Comments John 11:1 During the beloved Son of God's traveling, the event in this verse happened, Lazarus got ill, and the sister was in concern. We all can relate to this as well; if someone in your family is ill and you know that the beloved Son of God is close by, all you can think is to reach Him and ask for help; these two sisters have acted the same way as all people do.
Q: From this chapter, we can conclude that Lazarus is the brother of Mary who anointed the feet of Jesus; from the next chapter in John, we can conclude that Jesus went to Bethany, and there Mary anoints Jesus with the oil. Now reading the chapters, you could think that one says that Mary anointed Jesus before Lazarus’ death, and another says that Mary anointed Jesus after Lazarus’ death. In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 7:36-39, we indicate that there are two times that Mary anointed the Lord.
A: Comment addition to Luke 7:36. These two anointing events happened in the same city, Bethany, but not in the same day and house. When the Lord stopped in one place He would stay longer. When someone had invited the Lord to stay, He did stay most of the time at least overnight and in this situation, here is the same. So, the Lord stayed first at the house of Simon the leper and He logged there; then He went along and stayed at the house of Simon the Pharisee. Mary followed the Lord in both houses.
Now we can see for clear, Lazarus is still alive, and both of these events took place before Lazarus got ill.
Q: However, from the Gospel of John, chapters 11 and 12, you could understand that Lazarus got ill and died in between these two events, or we could think that in the Gospel of John, the writer just identifies the persons but does not necessarily give the events in chronological order.
A: In the Gospel of John, the events are not in the timely order as they happened, but we can also think that Mary herself followed the beloved Son of God for some time. Mary herself anointed the beloved Son of God two times, and the same jar of perfume was used; Both anointings took place before the death of Lazarus, and in John chapter 12, the Bible only identifies Lazarus; the way John identifies the person, John also gives the details of the person which makes the events not in order together.
Bethany, where Lazarus and Mary and Martha lived, was the city of Bethany east of Jerusalem city (See verse 18).
We can assume that the Lord Jesus was not in the city of Bethany when Lazarus was ill and died, but He was not that far, but somewhere South of the Sea of Galilee (See John 10:40).

Comments John 11:2 As the verse has told, John wants to tell the details about people as well, what has happened right now; Lazarus is still alive but sick; the death has not occurred yet.

Comments John 11:3 “… sent to Him”; Both sisters are concerned for the brother and seek help from the beloved Son of God; because they know that the beloved Son of God has a love for their brother, they send the message to Him regarding their brother.
Think about that time; the traveling for women would not be easy, but it would be much easier and faster to send the message by messenger, and now their brother is sick, so they wanted the message to reach the beloved Son of God fast, and that was a normal way to do, to send a message.

Comments John 11:4 This verse also tells all readers that the beloved Son of God has seen the future already. The event with Lazarus will glorify the beloved Son of God and the Father at the same time. People in that area had seen him die, but the beloved Son of God will raise Him by the will of the Father to magnify the beloved Son of God in the eyes of humans.

Comments John 11:5 As the verse has told, the beloved Son of God has a relationship with this family; their bond with the beloved Son of God has assured them that He will come and help them.

Comments John 11:6 The beloved Son of God heard about the situation, but He still stayed further two more days in that place and did not rush down to meet them; this is because everything must happen at the right time, and the beloved Son of God will not do things before the time the Father has appointed. Therefore, give attention as the verse has told, “then He stayed two days in that place He was”; the way the beloved Son of God was traveling now was not as per usual; He never avoided meeting people, but sometimes He needed the time to be left alone as well because all the time He needs to be in touch with the Father and do the duty according to the Father’s will; this including the place where to be and the time to do work. But people talk and predict the way of His traveling, which has drawn many people to come and wait to meet Him.

Comments John 11:7 The beloved Son of God has already traveled out of Judea territory, but for the work to be done, the beloved Son of God will travel back to Judea again.

Comments John 11:8 The disciples worry about the safety of the beloved Son of God. So, in their idea of how to be safe they are trying to withhold Him from returning to Judea; they are doing this out of love for the beloved Son of God.

Comments John 11:9 “Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day?” The beloved Son of God wants to warn the disciples first that the daytime is the time that everyone should do the work or, if anyone wants to travel, will do so because the day is short, and when the night comes, the danger also comes with the night.
“If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble …”; The beloved Son of God has shown them the benefit of traveling during the day; anyone who walks can see with the eyes and can avoid the problem on the way.
“… because he sees the light of this world.” The God Most High has already created the sun to give light to all; everyone can use the sunlight to see where they go; and also during the day, everyone can see the creation of God Most High; and everyone can also benefit out of all things He has created; that is the love of the Father who created all things for everyone to benefit out of His work; the Father has worked many things for all creation, but not that many appreciate and thank Him.
When the verse talks about walking by using the light of this world, every eye uses the benefit of the light to see the way they are going, and they can also avoid the problem on the way.

