Let us go also that we may die with him

John 11

JOHN 11:01-57

1Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” 4But 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.” 5Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. 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 seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?” 9Jesus 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. 10“But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11This 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.”12The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. 14So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.” 16Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”

17So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. 18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. 20Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. 21Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22“Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” 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; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”

28When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29And when she heard it, she *got up quickly and was coming to Him.

30Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. 31Then 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. 32Therefore, 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.” 33When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, 34and said, “Where have you laid him?” They *said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Jesus wept. 36So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!” 37But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?”

38So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, *came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39Jesus *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.” 40Jesus *said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.42“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.” 43When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” 44The 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.”

45Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. 46But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.

47Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. 48“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.” 49But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50nor 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.” 51Now 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, 52and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.

54Therefore 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.

55Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the Passover to purify themselves. 56So they were seeking for Jesus, and were saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think; that He will not come to the feast at all?” 57Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might seize Him.

JOHN 11:01-06

So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was

Lazarus was not the first and only person Jesus had raised from the dead, but due to complications, the Religious Leaders never gave Jesus credit for the first two events. The two other healings in Luke are the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17) and the daughter of Jairus (Luke 8:43-48).

They were disclaimed by the leaders because the people were “barely dead.” The leaders just changed the definition to mean, “mostly dead.” Because there was no way to preserve corpses, people tended to bury the deceased immediately after death. The result was there were a lot of mistakes and a lot of people didn’t “remain dead.” Finally, there was a sleeping sickness known in that area of the world, so it wasn’t unusual for someone to awaken after appearing dead to all forms of lay medicine at the time.

The common Jewish belief was when a person died, their ghost remained in the vicinity for at least three days and could re-enter the body during any of that time.

Jesus and his disciples were frequent guests at the household of Lazarus, Mary and Martha. It is believed that it was the Lord’s “headquarters” outside of Jerusalem (since Bethany was basically a suburb). John 11:18 says “Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles (3.2k) off…”

Bethany has an interesting history. One archeologist called it “The House of Figs.” Another says it was “The House of Unripe Figs.” Jewish scholar, Emanuel Deutsch of the British Museum denies those two definitions and instead refers to the Syriac interpretation, “House of Alms” or “Poor House.” Jesus also heals Simon the Leper in this town [Matthew 26:6-13]. The town is on the west side of the Mount of Olives and is now in Palestine, on the land-locked West Bank and eventually was renamed after Lazarus [Al-Eizariya]. It is quite possible the town was an alms-giving station for the thousands of pilgrims going to Jerusalem, that would also explain Simon’s presence there.

It must have been very painful for Jesus to wait in order to help his friends, but he knew (and tells his disciples) that the sickness was for God’s glory, and he was delaying for God’s perfect time. When Jesus did arrive, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days, one more than the Jewish requirement to declare someone dead and the ghost gone. There would be no ability for the Religious Leaders to deny this miracle based on traditions and folk lore.

Am I able to wait for the right timing in my life? Do I feel the need to rush in and “save” the situation instead of practice patience and allow healing to occur? Can I reflect upon my need to rush things and see if it involves the need to be recognized for the solution or to be more in control of the result?

We know how much Jesus loved this family and yet, he steps back to delay for the miracle to be greater—and no doubt—the family even more joyful for Lazarus’ return.

JOHN 11:07-16

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 seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?” 9Jesus 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. 10“But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11This 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.”12The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. 14So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.” 16Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”

“But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

The type of light Jesus was talking about was an in-burning fire. The term also means to bring to light to important facts or to cause them to become more apparent. Are we the bearers of facts? Do we bring them to light? On many occasions, religion(s) has been cited for trying to cover up facts that didn’t align with their “truths.” This was what Jesus was accusing the religious leaders of doing. Covering up the facts. The bottom line is that truth is not truth if it is based in fiction.

