John 11 Commentary: The Raising of Lazarus – “I Am the Resurrection and the Life”
John 11 reveals Jesus’ divine power over death through the raising of Lazarus. The raising of Lazarus constitutes the final and ultimate messianic “sign” of Jesus in this Gospel. This spectacular miracle (recorded only by John) anticipates Jesus’ own resurrection and reveals Jesus as “the resurrection and the life” (11:25). The raising of Lazarus also serves as a final event triggering the Jewish leaders’ resolve to have Jesus arrested and tried for blasphemy (11:45–57).
The key theme: Jesus has absolute authority over life and death.
John 11 — J. Vernon McGee Commentary Summary
Dr. J. Vernon McGee viewed John 11 as “the crowning miracle of our Lord’s earthly ministry.” It serves a dual purpose: it reveals the glory of Christ as the Resurrection and the Life, and it precipitates His crucifixion—because after this miracle, the religious leaders resolve to kill Him.
J. Vernon McGee: “The raising of Lazarus is the last public miracle Jesus performed, and it sealed His death warrant. The One who could raise the dead had to die Himself.”
McGee emphasized the chapter’s personal and pastoral nature: “You can’t study John 11 without realizing how much Jesus loves His friends.”
Verses 1–6 – The Sickness and Delay
Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, falls sick. The sisters send word: “Lord, he whom You love is ill.” Yet Jesus stays where He is two more days. His delay is deliberate—not neglect but purpose: “It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
- Augustine: “When the Lord delays, it is not from neglect but from design. He was more powerful in absence than in presence.”
- J.C. Ryle: “Christ’s delays are not denials. He waits that He may act at the right time and in the right way.”
- NIV Study Note: Jesus’ delay in coming to Bethany is purposeful, not neglectful. The statement “for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it” (v.4) means that the sickness would reveal Christ’s divine identity through the coming miracle. The NIV notes stress that love and delay coexist—Jesus’ love for Mary, Martha, and Lazarus doesn’t prevent suffering but transforms it into a setting for God’s glory. “Delays in divine response are never denials; they often serve greater purposes in God’s plan.”
- ESV Note: So (Gk. oun, “so, therefore”) shows the reason why Jesus stayed two days longer: he allowed his friends to go through the sorrow and hardship of the death and mourning of Lazarus because he loved them and wanted them to witness an amazing demonstration of Jesus’ power over death, thus seeing “his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father” (1:14). The Lord does not always answer prayers as expected.
- Charles Spurgeon: “When the Lord seems slow, He is only preparing a greater blessing.”
- John Calvin: “The sickness was ordained not to end in death, but to manifest the divine glory through the Son.”
- Oswald Chambers: “God’s purpose is never the event—it is the revelation of Himself through the event.”
- John MacArthur: “Jesus delays because His purpose is not to prevent death but to conquer it.”
- John Wesley: “The love of Christ does not exempt from trial; it sanctifies the trial.”
- Billy Graham: “When we wait on God, we’re not waiting for time to pass—we’re waiting for His purpose to unfold.”
- A.W. Tozer: “God’s seeming slowness is His precision. He never hurries because He never errs.”
- J. Vernon McGee: “He loved them enough to let them go through the trial. Sometimes love lets sorrow come so that faith can grow.” Faith doesn’t always get explanations, but it always gets Jesus.
Discipleship Reflection: Divine delays test our faith but also enlarge it. Waiting is one of God’s tools for revealing His glory.
Verses 7–16 – Returning to Judea
The disciples protest: “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?” Jesus replies, “Are there not twelve hours in the day?” He is safe while walking in His Father’s will. Thomas, often remembered for doubt, here shows devotion: “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”
- Chrysostom: Saw Jesus’ return to Judea as the model of fearless obedience: “He goes to meet death not as one compelled, but as one commanding.”
- NIV Study Note: Thomas’s comment (“Let us also go, that we may die with Him”) shows loyalty but misunderstanding—he expects danger, not resurrection. “Faith often follows Christ without full understanding but grows through obedience.”
- J. Vernon McGee: “Thomas had great loyalty but little light. He’s ready to die for the Lord—but not yet ready to live by faith in the resurrection.” Courage without understanding is still commendable when it walks in the light of loyalty.
- Gregory the Great: “Thomas, though slow to understand, was quick to love. The flame of affection burned where the light of faith was dim.”
- Oswald Chambers: “The light of obedience is the only light God gives. Step out in it, and you will know more.”
- J.C. Ryle: “The child of God is immortal until his work is done.”
- Charles Spurgeon: “Courage born of love will go anywhere with Christ.”
- John Calvin: “Christ moves toward danger not recklessly, but in obedience to the Father’s time.”
- John MacArthur: “Jesus’ mission is governed by divine timing, not human threat.”
