The raising of Lazarus JHN 11:43

Jesus learns that his friend Lazarus is ill but deliberately stays where he is two more days before going to Bethany. By the time he arrives, Lazarus has already been in the tomb four days, and both Martha and Mary tell him the same thing, that if he had been there their brother would not have died. Jesus has the stone taken away and calls Lazarus out by name, and he comes out alive.

The passage simply states that he stayed where he was for two more days after hearing that Lazarus was sick, without explaining his reasons. Readers understand this differently: some see it as allowing time for Lazarus's death to become beyond doubt, since four days in the tomb left no question that he was truly dead, making the later sign unmistakable. Others prefer to stay close to what the text actually reports, the fact of the delay, without filling in a motive it does not state.

The passage records that he weeps at the grave, and those present read his tears two different ways. Some took it as grief over the death of his friend, while others understood it differently, and the text itself does not settle which reading is correct. Both reactions are simply recorded among the onlookers, side by side, without the passage choosing between them.

This miracle is the sign that leads the council to decide to put Jesus to death, making it a turning point in the Gospel narrative. Opposition that had been building against him hardens here into a concrete plan. The grief Martha and Mary voiced, saying if he had been there their brother would not have died, is answered directly by the act that follows, and that very act becomes the reason his enemies move against him.