Comments John 11:10 Anyone who travels during the night tries to get problems for themselves because the Lord has created the light to shine during the day to be able to travel and work; when the light is not in them, their eyes will also be as blind.
Most people try to relate these verses to what the Jews were doing, and indeed one thing all readers should understand, His own people are trying to kill Him because they did not take His teaching as the light to open the eyes of their soul to accept Him as the Savior of their life. So, this is an analogy parable.

Comments John 11:11 The beloved Son of God has considered Lazarus as a friend; Lazarus has passed away at this time, but it was not his time yet to die, so the beloved Son of God will go and raise him from the dead.
The beloved Son of God already knows that Lazarus will die soon, but his death will glorify the Lord because this death will be reversed; Lazarus will be raised up from the dead, and everyone will realize that the Lord never abandons His people, even if not everyone will be raised from the dead, in the same way as Lazarus. Still, the Father has chosen Lazarus to magnify His beloved Son of God.
If that were not the plan for the Lord Jesus to raise Lazarus up, then the beloved Son of God would be there, but things must happen. Everything that happens is for a purpose, and the death of Lazarus is for glorifying the beloved Son of God; it is not that the Lord did not care about Lazarus, but the pain of the death he will taste. Still, the dead will not remember that pain when they have been raised back with God's mercy and love.

Comments John 11:12 From what the beloved Son of God has talked to the disciples, it makes them understand, with their own minds, that Lazarus is now sleeping and recovering from sickness, and this verse has told what they are thinking.

Comments John 11:14 Now the beloved Son of God wants all disciples to realize what is happening in this time; Lazarus has died at this time, but neither of them is there yet to see and confirm.

Comments John 11:15 The disciples need to see this event happen because the beloved Son of God will not be with them for too long. In their minds, they will always remember this event, and when the beloved Son of God has risen, their understanding about bodily resurrection will be clearer than it was, which will help them to do their work in the future.

Comments John 11:16 From what happened during this time, this disciple has a concern; the human mind has thought and has worry, and Thomas is a common man, and the worry has come to him as well. Thomas' worry is not about if anyone will come for this event; he worries that if they go to Lazarus’ burial, then he believes that some problems for themselves would happen. Still, his word has confirmed to his own mind that he is ready for whatever will happen, but none of the disciples are ready for this.

Comments John 11:17 The meaning of the verse is clear.

Comments John 11:19 The family of Martha and Mary is well known among people in that town because the family is well behaving in the eyes of people, and also, they are a wealthy family.

Comments John 11:20 Martha and Mary being the hosts of the funeral, if one is not there, another needs to stay; but Martha, with her heart filled with gladness, wants to meet with the beloved Son of God to comfort her soul.

Comments John 11:21 Martha with the heart full of faith and trust in the beloved Son of God, completely believe, if the beloved Son of God is there with them her brother will be alive; she has faith in the beloved Son of God more than many nowadays have.

Comments John 11:22 Let all readers notice Martha's words and her faith in the beloved Son of God. She completely trusted in the beloved Son of God that if He asked God for anything, the beloved Son of God would receive it all, even to save her brother's life.

Comments John 11:23 The beloved Son of God has shown full compassion to this woman. With His word, He told her that her brother would be alive again.

Comments John 11:24 From Martha's knowledge about God and her trust in the beloved Son of God, she believes that her brother will return alive at the resurrection; let all readers give attention to her faith that we will meet all our loved ones again at the resurrection. At the resurrection, every soul in the Lord (true believers) will meet, and the joy will return to every soul.

Comments John 11:25 “I am the resurrection.” Here in this place, the beloved Son of God has said to all believers that He is alive and never dies, and all in Him will be alive as well.
“and the life.” When the beloved Son of God has told us that He is the life itself, all living souls in Him will also be alive with Him.
“the one believing in Me, …”; As the verse has told here, everyone can trust that if you completely believe in the beloved Son of God, even if you die from this earth, you are still alive with Him and have eternal life together with the beloved Son of God Himself. Because He is the Lord of resurrection, all who believe in Him will live with Him.

