John 11:1-19 Lazarus is sick

John 11:1-16 John mentions that Lazarus was the brother of Mary, and identifies her by an incident that occurs later (John 12:3). Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus, but He deliberately delayed His return when He heard Lazarus was sick. When He announced His intention to return, after waiting, His disciples reminded Him that on previous visits to Judea, twice the Jews had tried to stone Him. Jesus' response seems rather obscure. He had already told them that this sickness was not to death but to His glory. He  responds with a reference to Himself as the light of the world (John 1:4-5, 8:12). This highlights the different perspectives between Jesus and His disciples. On purely human terms, they saw a risk to Jesus' life. On a purely divine perspective, Jesus saw His mission and the obvious necessity of doing the Father's will, bringing light to the world. He was that light. If that led to death, so be it. To miss the Father's will would be to stumble as though walking in darkness, which He was trying patiently to get the disciples to get.

          Jesus went on to explain, first by symbolism and then directly, that Lazarus had died. Thomas the twin at least seems to have grasped part of what it meant to obey the Father. He was prepared to die with Jesus if that was the will of God. The whole conversation sounds rather morbid, but Jesus knew the outcome.

John 11:17-19 Jesus delayed two days, but we find when He arrives in Bethany that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. So even if He had left immediately, He would not have arrived before Lazarus died. Sometimes when it seems like God has abandoned us, we learn that the basic circumstances were against us, that the world had pre-determined and achieved disaster for us and on us, before He was ever called on. Yet this does not limit His power to redeem, as the following story illustrates.

          Apparently Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were well-respected by the Jews of Jerusalem since many came to console Mary and Martha. In that day and age, it may be that Lazarus was the sole breadwinner in this household of siblings, and perhaps Mary and Martha were wondering what would become of them - how they would get by - with him gone.