John 11

The Death of Lazarus

¹Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.²It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill.³So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”⁴But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.⁶So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer 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, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?”⁹Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.¹⁰But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”¹¹After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”¹²The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”¹³Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.¹⁴Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,¹⁵and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”¹⁶So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.¹⁸Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off,¹⁹and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.²⁰So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.²¹Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.²²But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”²³Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”²⁴Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”²⁷She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Jesus Weeps

²⁸When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”²⁹And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.³¹When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.³²Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.³⁴And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”³⁵Jesus wept.³⁶So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus

³⁸Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.³⁹Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”⁴⁰Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”⁴¹So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”⁴³When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”⁴⁴The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

⁴⁵Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him,⁴⁶but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.⁴⁷So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs.⁴⁸If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”⁴⁹But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all.⁵⁰Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”⁵¹He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,⁵²and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.⁵³So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

⁵⁴Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.

⁵⁵Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.⁵⁶They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?”⁵⁷Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.