John 11:3
So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one You love is sick."
So the sisters sent word to Jesus
This phrase introduces us to the sisters, Mary and Martha, who are deeply concerned about their brother Lazarus. The act of sending word to Jesus indicates their faith and trust in Him. In the cultural and historical context of the time, sending a message was a significant action, often involving a messenger traveling a considerable distance. This reflects the urgency and importance of their request. The Greek word for "sent" (ἀπέστειλαν, apesteilan) implies a deliberate and purposeful action, highlighting the sisters' belief in Jesus' ability to heal.

Lord
The use of "Lord" (Κύριε, Kyrie) is a title of respect and recognition of authority. In the Jewish context, it acknowledges Jesus' divine authority and power. This title is significant as it reflects the sisters' acknowledgment of Jesus not just as a teacher or healer, but as someone with divine authority. It is a term that conveys both reverence and a personal relationship, indicating their faith in His ability to intervene in their dire situation.

the one You love
This phrase is deeply personal and intimate. The Greek word for "love" here is "φιλεῖς" (phileis), which denotes a brotherly or affectionate love. It highlights the special relationship between Jesus and Lazarus. This is not just a casual acquaintance; it is a profound friendship. The use of this term underscores the emotional depth and personal connection Jesus had with Lazarus, which is a testament to His humanity and His capacity for deep, personal relationships.

is sick
The condition of Lazarus being "sick" (ἀσθενεῖ, asthenei) is the catalyst for the entire narrative. The Greek term used here can imply weakness or frailty, indicating a serious illness. This sets the stage for the miraculous event that follows. In the broader scriptural context, sickness often serves as an opportunity for God to demonstrate His power and glory. The mention of Lazarus' sickness is not just a statement of fact but a prelude to the revelation of Jesus' power over life and death.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus
Central figure in the Gospel of John, the Son of God, who performs miracles and teaches about the Kingdom of God.

2. Mary and Martha
Sisters of Lazarus, who are close friends of Jesus. They live in Bethany, a village near Jerusalem.

3. Lazarus
Brother of Mary and Martha, described as the one Jesus loves. His illness and subsequent death set the stage for one of Jesus' most significant miracles.

4. Bethany
A village near Jerusalem, significant as the setting for the events of John 11, where Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.

5. The Disciples
Followers of Jesus who witness His teachings and miracles, including the raising of Lazarus.
Teaching Points
The Power of Intercession
Mary and Martha's act of sending word to Jesus about Lazarus' illness is an example of intercessory prayer. We are encouraged to bring our concerns and the needs of others to Jesus, trusting in His love and power.

Understanding Jesus' Love
The phrase "the one You love" highlights the personal and intimate love Jesus has for individuals. This love is not just for Lazarus but extends to all believers, reminding us of our value in God's eyes.

Faith in Times of Crisis
Mary and Martha's message to Jesus shows their faith in His ability to heal. In times of crisis, we are called to trust in Jesus' timing and purpose, even when the outcome is uncertain.

The Role of Community
The involvement of Mary, Martha, and the disciples illustrates the importance of community in times of need. As believers, we are called to support and uplift one another, reflecting the love of Christ.

God's Glory Revealed in Trials
The illness of Lazarus ultimately leads to a greater revelation of God's glory through Jesus' miracle. Our trials can serve a higher purpose, revealing God's power and love to those around us.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the relationship between Jesus and Lazarus, as described in John 11:3, encourage you to view your own relationship with Jesus?

2. In what ways can you practice intercessory prayer for those who are "sick" in your life, whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually?

3. Reflect on a time when you faced a crisis. How did your faith in Jesus influence your response, and what did you learn from that experience?

4. How can you be a source of support and encouragement to others in your community, following the example of Mary and Martha?

5. Consider a trial you are currently facing. How might God be using this situation to reveal His glory and deepen your faith?
Connections to Other Scriptures
John 11:5
This verse emphasizes Jesus' love for Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, reinforcing the personal relationship He has with them.

