The Way
Lazarus, Come Out
The one who wept at the tomb and called death to give way
Story
An urgent message came from Bethany. Lord, the one you love, Lazarus, is sick. Yet Jesus stayed where he was two more days. Only then did he say, let us go back to Judea. The disciples tried to stop him, reminding him that the people there had just tried to stone him. Then Thomas said to the other disciples, let us go too, so that we may die with him.
When he reached Bethany, Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days, and the house was full of people who had come to console the family. Hearing that Jesus was coming, Martha ran out to meet him. Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die. Do you believe this? Yes, Lord, I believe. Then Mary came, fell at Jesus' feet, and wept. When he saw that even those who had come with her were weeping, Jesus wept too.
Jesus stood before the cave tomb sealed with a stone and told them to take the stone away. Martha said that after four days there would be a smell, but they rolled the stone away all the same. Jesus looked up to heaven and gave thanks to the Father. Then he cried out in a loud voice. Lazarus, come out. His hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped in a cloth, the man who had died walked out. After this, Caiaphas the high priest told the council that it was better for one man to die for the people. Those words became a prophecy that Jesus would die for the nation, to gather into one the scattered children of God.
Walk this scene on the map →His Words
I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, though they die, and whoever lives believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?
Lazarus, come out!
Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?
Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one promised to come into the world.
Can’t you see it is to your advantage that one man should die in place of the people, so the whole nation is not destroyed?
The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: Jn 11:1–53
Background
John writes that Bethany was fifteen stadia, about three kilometers, from Jerusalem. Later Jewish writings reflect the idea that the soul of the dead lingers near the body for three days, so four days was a time when hope had run out.
Pause and Reflect
Do I trust the Lord, the resurrection and the life, more than the despair in front of me?