John 11 Studies

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each chapter is divided into a number of studies and each study or passage has a simple four-Part, verse-by-verse approach, to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: John 11:1-6: News comes about Lazarus

A. Find Out:    

1. What are we told about Lazarus? v.1,2
   •  Now a man named Lazarus was ill. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay ill, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.)
2. What are we told about Mary? v.2
   • This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay ill, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with
3. So what did the two sisters do? v.3
   • So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is ill.’
4. What did Jesus say about the sickness and its purpose? v.4
   • When he heard this, Jesus said, ‘This illness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.’
5. What are we told about Jesus’ feelings for this family? v.5
   • Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus
6. Yet what did Jesus do? v.6
   • So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was two more days,

B. Think:

1. What are we told about this little family grouping?
2. When lesson do they give us about when being in trouble?
3. Yet what more profound lesson comes from Jesus?

C. Comment:

First note the family details here: two sisters and a brother – no mention of any husbands or wives, just a close, caring family unit.

Second, note their relationship with Jesus: Jesus had stayed there previously (Lk 10:38 -42), Mary was later to anoint Jesus prophetically, and Jesus clearly loved all of them.

Third, note the example they provide for us: when someone is ill, call for Jesus. Here is faith in action. They know he loves them and they believe he can heal the sick, and they believe he will come when they call. Is that true of us?

Well, next we must look at Jesus’ response to their call; it was not what we would have expected! He simply waits – but not before he has made an important pronouncement; this death will not end in death. If we had been the disciples, we probably wouldn’t have realised that this meant that death would come but be overcome, yet that was what was to happen. We need to realise that Jesus KNOWS what will happen as a result of his actions and he has the POWER to deal with whatever comes.

We need to learn that although he wants us to call on him whenever we are in trouble, he may not immediately turn up because he KNOWS WHAT IS BEST for us in the situation.

D. Application:

1. Is Jesus the first one we call on when we are in trouble?
2. Can we rest in the knowledge that Jesus IS in control.

Passage: John 11:6-16: Preparing to go

A. Find Out:

1. Who initiated what move? v.6,7
   •  So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judea.’
2. What objection did the disciples make? v.8
   • ‘But Rabbi,’ they said, ‘a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?’
3. When will a man not stumble and when will he stumble? v.9,10
   • Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the day-time will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.’
4. What did Jesus say had happened and what was he going to do? v.11
   • After he had said this, he went on to tell them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.’
5. What confusion did the disciples have? v.12,13
   • His disciples replied, ‘Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.’ 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
6. What did he tell them and why was he pleased? v.14,15
   • So then he told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’
7. How did Thomas respond? v16
   • Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’

B. Think:

1. What does Jesus teach his disciples about timing?
2. What does he reveal about the situation before them?
3. How does that confirm what we saw yesterday?

C. Comment:

First Jesus had said wait, and now he says it’s time to go. Jesus has a strong sense of timing in this whole matter. He has waited until Lazarus has died, until there is no question about that, and now that he is dead, Jesus can go and raise him up.

The disciples feared that Jesus would receive opposition if he went south again but Jesus replies that there are set times when you can do certain things, so it will be all right. However, his reply to their query goes further than this. There is a hint for those who will look at the whole thing, of him being the light of the world, and if we go with him, when the time is right, then we will be able to walk in his light.   

In this passage we see again, Jesus completely in control of the situation. He waits until Lazarus is dead because he is totally confident that he will be able to raise him to life, and he will do it to bless the disciples and help them believe. Can we trust that Jesus knows the perfect timing for our lives and has the power to bring change when he sees it is right, even when the situation looks humanly impossible, so that he can increase our faith!

Finally note that Thomas expected the worst for Jesus but was prepared to go with him to it. Wrong, but sincere. Like us?

D. Application:

1. We must learn to rest in Jesus’ perfect timing.
2. Jesus desires to increase our faith by all circumstances.

Passage: John 11:17-22: Martha’s confidence

A. Find Out:

1. How long had Lazarus been buried when they arrived? v.17
   • On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
2. How far from Jerusalem was it? v.18
   • Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem
3. So who had come and why? v.19
   • and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.
4. Who went out to meet them? v.20
   • When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
5. What was she sure about? v.21
   •  ‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
6. And what else does she affirm? v.22
   •  But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’

B. Think:

1. What was clear about Lazarus’s state?
2. What does the closeness of Jerusalem mean about this incident?
3. At what level of faith was Martha?