Luke 10:38-42
Provides background on Mary and Martha, highlighting their relationship with Jesus and their differing responses to His presence.

John 15:13-15
Jesus speaks about the nature of true friendship and love, which can be related to His relationship with Lazarus.

1 John 4:9-10
Discusses the love of God manifested through Jesus, which is evident in His actions and relationships.

Psalm 34:18
Speaks of the Lord being close to the brokenhearted, which can be related to Jesus' compassion for Mary and Martha.
AfflictionS. S. TimesJohn 11:1-6
Affliction Makes FruitfulJ. Arrowsmith.John 11:1-6
Affliction, not DestructionPower of IllustrationJohn 11:1-6
Afflictions Make Us Long for HomeC. H. Spurgeon.John 11:1-6
Afflictions Prevent Worse DangersJohn 11:1-6
Afflictions PurifyingG. Whitefield.John 11:1-6
Beloved and Yet AfflictedC. H. Spurgeon.John 11:1-6
BethanyJ. Culross, D. D.John 11:1-6
Christ's Love the Comfort in SicknessR. Besser, D. D.John 11:1-6
Christ's Special FriendsJ. Trapp.John 11:1-6
Family DisharmoniesG. S. Bowes, B. A.John 11:1-6
God's Love to His Own People in a Afflicting ThemDr. Todd.John 11:1-6
LazarusS. S. TimesJohn 11:1-6
Love of FriendshipS. S. TimesJohn 11:1-6
Sickness a Little DeathBishop Hall.John 11:1-6
The Apparent Neglect of Self-Denying LoveA. J. Morris.John 11:1-6
The Appeal and the AnswerJ. Haldane Stewart, M. A.John 11:1-6
The Appeal to Christ's AffectionF. D. Maurice, M. A.John 11:1-6
The Benefit of Severe AfflictionJ. A. James.John 11:1-6
The Benefit of SorrowBeecher Stowe.John 11:1-6
The Benefits of SicknessH. Kollock, D. D.John 11:1-6
The Delays of JesusJ. Culross, D. D.John 11:1-6
The Delays of LoveA. Maclaren, D. D.John 11:1-6
The Everlasting FriendJohn 11:1-6
The Family At BethanyA. J. Morris.John 11:1-6
The Friendship of JesusJ. Eadie, D. D.John 11:1-6
The Sickness of LazarusD. Thomas, D. D.John 11:1-6
The Sisters' Message and the Lord's ResponseBp. Ryle.John 11:1-6
The Test of DiscipleshipW. M. Taylor, D. D.John 11:1-6
The Uses of AfflictionS. Charnock.John 11:1-6
The Uses of SicknessE. Mellor, D. D.John 11:1-6
Trial a Small Matter in Comparison with the Benefit it ConfersC. H. Spurgeon.John 11:1-6
Trial and ProgressT. De Witt Talmage, D. D.John 11:1-6
Trouble in the FamilyA. Roberts, M. A.John 11:1-6
People
Caiaphas, Didymus, Jesus, Lazarus, Martha, Mary, Thomas
Places
Bethany, Ephraim, Jerusalem, Judea
Topics
Affection, Ailing, Behold, Dear, Friend, Hold, Ill, Love, Lovest, Master, Saying, Sick, Sir, Sisters
Dictionary of Bible Themes
John 11:3

     8122   friendship, with God

John 11:1-3

     5737   sisters

John 11:1-6

     4925   delay, divine
     5426   news
     8027   faith, testing of

John 11:1-7

     2048   Christ, love of

John 11:1-44

     5285   cures
     9165   restoration

Library
March 28 Evening
Our friend sleepeth.--JOHN 11:11. I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. If the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. But now is Christ risen from the
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

