John 11:1-
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John 11
Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
Why does John give detail about who Lazarus was and where he was from?
John presumes his readers will know who Mary and Martha are.
Mark 14:
While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him. “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”
While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.
When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Parenthetically, this opening verse gives us great insight in the importance of reading the Bible in its entirety. There are many ways scripture will help interpret scriptu
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
This Lazarus is mentioned here and in .
Bethany is on the east side of the Mount of Olives.
Lazarus is the same name as Eleazar and it means “God is my help.”
This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.
John presupposes that his readers have heard about Mary from perhaps oral traditions. He tells her story in .
Couple of things to observe from this:
Christians and Jews are in steady contact with each other. We are to meet together to strengthen and encourage each other.
The story of Mary was a beautiful example of Christian witness. It was heard and discussed among the early Christians.
So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
Notice there is no request to come heal him.
The reference LORD is an acknowledgment of Jesus as their Master and they are His disciples - It is not as we would do as a confession of His Deity.
The appeal is for not one that they loved but for one that Jesus loved.
Have you ever pleaded to Jesus saying, “Lord, the one You love is sick.”
The word for love here is PHILEOS which means an interpersonal association. Other examples of this translation in the NT are:
For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.
Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.
John 16:27
So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
John
John 21:15-17
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.
If anyone does not love the Lord—a curse be on him. Come, O Lord!
1 Corinthians
Titus
Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith.
Grace be with you all.
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.
Even those whom Jesus loves are subject to suffering, sickness, and even so as we see later, death.
I think Jesus wants us to trust Him with whatever we face.
When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
“This sickness will not end in death.” It is imperative that we make a quick reminder that those in Christ will have victory over death with the gift of eternal life.
“God’s Glory” the Glory of God.
How is the Glory of God portrayed in the Bible?
Notice how the Glory of God is portrayed in the Bible: “The Glory of God is some event or happening that reveals the Person or Power of God.”
In the Old Testament, the glory of God was manifested in some visible form - like a shining light. Jesus knew that God would be honored; that the Glory of God would be manifested and advanced.
I think it is important to recognize that God is not glorifying in the sickness and death, that would be inconsistent with Who He is. Rather, the outcome of Lazarus having to go through the sickness and death would be that which God is glorified.
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
Jesus could have been seen that He was hardened toward what was going on in Bethany or it didn’t matter. John is portraying the truth of what Jesus felt about His friends. This “loved” is AGAPE as compared to PHILEOS in verse 3.
Martha could be mentioned first here because perhaps she was the eldest.
Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.
In spite of this unconditional love for this family, Jesus stayed.
Was this true love that made Jesus stay for 2 more days?
He loved them: He had great affection and unconditional love for them. He loved them enough to give them something better.
He love them: He longed to perform a miracle on their behalf - He had already healed the sick, raised the nearly dead, but He had yet to raise the buried dead. God has great intentions, even when we think they are delayed.
“For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
In a surge of anger
I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness
I will have compassion on you,”
says the Lord your Redeemer.
Isaiah
But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
the Lord has forgotten me.”
Have you ever felt like that, the the Lord has forgotten you?
God’s time is always better than my time.
Spurgeon writes: “Sometimes true love may think fit to make us wait. It may be the truest love on God’s part to let us lie sick and not come immediately to us to make us well. Yes, the truest love may demand that the sickness should turn to death, for out of death He may bring the greater glory.”
Our Lord does not act according to our human scales. The Bible reminds us that we humans do not see what the Lord sees:
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Our God sees the end as we well as the beginning.