Siblings Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived together in the town of Bethany, a couple of miles from Jersusalem. They were close friends of Jesus, and Jesus had previously visited the three siblings and enjoyed the family’s hospitality. Lazarus' sister, Mary, would sit at the Master’s feet and listen to his words, while Martha, more concerned with household chores had complained to Jesus that her sister needed to help her in the kitchen (Luke 10:38-42).
Lazarus’s story begins in John 11 when a messenger shows up to where Jesus was ministering and requests that Jesus go immediately to the home of Lazarus. The messenger told Jesus about Lazarus, “He whom you love is ill.” This phrase, hints that Jesus and Lazarus were true friends.
It may have been because of that very closeness that Jesus decided to use his relationship with Lazarus to showcase God's power. Instead of racing to his friend’s bedside, he stayed two more days where He was before deciding to go to Bethany. This delay might seem to us to have been uncaring, but Jesus knew Lazarus’s life plan. Jesus took his time before leaving for Bethany, knowing that the Jewish culture only deemed a person truly dead after three days.
"Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." (John 11:17-22)
Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world." (John 11:23-27)
Jesus, even knowing the good outcome, wept for his friend. Can you imagine a friendship so true that the Son of God would stand at your grave with tears running down His face? Lazarus must have been a great man.
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?" (John 11:33-37)
"Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?"
So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." (John 11:38-44)
This powerful incident upset the Pharisees and Chief Priests who felt they were losing a grip on the people. They were concerned that this miracle-worker would cause problems with the Romans. It was following this miracle that the leaders seriously plotted to kill Jesus.
Lazarus likely lived years after Jesus died to always carry the mark of a resurrected man. What an honor for Lazarus to not only be resurrected from the dead but also be the last major miracle Jesus ever performed. Lazarus probably spent the rest of his life telling the story to all who would listen. Those who hated Jesus despised his story, but those who loved Him had resurrection hope in the person of this man.
