#BIBLE WHO TOLD THE STORY OF LAZARUS FULL#

This is something only Almighty God could do. And finally, Jesus brought a dead man back to life. Jesus assured Martha that those who, by faith, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ would never experience spiritual death. Jesus knew Lazarus would come back to life. Jesus knew Lazarus had died before anyone told him. There are several points in this story that attest to the deity of Christ. What happened next is the miraculous, bodily resurrection of Lazarus. He asked to be taken where Lazarus was buried. Jesus assured them that their brother would rise again. They were disappointed and said that if Jesus, had he arrived sooner, their brother would have lived. When Jesus arrived, both Mary and Martha came to him. Jesus said, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake, I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. In so doing, Jesus gave yet another example of his deity, through His omniscience. Along the way, Jesus told his disciples that Lazarus had died.

#BIBLE WHO TOLD THE STORY OF LAZARUS FULL#

He delayed two full days before making his way to his sick friend. But Jesus did not rush to Lazarus’ bedside. Lazarus became very ill, so the sisters sent for Jesus, hoping he would heal their brother. This is one of the best-known stories of the New Testament, even among those who do not profess to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go” (John 11:38-44).

I 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.” When he has said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. Jesus 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.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Calvin comments, “When God permits us to be overwhelmed with distresses, and to languish long under them, let us know that, in this manner, he promotes our salvation.Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. Pain, while in itself not a good thing, is a means through which the Lord works for the final good of our redemption. This, in turn, helps us see one of the purposes that our Creator has for allowing us to experience grief and suffering. And this is the case because Jesus is going to resurrect Lazarus, giving them a sign that will confirm their faith and sustain them in grace. Lazarus’ death, Jesus says, will provide an opportunity for the disciples to grow in their faith (vv. To clear up any misunderstanding on the disciples’ part, Jesus tells the disciples that Lazarus has died and that his death, while evil in itself, will be used to bring about good for the disciples. As John Calvin comments, “Christ shows that he is Lord of death, when he says, that he awakes those whom he restores to life.” But in speaking of going to wake up Lazarus, Jesus begins to show the extent of His authority. 1:23).įirst-century Jews did not expect the resurrection until the end of the age, so the disciples likely are not thinking of resurrection when Jesus speaks of going to awaken Lazarus (John 11:11). Our bodies lie in the grave after our deaths, and our spirits do not go to sleep but go to be with the Lord until the resurrection of our bodies on the last day (Phil.

However, properly speaking, any “sleep” that occurs is true only of our bodies. Just as we fall into unconsciousness when we sleep, so it can appear that death brings about a kind of unconsciousness for our physical bodies. In light of the Bible’s teaching on the resurrection of the dead, sleep is an apt metaphor for death. The books of Kings and Chronicles, for example, often refer to a king’s death by saying, “He slept with his fathers” (for instance, see 1 Kings 2:10 2 Kings 8:24 2 Chron. Of course, when Jesus refers to Lazarus’ sleeping, He is using a metaphor for death drawn from the Old Testament. They are unaware, John tells us, that Jesus is talking about death, not physical rest (John 11:11–13). We know this is the case because when Jesus tells them that Lazarus has fallen asleep, the disciples respond that he will recover. They did not think that his sickness would result in his physical death. Continuing our look at the story of Lazarus and Christ’s raising him from the dead, we see in today’s passage that the disciples initially were not aware of how ill Lazarus was.

Bible who told the story of lazarus