HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  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 trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. 10But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” 11After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” 12The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” 13Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 14Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16Thomas, who was called the Twin,c said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

  Jesus the Resurrection and the Life

  17When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarusd had already been in the tomb four days. 18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two milese away, 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” 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.f Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah,g the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

  Jesus Weeps

  28When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Jesus began to weep. 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 have kept this man from dying?”

  Jesus Raises Lazarus to Life

  38Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because 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 looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in 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 Jesus did, believed in him. 46But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done. 47So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. 48If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy placeh and our nation.” 49But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! 50You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” 51He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, 52and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. 53So from that day on they planned to put him to death.

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

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

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  a Gk him

  b Gk he

  c Gk Didymus

  d Gk he

  e Gk fifteen stadia

  f Other ancient authorities lack and the life

  g Or the Christ

  h Or our temple; Greek our place

  i Gk he

  11.1–44 Having spoken of himself as the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep (10.11–18), Jesus now risks his life to give life to his friend Lazarus (vv. 7–16; cf. 15.13). The result of this life-giving is Jesus’ own death (vv. 45–53). Thus the story of the raising of Lazarus prepares readers for the passion narrative (chs. 18–19).

  11.1 Bethany, not the same as Bethany across the Jordan, where John had baptized (see 1.28; note on 10.40). This Bethany lay just east of Jerusalem (v. 18), across the Kidron Valley and on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives. Mary and her sister Martha, perhaps the same women referred to in Lk 10.38–42, but this is uncertain.

  11.2 Anointed. See 12.1–8.

  11.4 It is for God’s glory. Cf. 9.3. Glory, glorified. See v. 40; see also 2.11; 13.31–32; 14.13; 17.1.

  11.6 Jesus seems deliberately to let Lazarus die (see also vv. 14–15, 21, 32, 37). Lazarus, however, might already have been dead by the time the message arrived, and Jesus’ delay would have timed his arrival in Bethany after the finality of Lazarus’s death had been confirmed (see note on 11.17). As elsewhere (2.3–4; 7.1–10), Jesus acts at his own time.

  11.8 The Jews were…trying to stone you. See 10.31; see also 8.59. Jews, possibly “Judeans” here and elsewhere in ch. 11. On the general issue of “the Jews” in John, see Introduction.

  11.9 Twelve hours of daylight. Jesus apparently knows that his hour has not yet come (see note on 7.30), so that he can safely travel to Judea. The light of this world. See 8.12; 9.4–5; 12.35–36.

  11.11 Fallen asleep, a common euphemism for death (see Mt 27.52; 1 Cor 15.6, text note e on p. 1952).

  11.12–13 On the disciples’ misunderstanding, see notes on 3.4; 7.33–36.

  11.15 I am glad I was not there. See note on 11.6.

  11.16 Thomas. See 14.5; 20.24–29; 21.2. Die with him. Cf. 13.36–38.

  11.17 In the tomb four days. Jewish custom at that time required that burial take place the day of death, if possible. Jewish belief also held that the soul lingered near the body for three days, so that death was truly final on the fourth day. Jesus’ two-day delay, plus one day’s travel each way between Bethany and Jesus’ location across the Jordan (10.40), would make four days if Lazarus died and was buried on the same day the messenger left Bethany to report his illness (see vv. 3–6).

  11.18 Bethany. See note on 11.1.

  11.20 She went and met him. People in mourning normally did not leave the house during the first seven days except to go to the tomb to grieve for the deceased (see note on 11.31).

  11
.21 See note on 11.6.

  11.22 Whatever you ask. See also 14.13–14; 15.7, 16; 16.23–24.

  11.23–27 Cf. 4.25–26.

  11.24 Many Jews of that time believed that there would be a final resurrection, though others denied this (see Dan 12.2; Mk 12.18–27; Acts 23.6–8; 24.15, 21).

  11.25–26 The difficulty of the logic in these verses may be deliberate; this is not a “logical” subject. As elsewhere (5.24–29; 6.40, 54; 8.51), Jesus brings the future resurrection and eternal life into the present.

  11.27 Martha responds with belief not in Jesus’ statement or its logic but in Jesus himself, and it is this belief that brings life (20.31).

