The Gospel According
to John Chapter 11
Thursday, April 17, 2008
General Comment: One of John's
repeated themes beginning in the Prologue is Jesus as the giver of eternal
life. In Jn. 1:4 we read
that eternal life came into the world through the Word as part of creation. In
this chapter we see a dramatic example of the gift of life in the person of
Lazarus. His story becomes the occasion for John to write the
definitive statement about Jesus as the one through whom this life is given.
For John, Lazarus is the archetype for all those who will receive eternal life.
The sisters Mary and
Martha are known to us from Luke
10:38-42 without any mention of Lazarus. The family lived in Bethany,
less than two miles east of Jerusalem near the foot of the Mount of Olives
and on the Jericho road. This was the home where Jesus stayed when he came
to Jerusalem. It may be coincidental but all three names appear on an ossuary
(bone box) in a single tomb discovered near Bethany.
In Semitic cultures
burial takes place on the day of death, originally because of the heat and the
lack of embalming. Bodies were washed and anointed with perfumed ointments then
wrapped in linen bands. In the burial procession men and women walked
separately. After the burial the women would return to the home, sit on the
floor and grieve with expressive wailing. The period of grieving would last
thirty days. The tomb was typically a vertical shaft dug into the ground then
covered with a large stone. A more wealthy family would have a tomb cut out
from the limestone. Some were quite large and could hold many generations.
A year after the burial the remaining bones would be gathered and placed in an
ossuary. Hundreds of such boxes have been unearthed in ancient graveyards.
One part of the
Lazarus story is the emphasis that he had been dead for four days. The
rabbinical literature notes that the person's spirit hovers over the body for
three days to see if resuscitation (not resurrection) will happen. If not the
spirit departs. The fourth day is to say Lazarus is really dead.
We note in vs. 2 the mention of Mary as
having anointed Jesus with perfume, wiping his feet with her hair. This event
has yet to occur (see Jn. 12:1-3)
and apparently the verse was placed here by the final editor as
clarification of who Mary was.
John Chapter 11:1-16 The Death of Lazarus and the Glory of
God
In Chapter nine we
read of the man who was blind from birth. When asked by his disciples who had
sinned and thus caused his blindness. Jesus said that it was not a result of
sin but that God's works (glory) might be revealed in the man's sight. This is
how John presents Lazarus' sickness and death. It is a means through which
God's glory will be recognized (honored or praised). There is a distinction to
be made between God's glory and giving glory to God. Glory is what God
possesses. One cannot "give" glory to God as if God were somehow
deficient in who God is. To write as one author did that our purpose
in life is to give God the glory - to glorify God, is a misunderstanding of how
Israel - and so Jesus, understood God. We cannot glorify God. Through honoring
and praising God in song, liturgy and prayer we recognize God's glory. Although
God is Spirit and therefore invisible, God's glory can be seen in what God
does through Jesus. We first read of this in the story of the wedding at Cana.
Thus in vs. 4, Lazarus'
sickness will be a recognition of God's glory at work. It will be at work
through Jesus who, as the Son of God, will be glorified - God's glory will be
seen in him.
When Jesus receives
word of Lazarus' sickness he waits two more days before going to Bethany. In an
aside to the main story, the disciples express concern about returning from the
Transjordan to Judea where the "Jews" had recently tried to
stone him. Jesus' reply using the daylight/night comparison is
reflective of Jn. 9:4. Jesus
will go to Judea because God's work in Jesus is not yet complete and
needs to be done while there is still light and, of
course, Jesus is the light of the world. It is for this reason Jesus will
return to Judea, no matter the threat. In fact, the threat is irrelevant because
it is not yet his "hour."
Now he is ready to
go to his friend Lazarus' home. He tells the disciples that Lazarus has
"fallen asleep," (a euphemism for "he's dead") and he is
going to wake him up. The disciples misunderstand him, thinking Lazarus
is just resting and will be up soon. The Greek here reads "he will be
saved." The word has two meanings: the secular as the disciples
understand it, to be recovering from illness; the religious as Jesus meant it,
to receive life.
Jesus clarifies
their misunderstanding - "Lazarus is dead." He explains the
delay in attending to his friend, referring to the situation as an event
through which the disciples may increase the maturity of their belief. Perhaps
as a precursor to Thomas' later doubt about the resurrection, he bravely
musters the disciples to go to Judea with Jesus so they might die with him. It
seems he doubted more than the resurrection, showing little confidence as
if the entire ministry of Jesus was for nothing and would end with their
corporate death.
