John 11

John 11:1

THE RAISING OF LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD

[John 11]

THE two sisters, Martha and Mary, who lived in Bethania, had a brother named Lazarus. Now Jesus loved Martha and Mary, and Lazarus. But Lazarus fell sick, and his sisters sent word to Jesus¹: “Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick.” Jesus, hearing this, said to His disciples: “This sickness is not unto death², but for the glory³ of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”

Two days after, He spoke again to his disciples: “Let us go to Bethania; Lazarus, our friend, sleeps; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep.“⁴ The disciples answered: “If he sleeps he shall do well.“⁵ They thought He spoke of the repose of the body, but Jesus spoke of death. Seeing, however, that they did

¹ To Jesus. He being then in Persa, to the east of the Jordan (see chapter XLIII), about thirty miles from Bethania.

² Unc death. Death which will last.

³ For the glory. It is permitted by God, so that His Son may work the great miracle of raising the dead to life, and may thus manifest His divine power. The messenger returned to Bethania with this consoling though mysterious message, and there he found that Lazarus was already dead.

⁴ Sleep. Our Lord called the death of Lazarus a sleep, because He foreknew that He would raise him from the dead. For Him, therefore, His friend was only sleep, though for others he was dead (St. Augustine).

⁵ Shall do well. Sleep often shows a crisis in an illness, and is the first symptom of recovery.

— LIV. THE RAISING OF LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD.

not understand what He meant, He told them plainly: “Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes¹ that I was not there, that you may believe; but let us go to him.”

When Jesus arrived in Bethania Lazarus had been four days² buried. Now many friends and relatives had come to console the two sisters, who were in great affliction. As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she left her friends and went forth to meet Him. When she saw Him she exclaimed: “Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But now also³ I know that whatsoever Thou wilt ask⁴ of God, God will give it to Thee.”

Jesus said to her: “Thy brother shall rise again.” Martha replied: “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus answered: “I am⁵ the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in Me, although he be dead, shall live⁶. Believest thou this?” She said to Him: “Yea, Lord⁷, I have believed that Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God⁸, who art come into this world.”

¹ Your sakes. Had I been by his bedside as he lay dying. I should have cured him as I have cured so many others. But now he is dead, I will raise him to life again; and your faith will be strengthened, for you will behold a far greater miracle than the healing of the sick. So, for the sake of the apostles, Jesus waited where He was until Lazarus was dead. “He forebore to cure Lazarus”, says St Augustine, “in order that He might raise him from the dead.”

² Four days. He had, according to the Jewish custom, been buried on the day of his death. Jesus arrived at Bethania on the evening of the fourth day.

³ Now also. Although he is dead I still have hope, for I know &c.

⁴ Thou wilt ask. She hoped and believed that our Lord could procure her brother’s return to life by His prayers. Her faith was but imperfect, for she did not expect that Jesus could work a miracle by His own Omnipotence, but only by the power of His prayers. It was to combat this error that our Lord said: “I am the resurrection and the life.”

⁵ I am. I do not need to pray for the restoration to life of your brother, for I can raise him up myself, for I am the author of life (chapter XXVI).

⁶ Shall live. His soul will live for ever in heaven—and his body also, after its resurrection, will attain to life everlasting.

⁷ Yea, Lord. Her faith was still imperfect when Jesus first arrived; but His words: “I am the resurrection and the life” increased and perfected it.

⁸ The Son of the living God. Her answer is most apt and complete. He had asked: “Believest thou that I am the resurrection and the life?” Martha answered: “I believe that Thou art the Son of the living God, and that, therefore, not only canst Thou raise the dead to life, but also do everything that Thou willest.”

— LIV. THE RAISING OF LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD.

Then Martha, going into the house, called her sister secretly¹, and told her: “The Master is come, and calleth for thee.” Mary rose up quickly and went to Him. The Jews who were in the house followed her, saying: “She goeth to the sepulchre to weep there.” As soon as Mary came to Jesus, she fell at His Feet, exclaiming: “Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother would not have died.”

When Jesus saw her weeping², and the friends who had come with her, He groaned in spirit, and troubled Himself, and said: “Where have you laid him?” They answered: “Come and see.” And Jesus wept³. Seeing this, the Jews exclaimed: “Behold how He loved him!”

