JOHN 11:1 – 57
Bible Study Notes Rev. Betsy Perkins
Lazarus
o Have you ever prayed urgently for something and felt as though your prayers went unanswered by God? How did you feel?
Joe Boyd, Bible Experiment – Gospel of John (RightNowMedia), 1:22:10-1:30:15
Lazarus Dies (11:1-16)
o The name ‘Bethany’ means ‘House of the Poor’, and may have been a town just outside Jerusalem where sick and needy people were cared for. What do we learn about Jesus that he had friends in that town that he loved dearly?
o What do you think Jesus was doing during the two days that he delayed in going to Lazarus? (hint: verse 41)
o What does Jesus mean in verses 9-10, about walking in the daylight and walking at night?
He seems to have meant that the only way to know where you were going was to follow him. If you try to steer your course by your own understanding, you’ll trip up, because you’ll be in the dark. But if you stick close to him, and see the situation from his point of view, then, even if it means days and perhaps years of puzzlement, wondering why nothing seems to be happening, you will come out at the right place in the end. N.T. Wright
o Why is Jesus glad that he was not there when Lazarus became sick and died?
o If you had been there with Jesus and the disciples, how would you have responded to Thomas’ declaration?
There is a great deal that we don’t understand, and our hopes and plans often get thwarted. But if we go with Jesus, even if it’s into the jaws of death, we will be walking in the light, whereas if we press ahead arrogantly with our own plans and ambitions we are bound to trip up.
N.T. Wright
Jesus Comforts and Cries (11:17-37):
o When was the last time you wished you could turn back the clock to change something, saying or thinking, “If only…”?
o What does Jesus say to turn Martha’s thoughts from regret of the past, to hope for the future? Does she find this helpful or comforting?
o What does Jesus then say, in the present tense, that he is right now? Add it to your ‘I AM’ chart.
‘Resurrection’ isn’t just a doctrine. It isn’t just a future fact. It’s a person, and here he is standing in front of Martha, teasing her to make the huge jump of trust and hope. He is challenging her, urging her, to exchange her ‘if only…’ for an ‘if Jesus…’
If Jesus is who she is coming to believe he is…
If Jesus is the Messiah, the one who was promised by the prophets, the one who was to come into the world…
If he is God’s own son, the one in whom the Living God is strangely and newly present…
If he is resurrection-in-person, life-come-to-life… N.T. Wright
o How does Martha respond? What does she say? What does she do?
o How is Mary’s expression of grief to Jesus similar or different that Martha’s?
Martha is the active, busy one, and Mary is the quieter. Martha had to hurry off to meet Jesus and confront him directly. Many of us are like that; we can’t wait, we must tell Jesus what we think of him and his strange ways. If you’re like that, and if you have an ‘if only’ in your heart or mind right now, put yourself in Martha’s shoes. Run off to meet Jesus. Tell him the problem. Ask him why he didn’t come sooner, why he allowed that awful thing to happen.
And then be prepared for a surprising response. I can’t predict what the response will be, for the very good reason that it is always, always a surprise. But I do know the shape that it will take. Jesus will meet your problem with some new part of God’s future that can and will burst into your present time, into the mess and grief, with good news, with hope, with new possibilities.
And the key to it all, now as then, is faith. Jesus is bringing God’s new world to birth; but it doesn’t happen automatically. It doesn’t just sweep everyone along with it, willy-nilly. The key to sharing the new world is faith: believing in Jesus, trusting that he is God’s Messiah, the one coming into the world, into our world, into our pain and sorrow and death. N.T. Wright
o There is another story coming in John’s gospel in which someone else will ask the same question, “Where have you laid him?” Whose body will it be then? Who asks the question?
o What do you think causes Jesus to burst into tears?
o How do the people around react when they see Jesus weeping?
Read Max Lucado, Life Lessons from John, pages 67-68.
Resurrection and Life – Lazarus Lives Again (11:38-44):
o What was Martha’s concern when Jesus asked for the tomb to be opened?
o Jesus thanks God for hearing his prayer. How has God already answered Jesus’ prayers even before Lazarus comes back to life? How does that give him confidence to proceed?
o Enter this incredible sign on your Chart sheet.
o How can you share the pain of those in your life who suffer or grieve?
o How does this story challenge you to have greater faith in Jesus and to spend more time in prayer?
The Plan of Caiaphas (11:45-57):
o What are the Pharisees concerned will happen if Jesus is allowed to continue performing miracles and attracting more followers? Is this a justified concern?
o What is the solution that the High Priest, Caiaphas, suggests? How is Caiaphas’ statement more insightful than he or any others realize?
o How does the High Priest’s prophesy connect to what Jesus already said in 10:14-16?
o How does the High Priest’s prophesy connect to what John the Baptist already said in 1:29?
o How does this connect to the approaching Passover celebration mentioned in verse 55?
In light of this passage and our discussion, what one truth about God and about yourself stand out as something to “take to heart” this week?
Are there steps you will take, by God’s grace, to more fully apply it to your life?
Resources: NIV Zondervan Study Bible, 2015
N.T. Wright, John for Everyone, 2002
Max Lucado, Life Lessons from John, 2018
Joe Boyd, Bible Experiment – Gospel of John (RightNowMedia), 2014
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