Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus.
ηγαπα δε ο ιησους την μαρθαν και την αδελφην αυτης και τον λαζαρον
9 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Having set forth the virtue of the women, the Evangelist notes that they rightly enjoyed the Savior's love. There is nothing surprising in this, if illness and death also befall those whom God loves. These are common sufferings that occur because of natural weakness. Yet a certain special grace is given to those who love God, so that they endure afflictions without difficulty.
This Lazarus is withering away, these Mary and Martha are sorrowing, and all are beloved. The Savior loved them as they were withering, and He is even the Raiser of the dead and the Comforter of those who mourn.
The one weakened, and those filled with grief, are all loved by Him. For He loved them as the Savior of the weak, indeed as the Raiser of the dead and the Comforter of the sorrowful.
That Lazarus was His friend is plainly seen. For it is said, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." Who is so blessed as the one loved by Christ, who is love itself?
And what wonder is it if women, who were men in spirit, were loved by Him who came to call all to Himself? He loved them so greatly that He distinguished the miracle worked upon their brother above the other miracles by the greatness of the deed.
Near Jerusalem, no more than three quarters of an hour's journey away, in a village called Bethany, one member of a family loved by the Lord and visited by Him from time to time became gravely ill, Lk 10. This was Lazarus, who had two sisters known to us, Martha and Mary.
Since the Lord was now no more than one day's distance from them, the sisters, seeing the danger, sent to inform Him that Lazarus, whom He loved, was sick. Of course they intended to receive help from Him.
When He received this news, the Lord only answered the sisters that this sickness was not unto death. It was to serve the manifestation of the glory of God, namely, that the glory of the Son of Man might be revealed.
At first sight, this was an answer after which neither the sisters nor the disciples who heard Him had any reason to fear for Lazarus's life.
What, then, were the sisters to think about this consoling answer when, perhaps that very evening after it was given, Lazarus died? Both Martha and Mary acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. What a trial this was for their faith.
For some time, probably, they were convinced that the Lord's words could not be in vain. Therefore they waited to see whether Lazarus's life might somehow return. But time passed. There were no signs of life in the dead man, and he probably had begun to change. Therefore they resolved to bury him according to custom.
This follows, among other things, from the following consideration. When the Lord received word of Lazarus's sickness, remained two days in the place, and then went to Bethany, He already found Lazarus four days dead.
But it rests chiefly on the known distance between the two places. John's dwelling-place in Perea could not have been far from the Jordan. And from the Jordan, at the place where John baptized, it is not far to Bethany.
Lazarus's sisters probably heard that Jesus Christ was not far from them in Perea, and they sent to inform Him of the sickness of their brother, whom He loved.
On the one hand, they were not unaware that danger of death threatened Jesus Christ in Judea. On the other, they believed that He could heal even from afar. Therefore they did not ask Him to come to them and heal their brother. They only informed Him of the latter's sickness.
In response to this report, Jesus Christ says: "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that through it the Son of God may be glorified." By this He consoled Mary and Martha, and also their friends who were messengers, by giving the promise that Lazarus would not die.
When Lazarus did die, these words of Jesus Christ should have planted some hope in the dead man's sisters. The Lord would raise him from the dead, as He had raised the son of the widow of Nain and the daughter of Jairus.
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.
But Jesus not only did not hasten to Bethany. He even deliberately remained for two days in the place where the news of Lazarus's sickness had reached Him. And so that the Apostles might understand such slowness on His part, He told them that Lazarus's sickness was not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified through it.
Jesus knew that Lazarus would die. If He said that his sickness was not unto death, it was because He intended to raise him. Therefore this sickness would not end in that death which forever cuts short a man's earthly life.
He knew that by the raising of the dead Lazarus God would be glorified. He also knew that this glory would glorify Him, the Son of God, who performed such a miracle.
"That the Son of God may be glorified through it," that is, through Lazarus's sickness. With these words Jesus again declared Himself to be the Son of God. Yet Count Tolstoy and others still try to persuade their blind admirers that Jesus never called Himself the Son of God.
The request was urgent, but Christ did not set out at once. Occupied with His great work of spiritually enlightening men, He only sent word that "this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God." He then remained in Perea two more days. Only after they had passed did He say to His disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."
