John Chapter 11 {Note: Luke 10:38 and following is a related passage. RBT translated it as a warm up for John Chapter 11} {Verses 1-16: Background of the 7th Sign of Messiah} {Family Crisis} 1~~ Now   {change in circumstance for Jesus who was at the Jordan River} a certain man kept on getting sicker and sicker. Lazarus {name means 'God is my helper'} was from Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived. {Note: Mary is mentioned first because from Luke Chapter 10:38 and following we see Mary was strong in the intake of bible doctrine.} {Verses 2-3: Message of the Sisters} 2-3~~ (Now it keeps on being Mary who anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and wiped His feet dry with her hair, whose brother Lazarus kept on being sick. 3~~ So the sisters sent a message to Him {Jesus} saying, "Lord {deity - they are saved}, look, the one whom You love {phileo} keeps on being sick/'in critical condition {astheneia}'." {Note: The book of John is chronological but John wrote it many years after it happened. The comment about Mary is referring to what will be written in John Chapter 12:1-8.} {Note: Agape is 'mental attitude love'. Phileo is more than agape in that it is rapport love.} {Note: Astheneia means to be critically ill. To be sick to the point of impending death.} {Death is Not the Final Issue with the Sickness} 4~~When Jesus heard {this}, He {Jesus} said, "This sickness {astheneia} is not 'face to face with death'   {not saying Lazarus will not die - he will die - but not at this time}, but on behalf of God's glory, for the purpose that the Son of God may be glorified through it {resuscitation of Lazarus from the dead}." {Perfect Timing of the Son of God} 5~~(Now {de} Jesus loved {agapao} Martha and her sister and Lazarus.) {Note: The participles are very important in the Greek. The little particle 'de' is a syntactically way of pointing out that though it will be a while yet before Jesus 'weeps' physically, but already He is weeping in the soul. John switched from 'phileo'/rapport love mentioned in verse 3 to 'agapao' - the mental attitude love here to demonstrate that Jesus was compassionate for the family right now. But the delay in going to Lazarus was necessary to bring Glory to God the Father in the resuscitation (not resurrection because Lazarus will die again later) of Lazarus. Agapao is totally absent of mental attitude sins. So we know He delayed only because delaying was required by the Plan of God.} 6~~When He {Jesus in His humanity - His deity always knew it} having heard that he {Lazarus} was getting progressively weaker, He {Jesus} abode two more days in the same place where He {Jesus} kept on being. {Note: Jesus knew the plan of God called for Him to wait until the situation was apparently totally hopeless before He presented His 7th calling card. So, He waited until Lazarus died and was buried and his corpse started the decomposition process.} 7~~Then after this {the two day delay}, He {Jesus} said to His disciples, "Let's go {ago in the subjunctive mood - disciples' volition involved} to Judea again." 8~~The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi/master {not Lord - they are upset again!}, the Jews {religious leaders} NOW keep on seeking to stone You {intent to kill}! Are You going {hupago} there again?" {Note: They change from 'ago' which means to go . . . to 'hupago' which means to 'go under authority'. They are subtly suggesting that as their leader, Jesus is going to force them to go with Him.} {Dissertation on the Plan of God} 9-10~~Jesus 'had an answer'/'gave a discerning answer from the ultimate source of himself' {apokrinomai}, "Are there not twelve hours in a {work} day? If anyone walks about in the daytime - maybe they do, maybe they do not - he does not stumble . . . because he sees the light of this world/cosmos. 10~~ But if anyone {unbelievers and believers out of fellowship} walks about in the night - maybe they do, maybe they do not - he stumbles, because the light {no doctrine/no orientation to the Plan of God} keeps on being not in him." {Note: Apokrinomai means to discern from the ultimate source of your own inner resources. This is knowledge of bible doctrine in the soul resulting in discernment. Jesus Christ is discerning from his own inner resources of his humanity, through the doctrine in his own soul to give the divine viewpoint answer here. Jesus (and His Mind/Word) is the light of this world.