Yohanes 11:15

11:15 and I am glad ¹  for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe. ²  But let us go to him.”

Yohanes 11:23-26

11:23 Jesus replied, ³  “Your brother will come back to life again.” ⁴  11:24 Martha said, ⁵  “I know that he will come back to life again ⁶  in the resurrection at the last day.” 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live ⁷  even if he dies, 11:26 and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. ⁸  Do you believe this?”

Yohanes 11:40-44

11:40 Jesus responded, ⁹  “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” 11:41 So they took away ¹⁰  the stone. Jesus looked upward ¹¹  and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. ¹²  11:42 I knew that you always listen to me, ¹³  but I said this ¹⁴  for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 11:43 When ¹⁵  he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, ¹⁶  “Lazarus, come out!” 11:44 The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, ¹⁷  and a cloth wrapped around his face. ¹⁸  Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him ¹⁹  and let him go.”

[11:15]  ¹ tn Grk “and I rejoice.”

[11:15]  ² sn So that you may believe. Why does Jesus make this statement? It seems necessary to understand the disciples’ belief here in a developmental sense, because there are numerous references to the disciples’ faith previous to this in John’s Gospel, notably 2:11. Their concept of who Jesus really was is continually being expanded and challenged; they are undergoing spiritual growth; the climax is reached in the confession of Thomas in John 20:28.

[11:23]  ³ tn Grk “Jesus said to her.”

[11:23]  ⁴ tn Or “Your brother will rise again.”

[11:23]  sn Jesus’ remark to Martha that Lazarus would come back to life again is another example of the misunderstood statement. Martha apparently took it as a customary statement of consolation and joined Jesus in professing belief in the general resurrection of the body at the end of the age. However, as Jesus went on to point out in 11:25-26, Martha’s general understanding of the resurrection at the last day was inadequate for the present situation, for the gift of life that conquers death was a present reality to Jesus. This is consistent with the author’s perspective on eternal life in the Fourth Gospel: It is not only a future reality, but something to be experienced in the present as well. It is also consistent with the so-called “realized eschatology” of the Fourth Gospel.

[11:24]  ⁵ tn Grk “Martha said to him.”

[11:24]  ⁶ tn Or “will rise again.”

[11:25]  ⁷ tn That is, will come to life.

[11:26]  ⁸ tn Grk “will never die forever.”

[11:40]  ⁹ tn Grk “Jesus said to her.”

[11:41]  ¹⁰ tn Or “they removed.”

[11:41]  ¹¹ tn Grk “lifted up his eyes above.”

[11:41]  ¹² tn Or “that you have heard me.”

[11:42]  ¹³ tn Grk “that you always hear me.”

[11:42]  ¹⁴ tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[11:43]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “And when.”

[11:43]  ¹⁶ sn The purpose of the loud voice was probably to ensure that all in the crowd could hear (compare the purpose of the prayer of thanksgiving in vv. 41-42).

[11:44]  ¹⁷ sn Many have wondered how Lazarus got out of the tomb if his hands and feet were still tied up with strips of cloth. The author does not tell, and with a miracle of this magnitude, this is not an important fact to know. If Lazarus’ decomposing body was brought back to life by the power of God, then it could certainly have been moved out of the tomb by that same power. Others have suggested that the legs were bound separately, which would remove the difficulty, but the account gives no indication of this. What may be of more significance for the author is the comparison which this picture naturally evokes with the resurrection of Jesus, where the graveclothes stayed in the tomb neatly folded (20:6-7). Jesus, unlike Lazarus, would never need graveclothes again.

[11:44]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and his face tied around with cloth.”

[11:44]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Loose him.”