November 6 Morning
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.--COL. 3:4. I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.--God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 11 Evening
Jesus wept.--JOHN 11:35. A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.--We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.--It became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.--Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 22 Evening
Behold how he loved.--JOHN 11:36. He died for all.--Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. He . . . liveth to make intercession for them.--I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again, and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also.--Father, I will that they whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.--Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. We love him, because he first loved loved us.--The
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 30 Evening
Thou hearest me always.--JOHN 11:42. Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.--Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.--Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.--Not my will, but thine, be done. As he is, so are we in this world.--This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Christ's Question to Each
For the Young '... Believest then this? She saith unto Him, Yea, Lord.'--JOHN xi. 26, 27. As each of these annual sermons which I have preached for so long comes round, I feel more solemnly the growing probability that it may be the last. Like a man nearing the end of his day's work, I want to make the most of the remaining moments. Whether this is the last sermon of the sort that I shall preach or not, it is certainly the last of the kind that some of you will hear from me, or possibly from any
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Open Grave at Bethany
'Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met Him. The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying unto Him, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Seventh Miracle in John's Gospel --The Raising of Lazarus
'And when Jesus thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, Come forth. 44. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes; and his face was bound about with a napkin.'--JOHN xi. 43, 44. The series of our Lord's miracles before the Passion, as recorded in this Gospel, is fitly closed with the raising of Lazarus. It crowns the whole, whether we regard the greatness of the fact, the manner of our Lord's working, the minuteness and richness of the accompanying details,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Caiaphas
'And one of them, named Caiaphas being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.'--JOHN xi. 49,50. The resurrection of Lazarus had raised a wave of popular excitement. Any stir amongst the people was dangerous, especially at the Passover time, which was nigh at hand, when Jerusalem would be filled with crowds of men, ready to take fire from any spark
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Delays of Love
'Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days still in the same place where He was.'--JOHN xi. 5, 6. We learn from a later verse of this chapter that Lazarus had been dead four days when Christ reached Bethany. The distance from that village to the probable place of Christ's abode, when He received the message, was about a day's journey. If, therefore, to the two days on which He abode still after the receipt of the news, we
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Miracles no Remedy for Unbelief.
"And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke Me? and how long will it be ere they believe Me, for all the signs which I have showed among them?"--Numbers xiv. 11. Nothing, I suppose, is more surprising to us at first reading, than the history of God's chosen people; nay, on second and third reading, and on every reading, till we learn to view it as God views it. It seems strange, indeed, to most persons, that the Israelites should have acted as they did, age after age, in
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

A Mystery! Saints Sorrowing and Jesus Glad!
Jesus is talking of the death of His friend, let us listen to His words; perhaps we may find the key to His actions in the words of His lips. How surprising! He does not say, "I regret that I have tarried so long." He does not say, "I ought to have hastened, but even now it is not too late." Hear, and marvel! Wonder of wonders, He says, "I am glad that I was not there." Glad! the word is out of place? Lazarus, by this time, stinketh in his tomb,and here is the Saviour glad! Martha and Mary are weeping
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 10: 1864

Beloved, and yet Afflicted
We need not be astonished that the man whom the Lord loves is sick, for he is only a man. The love of Jesus does not separate us from the common necessities and infirmities of human life. Men of God are still men. The covenant of grace is not a charter of exemption from consumption, or rheumatism, or asthma. The bodily ills, which come upon us because of our flesh, will attend us to the tomb, for Paul saith, "we that are in this body do groan." Those whom the Lord loves are the more likely to be
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 26: 1880

Though He were Dead
Martha, you see, in this case, when the Lord Jesus Christ told her that her brother would rise again, replied, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." She was a type, I say, of certain anxious believers, for she set a practical bound to the Saviour's words. "Of course there will be a resurrection, and then my brother will rise with the rest." She concluded that the Saviour could not mean anything beyond that. The first meaning and the commonest meaning that suggests
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 30: 1884