  11.31 Going to the tomb. See note on 11.20. Weep, not just tears, but wailing and lamentation for the dead person.

  11.32 See note on 11.6.

  11.33 Disturbed…deeply moved. A fully human Jesus experiences deep emotions.

  11.37 Opened the eyes of the blind man, the healing event in ch. 9.

  11.38 A cave with a stone over the entrance was a common burial place (see 20.1; Mk 15.46).

  11.39 Four days. See note on 11.17.

  11.40 Cf. the order of believing and seeing with that in v. 45; see also 4.48; 6.30; 20.24–29; note on 2.11. Glory of God. See note on 11.4.

  11.42 Jesus also explains why things are said in 5.34;12.30; see also 6.6. So that…sent me. See also 17.21.

  11.43–44 Cf. 5.25, 28–29. Binding and wrapping were part of the Jewish burial customs of the day; see 20.6–7. Let him go, i.e., “let him walk.”

  11.45–53 The decision to put Jesus to death results from his giving life to Lazarus; cf. Mk 14.1–2.

  11.46 See also 5.15.

  11.47–48 The council, i.e., the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish court and governing body (see note on 7.32). A man doing signs might intend to challenge the rule of the Romans and so bring on an attack; see note on 6.14–15. A generation after Jesus’ time, the Jewish revolt of 66–70 CE resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem, including the temple (holy place), and in the death or captivity of thousands of Jews.

  11.49 That year. The high-priesthood was theoretically a hereditary lifetime position (Num 25.10–13), but in the first century CE the office holder was subject to approval by the Roman governor and the position changed hands frequently. Caiaphas in fact held office for eighteen years (18–36/7 CE); see 18.13; Mt 26.3; Lk 3.2; Acts 4.6. The high priest was a political as well as a religious leader and thus headed the Sanhedrin. See also 1 Macc 12.6;14.41–45; Mk 14.60–64; Acts 5.17, 21; 23.1–5.

  11.50 A cynical political judgment ironically contains a profound theological truth.

  11.51 He prophesied. The high-priesthood was not generally regarded as carrying prophetic powers. John’s point is that Caiaphas prophesied unconsciously; like other opponents of Jesus, he spoke more truly than he knew (see notes on 7.33–36; 19.14).

  11.52 To gather into one. See also 10.16; 17.21.

  11.54–57 Jesus in hiding; see also 7.1, 10;8.59; 12.36.

  11.54 Ephraim. Location uncertain. It may be the town mentioned in 2 Sam 13.23; 1 Macc 11.34 (Aphairema), perhaps near Bethel.

  11.55 Passover. See notes on 2.13; 6.4. The last indication of time was in 10.22. Purify themselves. Num 9.10–11 requires those who are unclean to celebrate Passover a month late (cf. 18.28).

  11.56 Cf. 7.11.

  John 12

  Mary Anoints Jesus

  1Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped thema with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denariib and the money given to the poor?” 6(He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought itc so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

  The Plot to Kill Lazarus

  9When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, 11since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

  Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

  12The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,

  “Hosanna!

  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of

  the Lord—the King of Israel!”

  14Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written:

  15“Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.

  Look, your king is coming,

  sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

  16His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him. 17So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify.d 18It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him. 19The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”

  Some Greeks Wish to See Jesus

  20Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

  Jesus Speaks about His Death

  27“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoplee to myself.” 33He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. 34The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiahf remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” 35Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. 36While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.”

  The Unbelief of the People

  After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them. 37Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. 38This was to fulfill the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

  “Lord, who has believed our message,

  and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

  39And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said,

  40“He has blinded their eyes

  and hardened their heart,

  so that they might not look with their eyes,

  and understand with their hea
rt and turn—

  and I would heal them.”

  41Isaiah said this becauseg he saw his glory and spoke about him. 42Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; 43for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.

  Summary of Jesus’ Teaching

  44Then Jesus cried aloud: “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. 47I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, 49for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. 50And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.”

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  a Gk his feet

  b Three hundred denarii would be nearly a year’s wages for a laborer

  c Gk lacks She bought it

  d Other ancient authorities read with him began to testify that he had called…from the dead

  e Other ancient authorities read all things

  f Or the Christ

  g Other ancient witnesses read when

  12.1–8 The anointing at Bethany is also found in Mk 14.3–9. A similar story is placed earlier in Jesus’ career in Lk 7.37–38.