Comments John 11:26 Here we will concentrate on the question the beloved Son of God has asked her, “Do you believe this?” Ask yourself this question: What do you expect from this belief? If you believe with an expectation of something of this earth, that is not what the Lord is teaching. Remember that the beloved Son of God has asked you about faith in His teachings and in His resurrection on the last day. So, if your belief refers to spending time glorifying the Father and the beloved Son of God, keep that belief within your heart and meditate on all the teachings that the beloved Son of God has given in the Holy Bible.

Comments John 11:27 Take this verse as the central core of your thinking about who the Lord Jesus is for yourself, guide your heart, and follow this verse closely. Martha has given a true testimony about her faith regarding who the beloved Son of God is for herself, and this verse has become the truth not just for herself alone but for all true believers of the earth as well.

Comments John 11:28 The elder sister had met the Lord first, but in the heart of the elder, she thought of her younger mercifully; the sadness of the funeral was still on her, but the gladness of meeting the Lord also overpowered the sorrowful heart. Her mind only thought about how to help her sister, which is why she told her sister the Lord was here, go and meet with Him. Even the Lord did not tell her to do that way, but she has responded to her heart for her sister's love.

Comments John 11:29 The Bible does not tell us the full conversation between Martha and Mary; we do not know what the sisters have talked about to make Mary go to the beloved Son of God with the speed she could. But the truth about the beloved Son of God has also been revealed to Mary's heart by her sister, which is why she goes to Him quickly.

Comments John 11:31 Everyone has seen Mary weeping at home, and all have realized how sorrowful Mary is for losing her brother. Now suddenly, she gets up and walks out, so everyone only thinks that she is missing her brother and is going to the tomb to weep there from her sorrowful heart, so everyone wants to support her for her loss.

Comments John 11:32 Let all readers give attention to the fact that both women have faith. As the verse has told here, Mary has faith in the beloved Son of God, and she believes with all her heart that if the beloved Son of God had been there, He could save her brother’s life; this is the faith that everyone should pay attention to.

Comments John 11:33 We all can notice the love of the beloved Son of God; when He has seen the love of the siblings, it has made His own Spirit move with love and mercy, but the Lord already knew what He would do. But the beloved Son did not have only mercy alone, always He has love and mercy to all that have faith in Him, and this is a family that has faith in the beloved Son of God. He did not give them anything yet, but they already had faith and believed in Him; His presence only helped them (for being there alone had already helped them). As all humans, without love, you cannot have mercy; that is why the beloved Son of God has both love and mercy.
“He was deeply moved in the Spirit, and troubled Himself.” As this verse itself has told to all, the beloved Son of God is truly human; the true feeling of human has been shown here as well; when the mercy has moved into His own Spirit, it created trouble in His feeling because He cannot help her not to have this feeling of loss at this time. Still, He already has planned what He will do for this family.

Comments John 11:35 The weeping of the beloved Son of God is not from sadness but from the gladness of His heart because, in this death of Lazarus himself, the Father will be glorified on high as well. People did not recognize the mercy of the Father Himself yet (to send His begotten Son on earth) until this man's death; the beloved Son of God will show His mercy to all the people, and this is the people of faith in that time. The Lord wept because of the state of people's hearts. He wept of gladness, not sadness; how many people will think of mercy when they see Him raise Lazarus?

Comments John 11:36 Humans justify human action but also forget to think that most humans act opposite to thinking.

Comments John 11:37 Let all readers notice as well that people in that time had already seen and heard about the miracles the beloved Son of God has done on earth, and certain of them thought, if the beloved Son of God did these miracles, He should do another miracle as well; even to raise this one from the dead. But, to cause someone not to die also means having enough power to stop death from happening; so, how can a human stop death? So, this verse tells that the people have thought already that the beloved Son of God is more than a man.

Comments John 11:38 All these feelings had happened with the beloved Son of God, and had also shown all humans that He is a hundred percent human; only humans have these feelings when they lose their loved ones. So, these have shown to all that the beloved Son of God loved this human.

Comments John 11:39 Martha tried to warn the beloved Son of God that her brother had been dead for some time and the dead would have the odor now; this also, has shown to all how Martha is concerned for the beloved Son of God; her word comes out from the love of her heart towards the beloved Son of God.

Comments John 11:40 The beloved Son of God has told them straight because He does not want them to have doubt; they all will be a witness of the glory of God, and human eyes will see the work of the Father.

Comments John 11:41 “Therefore, they took away the stone.” All readers should also remember that the stone is heavy and large, and it will require many people to do this work. When the beloved Son of God has told them to take the stone away, those workers who took it away will also be witnesses; this is the work of the Father in this place, and that is the main reason that the beloved Son of God wants everyone to see.
“…Thou have heard Me.” The beloved Son of God has told all humans that the Father always hears Him. Therefore, everyone who reads this verse should think as well, anything you have asked from the beloved Son of God, the Father Himself will help you as well; through the beloved Son of God, the Father will hear all your requests, don’t give up; bring everything to the beloved Son of God and then the Father will listen as well.