C. Comment:

These few verses are packed with significant information.  

First, Lazarus has been buried for four days. Implication: he is well and truly dead!  

Second, Bethany is less than two miles from Jerusalem. Implication: the unbelieving Jews who had already been confronted by Jesus might be there or would very soon hear about it.  

Third, many came to console Mary and Martha. Implication: Mary and Martha were well known and truly part of the local community.

Fourth, Martha went out to greet Jesus. Implication: Martha is the doer (See also Lk 10:38-42), the outspoken one, while Mary is the reflective, less sure one.

Fifth, Martha declares it would have been all right if Jesus had been there. Twofold implication: first a mild rebuke; why didn’t you get here earlier when we needed you? Second, a statement of faith; I know you can heal the sick.

Sixth, a further statement of belief. Implication: yet I still believe your Father is with you and I won’t turn from my friendship with you. Martha doesn’t yet believe in the dead being raised (as we’ll see tomorrow) but her grief has not soured her against Jesus.

D. Application:

1. Our faith level is probably limited, and Jesus knows that, but he wants to provoke it to deeper levels.
2. Faith is stretched or developed when we go through apparent crises and  we have to learn that Jesus can handle anything.

Passage: John 11:23-27: On resurrection possibilities

A. Find Out:

1. What did Jesus promise Martha? v.23
   • Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’
2. How did she interpret that? v.24
   • Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’
3. How did Jesus describe himself? v.25a
   • Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.
4. What will be the consequence of believing that? v.25b
   • The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;
5. And how further did he put that? v.26
   •  and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’
6. What was Martha’s response? v.27 
   •  ‘Yes, Lord,’ she replied, ‘I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’

B. Think:

1. How far did Martha’s faith take her to start with?
2. How far did it go after Jesus has spoken?
3. What does this teach us about faith?

C. Comment:

Jesus, in response to Martha’s affirmation of confidence in him, simply promises her that Lazarus will rise from the dead. Now the Jews believed in a resurrection on the Last Day and so she is happy to affirm that, but of course Jesus meant far more than that, yet that is as far as her faith will go for the moment.

Then Jesus makes one of his “I AM” claims: to be the resurrection and the life or, if you like, the means of life from death and source of eternal life. Believe in me, he says, and if you die, you’ll live, and if you then live, you’ll never die. Now that is a bit difficult to take because Lazarus has just died, so he asks her if she believes that.   

Martha’s response is good but limited. It is good in that it is a declaration of her belief that he is the Messiah, but it is limited, because she is still only able to believe in eternal life in the afterlife, and not in Jesus raising Lazarus NOW. Yet Jesus does not chide her for unbelief; he knows that when we are confronted by a new situation, we find it difficult to take that extra step of faith. Three levels of faith are shown here:

•  faith in resurrection in the afterlife,
•  faith in Jesus as the coming deliverer, and
•  faith to believe that Jesus can do the impossible, now.

   Martha has the first two levels but wasn’t yet at the last level. Are we? 

D. Application:

1. We can have faith for eternal life but stumble over faith for now.
2. Jesus loves and accepts us even with our limited faith.

Passage: John 11:28-35: Mary with Jesus

A. Find Out:

1. Who did Martha call and with what reaction? v.28,29
   • After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. ‘The Teacher is here,’ she said, ‘and is asking for you.’ 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.
2. Where did she go to and who followed? v.30,31
   • Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
3. What did she do when she arrived? v.32a
   • When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet
4. What did she say to Jesus? v.32b
   • said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’
5. Who was weeping and what effect did it have on Jesus? v.33
   • When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
6. What did Jesus then ask and with what consequence? v.34,35
   • ‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked. ‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied. 35 Jesus wept.

B. Think:

1. How was Mary’s reaction different to Martha’s?
2. Why do you think Jesus waited where he did?
3. Why do you think Jesus was moved as he was?