¹ Secretly. So as not to let any of our Lord’s enemies who might be present know of His arrival. Jesus remained outside the village, where was the burial place of the dead

² Weeping. She could say no more, nor frame any petition by reason of her weeping. But, in reality, her tears pleaded her cause better than any words could have done.

³ Jesus wept. When Jesus saw Mary’s deep grief, and heard the sobs and wailing of those present, His tender Heart was moved, and He wept. Picture this

— LIV. THE RAISING OF LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD.

Jesus, having come to the vault or cave (Fig. 81, p. 597), in which the body of Lazarus was laid, said: “Take away the stone!” Martha told Him that the body of her brother must be already putrid, knowing that he had been four days¹ in the grave. Jesus said to her: “Did I not say to thee that if thou wilt believe² thou shalt see the glory of God?“³ They then removed the stone.

And Jesus, lifting up His eyes, said: “Father, I give Thee thanks⁴ that Thou hast heard Me⁵. And I know that Thou hearest Me always, but because of the people who stand about have I said it⁶, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me.”

Then crying out with a loud voice, He said: “Lazarus, come forth!“⁷ And immediately he that had been four days buried came forth, wrapped in the winding-bands⁸. And Jesus said: “Loose him, and let him go!“⁹

scene to yourselves: Mary sobbing at the Feet of Jesus, and our Lord Himself shedding tears in the sight of all present! No doubt Mary’s deep grief made Jesus think of that sword which was so soon to pierce the heart of His own Mother.

¹ Four days. When she realised that her brother had been already four days in the grave, and that the corruption of his body must have begun, Martha’s faith wavered, and she said to herself that he could not possibly be raised up. But our Lord’s word once more strengthened her faith.

² Believe. Jesus had not said explicitly, I will raise your brother up, but He had signified that He would do so by His words: “Thy brother shall rise again”, and again: “I am the resurrection and the life.”

³ The glory of God. Manifested by the wonderful calling back to life of your brother.

⁴ Thanks. Our Lord uttered this prayer of thanksgiving aloud, so that those who heard it might know that the miracle which they were about to witness was not, as His enemies maintained, the work of the devil, but of the power of God, and that they might thereby be moved to believe in His divine mission.

⁵ “Thou hast heard Me”, said our Lord, for His prayer was granted the moment it was uttered. He, being One with the Father, granted as God that which He asked as Man.

⁶ I said it. I have uttered this prayer of thanksgiving.

⁷ Come forth! Imagine to yourselves what must have been the state of suspense of the on-lookers, as they peered into the open grave and heard this mighty command given to a mouldering corpse!

⁸ Winding-bands. He was tied up, so that, naturally, he could not move or use his hands to undo for himself the bands in which he was swathed. That he stepped forth bound hand and foot was a scarcely less great miracle than his coming forth at all (St. Chrysostom). Think of the astonishment of the bystanders, and the joyful thanksgiving of the sisters!

⁹ Let him go! This command proves that he could not move, or of himself remove his bonds.

— LIV. THE RAISING OF LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD.

Many of the Jews who were present when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, believed in Him. Some of these went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the Scribes and Pharisees assembled together, and said one to another: “What do we, for this man doth many miracles? If we let Him alone so, all men will believe in Him.” From that day they resolved to put Jesus to death. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, walked no more openly among the Jews¹.

COMMENTARY.

The Divinity of our Lord Jesus. Throughout all this story our Lord spoke and acted as God.

a) He called Himself the Son of God, and said that He was the (author of the) resurrection and the life.

b) He solemnly addressed God as His Father, thanking Him for having always heard Him; for the will of God the Father is one with the will of God the Son.

c) He accepted Martha’s confession of faith: “I believe that Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.”

d) He manifested His Omniscience by knowing that Lazarus was dead, though He was far from Bethania, and no one had brought Him the news of his death.

e) He revealed His Omnipotence in the most glorious way, by calling back to life, by His sole word, a man who had been four days in the grave, and whose body was already corrupt². He called Lazarus not only from the grave but from corruption, overcoming death in the very midst of its work of devastation, and thus revealing Himself to all present as the very Lord of life and death—as the resurrection and the life. Our Lord worked this miracle before many witnesses. They had all known Lazarus, and they all knew that he was dead: many of them had seen him laid in the tomb, and the mouldering decay of his body was perceptible to their senses, as they stood around the open grave; and, behold, by the mighty power of one omnipotent word he who was dead stood alive and in the full vigour of his manhood in their midst! Not even our Lord’s bitterest enemies could deny the miracle!