Discipleship Reflection: When we walk in God’s light, obedience is safer than caution. The will of God is our only true security.
Verses 17–27 – Jesus and Martha
By the time Jesus arrives, Lazarus has been dead four days. Though burial usually followed soon after death (see Acts 5:6, 10), some later Jewish sources indicate a belief that the soul hovered over the body for three days, hoping to reenter it, but then gave up and departed. Martha meets Him, saying, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus replies, “Your brother will rise again.” She affirms future resurrection, but Jesus declares, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live.”
- J. Vernon McGee: Jesus draws her from theological knowledge to personal trust: “Do you believe this?” “It’s not believing a creed—it’s believing Christ. That’s the question for every heart.”
- J.C. Ryle: “Faith must rest not merely in what Christ can do, but in what Christ is.”
- Charles Spurgeon: “He does not say, ‘I will give life,’ but ‘I am the Life.’ Resurrection is not an event—it is a Person.”
- ESV Note: Jesus does not merely say that he will bring about the resurrection or that he will be the cause of the resurrection (both of which are true), but something much stronger: I am the resurrection and the life. Resurrection from the dead and genuine eternal life in fellowship with God are so closely tied to Jesus that they are embodied in him and can be found only in relationship to him. Therefore believes in me implies personal trust in Christ. The preposition translated “in” (Gk. eis) is striking, for eis ordinarily means “into,” giving the sense that genuine faith in Christ in a sense brings people “into” Christ, so that they rest in and become united with Christ. (This same expression is found in 3:16, 18, 36; 6:35; 7:38; 12:44, 46; 14:12; 1 John 5:10.) The “I am” statement here represents a claim to deity.
- John Calvin: “Christ does not speak of distant hope but of present power—He is life itself.”
- Cyril of Alexandria: “The words, ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life,’ reveal that Christ is not a minister of resurrection but its very source.”
- John MacArthur: “Jesus proclaims His deity by identifying Himself as the source and author of all life.”
- John Wesley: “Belief in Christ transfers the soul from death to life even before the body rises.”
- Ambrose (4th century): “Faith lifted Martha from grief to grace; she learned that the dead shall live because Life Himself had entered her home.”
- Billy Graham: “Eternal life begins the moment we believe. Death is not the end but a doorway to glory.”
- A.W. Tozer: “Christ is not simply the restorer of life; He is the essence of life. To know Him is to live in the power of an endless life.”
Discipleship Reflection: Faith sees beyond the grave because it rests in the Person who has conquered it. Resurrection life starts now, not later.
Verses 28–37 – Jesus and Mary
Mary comes weeping, followed by others mourning. When Jesus sees her, He is “deeply moved in spirit and troubled,” and He weeps. The crowd says, “See how He loved him!” Some wonder why He did not prevent the death.
- J.C. Ryle: “The tears of Christ are the sympathy of God. He wept that we might know He understands our grief.”
- Charles Spurgeon: “Jesus wept not because He despaired, but because He entered into the sorrow of others.”
- Oswald Chambers: “Never mistake the tenderness of Christ for weakness; His compassion is the strength of God in human form.”
- NIV Study Note: “Jesus’ tears show that divine sovereignty and human sympathy coexist perfectly in Him.” Jesus’ emotions—He was “deeply moved in spirit and troubled” (v.33)—show genuine compassion and divine empathy. The shortest verse, “Jesus wept” (v.35), demonstrates the full humanity of Christ: He feels our pain even while possessing full power over it.
- ESV Note: The Greek word underlying deeply moved, embrimaomai (elsewhere in the NT only in v. 38; Matt. 9:30 [“sternly warned”]; Mark 1:43 [“sternly charged”]; and Mark 14:5 [“scolded”]), means to feel something deeply and strongly. Jesus was moved with profound sorrow at the death of his friend and at the grief that his other friends had suffered. In addition, this sorrow was intermixed with anger (see ESV footnote) at the evil of death (the final enemy; see 1 Cor. 15:26; Rev. 21:4), and also with a deep sense of awe at the power of God that was about to flow through him to triumph over death (in anticipation of his voice summoning the whole world to the resurrection on the last day). In his spirit does not refer to the Holy Spirit but to Jesus’ own human spirit. Jesus wept. Jesus joins his friends’ sadness with heartfelt sorrow, yet underlying it is the knowledge that resurrection and joy will soon follow (cf. 1 Thess. 4:13). Jesus’ example shows that heartfelt mourning in the face of death does not indicate lack of faith but honest sorrow at the reality of suffering and death.
- John Calvin: “Christ assumed our affections without sin; His tears reveal true humanity joined with divine compassion.”
- J. Vernon McGee: “He wasn’t weeping because Lazarus was dead—He knew He’d raise him. He wept because death was never meant to be part of God’s creation.” The One who conquers death still weeps over the cost of it.
