First, we see Lazarus’ illness and Jesus’ reaction, and also briefly discuss the woman who anointed Him with ointment. Second, we see that Jesus prophesied the death of Lazarus and also discussed Thomas’ reaction through his character. Third, we look in detail at Martha’s faith in this matter. Fourth, we also used the scriptures to discuss Mary’s faith and saw the reasons why Jesus was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled. Fifth, we discussed the process of the resurrection of Lazarus and saw that some people still did not believe even if they saw the resurrection of the dead. Finally, let’s take a look at the political considerations of the Pharisees and the high priests. They finally decided to kill Him not for religious reasons. We will also use this to briefly discuss what happened after Jesus was arrested and crucified.
1. Lazarus’ illness
”Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?” Jesus 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. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” This He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.””(John 11:1-10)
We see that Jesus received the news that Lazarus was sick, but although He loved him, He did not rush to see him like most people. On the contrary, “But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.””(John 11:4) So He stayed where He was for two days, for He knew beforehand that He would raise Lazarus from the dead. In order to achieve this, He had to make Lazarus completely dead before he could go. We will discuss the entire process through the scriptures later. Here, we will first discuss, “It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, …”(John 11:2)
In Luke 7:36-50, it is mentioned that in the house of Simon the Pharisee, “And there was a woman …she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.”(Luke 7:37-38) This is something that happened in the early days of Jesus. Judging by the time it happened, you can tell that it was not the Mary mentioned here.
The Mary here is mentioned in Matthew 26:6-13 and Mark 14:3-9. She was buried for Jesus. It happened close to the time when Jesus was crucified, although she was also called Simon. What happened at home should not be the same Simon. “While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. …But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.”(Mark 14:3-8) There is no name mentioned here, but we know that the woman is Mary, since the Book of John 11:2 clearly states, which was written the last among the four Book of Gospels.
In the last paragraph here, He mentioned that His time has not yet come. He is the light of the world, so it is still day. Although He knew that the Jews wanted to kill Him, He had to obey God and go to Judah to do God’s work. Therefore, He really looked down upon death. “…Jesus, …who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”(Hebrews 12:2) It is consistent with His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, “…yet not as I will, but as You will.”(Matthew 26:39)
2. Death of Lazarus
“This He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.” The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.” Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.” So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off.”(John 11:11-18)
What is said here is that ‘you sleep’ means ‘you die!’ Christians all talk about sleeping instead of dying. For example, “The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.”(Matthew 27:52) Another example is when Stephen was stoned to death, “Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.”(Acts 7:60) Again, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.”(1 Thessalonians 4:14) Why do Christians say this? Paul made it very clear, “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”(1 Corinthians 15:51-52) Christians look forward to the return of Jesus, when there will be a great white throne judgment in which the dead will be resurrected (see Revelation 20:11-15).
We see that Jesus predicted the death of Lazarus, yet He rejoiced in His death because some would believe through his resurrection. Bethany is not far from Jerusalem, and He could reach it before he died. When He said that we could go to him, He knew that Lazarus would be completely dead in the eyes of the Jews since he at that time had already be in the tomb for four days.
We have also seen the reaction of Thomas. He is one of the twelve apostles. He isn’t mentioned for much time in the Bible. We can see why he reacted this way by looking at his personality. Thomas once asked directly, “…Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”(John 14:5) After Jesus was resurrected, “…he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.””(John 20:25) Thomas asked questions whenever he had. “After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.””(John 20:26- 29) No one has seen Jesus now. You must truly believe and keep this blessing. Don’t fall into Satan’s (the devil’s) tricks. “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”(1 Peter 5:8)
You see, Thomas is really a man who can’t hide his words! When he heard that Lazarus was dead, and they loved Lazarus so much, his first reaction was that he wanted to die with Lazarus. His personality of saying whatever he wanted made him speak out. Here, although the Bible does not explicitly say that he loved Lazarus, a person usually would not voluntarily die for someone he does not love. We can see this from logical deduction.