I have mentioned previously that science and religion play two separate roles in the world. This may be an oversimplification for our purposes, but science is supposed to be responsible for “what” and religion is responsible for “why.” I would compare a scientific review to a technical manual for a musical keyboard and a religious document to a songbook filled with lyrics, notes and chords. One is used to turn on and fix the keyboard, the other is used to share beautiful songs. Neither one is more important than the other, they are just for different purposes.

· Light, phōs, [5457], from phainō, [5316], to bring to light, to cause to appear, to notice, to be shown

Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”

The disciples didn’t want Jesus to go back to Judea again because the religious leaders had just threatened to stone him. They all try to prevent Jesus from going (not just Thomas). We often call Thomas “Doubting Thomas”, but we really should call him “Honest Thomas.” Thomas really just said what the other disciples were thinking.

It speaks a great deal about Jesus’ leadership style that he neither reproves Thomas nor sends him away. Great leaders surround themselves with honest people and poor leaders surround themselves with people who will constantly agree with them—even when they’re not being truthful. Ask yourself; would you rather hear truth or hear constant acquiescence?

JOHN 11:17-27

…many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother

The friends of Jesus were friends of many. A large group came to console them. The word for many [polus] also meant plentiful. There is a richness to that term, not only did a lot of people come to console Martha and Mary, but they were well-cared for by those who came. Many people met their needs in a plentiful way. They didn’t come to gawk, be social or gab, they came to meet the needs of two women broken by the loss of a beloved brother.

Are my gatherings intentional? Are they plentiful? Do people walk away enriched both by the support and the conversations?

· Many, polus, [4183], many, much, all, plentiful

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.”

Martha is one of the seven witnesses about Jesus’s divinity in John. They are

1. John the Baptist [John 1:29-34]

2. Nathaniel [John 1:43-51]

3. Peter [John 6:66-69]

4. Jesus himself [John 10:22-30]

5. Martha [John 11:27]

6. Thomas [John 20:28]

7. John himself (writer of the Gospel) [John 20:30-31]

Recalling that the Hebrew of Biblical times was a pastoral language, reminds us that numbers were not just for accounting purposes, many numbers had significant religious meanings. Forty means as much (or as long) as it takes for God to accomplish His/Her purposes. Twelve symbolized the tribes of Israel. Seven meant fullness, whole and complete. John’s seven witnesses mean as many as needed, a whole amount, the full amount needed for complete testimony. It’s telling that of the seven, one was a woman. To some religious leaders, that would discount her testimony, to John, her gender didn’t make a difference—or even—it made her all that much more important to include.

For John to include Martha as one of the critical seven witnesses to Jesus’ Lordship is an unmistakable sign of inclusivity to the modern Christian church, a sign that has not been actuated in a number of world religions and Christian denominations. If John invested such importance to the voice of a woman, it leaves the church no “out” for sexist or exclusive behavior. John saw Martha’s voice as critical and brings her into an elite leadership class of people.

Martha, whom we often diminish for her admonishment of Mary [Luke 10:38-42], but her statement of faith is as beautiful as it is straightforward. “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”

Not only does she believe him to be the Christ, but her words also mean “I have entrusted…” Martha has indeed entrusted her faith in Jesus. “He who comes into the world” also can mean “He who is expected to bring order.” She (and her family) also entrusted their lives to Jesus. There’s no doubt that being his willing hosts only 2 miles from the temple would make them enemies of the Jewish elite. Jesus was now an “enemy of the state”, and his willing hosts would be considered accomplices.

Christ did not come into the world to sow disorder, except when order did not lead to justice. There are many religions that sow disorder, sadly it’s not as often about justice as much as it is about beliefs. When the existing order does not lead to justice, am I vocal about my ire?