The especial object of this miracle. The time of our Lord’s Passion and Death was at hand, and He wrought this mighty miracle before-

¹ Jesus. He had himself from these deadly enemies, retiring to the wilderness near Jericho, because His hour that is the time pre-ordained for His Sacrifice and Death, was not yet come.

² Jesus raised up the daughter of Jairus, but a few moments after she had died; the young man of Naim, as he was being taken out to be buried; and Lazarus, after he had lain four days in the grave.

— LIV. THE RAISING OF LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD.

hand in order that the faith of His disciples, and more especially of His apostles, might be strengthened, and “that they might believe” and not doubt when they saw their Lord and Master in the hour of His abasement; and most of all to enable them to hope, when they saw His Body laid in the sepulchre, that He who had raised up Lazarus would Himself rise again.

The necessity of faith. “He that believeth in Me, although he be dead, shall live.” It follows, therefore, that he who does not believe will not attain to eternal life.

The causes of unbelief. The impressions produced by the miracle of the raising of Lazarus from the dead were very different. Many believed in Him now who had not believed before; and for them the miracle worked salvation. The Pharisees and their followers could not deny the fact of the miracle, but they believed none the more in our Lord’s divine mission, and the wonderful miracle only served to harden them in their obstinate incredulity—once more grace knocked at their hearts for the last time by means of this stupendous miracle which even they could not deny; but so blinded were they by their hatred and envy of Jesus, that they resisted and shut out the true knowledge of Him which was, as it were, forced on them. They had to admit that our Lord did “many miracles”; but this undeniable fact so increased their hatred, that they could not even bring themselves to pronounce His name, but called Him “this man”. Though they owned that He worked the miracles they did not draw the logical conclusion that therefore they must believe in Him, but, on the contrary, the illogical conclusion that therefore they must kill Him! However wonderful the miracles He might work, one thing was certain, they would not believe in Him! The Messias must die, or else their own position would be injured, and their hypocrisy unmasked! “If we let Him alone”, said they, “all men will believe in Him.” They even wished to put Lazarus to death, “because many of the Jews by reason of him went away and believed in Jesus” (John 12, 11). Pride, envy and love of power combined to blind these men, and destroy their souls by reason of their unbelief. Pride and envy are capital sins.

The chief doctrine of Christianity is the doctrine of the Divinity of Jesus Christ. It was because Martha believed that Jesus was the Son of the living God that she also believed His words: “I am the resurrection and the life”, although she probably did not understand their full meaning.

The compassion of the Heart of Jesus. “And Jesus wept.”

The consolation of faith. The words: “I am the resurrection and the life”, are used at the service for the burial of the dead. They console us wonderfully for the loss of those dear to us, for they convince us that we shall all rise and meet again.

— LV. JESUS IS ANOINTED BY MARY AT BETHANIA.

APPLICATION. Jesus loved Martha and Mary, and yet He put off helping them, and let their brother die! He did this to prove their faith and their resignation to God’s will, and also because their trial would tend to the glory of God and to their own salvation. Be sure that Almighty God’s motive is one of love when He visits us with trials. Do not murmur, but use the trial for your salvation by bearing it patiently, because God wills it, and for so long as He wills it.

John 11:37

JESUS FORETELLS THE DENIAL OF PETER AND THE FLIGHT OF THE APOSTLES

[John 11: 37, 38. Luke 22, 31, 34. Matthew 26, 11-12]

HAVING given His apostles this great proof of His love His own Body and Blood, Jesus vouchsafed to give them also a new commandment of love. “Little children"¹, said He, “yet a little while I am with you. I give you a new commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another.”

Simon Peter said to Him: “Lord, whither goest Thou?” Jesus answered: “Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now, but thou shalt follow Me afterwards.” Peter said to Him: “Why cannot I follow Thee now? I will lay down my life² for Thee.” Jesus answered Him: “Wilt thou lay down thy life for Me? Amen, amen, I say unto thee, the cock shall not crow twice before thou deny Me thrice!”

Then the Lord addressed Peter: “Simon, Simon³, behold, Satan hath desired to sift you as wheat⁴. But I have prayed for

¹ “Little children”. As soon as our Lord was relieved of the presence of the traitor who had given himself over to Satan, He poured forth His loving and fatherly heart to His other apostles, whom He called His “little children”, and spoke to them the striking farewell words which are contained in the chapters of St. John.