C. Comment:

Jesus waited outside the village while Martha went to tell Mary that he was there (at his instigation, so he could talk to her alone?). When she comes her reaction is clear: she falls at his feet in surrender (?) or submission, and yet she can’t help the cry coming from her, that if he had been there Lazarus would still be alive. Note she doesn’t go the extra stage that Martha went, there is still a sense of reproach in her. It was Mary who had previously sat at Jesus’ feet (Lk 10:38-42), indicating a sense of intimacy, and it is those who are intimate with Jesus who can fully express their hearts to him, even when they are unhappy about what he seems to be doing or not doing. The less intimate carry on making spiritual noises. Not so for Mary.

Then we see Jesus’ response: first of all we are told he was deeply moved in spirit. There is within the original a sense of anger combined with sympathy. We may suggest this sense of anger was directed against sin that brought Mary low through grief over death, against sin that brought both Mary and the Jews to tears through their inability to believe Jesus can be the Saviour of the situation, and even against sin of mankind that allowed death into the world against God’s desire. Jesus also weeps in sympathy with those who weep.

D. Application:

1. Do I have such an intimacy with Jesus that I can be totally honest?
2. Do I see behind circumstances while feeling for those in them?

Passage: John 11:36-41: Jesus comes to the tomb

A. Find Out:

1. How did the Jews interpret Jesus’ tears? v.36
   • Then the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’
2. But what did some say? v.37
   • But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’
3. How did Jesus feel and what did he instruct? v.38,39a
   • Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 ‘Take away the stone,’ he said.
4. What was Martha’s objection? v.39b
   • But, Lord,’ said Martha, the sister of the dead man, ‘by this time there is a bad odour, for he has been there four days.’
5. What conditional promise did Jesus refer to? v.40
   • Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?’
6. What did Jesus then do? v.41
   • So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

B. Think:

1. What is surprising about Jesus’ emotions in the light of v.4?
2. How is Martha still seen to be moving in the natural realm?
3. Yet how is faith seen here?

C. Comment:

As the Jews look on there are mixed feelings. Some sense care and compassion in Jesus for this little family, others are critical. There are always the critics looking to find something wrong with us; let’s not be put off by them, Jesus wasn’t!

Jesus is still deeply moved. This is not a God who stands far off without feeling. No this is a God who comes down and shares in our anguishes, who feels what we feel and when it means facing death, he is just as moved as we are. Yet he knows he has come to raise Lazarus and so certain stages have to be gone through.

The first stage is removing the stone. When there is something impossible there (a dead body to be raised) we need to do what we can first in removing obstacles to Jesus moving. The grave has to be opened, the thing fully confronted in all its moldiness as Martha is only to willing to point out. This has gone beyond redemption, there is no hope here, just a rotting corpse.

The first stage, when God wants to perform a miracle in our lives, is to face the impossibility of what is here. It happened in the process of us becoming Christians and it happens at every stage of our growth; we have to face that of ourselves we cannot do anything. If there is going to be change it will have to be Jesus who brings it!

D. Application:

1. Jesus wants us to confront the impossibility of our situations.
2. He also wants us to be willing to let him bring change. Make room!

Passage: John 11:41-44: Lazarus is raised

A. Find Out:

1. What did Jesus do first? v.41
   • So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
2. Why did he do it? v.42
   •  I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.’
3. Then what did Jesus do? v.43
   • When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’
4. What happened? v.44a
   • The dead man came out
5. What did Jesus instruct? v.44b
   • his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth round his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go.’

B. Think:

1. What example does Jesus give us in this passage?
2. What was Jesus’ objective in doing that?
3. What therefore is the temptation that so often confronts us?

C. Comment:

The stone is taken away. That in itself is quite remarkable, for it shows that they are willing to go along with Jesus. They are not sure what is coming but they are willing to go along with Jesus. That is one example for us to follow.

Then Jesus prays, and that is the second example in this passage for us to follow. When we are confronted by an impossible situation, pray! Turn to God and seek His help. The temptation so often is for us to worry and struggle and strive to overcome it in our own strength. Seeking God’s help overcomes that temptation.

