John 11:1-44

¹Now a man named Lazarus was sick. …

¹⁷On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. … ³⁵Jesus wept. ³⁶Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” ³⁸Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ³⁹“Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” ⁴⁰Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” ⁴¹So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

“Come out … come out alive …”

In John 11:1-44, the almighty power of God is shown. The power of Jesus is strongly emphasized by having him go back to Judea and bring Lazarus back to life. Even though Jesus knows that Lazarus will die, he waits. He does this in order to demonstrate the power of God. This waiting, as also questioned by the disciples in the chapter, seems an unfamiliar behavior to us.

However, this chapter shows that no matter how unfortunate the situation may look, we can always rely on God. As Jesus states: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."