} {Note: The time this was written, this was an agricultural society where the basic work day was during sunlight. That is the analogy Jesus is using here. After salvation, you begin walking in the light/day. During this time, you can generate 'ergon' - with its 'divine good production' meaning. Intake of doctrine + the filling of God the Holy Spirit = divine good production.} {Shocking Statement to the Disciples} 11~~These things {verses 9-10} said He {Jesus}, and after that He said, "Our friend {philos - rapport love - they all really liked Lazarus} Lazarus has fallen asleep {actually means 'Christian sleep/death}. But I am going there to awaken him from his sleep {meaning resuscitation}." {Note: Jesus only knew this from His deity. No 'second messenger' came to tell them all that Lazarus had now died.} {Disciples Misunderstand (Maybe Deliberately to Stay out of Danger)} 12~~Then the disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps {thinking the rest will help him get well} - and he does - he will be delivered/recover {from his illness}." 13~~(Now Jesus had been talking concerning his death, but they assumed that He had been speaking concerning the rest {and recovery} of sleep.) 14~~ Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus, himself is dead {apothnesko}." {Note: Apothnesko is the strongest Greek word for dead - no question. Apo is from the ultimate source. Thnesko is dead. So to be dead from the ultimate source of yourself, is dead, dead, dead!} {Opportunity for Disciples to Learn about Faith Rest!} 15~~ "And I have inner happiness/rejoice 'because of you all'/'for your sake' that I kept on being not there - for your benefit, so that you may believe {and use Faith Rest}. But let us go to him." {Note: Jesus has inner happiness because the disciples have an opportunity to see and use for themselves faith rest! The battle is the Lords. Leave it in the Lord's Hands. No one can harm them in Judea unless this is part of the Plan of God! Miracle of healing is not good enough for the disciples to learn! He needs again to do more!! SideNote: The power of God was not under more pressure to do this miracle then to do the other miracles. It was purely from the viewpoint of the disciples that this would be a 'greater' miracle.} {Cynical Thomas Expresses what They All Feel} 16~~ So Thomas (called Didymus) said to his fellow disciples, "Let us go too, so that we may die {apothnesko} with Him." {Note: The disciple Thomas also called 'doubting Thomas' is always questioning things. Here he is showing he is also the cynical and pragmatic type. He says, ok if Jesus is going off to get killed well let's go join Him! Thomas is the BRAVE and STUPID type! Lots of courage, but not enough doctrine in his soul to 'Faith Rest' and BELIEVE not only in the Lord, but in His Unlimited abilities! They are NOT going to die now but he has the courage to say 'MOVE OUT' to the others!} {SideNote: Thirty years later, a Persian will throw a lance through Thomas's chest and that is how he will actually die (per extra-biblical reports). By the time of his death, Thomas will have a great amount of doctrine in his soul and rely totally on the Lord!} {Verses 17-32 : The Sisters Martha and Mary in the Crisis} 17~~Then when Jesus having come {to Bethany}, He {Jesus}found that he {Lazarus} had been in the tomb four days already. {Brief Record of the Mixed Up/Non-doctrinal Mourners} 18-19~~(Now Bethany was near Jerusalem about 15 stadion {less than two miles - 45 minute walk}, 19~~ and many of the Jews had come in the past with the result that they remained {erchomai -pluperfect tense} face to face {pros} with Martha and Mary to 'ineffectually console them from their emotions' {paramutheomai} concerning {peri} their brother.) {Note: The two important verbs here are erchomai and paramutheomai. Erchomai does mean to come. In the pluperfect tense, it means they stayed the four days 'comforting' the sisters. Paramutheomai means to 'mumble from the immediate source of yourself. This is the Greek word for ineffectual 'good words' from your emotions. This means they were patting the sisters hands and saying 'Everything will be all right . . .' when they had no clue whether it really would be all right or not. The Greek word parakleo is the word to give comfort from the doctrine in your soul. It means to call to one side - because you have real answers for them. This will be demonstrated by Jesus when He explains that Lazarus - though dead - will have a resurrection body in Phase III and no need to mourn heavily Martha, you WILL see him again! SideNote: Parakleo is the word describing the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in the Church Age (Acts 9:31) - our paraklesis- our comforter/mentor.