Even Now
"Even now."--John 11:22 I HOPE that there are a great many persons here who are interested in the souls of those around them. We shall certainly never exercise faith concerning those for whose salvation we have no care. I trust, also, that we are diligent in looking after individuals, especially those who are amongst our own family and friends. This is what Martha did; her whole care was for her brother. It is often easier to have faith that Christ can save sinners in general, than to believe that
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 38: 1892

Oh, How He Loves!
"Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!"--John 11:36. IT WAS AT THE GRAVE OF LAZARUS that Jesus wept, and his grief was so manifest to the onlookers that they said, "Behold how he loved him!" Most of us here, I trust, are not mere onlookers, but we have a share in the special love of Jesus. We see evidences of that love, not in his tears, but in the precious blood that he so freely shed for us; so we ought to marvel even more than those Jews did at the love of Jesus, and to see further into
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 56: 1910

The Welcome visitor
IT seems that Martha had heard of Christ's coming, and Mary had not. Hence Martha rose up hastily and went to meet the Master, while Mary sat still in the house. From this we gather that genuine believers may, through some unexplained cause, be at the same time in very different states of mind. Martha may have heard of the Lord and seen the Lord; and Mary, an equally loving heart, not having known of his presence, may, therefore, have missed the privilege of fellowship with him. Who shall say that
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 61: 1915

The Displeasure of Jesus.
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled.--John xi. 33. Grimm, in his lexicon to the New Testament, after giving as the equivalent of the word [Greek: embrimaomai] in pagan use, 'I am moved with anger,' 'I roar or growl,' 'I snort at,' 'I am vehemently angry or indignant with some one,' tells us that in Mark i. 43, and Matthew ix. 30, it has a meaning different from that of the pagans, namely, 'I command with
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

The Disciple, -- Master, what is the Real Meaning of Service? is it that We...
The Disciple,--Master, what is the real meaning of service? Is it that we serve the Creator and then His creatures for His sake? Is the help of man, who is after all but a mere worm, of any value to God in caring for His great family, or does God stand in need of the help of man in protecting or preserving any of His creatures? The Master,--1. Service means the activity of the spiritual life and is the natural offering prompted by love. God, who is Love, is ever active in the care of His creation,
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

How to Make Use of Christ as the Life, when the Believer is So Sitten-Up in the Ways of God, that He Can do Nothing.
Sometimes the believer is under such a distemper of weakness and deadness, that there is almost no commanded duty that he can go about; his heart and all is so dead, that he cannot so much as groan under that deadness. Yea, he may be under such a decay, that little or no difference will be observed betwixt him and others that are yet in nature; and be not only unable to go actively and lively about commanded duties, yea, or to wrestle from under that deadness; but also be so dead, that he shall scarce
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Of the Intimate Love of Jesus
When Jesus is present all is well and nothing seemeth hard, but when Jesus is not present everything is hard. When Jesus speaketh not within, our comfort is nothing worth, but if Jesus speaketh but a single word great is the comfort we experience. Did not Mary Magdalene rise up quickly from the place where she wept when Martha said to her, The Master is come and calleth for thee?(1) Happy hour when Jesus calleth thee from tears to the joy of the spirit! How dry and hard art thou without Jesus!
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Peræa to Bethany. Raising of Lazarus.
^D John XI. 1-46. ^d 1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. [For Bethany and the sisters, see p. 478.] 2 And it was that Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair [John xii. 3 ], whose brother Lazarus was sick. [The anointing had not yet taken place, as John himself shows. For a similar anticipation see Matt. x. 4. There are five prominent Marys in the New Testament: those of Nazareth, Magdala and Bethany; the
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Retiring Before the Sanhedrin's Decree.
(Jerusalem and Ephraim in Judæa.) ^D John XI. 47-54. ^d 47 The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council [called a meeting of the Sanhedrin], and said, What do we? [Thus they reproach one another for having done nothing in a present and urgent crisis. As two of their number (Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathæa) were afterwards in communications with Christians, it was easy for the disciples to find out what occurred on this notable occasion.] for this man doeth many signs.
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

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