John 11

Part of The Raising of Lazarus📖 John introduction

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¹Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. ✦ ²(It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) ✦ ³Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. ✦ ⁴When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. ✦ ⁵Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. ✦ ⁶When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. ✦ ⁷Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again. ✦ ⁸His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again? ✦ ⁹Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. ✦ ¹⁰But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. ✦ ¹¹These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. ✦ ¹²Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. ¹³Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. ✦ ¹⁴Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. ✦ ¹⁵And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him. ✦ ¹⁶Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. ✦ ¹⁷Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. ✦ ¹⁸Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off: ✦ ¹⁹And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. ✦ ²⁰Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house. ✦ ²¹Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. ✦ ²²But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. ✦ ²³Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. ✦ ²⁴Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. ✦ ²⁵Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: ✦ ²⁶And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? ✦ ²⁷She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. ✦ ²⁸And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. ✦ ²⁹As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him. ✦ ³⁰Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him. ✦ ³¹The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. ✦ ³²Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. ✦ ³³When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, ✦ ³⁴And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. ✦ ³⁵Jesus wept. ✦ ³⁶Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! ✦ ³⁷And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? ✦ ³⁸Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. ✦ ³⁹Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. ✦ ⁴⁰Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? ✦ ⁴¹Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. ✦ ⁴²And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. ✦ ⁴³And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. ✦ ⁴⁴And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. ✦ ⁴⁵Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him. ✦ ⁴⁶But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. ✦ ⁴⁷Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. ✦ ⁴⁸If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. ✦ ⁴⁹And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, ✦ ⁵⁰Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. ✦ ⁵¹And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; ✦ ⁵²And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. ✦ ⁵³Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death. ✦ ⁵⁴Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples. ✦ ⁵⁵And the Jews’ passover was nigh at hand: and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves. ✦ ⁵⁶Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think ye, that he will not come to the feast? ✦ ⁵⁷Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take him. ✦

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In this chapter

Concept The Resurrection and the Life

Where this chapter connects

John 11 ·50 John 12 ·19 John 10 ·13 John 5 ·12 John 9 ·11 John 17 ·10 John 6 ·10 Matt 26 ·9

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryHolyLandSiteHolyLandSite · Free · evangelical
Free on-location videos tying biblical events to the actual sites in Israel — the Temple Mount, Galilee, Capernaum, and more.
ApologeticsCold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)J. Warner Wallace · Free · evangelical
A cold-case homicide detective examines the Gospels' reliability — forensic faith for skeptics and seekers.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Seminary

★ Start hereApologeticsGary Habermas — the resurrectionGary Habermas · Free · evangelical
130+ free videos and lectures from the scholar behind the "minimal facts" method — the start-here on the historical evidence for the resurrection. (Only his books are paid.)
★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed
The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on John 11YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — John 11David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — John 11Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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