Talk by Judi Witcomb

The chapter opens with Lazarus of Bethany, the brother of Mary and Martha, falling critically ill. Mary had previously anointed Jesus with fragrant oil, identifying her as a devoted follower (John 11:2). The sisters send a message to Jesus: “Lord, he whom You love is sick.” This phrasing emphasizes the close relationship between Jesus and the family, rather than directly requesting healing. It sets the stage for Jesus to demonstrate that His actions follow God’s timing, not human urgency.

Mary and Martha did not specifically ask Jesus to come and heal Lazarus. They felt they did not need to, that it was enough to simply tell Jesus what the problem was.

Jesus declares that Lazarus’ illness will not end in death but will glorify God, revealing His divine purpose behind the event. Despite His love for Lazarus, Jesus delays His visit for two days, illustrating that apparent delays are not denials but opportunities for God’s glory to be revealed. Jesus is wanting to increase his close follower’s belief by teaching them that physical death is not the end.

 There was a belief at the time that the spirit of the dead didn’t leave until the third day, maybe this was the reason for the delay by Jesus, to show Lazarus was totally dead and no one could claim otherwise.

However, He knew that the events recorded in this chapter would set the religious leaders in determination to kill Him. This meant the end result would be that the Son of God may be glorified in His death and resurrection. He also showed His compassion to Martha and Mary when they showed both their grief and disappointment that He had not been there to heal Lazarus. Jesus wept with them, realising the depths of their grief and John reminds us that Jesus did genuinely love these sisters and their brother. It was an important reminder, showing that a testing of their faith was not a denial of His love. A message to us all that when we are tested by life, we need to remain faithful to our faith.

Jesus could have raised Lazarus from a distance because of the opposition from the religious leaders, Judea was a dangerous place for Jesus. Nevertheless, Jesus was willing to go to Judea again – despite the warnings from His disciples.

Jesus knew His time was running out and He wanted to try to get his disciples and friends to understand that earthly death was not the end. He needed them to use their imaginations and what faith they already had to believe in eternal life. This raising of Lazarus was to give them something real to think about and eventually link with what is about to happen to Jesus. We have the whole gospel to fit together to

make sense for us but the disciples and Mary and Martha were living in the moment and would have been quite confused by talk of life after death. Jesus speaks of sleeping and the disciples can only take that to mean exactly what is, but Jesus was speaking of death before waking in eternity.

We see at the end of the events of this chapter that grief was comforted, life was restored, many more believed, and the necessary death of Jesus was set in motion. All of these were reasons to be glad. Quite a challenge isn’t it.

Jesus knows that the time has come to go to Jerusalem but His disciples are nervous and scared for Him. He isn’t afraid because he knows it is his destiny. He is ready to bring Lazarus to life. When he arrived not only Martha and Mary had expected Jesus to come and heal but so did the crowd of mourners.

Jesus was fully capable of this miracle without the faith of Martha or Mary. But if they would not believe, then they would never see the glory of God. They could see the end result and be happy in that their brother was alive again but they would miss the deeper meaning. Jesus wanted them to understand that he had the power to defeat death if only they would believe. He was calling on all His followers to have faith. He spoke directly to Lazarus who came out of the tomb. Lazarus arose bound in grave-clothes, for he would need them again. When Jesus arose, He left His grave-clothes behind in His tomb, never again having need of them.

What does this mean for us today?

These bible stories are about staying awake. We must keep our faith alive by bible study prayer and coming together to worship. Staying awake also means action. We can help each other to stay awake by showing our love and compassion in our community and bringing others to know about the amazing power of faith in Jesus.

Jesus shows us there is no fear in death. If we believe in Jesus, we have eternal life so earthly death is just a curtain between this world and the next.

We have the gospels to give us the full picture of God’s glory but the disciples didn’t. They put their trust in Jesus and took the brave decision to accompany him to Jerusalem and the dangers ahead. We need to be like them and take our steps forward into this dangerous and troubling world knowing Jesus has our backs and will accompany us through everything we face. Also, we need to remember that God has His own timing and because it is different to ours it doesn’t mean He has abandoned us. So be patient and keep strong in the faith of our Lord Jesus. God is with us always.