² I will lay down my life. And “although all shall be scandalized in Thee, yet not I!” It was love which prompted St. Peter to speak thus, but he spoke too self-confidently.

³ Simon, Simon. In order to warn the apostle who, in his self-confidence, forgot his human weakness, our Lord emphasised His warning, by the repetition of the apostle’s name.

⁴ As wheat. Wheat is sifted by being shaken and tossed about, and in this way the good grain is separated from the empty husk. In the same way, by

— LXVII. THE FLIGHT OF THE APOSTLES.

thee¹ that thy faith fail not; and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren. All of you shall be scandalized² in Me this night. For it is written: ‘I will strike³ the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be dispersed.‘⁴

COMMENTARY.

The Omniscience of Jesus. Our Lord exactly foretold both that Judas would betray Him, and that, in the same night before the second cockerow, St. Peter would deny Him three times, and that all the Apostles would desert Him. Only the omniscient God can know beforehand what man, gifted with free-will, will do. St. Peter himself thought it quite impossible that he could deny his beloved Master, and yet our Lord foretold in detail all that would occur. This proves that our Blessed Lord was omniscient, or, in other words, that He is God.

St. Peter’s self-confidence. We have repeatedly had occasion to admire St. Peter’s faith, and love of our Lord. Even in the story we have just read, the chief of the apostles evinced great love and great faith, declaring that he would never take scandal at anything that Jesus did, and was ready to lay down his life for His sake. Peter seriously and honestly meant what he said, but he trusted too much in himself, overrated his own strength and, forgetting the weakness of his human nature, believed himself capable of remaining faithful to his Master under all circumstances, simply because he wished to do so. His will was good, but he was wanting in that humility which comes from a knowledge of one’s own frailty. He ought to have thought and said: “With Thy help I will never fail”; but, instead of this, he put himself on a different level from the other apostles, and implied that, although they might very easily go astray, he never could! This high opinion of himself, and his undue self-confidence led him to the fall which will be related in chapter LXXII. We should never forget that, without the assistance of God’s grace, we can neither keep the commandments nor persevere in well-doing.

The Pope is the Supreme and Infallible Teacher of Faith. Our Lord foretold to St. Peter that he would deny Him, but at the same time

temptation and pressure, Satan would upset the apostles, in the hopes of shaking their faith, and leading them to deny our Lord.

¹ I have prayed for thee. This prayer of our Lord was efficacious. He knew that Peter, though he might fall through weakness, would not lose his faith, but would rise up again after his fall, with faith as strong as ever. He knew this beforehand; for He said: “and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren.”

² Scandalized. You will be offended, and staggered by what you will see to-night.

³ I will strike. i. e. suffer Him to be put to a violent death. Almighty God knew beforehand that this would happen, and foretold it by the mouth of the prophet Zacharias.

⁴ Dispersed. Those who are His followers will flee hither and thither helplessly.

KNECHT, Commentary. 3. ed — LXVIII. THE LAST DISCOURSE AND PONTIFICAL PRAYER OF OUR LORD.

He gave him the assurance that his faith would not fail, and entrusted him with the office of confirming his brethren in faith. As a matter of fact Peter’s faith never did waver, for he did not cease to believe, even when he lacked the courage to confess his faith. Our Blessed Lord destined him to be the foundation of His Church, and on that account prayed that his faith might ever be firm and untarnished, so that he might act as a prop to the faith of his brethren. By so doing our Lord Jesus Christ appointed St. Peter to be the supreme teacher of His Church, his office being to maintain and confirm all members of His Church in the true faith; and He gave to him moreover the special grace that his faith should never fail; in other words, that he should be infallible in the exercise of this office. How could Peter confirm his brethren in the true faith, unless he himself were preserved from error in matters of faith? His infallibility in the exercise of his office has, together with the office itself, descended from Peter to his successors, the Supreme Pontiffs of the Catholic Church. An infallible teacher who can maintain his brethren, his fellow-Christians, in the true faith, is as necessary to the Church now as it was in the days of St. Peter. The Roman See has always proved itself to be the guardian and protector of the true faith, by giving, in virtue of the divine office committed to it, unerring decisions in matters of dispute, and rejecting all false doctrines.

APPLICATION. What happened to St. Peter ought to make you guard very carefully against over-confidence in yourself, and make you pray fervently: “Lead us not into temptation!”