Praying Together 22 March 2026

11 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³ So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

Lazarus and his sisters were close friends with Jesus. They turn to Him in times of trouble, and Lazarus’ illnes is certainly trouble – he is the breadwinner of the family, and they depend on him for their wellbeing.

 ⁴ But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

This has to be one of the greatest puzzles in Scripture. Lazarus is desperately ill; a friend’s natural response would be to make haste to his bedside. Instead, Jesus stays where He is. ‘Some friend He is’, people are thinking. One explanation for Jesus’ delay is that Lazarus had to die for the miracle to take place, but that seems unlikely  – Jesus loves the family, and wouldn’t put them through theatricals causing unnecessary pain – there would be other opportuntities for performing miracles.

Instead, we look at the context. Jesus has been living about six miles north of Jericho, avoiding Judea, where He had been pursued and threatened with stoning on account of His teaching and miraculous healings. When the nessage about Lazarus arrives, He is torn between wishing to be alongside His friend and the risk of certain death if He goes back to Judea. In many ways, this is His crucial moment – Is He prepared to give up His life for a friend? He spends the two days prayerfully wrestling with His decision – a much greater decision than just about Lazarus, because to go back to Judea is to accept His destiny as the saviour of the world, not just of one man, and be the first step in the walk that will lead to His Cross.

He chooses, and turns His face to Jerusalem.

 ⁷ He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 

The disciples don’t want Jesus to go at all.  There is too much risk involved, with the authorites already stirring up the crowd out of fear they will listen to the message Jesus is preaching. But He refuses to go into hiding or disguise His ministry.

¹¹ After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” ¹² The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” ¹³ Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. ¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, ¹⁵ and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 

They look for excuses for Jesus not to go. ‘Perhaps it isn’t that serious’. It is, though. The delay is important, because Jesus will use the resultant healing to confim His power even over death.

¹⁶ So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Thomas is (reluctantly) resigned to his fate out of loyalty to Jesus – but I suspect he is muttering under his breath.

¹⁷ Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles^[c] off, ¹⁹ and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 

Sounds like an Irish funeral! The whole community gathers around to sympathise.

²⁰ So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 

An interesting conversation ensues. She rebukes Him, demonstrating the close relationship between Jesus and the family – she wouldn’t dare to give a Rabbi a telling-off otherwise

²² But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

So fix it, please.

 ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 

I’ve heard platitudes like that many times. I want something more concrete than pie-in-the- sky-when-you-die.

 ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.^[d] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

And Martha – the practical one – confesses her faith – before Lazarus is raised from death. Here is a forunner of Thomas upper-room confession when Jesus appeared with the wounds in His hands and side ‘Do you believe because you have seen  – blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.’

²⁸ When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved^[e] in his spirit and greatly troubled. ³⁴ And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus wept. 

Jesus – Son of God, but also human – understands and shares the pain of all those who have lost loved ones. His tears are not just for Lazarus, but the rest of the world.

³⁶ So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

They ‘ve seen a miracle – but they want more. They don’t want to believe – they want an excuse not to.

³⁸ Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odour, for he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² 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.” ⁴³ When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 

 “Lazarus, come out.” He calls Lazarus by name. Even death cannot triumph, and so it is with sin. There is no depth or distance to which human being can go that can prevent them from hearing that call. It is up to them to choose to accept or deny it.

⁴⁴ 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.”

Unbound, and set free.

He calls us, too. Our choice.