Comments John 11:42 In this place, every believer should think that whatever the beloved Son of God does, His purpose, in doing for anyone, is to let them know that the Father is always with Him, and all His work is accomplished according to the Father’s will.

Comments John 11:43 Just by His word, the beloved Son of God has called out the dead to be alive because every word of the beloved Son of God has life. So, if He calls Lazarus to come out, Lazarus will come out and be alive again. “He cried out in a loud voice.” The Lord Jesus shouts out to the dead to come outside, and with His voice, He wakes up the dead again.
“Lazarus, come outside”; simple words from God's beloved Son and the dead becomes alive. That is why we say that the beloved Son’s word is alive. The body of the dead became a body of the living, and the odor or the rotten disappeared. The beloved Son of God has given good health to that body, and by His will, when He has said, "come outside," it had included not only the life but the health of the body as well.
We cannot use the term resurrect with Lazarus’ body; the beloved Son of God has given him the body as He is calling back all material to be back in his own body but is not resurrection here. This differs from when the beloved Son of God rose from the dead. The Lord Jesus took up His own body by Himself, but Lazarus needed help from the beloved Son of God to return back to the body.

Comments John 11:45 As the verse tells, many of His own people have seen the miracle, but not all believed in the beloved Son of God; sometimes miracles happen, but if the person's heart is dark, the miracle has no effect on that soul.

Comments John 11:46 The Pharisees, as leaders, have power over the hearts of the people more than the miracle the beloved Son of God has done; because humans look for the things of this earth, if they go to report to the Pharisees, they will get the reward of this earth.

Comments John 11:47 The religious leaders and the leaders of people know very well what the beloved Son of God has done, and now they gather together not to find a way to glorify the beloved Son of God but to try to find a way to stop the work of God.

Comments John 11:48 If people follow the beloved Son of God, the enemy of the nation (the Romans) will believe that the religious leaders have lost control of the people; now, the religious leaders are concerned about their position and power but not the well-being of the people themselves.

Comments John 11:50 Caiaphas has a position as a religious leader. Still, he intends to please the human leaders, not the God Most High, and now he has suggested them, instead of losing power, to kill the beloved Son of God, and all the leaders' positions will be secured by the death of one Man, but that Man they want to kill is the beloved Son of God. Caiaphas has used his power for himself.

Comments John 11:51 “Now this he said not from himself.” At this point, the priest of God Himself is also thinking about how to secure the nation and his position; he considers that his nation is God’s children, and it is better to have one man die for all, which is his reason for saying something out. And in that time, the beloved Son of God had the name respected by the people, so it would be best to use the beloved Son's popularity to die instead of his position and the nation. When we have said his thinking, that is the dark thinking that controls the human mind to think; when humans have problems and do not seek first the Lord’s advice, the heart will listen to that dark feeding, and now Caiaphas as the high priest has used that feeding and justified as being God speaking in his heart for the people. Because for he himself, without the nation, he cannot be in that position.
Because this is his feeling from his heart, when that feeling tells him about saving the nation, he takes it as God’s will for him to save the nation. And God also has provided one Man, the beloved Son of God, for that duty. So, therefore, in his position as the high priest, he considers this feeling the right feeling coming from God and that this is the way to save the nation through God’s guidance.
There is a difference between God’s will and God’s plan; the Father has a plan for the salvation of the human race, but it is not His will to put the Lord Jesus on the cross. No father wants to kill his son, and it is not God the Father to wish to use the death of His own Son in a tortured way to save all creatures that He has created. But also, to bring humans' souls back to heaven also, it needs the path of the Holy One as well; the death of the beloved Son of God is the proper Holy path for the souls that have faith and trust to have a chance to come back to the Father.
Because it was not the Father’s will to kill His Son, but the dark side used the human mind, and the humans used the dark feeding to kill His beloved Son of God on earth, the dark side became the tool to save humans. What evil thought the dark had in itself (because it wanted to fight God and it believed if it killed the beloved Son of God, they would win the fight with God) did not know that the dark itself would be the one that led itself to death; when the dark has used human mind to kill the beloved Son of God, the dark has condemned itself to death as well. When the dark killed the beloved Son of God on earth, the dark did not know that that would be the path of its own death as well. By killing the beloved Son of God, they thought they would win the battle with God, and the human souls would be lost forever to the dark side, but the Father has the salvation plan through the death of His Son on the cross.
"not of himself; but, being high priest that year, he prophesied."
a. During this time, Caiaphas took a position as a high priest; when he speaks under the position, he speaks as the Lord speaks. However, in this place, Caiaphas speaks out of his own, but he speaks out while holding the position, so the people have taken it as he prophesies, and the verse itself also tells the reader he speaks not from himself; this refers to the position he has.
b. Because Caiaphas is holding the position, then what he speaks, the people will take as he is prophesying for the Lord. Also, in this place, he has talked about the beloved Son of God; the beloved Son has a duty to fulfill in saving the humans, and the beloved Son will be the path for humans to go to the Father; so, the beloved Son of God has taken Himself as an offering for the Father and was willing to give His life in order to save the humans.

