John 11:31Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Meanwhile she does not go alone, but draws after her the Jews who were in the house.

Therefore her sister acted very wisely in calling her secretly, so as not to disturb those assembled. She did not say why, otherwise many would have gone away.

But now all followed her, supposing that she was going to weep. Perhaps through this also the Evangelist again confirms that Lazarus was truly dead.

Martha heard and believed. She urges her sister, and all run together, weeping and having come for consolation.

Again Jesus is among the people, everywhere helping believers in their troubles, both at the wedding and in sorrow.

Since the miracle about to be performed was great, had not been performed many times, and was to bring benefit to many, the Lord arranges that many become witnesses of the miracle. For the evangelist says that the Jews who were with her in the house followed her. Mary came to Christ with greater fervor than her sister Martha. Therefore let the sisters and kinswomen of the dead mind come to Christ and fall down before Him: the flesh, like Martha, for Martha is more bodily and material; and the soul, like Mary, for Mary is more devout and reverent. Let them lead after themselves the thoughts of confession, as those women led the Jews. For Judah means confession.

Therefore the Jews who were present, thinking that she was hurrying to the tomb to grieve over her brother's death, followed her. They did this at God's prompting, so that even against their will they might come together to behold the miracle. For if this had not happened according to God's dispensation, the evangelist would not have mentioned it. Nor would he have described every particular circumstance of each event, unless he were everywhere concerned for the truth. Thus he indicated the reason why many came to the tomb, became spectators of the miracle, and proclaimed it to others.

Why did the evangelist decide to tell us this? So that we might see why many were there when Lazarus rose. Indeed, the Jews, supposing that she was hurrying to find consolation for her grief in tears, followed her. Thus the very great miracle of the resurrection of a man already four days dead had many witnesses.

They followed Mary, fearing that she might do something to herself. Yet they became witnesses of the miracle against whom nothing could be objected.

Mary weeps, the Jews weep, and Christ also weeps. Do you think all weep from the same feelings?

Let it be that Mary, the sister, wept because she could not cling to her brother and could not defend him from death.

Even if she did not doubt the resurrection, she still could not help weeping. She was inconsolable at that moment, because the delay meant that his absence would continue, and because she grieved that he was separated from God.

Moreover, the appearance of death is so fierce, so ominous, and so immeasurably cruel, that it cannot fail to affect and move any mind, however full of faith it may be.

The Jews wept, remembering their own condition, as those crushed by despair concerning the future life.

When the Jews who were with Mary saw that she rose quickly and went out of the house at once, they thought she was hastening to her brother's tomb in order to weep and lament there over him. They followed her, intending to turn her away from tears. This was the work of Providence, which wished them also to be present, so that the miracle performed before their eyes would not remain unattested.

After this she hastened to her sister and said to her, "The Teacher is asking for you," although He had not asked for her at all.

Mary was immersed in her grief. Only love for Him whose words she was accustomed to receive with calm devotion was strong enough to draw her out of her condition.

She hastened to Jesus, who was still outside the village. Her first words were the same as Martha's. It was clear how much they had occupied themselves with this thought until now.

But these words, pronounced with tears by Mary as she fell at the feet of Jesus, were full of deeper feeling than in Martha's mouth.

There was no reproach in them. Both grief and devotion were expressed more fully than in Martha. Having spoken them, Mary could say no more.

After this conversation with the Lord, Martha went to the house and told Mary secretly, because in the house there were also persons unfavorably disposed toward the Lord, that the Teacher was here and was calling her.

When Mary, rejoicing at this news, quickly rose and went, the Jews who were in her house thought that she had gone to the tomb of Lazarus. They followed her.

When she came to the Lord, Mary fell at His feet and expressed to Him the same regret with which Martha had met Jesus.

When He saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her weeping, He Himself sorrowed in spirit and was troubled.

In response to Mary He asked, "Where have you laid him?" "Come and see, Lord," they answered Him.

The Raising of Lazarus. The greatest miracle was about to be performed. By this miracle Jesus wished to turn toward Himself the hearts of those who had not yet believed in Him, and to give His enemies the possibility of coming to themselves and repenting.

Therefore He not only did not avoid performing it publicly, but even sent Martha for her sister Mary. He remained, awaiting her and her companions, in the very place where Martha had met Him.

Although Martha called Mary secretly, the haste with which Mary rose and went compelled the Jews who were consoling her to follow her.

As the Evangelist explains, they thought she had gone to her brother's tomb to weep. Therefore they also went after her.

This conversation completely encouraged her, and she went for her sister Mary. Secretly she told her the joyful news: "The Teacher is here and is calling you." Mary immediately went at her sister's direction. Seeing her beloved Teacher and Lord, she fell at His feet and said with a crushed heart the same thing as her sister: "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."

They followed her, and so forth. Such was the custom: to accompany relatives to the tomb and to console them not only in the house, but also at the grave.

Verses 31-38. "When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He rebuked His spirit and troubled Himself."

Ενεβριμησατο τω πνευματι και εταραξεν εαυτόν. Ενεβριμ. means either "He was indignant" or "He sorrowed."

Admitting the first meaning, some thought that Jesus was displeased either with the unbelief of the Jews, as Theodore of Mopsuestia and Leontius say, or with the disturbance of His own soul, as Chrysostom, Apollinarius, and Euthymius say.

But this is not justified by the context. The ancient versions, Coptic and Arabic, have: "He was grieved in soul and troubled Himself."

Having met the Lord, Martha hastens to her sister to share with her the news that could console her amid grief. Yet she tells her sister only in a whisper that the Lord is here, as if avoiding speaking of it before the Jerusalem Jews.

Mary also apparently does not wish to tell them this news. She probably wants to fall at the Lord's feet and pour out her grief before Him without witnesses.

But the glorious miracle that was impending had to take place before a considerable number of people. Moreover, most of these people were hostile to the Lord.

The Jews, thinking that Mary was going to Lazarus' tomb to weep for her brother, follow her. Unexpectedly for themselves, they meet face to face with the Lord Jesus, whom they were seeking to kill.