- John MacArthur: “Jesus’ emotions here reflect righteous sorrow—grief over sin’s devastation and death’s intrusion into creation.”
- Billy Graham: “God’s heart breaks over human suffering, but His tears never replace His power.”
- A.W. Tozer: “The weeping of Christ proves that divine holiness is not devoid of tenderness.”
Discipleship Reflection: Jesus not only conquers death; He weeps over it. His compassion assures us that He is both sovereign and sympathetic.
Verses 38–44 – The Raising of Lazarus
At the tomb, Jesus commands the stone be removed. Martha objects: “Lord, by this time there will be an odor.” Jesus replies, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” He prays, then cries out, “Lazarus, come forth!” The man comes out, bound in grave clothes. The voice of the omnipotent Creator (1:3, 10) speaks, and even Lazarus’s dead body obeys (cf. 4:50; 5:8). The command “Take off the grave clothes and let him go” (v.44) symbolizes release from the power of death and sin.
- J.C. Ryle: “He who called light out of darkness now calls life out of death.”
- John Wesley: “The word of Christ quickens even the dead; His command is life itself.”
- J. Vernon McGee: “If He hadn’t called Lazarus by name, every grave in that cemetery would’ve opened!… The raising of Lazarus shows us that Jesus is more than a miracle worker—He’s the Master over death itself. This wasn’t a resuscitation; it was a revelation. He let Lazarus die so He could show that He is the Resurrection and the Life. And friend, when He calls your name, you’re just as sure to come out of the grave as Lazarus did.”
- Cyril of Alexandria: “He calls by name to show that His voice is life itself, particular and personal. For He knows His own, even in the grave.”
- John Calvin: “Christ displays His authority as the Word of God—the voice that once created now recreates.”
- Gregory the Great: “We are all Lazarus, bound in the wrappings of sin; only the call of Christ can loose us from the bonds of death.”
- Ambrose: “When He said, ‘Loose him and let him go,’ He declared that grace not only raises but releases.”
- John MacArthur: “This miracle prefigures Christ’s own resurrection and authenticates His claim to deity.”
- Billy Graham: “When Jesus calls your name, even death must let go.”
- A.W. Tozer: “Every conversion is a Lazarus moment—life summoned from the grave by divine voice.”
- A.W. Pink: “The raising of Lazarus was both literal and symbolic—a preview of spiritual resurrection in all who believe.”
Discipleship Reflection: The same voice that called Lazarus from the tomb still calls hearts from spiritual death today. Faith hears and obeys.
Verses 45–57 – The Plot to Kill Jesus
Many believe after the miracle, but others report to the Pharisees. The Sanhedrin convenes, fearing Roman retaliation. Caiaphas, the high priest, unknowingly prophesies that one man should die for the people. Jesus withdraws to Ephraim until His hour comes.
- Oswald Chambers: “Men will crucify what they cannot control.”
- NIV Study Note: “God overrules human hostility to accomplish His redemptive purpose.” Caiaphas’ statement (v.50), “It is better for one man to die for the people,” is noted as an unconscious prophecy of substitutionary atonement.
- Ambrose: “The death of the One becomes the life of the many. Caiaphas’ unwitting prophecy unveils the mystery of substitution.”
- John Calvin: “God overrules the counsel of the wicked for His own redemptive purposes. Caiaphas spoke more truth than he knew.”
- ESV Note: v.52 The children of God . . . scattered, as referred to here, are the Gentiles (cf. 10:16; see also note on 3:3–6). John is not suggesting that they are already God’s children but anticipates their future inclusion into God’s people.
- J.C. Ryle: “Unbelief can witness a resurrection and still conspire against the Redeemer.”
- Charles Spurgeon: “No miracle can convert a heart that loves its own power more than truth.”
- John MacArthur: “Their plot fulfills God’s sovereign plan—Christ’s death as substitution for His people.”
- John Wesley: “God makes even the wrath of man to praise Him.”
- Billy Graham: “They feared losing their place more than missing their salvation.”
- A.W. Tozer: “Religion without revelation will always persecute living truth.”
- A.W. Pink: “Man’s hatred only advanced God’s design. The Lamb was moving toward the cross right on schedule.”
Discipleship Reflection: God’s plan is never threatened by human schemes. The cross was not man’s triumph over Christ—it was Christ’s triumph through man’s sin.
Summary
John 11 stands at the threshold of Calvary. In raising Lazarus, Jesus reveals Himself as the Resurrection and the Life—sovereign over death, compassionate toward sorrow, and certain in purpose. The miracle turns the tomb into a pulpit: the voice that called Lazarus from death will soon call the world from darkness. Faith begins when we believe that Christ not only raises the dead—but that He alone is Life itself.
