11 AND 12
Everything is henceforth ripe for the catastrophe; the development
begun in chap. 5 reaches its utmost limit. Yet one more _good work_,
and the condemnation of Jesus will be finally pronounced. Chap. 11
places us in the presence of this denouement.
Of the sojourn in Peraea the Synoptics... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus, of Bethany, of the village
of Mary and Martha, her sister._ 2. _Mary was she who anointed the
Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair; and it was her
brother, Lazarus, who was sick._ ”
As it is the sickness of Lazarus which is the occasion of all... [ Continue Reading ]
I. THE PREPARATION: JOHN 11:1-16.
John first describes the general situation, John 11:1-2; then, the
conduct of Jesus towards the two sisters, John 11:3-6; finally, His
conversations with the disciples before departing, John 11:7-16.
ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.
Vv. 1-16.
1. The write... [ Continue Reading ]
FIRST SECTION: 11:1-57. THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS.
No scene in this gospel is presented in so detailed and dramatic a
manner. There is none from which appears more distinctly the character
of Jesus as at once perfectly divine and perfectly human, and none
which more fully justifies the central de... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _The sisters therefore sent to Jesus to say to him, Lord, behold,
he whom thou lovest is sick._ 4. _Jesus, having heard this, said: This
sickness is not unto death; but it is for the glory of God, that the
Son of God may be glorified thereby._ ”
The message of the sisters is full of delicacy; this... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus._ 6. _When
therefore he heard that he was sick, he remained yet two days in the
place where he was;_ 7 _then, when this time had passed, he says to
the disciples_, _Let us go into Judea again._ ”
It might be supposed that the remark introduced par... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 7. The δέ which should answer to the μέν of John 11:6 is
omitted, as often in Greek, because the opposition which the μέν
had in view gives place to the simple historical succession; see
_Weiss._ The expression ἔπειτα μετὰ τοῦτο,
literally: _afterwards, after that_, John 11:7, is not a pleonasm... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _The disciples say to him; Master, the Jews were but now seeking
to stone thee, and dost thou return thither?_ 9. _Jesus answered, Are
there not twelve hours in the day? If any one walk during the day, he
does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world;_ 10 _but if
any one walk in the ni... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _He spoke thus, and after this he says to them, Lazarus, our
friend, sleeps; but I go to awaken him._ 12. _Whereupon they said to
him;Lord, if he sleeps, he will recover._ 13. _But Jesus had spoken of
his death, and they thought that he was speaking of the rest of
sleep._ ”
The words ταῦτα εἶπε, _... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Then Jesus therefore said to them openly, Lazarus is dead;_ 15
_and I rejoice for your sakes that I was not there, to the end that
you may believe; but let us go to him._ 16. _Whereupon Thomas, who is
called Didymus, said to his fellow-disciples, Let us also go, that we
may die with him._ ”
After... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Jesus on his arrival found that he had been in the tomb four days
already._ 18. _Now Bethany was near to Jerusalem, at the distance of
about fifteen furlongs;_ 19 _and many of the Jews had come to Martha
and Mary to console them concerning their brother's death._ ”
For the four days, see on John... [ Continue Reading ]
ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.
Vv. 17-27.
1. The opinion of Godet is probably correct, that the death of Lazarus
occurred on the day when the messenger came to Jesus from the sisters,
after he had started from Bethany.
2. The persons referred to in John 11:19 must be regarded as belongi... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet
him; but Mary still sat in the house._ 21. _Martha therefore said to
Jesus: Lord_, _if thou hadst been here, my brother would not have
died;_ 22 _And even now, I know that whatsoever thou shalt ask of God,
God will give it thee._ 23. _... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he that
believes on me, even though he were dead, yet shall he live;_ 26 _and
whosoever lives and believes on me shall never die; believest thou
this?_ ”
Martha has just spoken of the resurrection as of a future _event;_
Jesus sets in opposit... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 27. “ _She says to him, Yes, Lord, I believe that thou art the
Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world._ ”
To see in this confession of Martha, as some have done, only a simple
avowal of a want of understanding with reference to the preceding
words of Jesus: “I do not comprehend... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _And having said this_, _she went away and called Mary, her
sister, secretly, saying, The Master is here and calls thee._ 29.