This is just like that the Bible doesn’t use the word Trinity. However, if we believe that the Bible is inspired by God, then we will not discount the words of the Bible, and as a result we will know that the Trinity is true. The Bible does not violate logic, and here I mean God’s logic. As we pointed out before, logic is divided into two parts, axioms and logical mechanisms (logical derivation), because logical derivation is objective and cannot be tainted by sin, and God’s axiom and personal one are not the same. For example, according to God’s axiom, He can perform miracles at any time and at any place, but we can only be the channels through which He performs miracles. He can predict completely, but our predictions or visions will not be 100% correct.
3. Martha’s faith
“and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.””(John 11:19-27)
Generally speaking, people cannot be resurrected after death, and the best thing people can do is comfort. Often the comfort that people come to can only touch the surface, and it usually takes a while to get over the haze of death. Just be careful when comforting others, because comfort may turn into attack without you even knowing it, just like the three friends of Job in the book of Job. They originally wanted to comfort him, and even “Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.”(Job 2:13) If you finish reading that book, you will find that the three friends made attacks that they were not aware of, and they were right and wrong. It is no wonder that “It came about after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has.”(Job 42:7)
We see that Martha has quite a faith. She can believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and naturally knows that Lazarus will be resurrected in the last days. When Jesus said, “and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. …”(John 11:26) She also knew that this referred to spiritual life. When “Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”(John 11:21) She was doing what most people believe, hoping that He would be there when Lazarus died, And when she said, “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”(John 11:22), she didn’t really believe what she said herself. Because when “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.”(John 11:25) She did not ask Jesus to pray to God to resurrect Lazarus because she did not expect that people could be resurrected from the dead!
There is an example of the resurrection of the dead in the Old Testament, “Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year. As they were burying a man, behold, they saw a marauding band; and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet.”(2 Kings 13:20-21) Elisha was very powerful during his lifetime. He had twice the spiritual power of Elijah (see 2 Kings 2:9-12). We saw that even his bones could resurrect people. If she was familiar with the Old Testament and had thought of this at that time, she might have prayed to the Lord Jesus in this way.
4. Mary’s Faith
“When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?” So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. …”(John 11:28-38)
Some people see Martha saying to Mary secretly, and they may have thought that Jesus did not call Mary, but that Martha lied about calling her. We know this is wrong when we look at this one verse, “No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.”(1 John 3:6) So from God’s perspective, Christians who remain in Christ will not sin. When in Christ, everything in Christ belongs to us. If Christ does not sin, how can we sin? It is only when we slip out of Christ that we sin. For example, we may slip out of Christ because of sins that we are not aware of. Before slipping out and sinning again, we realize the sins we have committed and repent immediately.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”(1 John 1:9) Don’t remain in denial and remain in a state of slipping out! Of course, a true Christian will repent, that is, he will not continue to sin. The verse 1 John 3:6 in the New International Version (NIV) is translated ‘sin’ as ‘not continuing to sin,’ which is really from a human perspective and isn’t correct.
Lying is a type of sin. Martha is a true Christian who follows and serves Jesus. How could she intentionally lie and commit a sin? So Jesus did call Mary, but it didn’t say that she had to come. We don’t know why Mary was still sitting at home, but as soon as she heard Jesus’ calling her, she hurried out without explaining anything because the Jews thought she was going to the tomb to weep! So when we are sure that it is a message from God, we should act like Mary immediately.
She also obviously thought the same as Martha and everyone else, believing that as long as Jesus was there, Lazarus would not die. We see that Jesus was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled because they were weeping over the death of Lazarus. No one believed that He could raise Lazarus from the dead, “So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. …”(John 11:38) So He went to the tomb and used facts to prove that He had this power, “…so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”(John 11:4) It’s not like some people thought that He was lamenting and weeping because the end of the human body is death. Because of His weeping, the Jews thought of how sincerely He loved Lazarus, but they did not think about the fact that all human beings will die. Death is a fact that everyone will experience. Why should we be sad about this fact? Unavoidable, emotionally. But only in spiritual life, “…that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”(John 3:16)
5. The process of the resurrection of Lazarus
“…Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him.”(John 11:38-45)
When Jesus went to Lazarus’s tomb, he had been dead for four days. He should indeed be completely dead and must have stunk as Martha thought. But “Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?””(John 11:40) Isn’t it clear here that Martha didn’t believe enough? It really didn’t occur to her that what He was telling others was that Lazarus was completely dead.