Verses 4-7. "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." The Lord Jesus already saw Lazarus as dead. This is said a little later, in Jn 11:14.
Why, then, does He say that the sickness is not unto death? Because in His eyes the future is the same as the present. He already sees that the dead man has risen for the glory of the Son of God.
Why was it not said directly that Lazarus would die, if he had not yet died? It was not said for the disciples' sake. Otherwise they might have been troubled that their Teacher did not hasten to help the family He loved, and even delayed His journey, v. 6.
Nor was it said for Lazarus's sisters. On the one hand, He would not burden their hearts with the heavy truth. On the other, He would sustain their faith in its struggle with bitter reality.
"Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." His love is seen also in His care for the inward state of the sisters. And this was a rare family. Even before Lazarus's death, his sisters received the Lord Jesus in their house with all tender love.
Each showed Him love in her own way. One did so by busy care for His refreshment, the other by listening to His instruction and forgetting the earth. Then Jesus Himself also showed His love to the loving sisters. He gave them instruction needful for their souls, Lk 10:38-42.
Since Lazarus is mentioned last in the family, while Martha is named before the others, one must suppose that Lazarus was the youngest member of the good household, and that Martha was older than both Mary and Lazarus.
"Then He remained in the place where He was two days." Why did He remain? "So that Lazarus might die and be buried, lest anyone say that He raised him while he had not yet died. It might be said that it was only deep sleep, paralysis, or loss of consciousness, but not death. For this reason He remained so long that even corruption set in, so that they said, 'He already stinks.'" Thus reasons St. Chrysostom.
Yet from the meaning of the Evangelist's words, and from the nature of the matter, it is more accurate to think that the Savior was kept in Perea by the works of His calling, which had to be completed. The end of His ministry was near, while He could raise Lazarus equally after a day or after a week.
The result of His two-day stay in Perea, indicated by Chrysostom, came of itself, apart from the Savior's efforts. It served the glory of the preacher of truth, who had no need of forced measures for His own glory.
Verses three and five together explain why Lazarus's sisters 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, blameless in life, true of heart, and warm in faith toward the Lord.
We do not at all mean to say that, if Mary had been a sinner, the Lord would have turned away from this family. But we think there is not the slightest basis for identifying Mary of this honorable household with the harlot. See below, v. 19, on the arrival of many Jews for consolation. The Jews certainly would not have gone to the house of a harlot.
When they sent word to the Lord about Lazarus's sickness, his sisters added no request, leaving the future to the Lord. Sufficit ut noveris, says blessed Augustine on this place, non enim amas et deseris. It is enough that Thou knowest, for Thou lovest and wilt not abandon without help.
Yet in this sending there was a silent plea, and the Lord answers the thoughts of those who sent it. Of course everything was known to the Lord. Yet, remaining within the bounds of human life, He first hears the messenger's words and then replies.
He does this so that His words may be carried back as consolation to Lazarus's sisters by the messenger, who was to return at once. The Lord answers: "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified."
The whole of chapter 11 has this meaning, as St. John Chrysostom indicates in Homily 62 on John. The Lord's delay in the place where He was, and His arrival only after Lazarus's death, had one aim.
They were to impress more deeply and powerfully upon the minds of the disciples and of the Jews who had come to Bethany the meaning of the miracle, the majesty of Him who performed it, and His complete identity with the Father.
"I and the Father are one," He had said, and the Jews took up stones. Here many of those same Jews would be present at an event that can be understood and named only as an act of creation.
The words spoken by the Lord in Perea, or beyond the Jordan, to the messenger had to awaken faith in the sick man's relatives and in those who heard. The messenger had to return to Bethany two days before the Lord. Verse 6 says that the Lord remained in the place two days, while the messenger of course returned immediately. If he walked quickly, and perhaps even rode, he could have arrived three or four days before the Lord. Compare v. 17 and the explanation.
Those words also had to set this faith to the test. Yet the Lord was preparing weak men for great joy. This joy was not in Lazarus's resurrection alone, for that was a secondary feeling.
Great joy seized the hearts of the disciples and Lazarus's sisters when they saw the glory of God overshadowing the Lord Jesus. Every wavering of their soul vanished like marsh mist scattered by the brightness of the sun.
"If you believe, you will see the glory of God," the Lord said to Martha, v. 40.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 13 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS