John 11:1–25

The Death of Lazarus

11^*A man named Lazarus, who lived in Bethany, was ill. Bethany was the town where Mary and her sister Martha lived. ^2*(This Mary was the one who poured the perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill.) ³The sisters sent Jesus a message: “Lord, your dear friend is ill.”

⁴When Jesus heard it, he said, “The final result of this illness will not be the death of Lazarus; this has happened in order to bring glory to God, and it will be the means by which the Son of God will receive glory.”

⁵Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶Yet when he received the news that Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was for two more days. ⁷Then he said to the disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

⁸“Teacher,” the disciples answered, “just a short time ago the people there wanted to stone you; and are you planning to go back?”

⁹Jesus said, “A day has twelve hours, hasn’t it? So whoever walks in broad daylight does not stumble, for they see the light of this world. ¹⁰But if they walk during the night they stumble, because they have no light.” ¹¹Jesus said this and then added, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I will go and wake him up.”

¹²The disciples answered, “If he is asleep, Lord, he will get well.”

¹³Jesus meant that Lazarus had died, but they thought he meant natural sleep. ¹⁴So Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, ¹⁵but for your sake I am glad that I was not with him, so that you will believe. Let us go to him.”

¹⁶Thomas (called the Twin) said to his fellow-disciples, “Let us all go with the Teacher, so that we may die with him!”

Jesus the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been buried four days before. ¹⁸Bethany was less than three kilometres from Jerusalem, ¹⁹and many Judeans had come to see Martha and Mary to comfort them over their brother’s death.

²⁰When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed in the house. ²¹Martha said to Jesus, “If you had been here, Lord, my brother would not have died! ²²But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask him for.”

²³“Your brother will rise to life,” Jesus told her.

²⁴“I know,” she replied, “that he will rise to life on the last day.”

²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will live, even though they die;