her were crying, he was terribly upset

34 and asked, “Where have you put his body?”
They replied, “Lord, come and you will see.”
35 Jesus started crying,

36 and the people said, “See how much he loved Lazarus.”

37 Some of them said, “He gives sight to the blind. Why couldn't he have kept Lazarus from dying?”
38 Jesus was still terribly upset. So he went to the tomb, which was a cave with a stone rolled against the entrance.

39 Then he told the people to roll the stone away. But Martha said, “Lord, you know that Lazarus has been dead four days, and there will be a bad smell.”

40 Jesus replied, “Didn't I tell you that if you had faith, you would see the glory of God?”
41 After the stone had been rolled aside, Jesus looked up toward heaven and prayed, “Father, I thank you for answering my prayer.

42 I know that you always answer my prayers. But I said this, so the people here would believe you sent me.”
43 When Jesus had finished praying, he shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”

44 The man who had been dead came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with strips of burial cloth, and a cloth covered his face.
Jesus then told the people, “Untie him and let him go.”

The Plot To Kill Jesus

(Matthew 26.1-5; Mark 14.1,2; Luke 22.1,2)

48 If we don't stop him now, everyone will put their faith in him. Then the Romans will come and destroy our temple and our nation.”t
49 One of the council members was Caiaphas, who was also high priest that year. He spoke up and said, “You people don't have any sense at all! 50 Don't you know it is better for one person to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed?” 51 Caiaphas did not say this on his own. As high priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the nation. 52 Yet Jesus would not die just for the Jewish nation. He would die to bring together all of God's scattered people.

53 From that day on, the council started making plans to put Jesus to death.

54 Because of this plot against him, Jesus stopped going around in public. He went to the town of Ephraim, which was near the desert, and he stayed there with his disciples.
55 It was almost time for Passover. Many of the Jewish people who lived out in the country had come to Jerusalem to get themselves readyt for the festival.

56 They looked around for Jesus. Then when they were in the temple, they asked each other, “You don't think he will come here for Passover, do you?”
57 The chief priests and the Pharisees told the people to let them know if any of them saw Jesus. This is how they hoped to arrest him.