John Chapter 11:17-27 Jesus and Martha
Martha - the busy
sister in Luke is the first to meet Jesus on his approach to the village,
leaving Mary with neighbors who had come to express their
sympathy for the sisters' loss. She begins by expressing
disappointment that Jesus had not arrived earlier and prevented her brother's
death. This is an indication of a weakness in her faith. She does not
fully understand Jesus as the one who brings life. She only affirms, but
without hope, that God will give Jesus whatever he asks. When Jesus tells
her Lazarus will arise again she responds with the conventional Jewish, first
century understanding of the future resurrection. What follows in Jesus' words
is a basic creedal statement probably used in John's community as part of the
sacrament of baptism for new converts. It restates the connection between
eternal life as a gift received in one's lifetime and belief in Jesus as
the source of that life. Jesus tells Martha that he is [the embodiment of] the
resurrection and the life
which he then explains:
Those who now
believe in Jesus, even though they die physically, will live spiritually
Those who now
believe in Jesus and who are alive spiritually will never die spiritually
Jesus asks Martha if
she believes what he has said. Her answer demonstrates a lack of the
implication of what it means that eternal life has already come into the world.
She responds with the titles of first century Jewish expectation of Messiah and
Prophet (a son of God) but does not comprehend how these titles are expressed
in Jesus. He will soon demonstrate exactly how they find meaning in him.
John Chapter 11:28-37 Jesus and Mary
When Mary leaves the
house to meet Jesus she also expresses disappointment that he had not been
there soon enough to save her brother. Jesus sees the depth of her grief
in her weeping, and the weeping of those who followed her. John writes that
Jesus "was moved in his spirit with the deepest emotions and he
shuddered." As he walks toward the tomb, even knowing what he is going to
do, Jesus weeps. The source of his tears is something of a mystery.
Perhaps he was caught up in the corporate expression of grief. Perhaps he was
weeping for Mary's deep pain. Or perhaps it was his sorrow in the face of death
itself, the fate of the many in this "evil and adulterous
generation" who will not turn to God. We don't know. He just wept.
John Chapter 11:38-44 Jesus and Lazarus
Jesus, still
weeping, comes to the tomb of Lazarus. He orders that the stone be rolled away
despite Martha's warning about the stench of death. He reminds her of his
assurance that this day the eyes of the believer will see God's glory. He opens
his prayer in the usual fashion: he looks upward to heaven; he addresses
God as Abba; he offers thanksgiving for God's attentiveness to his words,
hoping this attentiveness will help those present believe he is the one sent by
God (that Jesus and God are one in a unity of purpose). He shouts out for
Lazarus to come forth and he does (my sheep hear my voice and they follow me).
In a final demonstration of what is meant by believing in Jesus as the one sent
by God, he commands, "Unbind him and let him go." Liberation.
John Chapter 11:45-57 The Plot to Kill Jesus
Everywhere Jesus
shares his vision of the Kingdom, in the countryside hamlets of Galilee, the
villages of Judea or in the City of God, Jerusalem, there are those who
believe, those who find him interesting but inconsequential, and those who
think he is dangerous. At the home of Lazarus many who witnessed what happened
believed God was at work in Jesus and believed in him. Others did not and took
their discontent to the Pharisees in Jerusalem. The chief priests considered
their options. Passover was near. It would be a time of expectation. Many
pilgrims were already beginning to arrive from Palestine and the Diaspora. The
Messianic expectations of this highest of all festivals always put the
officials on edge. Those who were arriving and going through the rite of
purification in advance of the day found opportunity to discuss their opinions
about Jesus. Speculation about his attending Passover ran from a positive yes
to a probably not. The authorities had already begun to spread the word that if
Jesus did appear they were to be notified immediately so they could arrest him.
Jesus became aware of the danger and decided it best to stay away from the
city and surrounding area until the last minute. He and his disciples had
left Bethany and secluded themselves in the region of Ephraim.
He was right to
remain away from Jerusalem for now. The Sanhedrin had met to ponder the threat.
Jesus had become very popular among the common people. They could not be
trusted to act rationally. They might see this Jesus as Messiah and hail him as
King. Then what! Mayhem, that is what. Were that to happen the Romans would
act. Pilate was a no-nonsense Prefect of the Equestrian Order, just high enough
in rank to think he might still have opportunities for a better post. He would
make a quick and bloody example of this rabble. Some in the Council feared the
worst - an outbreak of rebellion resulting in the destruction of the Sanctuary
and worse. What could they possibly do to stop this before it started?
Caiaphas, the High
Priest had dealt with Pilate for the last four years. He knew he was ruthless
and the fears of the council were entirely possible outcomes of their present
situation. "Look," he said, quieting them. "You have no sense at
all with all this fretting. You do not understand that it is better
for you that one man should die in place of all the people and our
nation not be destroyed." As often happens in
such declarations, it was prophetic. One man would die for the
nation and beyond the nation he would die to gather all the dispersed children
of God. In the highest possible irony, that day was hastened when the
Council agreed to put Jesus to death. Caiaphas was surely correct. But
they could not understand their contribution to the future of the world
nor could they imagine that their Temple would be destroyed, the city burned,
and thousands killed or sold into slavery.