_She, as soon as she heard this, rises directly and comes to him._ 30.
_Now, Jesus was not yet come into the village, but was still in the
place where Martha had met him._... [ Continue Reading ]
1. There seems to be no sufficient reason to suppose, as many
commentators do, that Jesus had bidden Martha to call her sister
secretly. She acted probably on her own impulse possibly because she
feared a meeting of Jesus with the Jews, but more probably because of
the natural desire that her sister... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _The Jews therefore who were with her in the house and were
comforting her, when they saw that she rose up suddenly and went out,
followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there._
32. _When therefore Mary had come to the place where Jesus was, and
saw him, she fell at his feet... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _When therefore Jesus saw Mary weeping and the Jews who were with
her weeping, he shuddered in his spirit and was troubled_, 34 _and he
said, Where have you laid him. They say unto him, Lord, come and see._
”
The particle _therefore_ establishes a relation of causality between
the grief of Mary an... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Jesus wept._ 36. _The Jews therefore said, Behold how he loved
him._ 37. _But some of them said, could not he who opened the eyes of
the blind, have caused that this man also should not have died?_ ”
The storm has passed; on approaching the tomb Jesus feels only a
tender sympathy for the grief wh... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Jesus therefore, shuddering in himself again, comes to the
sepulchre; it was a cave and a stone was placed before it._ 39. _Jesus
says, Take away the stone. The sister of the dead man Martha, says to
him, Lord, by this time he stinketh; for he has been dead four days._
”
The new inward disturban... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Jesus says to her, Did I not say to thee, that if thou believest
thou shalt see the glory of God?_ 41. _They took away the stone
therefore. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee
that thou hast heard me._ 42. _As for myself, I knew indeed that thou
dost always hear me; but I... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _And after having spoken thus, he cried with a loud voice,
Lazarus, come forth._ 44. _And the dead man came forth, his feet and
hands bound with bandages; and his face was wrapped in a napkin. Jesus
says to them, Loose him and let him go._ ”
The loud voice is the expression of a determined will wh... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Many therefore of the Jews, those who had come to Mary and had
seen that which he had done, believed on him._ 46. _But some of them
went away to the Pharisees and told them that which Jesus had done._
”
Again a division among the spectators, and a still more profound one
than on any of the previo... [ Continue Reading ]
ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.
Vv. 45-53.
1. The result of the miracle was the production of the desired faith,
not only in the sisters and the disciples, but also in many of the
Jews who had come to express their sympathy with Mary. The strict
rules of construction make οἱ ἐλθόντες the s... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _The chief priests and Pharisees therefore gathered an assembly,
and they said, What shall we do? For this man does many miracles._ 48.
_If we let him alone, all will believe on him, and the Romans will
come and they will destroy both our place and nation._ 49. _But one of
them, Caiaphas, who was... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Now he did not say this of himself; but being high-priest of that
year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation_, 52 _and not
for the nation only, but also that he might gather in one body the
children of God who are scattered abroad._ ”
This opinion of the high-priest was made especia... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 53. “ _From this day forth, therefore, they took counsel
together to the end that they might put him to death._ ” The
_therefore_ intimates that the proposition of Caiaphas was accepted
(_Luthardt_), probably in silence and without the intervention of an
official vote. From this day forward, a... [ Continue Reading ]
Jesus is forced to withdraw to a retired place. On their part, the
rulers take a new step in the path on which they have now entered.
VV. 54-57. “ _Jesus therefore abode no more openly among the Jews;
but he departed thence and went into the country near to the
wilderness, into a city called Ephrai... [ Continue Reading ]
VV. 56 vividly depicts the restless curiosity of these country people
who, assembled in groups in the temple, were discussing with reference
to the approaching arrival of Jesus; comp. John 7:12.
῾Εστηκότες, _standing_, in the attitude of expectation.
῞Οτι does not depend on δοκεῖ; it is more natural... [ Continue Reading ]