Comments John 11:52 God the Father Himself will be the One who guides the beloved Son of God to do the work; the way to gather all the children of God back to Holy Land, will need the commitment from the people themselves as well; all their heart and mind must be one with the Lord; all idols must be not throwed away but destroyed, to gather God's people back together to be as one nation again, the people must surrender to God will all of them, not just by mouth but the heart as well. The beloved Son of God has come to do His duty in pointing out for the whole world how to worship God the Father by putting trust in the beloved Son of God first and ask Him for help then all the nations will come back as one (as believers).
“… into one the children of God, those having been scattered.” Not only the scattered children in the beginning but also including the gentiles that have wholly surrendered and accepted the authority of the beloved Son of God that has come to save not just the Israel nation alone but all the believers in the world as well.

Comments John 11:53 Now all readers can notice the work of the dark side. When many gather together and listen to the advice of the dark side, the action will lead to doing only things that go against God’s will. But to fulfill the faith of the men in the life that listen to the dark voice (any human who has put trust in the dark side that has faith in the dark side of this life), because all of them in their mind and heart can’t find a place to have faith in the beloved Son of God and all have one goal together, kill the beloved Son of God before He can take power above them, which is completely against the Father’s will. The Father wants to save the humans through His Son, and the beloved Son also wants to save humans even to the point of giving His human life for humans in exchange; the final decision is not the dark side's decision but the will of the beloved Son of God to save humans by giving Himself in exchange.

Comments John 11:54 The beloved Son of God started His work with the Father's will to go among the people who haven’t known the work of God in their midst. These people ignored the creation of God in their forefathers' generation, but in their generation, they will not be able to ignore the work of the beloved Son of God, and their hearts will be open, and the chance for them to be saved is coming.
Jesus did not go hiding, but He went to help these people (the Jews) to commit less sin, and at the same time, by doing that, He saved the people as well.
This departure of the Lord to this area happened close to Jesus’ last Passover on earth. He never stopped traveling, which is why the Bible's record sounds confusing, but the Holy Bible has told the life of the beloved Son of God. And while He was human on earth, He never had rest time from work; always every moment when He was traveling, He also found someone who needed Him because that was the purpose of His coming on the earth; traveling and teaching people the way to be saved. However, in every place on earth when the beloved Son of God travels, He can find rest at all times by walking and seeing the work of the Father; the beloved Son of God has found rest in the Father as well, so He does not need people to host Him. But in any place He travels, the Father has someone there that He can help; at the same time, they help Him, and He helps them.

Comments John 11:55 These events build up to the last Passover of the Lord Jesus on earth.
It is a tradition that passes on to the next generation; before Passover, everyone must go out and meditate, thinking about what the Lord has done in their life. The way to purify themselves, they must be clean from all things, including the family as well (when the family stays together as a group, disagreements can happen, so to be clean from conflicts, the best is to be alone, and the heart will not worry about anyone in the family), to live as clean as possible and come back when they feel that they are clean from inside; the time they have spent out there make them think more about God and for them that is purifying.
People also consider Jerusalem a holy place; before they can come to the holy place, the time of traveling is also a time of separation from everyone, for they themselves consider that it is time for cleansing.

Comments John 11:56 Those seeking also include the commoners, the ones that want to get the reward have searched for the Lord as well. As the Holy Bible has told in many places, money is the root of all evil; at the feast, people are looking for the beloved Son of God to be able to make a report in accordance to get a reward.

Comments John 11:57 Now the leaders use their position and give order to people; it is a way of controlling the people. If someone knows something, they must make a report; in this way, people fear each other as well; if someone knows that you know something, it is better you make a report before someone else reports on you. As this verse tells, the leaders had given an order; the term order is stronger than any love and worries among each other; it makes people follow, regardless of whether they want it or not.