John 11–12

Christ Raises Lazarus

11Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of ^aMary and her sister Martha. ^2bIt was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. ³Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”

⁴When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶So, when He heard that he was sick, ^cHe stayed two more days in the place where He was. ⁷Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”

⁸The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to ^dstone You, and are You going there again?”

⁹Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? ^eIf anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the ^flight of this world. ¹⁰But ^gif one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” ¹¹These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus ^hsleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”

¹²Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” ¹³However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.

¹⁴Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”

¹⁶Then ⁱThomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”

¹⁷So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about ¹two miles away. ¹⁹And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

²⁰Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. ²¹Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But even now I know that ^jwhatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

²³Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴Martha said to Him, ^k“I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am ^lthe resurrection and the life. ^mHe who believes in Me, though he may ⁿdie, he shall live. ²⁶And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, ^oI believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

²⁸And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” ²⁹As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. ³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but ²was in the place where Martha met Him. ^31pThen the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, ³saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”

³²Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she ^qfell down at His feet, saying to Him, ^r“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. ³⁴And He said, “Where have you laid him?”

They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

^35sJesus wept. ³⁶Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

³⁷And some of them said, “Could not this Man, ^twho opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”

³⁸Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a ^ustone lay against it. ³⁹Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”

Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

⁴⁰Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would ^vsee the glory of God?” ⁴¹Then they took away the stone ⁴from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴²And I know that You always hear Me, but ^wbecause of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” ⁴³Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” ⁴⁴And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with ^xgraveclothes, and ^yhis face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

The Pharisees Plan to Kill Christ

⁴⁵Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, ^zand had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. ⁴⁶But some of them went away to the Pharisees and ^atold them the things Jesus did. ^47bThen the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, ^c“What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. ⁴⁸If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”

⁴⁹And one of them, ^dCaiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, ^50enor do you consider that it is expedient for ⁵us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” ⁵¹Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, ⁵²and ^fnot for that nation only, but ^galso that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.

⁵³Then, from that day on, they plotted to ^hput Him to death. ⁵⁴ⁱTherefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called ^jEphraim, and there remained with His disciples.

^55kAnd the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to ^lpurify themselves. ^56mThen they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, “What do you think—that He will not come to the feast?” ⁵⁷Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might ⁿseize Him.

Mary Anoints Christ

Matt. 26:6–12; Mark 14:3–9

12Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, ^awhere Lazarus was ¹who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. ^2bThere they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. ³Then ^cMary took a pound of very costly oil of ^dspikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

⁴But one of His disciples, ^eJudas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, ⁵“Why was this fragrant oil not sold for ²three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” ⁶This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and ^fhad the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

⁷But Jesus said, “Let her alone; ³she has kept this for the day of My burial. ⁸For ^gthe poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

⁹Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, ^hwhom He had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ⁱBut the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, ^11jbecause on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

Matt. 21:1–9; Mark 11:1–10; Luke 19:29–38

^12kThe next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, ¹³took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

“Hosanna!

^l‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’

The King of Israel!”

^14mThen Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

¹⁵“Fear ⁿnot, daughter of Zion;

Behold, your King is coming,

Sitting on a donkey’s colt.”

^16oHis disciples did not understand these things at first; ^pbut when Jesus was glorified, ^qthen they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.

¹⁷Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. ^18rFor this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. ¹⁹The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, ^s“You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”

²⁰Now there ^twere certain Greeks among those ^uwho came up to worship at the feast. ²¹Then they came to Philip, ^vwho was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

²²Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

The Messiah Teaches

²³But Jesus answered them, saying, ^w“The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. ²⁴Most assuredly, I say to you, ^xunless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much ⁴grain. ^25yHe who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶If anyone serves Me, let him ^zfollow Me; and ^awhere I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

^27b“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? ^cBut for this purpose I came to this hour. ²⁸Father, glorify Your name.”

^dThen a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

²⁹Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”

³⁰Jesus answered and said, ^e“This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. ³¹Now is the judgment of this world; now ^fthe ruler of this world will be cast out. ³²And I, ^gif I am ⁵lifted up from the earth, will draw ^hall peoples to Myself.” ³³ⁱThis He said, signifying by what death He would die.

³⁴The people answered Him, ^j“We have heard from the law that the Christ remains…