Then Jesus gives an indication as to why he prays – so that people can see him relying on God and giving God the glory. Jesus’ aim again and again was to glorify his Father. Here is our third example in this passage. Do we do what we do to glorify us…. or God?

Finally Jesus speaks a word of command for Lazarus to come out. Life flows and the authority of the Son of God is seen as the dead man is revived and stumbles out. The sight must have been awesome as this bandaged body totters out of the cave. The problem has been resolved, but it still needs unwrapping. When Jesus brings us out of darkness into light we still need unwrapping and that sometimes takes time. The signs of death have to be removed to live the new life.

D. Application:

1. When confronted by impossibilities – pray!
2. The signs of the “old life” (death) have to be removed.

Passage: John 11:45-53: The response of the authorities

A. Find Out:

1. What happened as a result of Lazarus being raised? v.45
   • Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
2. But what also happened? v.46
   • But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
3. What was the fear of the Sanhedrin? v.47,48
   • Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. ‘What are we accomplishing?’ they asked. ‘Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.’
4. What did Caiaphas say? v.49,50
   •  Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, ‘You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realise that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.’
5. What was he in fact doing? v.51,52
   • He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.
6. So what was the result of all that? v.53
   • So from that day on they plotted to take his life.

B. Think:

1. What was the first result of the raising of Lazarus?
2. What was the second result?
3. What was the final outcome?

C. Comment:

When a miracle occurs it doesn’t only bring rejoicing! We might think that when God moves there will only be praise and worship for God, but the human heart is sinful, and even so-called believers will often react against the works of God!

After Lazarus has been raised many believe in Jesus – it is difficult not to when something incredible like that happens. But some of the Jews went back into Jerusalem and told the religious authorities about it, and their motive for doing that must be questionable. The authorities take a rather longer view of the whole thing; instead of rejoicing at the wonder of what has happened they merely see it as something which, if it continues, might provoke the Romans to act against them.

Theirs is purely self-interest to the exclusion of God. Their leader, Caiaphas, suddenly prophesies (although they don’t realise at the time that that is what it was) that Jesus must die for the sake of the nation. Even the wrong intentions of a person can be a prophecy inspired by God. The incredible thing we see here, is that the raising of Lazarus has become a key issue to provoking the Jews to act against Jesus. Right on their doorstep, this miracle will be the thing that pushes them over the threshold to murder him.

D. Application:

1. Miracles are not always accepted by everyone.
2. Hearts are revealed when God does things.

Passage: John 11:54-57: Limitations

A. Find Out:

1. What wasn’t Jesus able to do, so what did he do? v.54
   • Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.
2. When did many go where and for what reason? v.55
   •  When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover.
3. What did they do in Jerusalem? v.56a
   • They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts
4. What did they wonder? v.56b
   • they asked one another, ‘What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?’
5. Who commanded what and for what reason? v.57
   •  But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.

B. Think:

1. What effect had the raising of Lazarus had upon Jesus’ activities in the Jerusalem area?
2. What did the common people expect to happen?
3. What provision had the authorities made for that?

C. Comment:

We begin to catch something of the tension in the last weeks of Jesus’ life. The raising of Lazarus, so close to Jerusalem , had stirred even more interest in Jesus’ activities. First of all, note the timing of it all, just a little while before the Passover when great crowds would come to Jerusalem , and thoughts be on that time of liberation from oppression in Egypt (see “Pharaoh’s Fall” in these Studies). The excitement and expectations of the crowds would be at their highest.

Into all this the Jews expect Jesus to come, into a potentially explosive situation, of possible confrontation with the Roman overlords. As the crowds came into Jerusalem they looked around for Jesus, wondering if he was actually coming.

Meanwhile the Jewish authorities are looking round for Jesus waiting for an opportunity to arrest him. For them Jesus might be the match that might light an uprising in which they have no faith. Their fear is that the might of the Romans would quickly put down any rebellion, and would then in anger send the nation into exile again and destroy the Temple and all the Jewish heritage. In fact that would happen in forty years time in AD70 but not directly because of Jesus. Their fears blinded them to the wonder of who it was coming. God was just about to return to His city.

D. Application:

1. Does fear blind us to good things?
2. Does wanting to hold onto what we have prevent God blessing us?