Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.
When Martha quietly heard that Jesus had arrived nearby she at once went out to meet Him, while Mary, absorbed in grief and not hearing the message, remained seated in the house in sorrow. The moment belongs to the story of Lazarus and the Bethany family whom Jesus loved with especially tender affection, and He had delayed coming after Lazarus fell ill, guided by divine wisdom though the sisters trusted He would do what was best. It stands at the opening of His greatest miracle, when He called Lazarus from the tomb after he had been dead four days, giving crowning evidence that He was the Son of God. He wept in sympathy with the grief around Him and gave the sisters their brother back in great joy, even while keeping before Him that for that life He must pay with His own life on the cross.
Context and Sisters' Response
John 11:20 belongs to the story of Lazarus and the Bethany family, to whom Jesus was bound by especially tender affection, and Jesus often found repose at the house of Lazarus, who was a steadfast disciple. At this time Jesus had been driven away by persecution and rejection and was staying temporarily in a strange city, and after Lazarus became ill He delayed coming to Bethany, guided by divine wisdom. He did not go at once because in His immediate presence disease was always rebuked, since He Himself was health and strength, and He could not witness suffering without bringing relief nor witness disease or death without combatting the power of Satan.
Mary and Martha trusted Jesus and believed He would do what was best and that God would grant what He asked, although He did not respond to their message at once and they were grieving and disappointed that He had not come sooner. When Martha quietly heard that Jesus had arrived nearby, she at once went out to meet Him. Mary, absorbed in grief and not hearing the message, remained seated in the house in sorrow without making an outcry, while others thought Martha had gone to Lazarus's tomb. The account does not explain their different responses.
Miracle and Its Meaning
This moment belongs to the raising of Lazarus, the greatest miracle performed for the steadfast disciple of Bethany, when Christ called him from the tomb after he had been dead four days and in the grave four days, and the meeting on the road is the setting for that display of Christ's power to raise the dead. In raising the dead to life He was fulfilling His mission as the Pattern Man just as certainly as when He toiled as a carpenter at Nazareth hiding His divine mission, as when He trod the billows on the Sea of Galilee, and as when He died as man's sacrifice upon the cross to lift the whole race to a new and perfect life. That raising demonstrated His character as Savior and Life-giver.
Lazarus was permitted to die so that through his resurrection the last and crowning evidence might be given to the Jews that Jesus was the Son of God. It stands as a powerful testimony to Christ's divine power and identity and to His authority, and as undeniable evidence of His Messiahship to Nicodemus, though the religious leaders failed to recognize it. Through it many believed in Jesus while others remained hardened in unbelief. The miracle drew a large, enthusiastic crowd, yet His compassionate work and miracles could not overcome the prejudice and hatred of those who rejected the light.
Jesus wept in sympathy amid the grief surrounding Lazarus's death and gave the sisters their brother back, bringing them great joy and showing His compassion for bereaved women. In raising Lazarus He kept before Him the dark shadow He Himself must enter to pay the ransom for souls on the cross of Calvary, knowing that for that life He must pay with His own life and that every rescue brought Him deeper humiliation as He tasted death for every man. He wept at the grave at the thought that He could not save everyone whom Satan's power had laid low in death, though He had given Himself a ransom for many, even all who would return to loyalty to God. Lazarus returned to life but did not become immortal and remained subject to death and decay, like the son of the widow of Nain and Jairus's daughter and unlike those raised at Christ's resurrection to everlasting life. The dead have no awareness or experiences to report, and his testimony after his return was that Christ is the Son of God.
When Martha quietly heard that Jesus had arrived nearby she at once went out to meet Him, while Mary, absorbed in grief and not hearing the message, remained seated in the house in sorrow. The moment belongs to the story of Lazarus and the Bethany family whom Jesus loved with especially tender affection, and He had delayed coming after Lazarus fell ill, guided by divine wisdom though the sisters trusted He would do what was best. It stands at the opening of His greatest miracle, when He called Lazarus from the tomb after he had been dead four days, giving crowning evidence that He was the Son of God. He wept in sympathy with the grief around Him and gave the sisters their brother back in great joy, even while keeping before Him that for that life He must pay with His own life on the cross.
Context and Sisters' Response
John 11:20 belongs to the story of Lazarus and the Bethany family, to whom Jesus was bound by especially tender affection, and Jesus often found repose at the house of Lazarus, who was a steadfast disciple. At this time Jesus had been driven away by persecution and rejection and was staying temporarily in a strange city, and after Lazarus became ill He delayed coming to Bethany, guided by divine wisdom. He did not go at once because in His immediate presence disease was always rebuked, since He Himself was health and strength, and He could not witness suffering without bringing relief nor witness disease or death without combatting the power of Satan.
Mary and Martha trusted Jesus and believed He would do what was best and that God would grant what He asked, although He did not respond to their message at once and they were grieving and disappointed that He had not come sooner. When Martha quietly heard that Jesus had arrived nearby, she at once went out to meet Him. Mary, absorbed in grief and not hearing the message, remained seated in the house in sorrow without making an outcry, while others thought Martha had gone to Lazarus's tomb. The account does not explain their different responses.
Miracle and Its Meaning
This moment belongs to the raising of Lazarus, the greatest miracle performed for the steadfast disciple of Bethany, when Christ called him from the tomb after he had been dead four days and in the grave four days, and the meeting on the road is the setting for that display of Christ's power to raise the dead. In raising the dead to life He was fulfilling His mission as the Pattern Man just as certainly as when He toiled as a carpenter at Nazareth hiding His divine mission, as when He trod the billows on the Sea of Galilee, and as when He died as man's sacrifice upon the cross to lift the whole race to a new and perfect life. That raising demonstrated His character as Savior and Life-giver.
Lazarus was permitted to die so that through his resurrection the last and crowning evidence might be given to the Jews that Jesus was the Son of God. It stands as a powerful testimony to Christ's divine power and identity and to His authority, and as undeniable evidence of His Messiahship to Nicodemus, though the religious leaders failed to recognize it. Through it many believed in Jesus while others remained hardened in unbelief. The miracle drew a large, enthusiastic crowd, yet His compassionate work and miracles could not overcome the prejudice and hatred of those who rejected the light.
Jesus wept in sympathy amid the grief surrounding Lazarus's death and gave the sisters their brother back, bringing them great joy and showing His compassion for bereaved women. In raising Lazarus He kept before Him the dark shadow He Himself must enter to pay the ransom for souls on the cross of Calvary, knowing that for that life He must pay with His own life and that every rescue brought Him deeper humiliation as He tasted death for every man. He wept at the grave at the thought that He could not save everyone whom Satan's power had laid low in death, though He had given Himself a ransom for many, even all who would return to loyalty to God. Lazarus returned to life but did not become immortal and remained subject to death and decay, like the son of the widow of Nain and Jairus's daughter and unlike those raised at Christ's resurrection to everlasting life. The dead have no awareness or experiences to report, and his testimony after his return was that Christ is the Son of God.