111 Now there was a certain [man] sick, Lazarus of Bethany, of the village of Mary and Martha her sister. 2 It was [the] Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 The sisters therefore sent to him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. 4 But when Jesus heard [it], he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it. 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. 6 When therefore he heard, He is sick, he remained two days then in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he says to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again. 8 The disciples say to him, Rabbi, [even but] now the Jews sought to stone thee, and goest thou thither again? 9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any one walk in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world; 10 but if any one walk in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. 11 These things said he; and after this he says to them, Lazarus, our friend, is fallen asleep, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. 12 The disciples therefore said to him, Lord, if he be fallen asleep, he will get well. 13 But Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that he spoke of the rest of sleep. 14 Jesus therefore then said to them plainly, Lazarus has died. 15 And I rejoice on your account that I was not there, in order that ye may believe. But let us go to him. 16 Thomas therefore, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.
17 Jesus therefore [on] arriving found him to have been four days already in the tomb. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia off, 19 and many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, that they might console them concerning their brother. 20 Martha then, when she heard Jesus is coming, went to meet him; but Mary sat in the house. 21 Martha therefore said to Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died; 22 but even now I know, that whatsoever thou shalt ask of God, God will give thee. 23 Jesus says to her, Thy brother shall rise again. 24 Martha says to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection in the last day. 25 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes on me, though he have died, shall live; 26 and every one who lives and believes on me shall never die. Believest thou this? 27 She says to him, Yea, Lord; I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, who should come into the world.
28 And having said this, she went away and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, The teacher is come and calls thee. 29 She, when she heard [that], rises up quickly and comes to him.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on John 11:1-29
Commentary on John 11:1-6
(Read John 11:1-6)
It is no new thing for those whom Christ loves, to be sick; bodily distempers correct the corruption, and try the graces of God's people. He came not to preserve his people from these afflictions, but to save them from their sins, and from the wrath to come; however, it behoves us to apply to Him in behalf of our friends and relatives when sick and afflicted. Let this reconcile us to the darkest dealings of Providence, that they are all for the glory of God: sickness, loss, disappointment, are so; and if God be glorified, we ought to be satisfied. Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. The families are greatly favoured in which love and peace abound; but those are most happy whom Jesus loves, and by whom he is beloved. Alas, that this should seldom be the case with every person, even in small families. God has gracious intentions, even when he seems to delay. When the work of deliverance, temporal or spiritual, public or personal, is delayed, it does but stay for the right time.
Commentary on John 11:7-10
(Read John 11:7-10)
Christ never brings his people into any danger but he goes with them in it. We are apt to think ourselves zealous for the Lord, when really we are only zealous for our wealth, credit, ease, and safety; we have therefore need to try our principles. But our day shall be lengthened out, till our work is done, and our testimony finished. A man has comfort and satisfaction while in the way of his duty, as set forth by the word of God, and determined by the providence of God. Christ, wherever he went, walked in the day; and so shall we, if we follow his steps. If a man walks in the way of his heart, and according to the course of this world, if he consults his own carnal reasonings more than the will and glory of God, he falls into temptations and snares. He stumbles, because there is no light in him; for light in us is to our moral actions, that which light about us to our natural actions.
Commentary on John 11:11-16
(Read John 11:11-16)
Since we are sure to rise again at the last, why should not the believing hope of that resurrection to eternal life, make it as easy for us to put off the body and die, as it is to put off our clothes and go to sleep? A true Christian, when he dies, does but sleep; he rests from the labours of the past day. Nay, herein death is better than sleep, that sleep is only a short rest, but death is the end of earthly cares and toils. The disciples thought that it was now needless for Christ to go to Lazarus, and expose himself and them. Thus we often hope that the good work we are called to do, will be done by some other hand, if there be peril in the doing of it. But when Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, many were brought to believe on him; and there was much done to make perfect the faith of those that believed. Let us go to him; death cannot separate from the love of Christ, nor put us out of the reach of his call. Like Thomas, in difficult times Christians should encourage one another. The dying of the Lord Jesus should make us willing to die whenever God calls us.
Commentary on John 11:17-32
(Read John 11:17-32)
Here was a house where the fear of God was, and on which his blessing rested; yet it was made a house of mourning. Grace will keep sorrow from the heart, but not from the house. When God, by his grace and providence, is coming towards us in ways of mercy and comfort, we should, like Martha, go forth by faith, hope, and prayer, to meet him. When Martha went to meet Jesus, Mary sat still in the house; this temper formerly had been an advantage to her, when it put her at Christ's feet to hear his word; but in the day of affliction, the same temper disposed her to melancholy. It is our wisdom to watch against the temptations, and to make use of the advantages of our natural tempers. When we know not what in particular to ask or expect, let us refer ourselves to God; let him do as seemeth him good. To enlarge Martha's expectations, our Lord declared himself to be the Resurrection and the Life. In every sense he is the Resurrection; the source, the substance, the first-fruits, the cause of it. The redeemed soul lives after death in happiness; and after the resurrection, both body and soul are kept from all evil for ever. When we have read or heard the word of Christ, about the great things of the other world, we should put it to ourselves, Do we believe this truth? The crosses and comforts of this present time would not make such a deep impression upon us as they do, if we believed the things of eternity as we ought. When Christ our Master comes, he calls for us. He comes in his word and ordinances, and calls us to them, calls us by them, calls us to himself. Those who, in a day of peace, set themselves at Christ's feet to be taught by him, may with comfort, in a day of trouble, cast themselves at his feet, to find favour with him.