The scriptures about the process of the resurrection of Lazarus are very clear. Jesus called Lazarus out with words for the sake of everyone around Him. He already knew that the Father had heard Him. We have seen the fact because of the resurrection of Lazarus that “…many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him.”(John 11:45) On the other hand, even if someone sees the resurrection of Lazarus and still does not believe it, the Bible has already stated that this will be the case. The following scripture is an example of this. “And he (the rich man) said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him (beggar Lazarus) to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”(Luke 16:27-31) The human heart can be really hardened!
6. Political considerations of the Pharisees and high priests
“But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done. Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they planned together to kill Him. Therefore Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.”(John 11:46-54)
Some of the unbelievers went to see the Pharisees. The scriptures say that they were afraid that the Romans would take away what they had now. They were based on this political consideration, so they could only be relieved when Jesus was dead. Therefore, they decided that Jesus had to die. Someone might quote this verse, “For he (Pilate) knew that because of envy they had handed Him over.”(Matthew 27:18) They think jealousy is the real reason, but this is just the feeling they gave Pilate, not the real reason. Here we also see that there is a disconnect between people’s feelings and the real reasons. This is just like in our daily life, we often use our own feelings as a judgment, without seeing the real reasons behind it.
So they finally decided to kill Him for political reasons, not for religious reasons. So when Jesus was arrested, “Those who had seized Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together.”(Matthew 26:57) At that time, “Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death.”(Matthew 26:59) Finally, “The high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?” But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; what do you think?” They answered, “He deserves death!””(Matthew 26:62-66)
He remained silent. Why did Jesus need to say anything about false witnesses? When the high priest spoke the truth, He said that what you said was true, and in order to complete the plan of salvation, He gave them more words that they thought were blasphemy. We see this because He could have remained silent as before, but instead gave them more facts, making them feel that He deserved to die and finally went to the cross and was resurrected to complete the plan of salvation. They wanted to kill Jesus anyway, and religious reasons were just their excuse.
Because the Jews at that time did not have the authority to kill, they took Jesus to the governor Pilate. We see that Pilate could not find any crime worthy of death in Him, because the scriptures make it very clear, “And he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has this man done? I have found in Him no guilt demanding death; therefore I will punish Him and release Him.””(Luke 23:22) “But they were insistent, with loud voices asking that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. And Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted.”(Luke 23:23-24) Pilate did something illegal because of political considerations where he didn’t want to offend the Jews, but salvation was thus achieved. Wasn’t Caiaphas prophecy correct? “…Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.”(John 11:51-52) We have seen, “Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, …”(John 11:51) Don’t be surprised what God will choose such a person prophesying. It is due to his position. And God often works in unexpected ways. For example, “…And on that day (Stephen was stoned to death) a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”(Acts 8:1) From a human perspective, being persecuted is a bad thing, but God’s arrangement is that the gospel spreads because of it. Therefore, you must look at things from God’s perspective and stand on God’s side always.
To give another example of the fallen prophet Balaam in the Old Testament, before his fall, “But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you shall speak only the word which I tell you.” So Balaam went along with the leaders of Balak.”(Numbers 22:35) Finally, “Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies (Israelites), but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times!””(Numbers 24:10).
Finally, we see, “Therefore Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly (G3954) among the Jews, …”(John 11:54) We have mentioned many times before that no one can do anything to Him until His time comes. But also saw here that He would try to avoid conflicts as much as He could. Although He sometimes had supernatural protection, for example, “and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His way.”(Luke 4:29-30)
(Verses refer to those in NASB95 unless otherwise specified.)
(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)
aChristianVoice 一個基督徒的聲音 