} {Martha and Jesus} 20~~So when Martha hearing that Jesus comes {dramatic present tense}, she went out to meet Him, but Mary kept on sitting in the house   {Mary was grieving and did not know Jesus approached the city}. {Grieving Martha With No Doctrine to Apply Makes Accusation} 21-22~~Then Martha said face to face with {pros} Jesus, "Lord, if You had kept on being here - but you were not {second class condition} - my brother would absolutely not {ouk} have died. 22~~ But, in contrast, even now I have inner knowledge {oida} that whatever You demand {aiteo} from God, God has the power to grant You." {Note: In Luke we saw that Martha was a 'worker type believer' instead of a student of doctrinal teaching. She did not even realize now that as God, Jesus could have saved Lazarus WHEREVER He was! Jesus did not have to be there! In arrogance, she states that she has inner knowledge -oida- of the facts, but then proves with her words that she is mixed up. Aiteo means to demand not ask. She is bullying Jesus to demand of God to do HER will! And, we will find out next that Martha is trying to demand a resurrection body for Lazarus, not realizing that as a believer, Lazarus WILL have a resurrection body!} 23~~Jesus said to her {Martha}, "Your brother will rise up again {anistemi}." {Note: Anistemi means to rise again. Jesus is going to give her REAL comfort first! He is going to give her doctrine on the resurrection body. Later He will resuscitate Lazarus. The point is, resurrection is permanent. It should be more real, more comforting then the temporary resuscitation of her brother - who will then die again!} {Martha Does Get the Comforting Doctrinal Issue} 24~~ Martha said to Him, "I have inner knowledge {oida} that he will rise up again {anistemi}   {Martha quotes Jesus in previous verse to show she understood   the point of doctrine} in the resurrection   {anastasis - does mean to come alive and never die again} at the last day." 25~~Jesus said to her, "I keep on being the resurrection   {His humanity propitiated the Justice of God} and the life   {His deity - God the Father delegated all creation to God the Son}. The one who believes {dramatic present tense} in Me if he die {apothnesko} - maybe he will be, maybe he will not be   {accounts for rapture generation who will not taste death} - yet shall he live {eternal life}." {Jesus Restates Chronologically to Make this Doctrine Clear to Martha} 26 ~~And the one who lives {physical birth as a human} and believes in Me {rebirth into Plan of God} will NOT NEVER {ouk me} die. Do you believe {pisteuo} this?" {Note: As stated earlier the use of a double negative in the Greek - ouk me - is a very strong negative.} {Note: Pisteuo does mean believe/faith. Faith is a channel by which we lay hold of all that God has done for us. There are no human works in the non-meritorious act of faith. We are saved ONLY because of the salvation work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Amen.} 27~~She said to Him {Jesus}, "Yes, Lord, I have believed with results that continue forever - that You are the Christ . . . the Son of God . . . the One coming   {Martha knows it is stated in the Divine Decrees- He would come} into the world/cosmos." 28~~And when she had said this, she {Martha} 'went from the ultimate source of herself' {aperchomai} and called her sister Mary, saying privately {lathra}, "The Master/'Teacher of doctrine' {didaskalos} is come/here and calls {phoneo} for you." {Note: The normal Greek word for going is erchomai. Ap means from the ultimate source of yourself. Here this means she learned something. She had some poise now after her understanding the doctrine taught by Jesus.} {Note: Lathra means to 'speak so that only one person can hear'. The house was full of mourners and Martha wanted to give her message privately to Mary - but she fails!} {Note: Didaskalos is used by Martha here instead of Kurios/Lord to make the point that Jesus had just taught her doctrine. And that is what didaskalos means - a teacher of doctrine.} 29~~So she {Mary}, having heard this, got up quickly and came face to face with {pros} Him {Jesus}. Continued ************************************************** This page is sponsored by Kenneth Sidley, CPA, an Orange County California CPA (949) 706-3133. Please call Ken for high quality, low cost CPA services in Orange County California. This includes audit, review, compilation, tax returns, Quickbooks, and business consulting services. This page is sponsored by Moxxor For Pain Free Living. Moxxor is a highly concentrated Omega 3 product that has reduced inflammation in this writer. Please go to this website to read more about Moxxor.