| 11:1 | A man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. |
| 11:2 | This was the same Mary who massaged the Lord's feet with aromatic oils and then wiped them with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick. |
| 11:3 | So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Master, the one you love so very much is sick." |
| 11:4 | When Jesus got the message, he said, "This sickness is not fatal. It will become an occasion to show God's glory by glorifying God's Son." |
| 11:5 | Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, |
| 11:6 | but oddly, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed on where he was for two more days. |
| 11:7 | After the two days, he said to his disciples, "Let's go back to Judea." |
| 11:8 | They said, "Rabbi, you can't do that. The Jews are out to kill you, and you're going back?" |
| 11:9 | Jesus replied, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in daylight doesn't stumble because there's plenty of light from the sun. |
| 11:10 | Walking at night, he might very well stumble because he can't see where he's going." |
| 11:11 | He said these things, and then announced, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. I'm going to wake him up." |
| 11:12 | The disciples said, "Master, if he's gone to sleep, he'll get a good rest and wake up feeling fine." |
| 11:13 | Jesus was talking about death, while his disciples thought he was talking about taking a nap. |
| 11:14 | Then Jesus became explicit: "Lazarus died. |
| 11:15 | And I am glad for your sakes that I wasn't there. You're about to be given new grounds for believing. Now let's go to him." |
| 11:16 | That's when Thomas, the one called the Twin, said to his companions, "Come along. We might as well die with him." |
| 11:17 | When Jesus finally got there, he found Lazarus already four days dead. |
| 11:18 | Bethany was near Jerusalem, only a couple of miles away, |
| 11:19 | and many of the Jews were visiting Martha and Mary, sympathizing with them over their brother. |
| 11:20 | Martha heard Jesus was coming and went out to meet him. Mary remained in the house. |
| 11:21 | Martha said, "Master, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died. |
| 11:22 | Even now, I know that whatever you ask God he will give you." |
| 11:23 | Jesus said, "Your brother will be raised up." |
| 11:24 | Martha replied, "I know that he will be raised up in the resurrection at the end of time." |
| 11:25 | "You don't have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. |
| 11:26 | And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?" |
| 11:27 | "Yes, Master. All along I have believed that you are the Messiah, the Son of God who comes into the world." |
| 11:28 | After saying this, she went to her sister Mary and whispered in her ear, "The Teacher is here and is asking for you." |
| 11:29 | The moment she heard that, she jumped up and ran out to him. |
| 11:30 | Jesus had not yet entered the town but was still at the place where Martha had met him. |
| 11:31 | When her sympathizing Jewish friends saw Mary run off, they followed her, thinking she was on her way to the tomb to weep there. |
| 11:32 | Mary came to where Jesus was waiting and fell at his feet, saying, "Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died." |
| 11:33 | When Jesus saw her sobbing and the Jews with her sobbing, a deep anger welled up within him. |
| 11:34 | He said, "Where did you put him?" "Master, come and see," they said. |
| 11:35 | Now Jesus wept. |
| 11:36 | The Jews said, "Look how deeply he loved him." |
| 11:37 | Others among them said, "Well, if he loved him so much, why didn't he do something to keep him from dying? After all, he opened the eyes of a blind man." |
| 11:38 | Then Jesus, the anger again welling up within him, arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside with a slab of stone laid against it. |
| 11:39 | Jesus said, "Remove the stone." The sister of the dead man, Martha, said, "Master, by this time there's a stench. He's been dead four days!" |
| 11:40 | Jesus looked her in the eye. "Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" |
| 11:41 | Then, to the others, "Go ahead, take away the stone." They removed the stone. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed, "Father, I'm grateful that you have listened to me. |
| 11:42 | I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I've spoken so that they might believe that you sent me." |
| 11:43 | Then he shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" |
| 11:44 | And he came out, a cadaver, wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face. Jesus told them, "Unwrap him and let him loose." |
| 11:45 | That was a turnaround for many of the Jews who were with Mary. They saw what Jesus did, and believed in him. |
| 11:46 | But some went back to the Pharisees and told on Jesus. |
| 11:47 | The high priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the Jewish ruling body. "What do we do now?" they asked. "This man keeps on doing things, creating God-signs. |
| 11:48 | If we let him go on, pretty soon everyone will be believing in him and the Romans will come and remove what little power and privilege we still have." |
| 11:49 | Then one of them--it was Caiaphas, the designated Chief Priest that year--spoke up, "Don't you know anything? |
| 11:50 | Can't you see that it's to our advantage that one man dies for the people rather than the whole nation be destroyed?" |
| 11:51 | He didn't say this of his own accord, but as Chief Priest that year he unwittingly prophesied that Jesus was about to die sacrificially for the nation, |
| 11:52 | and not only for the nation but so that all God's exile-scattered children might be gathered together into one people. |
| 11:53 | From that day on, they plotted to kill him. |
| 11:54 | So Jesus no longer went out in public among the Jews. He withdrew into the country bordering the desert to a town called Ephraim and secluded himself there with his disciples. |
| 11:55 | The Jewish Passover was coming up. Crowds of people were making their way from the country up to Jerusalem to get themselves ready for the Feast. |
| 11:56 | They were curious about Jesus. There was a lot of talk of him among those standing around in the Temple: "What do you think? Do you think he'll show up at the Feast or not?" |
| 11:57 | Meanwhile, the high priests and Pharisees gave out the word that anyone getting wind of him should inform them. They were all set to arrest him. |
Yohanes 11 - The Message Bible