· I have believed, pisteō, [4100], to believe, to entrust

· He who comes, erchomai, [2064], to come, go, arrive, enter, expected

· Into the world, kosmos, [2889], order, world

JOHN 11:28-37

When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled

The word John uses for Jesus’ emotions when he sees Mary and the crowd weep, is not a word for compassion, it is a word for anger. Mary’s beloved brother just died and she’s weeping, why would that make Jesus enraged? It is doubtful that Jesus’ rage is about Mary, it is more likely about the reasons why he had to wait so long to heal Lazarus. No doubt Jesus did not want to wait until his friend had been dead four days to be at his side. He would have wanted to be there right away and spare all the pain people were feeling, but he also knew that his miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead would again be discounted if he did not wait past the three days. These were religious reasons, not relational ones.

This is an example of how a belief system causes pain to good people. It’s not just Jesus who experiences the pain, but the well-loved family of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Am I willing to examine how my belief systems (and communities of faith) may cause pain to beloved people? Are they exclusive? Are they unjust? Do they undermine anyone’s dignity?

· Deeply moved, embrimaomai, [1690], to snort with anger, to be moved with anger, sternly warned

· In Spirit, pneuma, [4151], from pneō, [4154], breath, spiritual, spirit

· Troubled, terrasō, [5015], to stir up, disturbed

Jesus wept

Isaiah said that Jesus would be a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” [Isaiah 53:5]. There was three times Jesus is reported to have wept: Luke 19:41, John 11:35 and Hebrews 5:7-10. He wept for the city of Jerusalem (Luke 19:41), he weeps for the family of Martha, Mary and Lazarus (John 11:35) and in Hebrews we are told,

HEBREWS 5:7-10

7In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. 8Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, 10being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Whoever said, “Big boys don’t cry,” obviously was not acquainted with the character of Jesus. He felt emotions deeply and expressed them openly. Let’s look at the 10 emotions that Jesus expressed from an article on the Crosswalk Web Site [crosswalk.com]

1. Joy—at pleasing God

2. Exhaustion—from the demands of ministry

3. Anger—at the hypocrisy of the religious

4. Disgust—at greed, racism, and oppression of the poor

5. Sorrow—at the ravages of sin and death

6. Compassion—for the lost and downtrodden

7. Frustration—at slow learners and their lack of faith

8. Agony—at impending suffering

9. Empathy—for the pain of others

10. Forgiveness—in the face of betrayal

One of Jesus’ strongest emotions is reserved for the lukewarm, he says he will vomit them from his mouth:

REVELATION 3:15-16

15‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

Being mature is being able to identify and understand my own emotions and to display them appropriately to others around me. This is important to both being able to set healthy boundaries and to have significant relationships.

· Wept, dakruō, [1144], from dakruon, [1145], teardrop, tears

JOHN 11:38-44

“Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

Martha is deeply committed to Jesus and believes he can do what others are unable to do. Despite that belief, we have seen that Martha is also a very practical woman—look at her concern for dishes and cleaning when Jesus visits their house previously [Luke 10:38-42].

So, when Jesus tells the people to remove the stone, Martha gets stuck on practical issues. “There will be a stench…”

Do we ever let practical matters get in the way of our faith response? In what ways are we similar to Martha? I’ve been in multiple churches where outreaches to the local disengaged population were shut down because of “practical matters.” In one church, our gardening outreach to incarcerated youth was shut down because the Christian School attached to the church didn’t want the youth correction van seen in the field near their playground (where the garden was planted and maintained). Another church shut down an espresso business stand for local youth because the janitor thought the local youth from the alternative education program would steal doilies from the women’s yard sale. Another church shut down evangelical outreaches to local impoverished families because they took the back pews when they came to church and there were people who told me, “Our family has sat in that pew for over fifty years.”

“Unbind him, and let him go.”

This should be the mission call of all churches. “Unbind him and let him go.” John’s words mean to release and put an end to Lazarus’ bonds, literally the clothes that were wrapped around him when he was buried.

Do our churches unbind people of their bonds or do they instead attach to labels (addict, alcoholic, homeless, criminal) and use them to further entrap people? All churches are either filled with sinners—or liars.

If we want others to let go of our darkest moments, then the Gospel demands we let go of the labels of others. We are the “unbinders,” we set people free from the labels that our society is only too generous in giving. Frequently, we use a person’s worst moment or trait to define them for life. This is a deficit of the Freudian Psychology system as it defines people by their abnormalities, I’m so supportive of strengths-based psychology with its emphasis on identifying a person’s strengths and improving on them.

This is the primary error of our youth criminal justice system. Adolescents do dumb things and get a pleasurable release (dopamine) from taking dumb risks. Taking dumb risks in front of peers releases twice the amount of dopamine. To catch a young person at their worst moment and alter their life because of that one moment, winds up embedding that label rather than changing it. That’s why I support any alternative to incarceration and punishment. Community-based justice systems that help young people meet their victims and give them opportunities for restitution have much more success than incarceration while keeping the young person’s name out of the legal quagmire. Incarceration is a fine way to learn—to be a better criminal.

· Unbind, luō, [3089], to release, to unbind, to put an end to

· Let him go, hupagō, [5217], lead on, go their way

JOHN 11:45-57

45Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. 46But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.

54Therefore 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.

“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.”

The true nature of the religious leader’s motivation is revaled in this sentence. They aren’t interested in serving their people, nor are they interested in fostering a deeper relationship with God. Their chief concern is “What will the Romans do?” and, “How will we remain in power?”

Leadership loses its authenticity when its internal motivation becomes a focus on maintaining the status quo and power. It takes extreme courage and supreme balance for leaders to maintain a focus on “What’s best for the ‘least of these in my sphere?’” once they are in power.

If you are in leadership, what practices will you create to make sure your authority is not compromised by the need for more power? Here are a few suggestions:

· Surround yourself with people who don’t always think like (or agree with) you (intentionally look for people whose perspectives are different than yours).

· Surround yourself with people who are not afraid to give you an opposing opinion

· Encourage (and reward) dissenting views in your advisors

· Be skeptical of people who often (or always) agree with you

· Make sure you do the internal work necessary to challenge your own need for approval and power

“…It is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.”

How many wrongs have been done in the name of expedience throughout history? How many acts of injustice, even wars, have been committed in the service of “What’s best in the long run?” or, the phrase, “a means to an end?”

Whenever we hear such terminology, we should examine the plans being justified with extra diligence. If we don’t control the means, we can’t control the ends.

As we look around in our world today, just who (and what) do those in power say are “expendable.” We must remember that the powerful of Christ’s time thought Jesus was expendable. As I write this, we have a political party that thinks the constitution is expendable. They seem convinced they can fix the wrongs done now with later actions “in the long run.” This includes justifying a violent invasion of the US Capitol while congress was in session on January 6, 2021.

· Expedient, sumpherō, [4851a], from 4862 and 5342, to bring together, to be profitable

…went away from there to the country near the wilderness

If you spent time with Jesus, you spent time in the wilderness. Many of Jesus’ greatest revelations (and challenges) took place in the wilderness. It was a centering place for him. Luke 5:16 tells us “Jesus would often go into the wilderness…” Why the wilderness? No distractions. Time to both reflect and teach, uninterrupted.

What is my wilderness? Where am I undistracted? Is it some place I go to or something I carry with me? My experience is that in order to carry my wilderness with me, I have to go to my wilderness to build the habits of the wilderness.

Here are four “Habits of the Wilderness” to put on your starter list:

1. The calmness that comes with meditation or prayer

2. The balance that comes with a larger perspective

3. The ability to listen and not judge

4. The ability to carry calm to other people (so I am able to co-regulate their intense emotions)

I must practice these behaviors in “wilderness spaces (quiet and solitude)” if I’m going to apply them in chaotic, distracting places.

· Wilderness, Erēmos, [2048] solitary, desolate, secluded, unpopulated