John 11:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

“Behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick.” The sisters of Lazarus wanted to awaken compassion in Christ, because they still looked upon Him as a man.

This is evident from their words: “If Thou hadst been here, he would not have died” (Jn 11:21). It is also evident from the fact that they did not say, “Behold, Lazarus is sick,” but “Behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick.”

Lazarus was sick, and disease was overcoming him. The pious women, Mary and Martha, were not confounded by this calamity.

They did not despair before the assaults of the illness. They did not seek medicines, nor call neighbors or a physician, since it was needless to seek any physician when they had Jesus.

Why then do they send to call Jesus, and not go to Him themselves, like the centurion and the royal official?

Because they firmly trusted in Christ, because they were weak women and it was not proper for them to leave the house, and because they too were held by grief and occupied with care for their brother.

That they did this not from negligence is clear from what follows, for they show Christ great honor and reverence and bring a firm prayer.

“Behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick.” They speak thus in order, by the name of friendship, more surely to incline the Lord to compassion.

This expression of these women also reveals a certain faith in them. They are so confident in the greatness of the Lord’s power that it seems strange to them that sickness has touched a man loved by Him.

For it somehow appears astonishing that the one whom Thou, O Lord, lovest should be sick.

The women send to the Lord, always desiring to have Him near them, and now having a fitting pretext in the sick man.

They thought that as soon as Christ appeared, the one lying sick would be freed from his illness. They also remind Him of the love He had for the sick man, especially drawing Him to themselves by this.

They knew that He cared for Lazarus. Although, as God and Almighty, He could heal him even while absent, they thought He needed to be present, lay His hand upon him, and raise him from illness.

Their faith was not yet perfect. Therefore it seems they were also displeased, thinking that Lazarus would not have fallen ill at all if Christ had not shown negligence toward him by His absence.

What then did his sisters report? “Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick.” They did not say, “Come,” for it was enough to announce this much to the One who loved him.

They did not dare to say, “Come, heal him.” They did not dare to say, “Command there, and it will happen here.”

Are they not worthy of praise, when for the same reason the faith of the centurion is deemed worthy of praise? Behold, he says: “I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof, but only speak the word, and my servant shall be healed” (Mt 8:8).

They said nothing of this kind, but only: “Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick.” As if to say: “It is enough for Thee to know. For Thou art not One who first loves and then abandons.”

One of the Lord's acquaintances and friends was sick, and the sick man's name was Lazarus. The Lord refuses to visit His friend, remaining far from the sick man, so that, in the absence of Life, death might find opportunity and power through illness to do its work.

They did not go themselves, but sent, because they were fully confident that Jesus Christ, being bound in friendship to their household, would help them. Besides this, they were women, weak by nature, and at that time they were deeply grieved.

That they did not send to Jesus Christ out of any disregard for Him, they themselves later showed when they went out to meet Him with great haste.

"Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick." The sisters spoke this way because they wished to stir compassion in Jesus Christ. They were still looking upon Him as a man, though a great one, and not yet as God.

He who always believes can accomplish what he wishes, when he possesses faith that has power over all things. Through such faith he receives from Christ power over what he seeks.

For faith is a great possession. Having it, a man is powerful over everything. Mary and Martha had this and boasted in it.

When they saw their faithful brother Lazarus ailing, they sent this message to the Creator: “Hurry, they said, Master, for he whom Thou lovest is ill. Come quickly, and he will be saved.

For if Thou showest Thy face, he will arise. He will rise, saying: Thou art life and resurrection.”

The women, through their faith, surrounded Christ and God and announced beforehand the death of their brother, saying this: “Hurry, come beforehand, Thou who art always present among all.

That Lazarus was sick belongs to the common weakness of human nature. For the visible part of man, being made of clay and earth, naturally has many infirmities that trouble the soul and burden the body.

The sisters of Lazarus probably heard that Jesus Christ was not far from them in Perea, and they sent to inform Him of the illness of their brother, whom He loved.

On the one hand, they knew that in Judea Jesus Christ was threatened with the danger of death. On the other hand, they believed that He could perform a healing even from afar.

Therefore they did not express a request that He come to them and heal their brother, but only informed Him of the latter’s illness.

In reply to this message, Jesus Christ says: “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

By this He comforted Mary and Martha, as well as their friends who were the messengers, giving a promise that Lazarus would not die.

The news of Lazarus’s illness. Jesus was approaching Jerusalem and was already not far from Bethany, a village on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives, where Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, lived (Lk 10:38-42).

Lazarus was sick. Therefore his sisters, hearing of Jesus’ approach, sent to tell Him this, hoping, of course, that He would hurry to them and heal the sick man.

Jesus loved the whole family of Lazarus. Whenever He journeyed to Jerusalem, He would stop at his house to rest from the noise of the crowd that followed Him everywhere.

When He was approaching the border of Judea, He received sorrowful news from Bethany (see Lk 10:38-42): the one whom He loved "was dangerously ill" (Jn 11:1-16). With this news, Lazarus's sisters sent a special messenger to Him. Seeing no hope for their beloved brother's recovery, they asked Christ to come to them as soon as possible. By His divine participation, they hoped He might somehow help them in the grief that had befallen them. On Mary's anointing, see Jn 12.

The sisters sent to say, and so forth. Martha and Mary probably learned that the Lord was not very far from them, not in Galilee but in Perea.

They sent to inform Him of the illness of their brother, whom He loved. Their thought, partly expressed in the words “whom Thou lovest,” was undoubtedly this: the Lord, the Wonderworker, once He learned of His friend’s illness, would heal him.

They do not invite the Lord to come to them. Of course they knew what danger He had recently faced in Jerusalem, and what danger, in their opinion, He might again face if He appeared near Jerusalem.

They were also convinced that He could grant healing to their brother from afar, as had happened before, cf. Jn 4:46 and following.

The raising of Lazarus, Jn 11:1-57. Verses 1-3. St. John passes over in silence the period from the Feast of Dedication, at the end of December, to the resurrection of Lazarus, which took place about two weeks before Pascha.

The deeds and teachings of these three months are described by the other Evangelists: Lk 13-18, Mk 10, Mt 23:37-39, Mt 19:3-12, and Mt 24:26-41.

Here also, as in other cases, the Evangelists’ narratives agree with one another. According to Luke, Lk 17:11, Jesus, “as He went to Jerusalem, passed between Samaria and Galilee.”

That is, He passed along the southern border of Samaria, and therefore through the very region indicated by St. John when he said that Jesus withdrew to Perea, Jn 10:40-42.

The third and fifth verses together explain why the sisters of Lazarus resolved to send a special messenger to the Lord Jesus with news of their brother’s grave illness.

The Lord loved this family. This alone proves that it was an honorable family, of blameless life, with a truthful heart and warm faith in the Lord.

We by no means intend to say that if Mary had been a sinner, the Lord would have turned away from this family.

But we do think that there is not the slightest basis for identifying Mary, from an honorable family, with the harlot. See below, verse 19, concerning the arrival of many Jews to console them.