John 11:23Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Notice what Christ answers: "Your brother will rise again." By this He for the moment refutes the words, "Whatever You ask." He did not say, "I will ask." What then did He say? "Your brother will rise again." If He had said, "Woman, are you still looking downward? I have no need of another's help. I do all things by Myself," this would have been very hard and unpleasant for the woman. But by saying, "He will rise again," He naturally made His word more measured. By the words that follow, He also gives to understand what I have said above.

The Lord, refuting this understanding of hers, says, "Your brother will rise again." He did not say to her, "Yes, I will ask God, and He will give Me." Nor did He agree with her words. He used a measured expression. Then He sets forth His power and authority much more clearly, saying, "I am the resurrection and the life."

And the Lord, in His humility, did not say, "I will raise your brother," but, "He will rise." In this way He indirectly reproved her, as though saying: he will rise, as you desire, but not as you think.

If you think to obtain this through prayer and petition, then offer prayers. But do not command Me, the Wonderworker, who can raise the dead man by My own power.

When the woman heard this, she feared to say, "Raise him now." Yet, in a certain way urging Him to do this at once, she seems to express dissatisfaction with the delay.

She says: "I know that he will rise in the last day, but I desire to see my brother's resurrection before that time."

This was ambiguous. For He did not say, "I will raise your brother now." Rather, He said, "Your brother will rise again."

Martha, again you know, yet you do not know. Martha, do you know that you do not know that your brother can rise here and now? Or can God, who will then raise all, not now raise one alone from the dead? God can, God can raise one from the dead as a sign of that time. God, who will then raise all to eternal life, can do this. Martha, before you stands the Resurrection which you put off to times so far away.

Gracious words. They bring a twofold benefit. They not only correct her error, but also soften the harshness of grief. "Your brother will rise again." To avoid vainglory, He did not say, "I will raise your brother," but, "Your brother will rise again." "Your brother will rise again." He said this also in refutation of her words: "I know that whatever You ask of God. God will give You." "Your brother will rise again." He reveals to her the power of His dominion and teaches her not to be hasty in speech when the matter touches God.

In Bethany Martha met them, always occupied with household cares. As soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, she went out of the house to Him, even out of the village.

From this it was clear that her faith and love for Jesus had not disappeared. This remained true even after Jesus' word concerning Lazarus' illness had apparently not been fulfilled.

Meanwhile Mary, plunged into her sorrow and noticing nothing that was happening around her, remained at home.

As soon as Martha saw Jesus, the sight of Him stirred two thoughts in her soul. One was the loss of her brother. The other was the power of Jesus to preserve his life, which He nevertheless had not wished to show.

"If You had been here, my brother would not have died," she said with grief.

When Jesus Christ came to Bethany, Lazarus had already been four days in the tomb. At that time the customary seven-day mourning for the dead was still continuing among the Hebrews.

In the house of Martha and Mary there were many acquaintances and relatives. Among them were many who had come from Jerusalem, since Bethany was not far from Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away.

When Martha heard that Jesus Christ was approaching their village, she went out to meet Him. Mary continued to remain at home, among the relatives and acquaintances who shared her grief over her dead brother.

Meeting the Lord, Martha expressed her sorrow before Him that He had not been there earlier. "For," she said, "then my brother would not have died."

"Your brother will rise again," Jesus said to her. Lazarus will rise. This was precisely what she had dreamed of. This was what she had hinted to Jesus when she said, "I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."

The Savior immediately confirmed her faith with a solemn declaration. "Your brother will rise again," He said, deliberately using an indefinite expression in order to lift Martha's faith from simple personal interest to loftier thoughts.

"Your brother will rise again." In Martha's expression of her faith in the Lord there was more force than light. In her there was a noticeable personal attachment to her brother.

The Lord wishes to raise her faith higher. He frees it from the excess of this sensory attachment, transfers its object into the realm of the one thing needful, and concentrates it on the greatness of His person.

"Your brother will rise again," says the Lord. Without doubt, He has in mind the miracle of resurrection that is about to take place at once (Jn 11:4, 11).

Yet the expression is so general and indefinite in this respect that it could be understood as an ordinary general consolation. He speaks in the third person, without naming a time.

The Lord prepares Martha for the great miracle that is about to take place, a miracle also fearful for men. He first speaks in a veiled way about her brother's resurrection, without defining the time of this resurrection.

Martha has much faith and much love. Yet she does not yet understand the complete identity of the Father and the Son, who reveals the Father in the humble form of man.

She still says: "God will give You whatever You ask." Yet she does not dare to hope that the Lord Jesus would ask God for her brother's resurrection now.

She believes in the general resurrection of the dead. She believes in the Lord's power. But of course she does not know those unsearchable judgments of God by which Lazarus' earthly resurrection had been foreordained.