Lent 2023: John 11:1-27

Lazarus Dies at Bethany

11 Now a man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. 3 So the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

4 When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. 7 Then after that, he said to the disciples, “Let’s go to Judea again.”

8 “Rabbi,” the disciples told him, “just now the Jews tried to stone you, and you’re going there again?”

9 “Aren’t there twelve hours in a day?” Jesus answered. “If anyone walks during the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks during the night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him.”

11 He said this, and then he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m on my way to wake him up.”

12 Then the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.”

13 Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about natural sleep. 14 So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. 15 I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.”

16 Then Thomas (called “Twin”) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too so that we may die with him.”

The Resurrection and the Life

17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem (less than two miles away). 19 Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.

20 As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. 22 Yet even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

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

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

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. 26 Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world.”

—John 11-1-27

Read & Journal

Read John 11:1-27 today. Ask yourself:

• What does this passage teach you about Jesus—his identity, purpose or character? Explain.

• In the Gospel of John, Jesus’ “I am” statements depict Jesus’ identity and ministry. What does “I am the resurrection and the life” reveal?

• Remember that we read part of this chapter last week, as we studied Jesus’ miracles. This was his final and greatest miracle, raising Lazarus to life, in which Jesus did what only God could do and raised a dead man to life. Understanding that the miracle is the final proof of Jesus’ divinity, what does it mean to say that he is “the resurrection and the life”?

• Jesus had done what only God could do in raising Lazarus from the dead. Those who believe in him have a spiritual life that death cannot conquer, injure or destroy. We who believe will live in relationship with the Father, through Jesus, forever. Let the power of Jesus’ statement wash over you again today. Journal a prayer praising Jesus as the one and only Son of God, the one who has broken the chains of sin and raised you to new life in him.

• If Jesus is this powerful, if his promise to us is this life-changing, are you living like it? Spend some time in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to reveal any areas of your life or heart that you may not believe God is powerful enough to resurrect.