Yohanes 11:17-27

Speaking with Martha and Mary

11:17 When ¹  Jesus arrived, ²  he found that Lazarus ³  had been in the tomb four days already. ⁴  11:18 (Now Bethany was less than two miles ⁵  from Jerusalem, ⁶  11:19 so many of the Jewish people of the region ⁷  had come to Martha and Mary to console them ⁸  over the loss of their brother.) ⁹  11:20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary was sitting in the house. ¹⁰  11:21 Martha ¹¹  said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 11:22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will grant ¹²  you.” ¹³ 

11:23 Jesus replied, ¹⁴  “Your brother will come back to life again.” ¹⁵  11:24 Martha said, ¹⁶  “I know that he will come back to life again ¹⁷  in the resurrection at the last day.” 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live ¹⁸  even if he dies, 11:26 and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. ¹⁹  Do you believe this?” 11:27 She replied, ²⁰  “Yes, Lord, I believe ²¹  that you are the Christ, ²²  the Son of God who comes into the world.” ²³ 

[11:17]  ¹ tn Grk “Then when.”

[11:17]  ² tn Grk “came.”

[11:17]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Lazarus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:17]  ⁴ tn Grk “he had already had four days in the tomb” (an idiom).

[11:17]  sn There is no description of the journey itself. The author simply states that when Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days already. He had died some time before this but probably not very long (cf. Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:6,10 who were buried immediately after they died, as was the common practice of the time). There is some later evidence (early 3rd century) of a rabbinic belief that the soul hovered near the body of the deceased for three days, hoping to be able to return to the body. But on the fourth day it saw the beginning of decomposition and finally departed (Leviticus Rabbah 18.1). If this belief is as old as the 1st century, it might suggest the significance of the four days: After this time, resurrection would be a first-order miracle, an unequivocal demonstration of the power of God. It is not certain if the tradition is this early, but it is suggestive. Certainly the author does not appear to attach any symbolic significance to the four days in the narrative.

[11:18]  ⁵ tn Or “three kilometers”; Grk “fifteen stades” (a stade as a unit of linear measure is about 607 feet or 187 meters).

[11:18]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[11:19]  ⁷ tn Or “many of the Judeans” (cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e); Grk “many of the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the residents of Jerusalem and the surrounding area in general (those who had been friends or relatives of Lazarus or his sisters would mainly be in view) since the Jewish religious authorities (“the chief priests and the Pharisees”) are specifically mentioned as a separate group in John 11:46-47. See also the note on the phrase “the Jewish leaders” in v. 8.

[11:19]  ⁸ tn Or “to comfort them” or “to offer them sympathy.”

[11:19]  ⁹ tn Grk “to comfort them concerning their brother”; the words “loss of” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[11:19]  sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[11:20]  ¹⁰ sn Notice the difference in the response of the two sisters: Martha went out to meet Jesus, while Mary remains sitting in the house. It is similar to the incident in Luke 10:38-42. Here again one finds Martha occupied with the responsibilities of hospitality; she is the one who greets Jesus.

[11:21]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Then Martha.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[11:22]  ¹² tn Or “give.”

[11:22]  ¹³ sn The statement “whatever you ask from God, God will grant you” by Martha presents something of a dilemma, because she seems to be suggesting here (implicitly at least) the possibility of a resurrection for her brother. However, Martha’s statement in 11:39 makes it clear that she had no idea that a resurrection was still possible. How then are her words in 11:22 to be understood? It seems best to take them as a confession of Martha’s continuing faith in Jesus even though he was not there in time to help her brother. She means, in effect, “Even though you weren’t here in time to help, I still believe that God grants your requests.”

[11:23]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Jesus said to her.”

[11:23]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Your brother will rise again.”

[11:23]  sn Jesus’ remark to Martha that Lazarus would come back to life again is another example of the misunderstood statement. Martha apparently took it as a customary statement of consolation and joined Jesus in professing belief in the general resurrection of the body at the end of the age. However, as Jesus went on to point out in 11:25-26, Martha’s general understanding of the resurrection at the last day was inadequate for the present situation, for the gift of life that conquers death was a present reality to Jesus. This is consistent with the author’s perspective on eternal life in the Fourth Gospel: It is not only a future reality, but something to be experienced in the present as well. It is also consistent with the so-called “realized eschatology” of the Fourth Gospel.

[11:24]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Martha said to him.”

[11:24]  ¹⁷ tn Or “will rise again.”

[11:25]  ¹⁸ tn That is, will come to life.

[11:26]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “will never die forever.”

[11:27]  ²⁰ tn Grk “She said to him.”

[11:27]  ²¹ tn The perfect tense in Greek is often used to emphasize the results or present state of a past action. Such is the case here. To emphasize this nuance the perfect tense verb πεπίστευκα (pepisteuka) has been translated as a present tense. This is in keeping with the present context, where Jesus asks of her present state of belief in v. 26, and the theology of the Gospel as a whole, which emphasizes the continuing effects and present reality of faith. For discussion on this use of the perfect tense, see ExSyn 574-76 and B. M. Fanning, Verbal Aspect, 291-97.

[11:27]  ²² tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[11:27]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.

[11:27]  ²³ tn Or “the Son of God, the one who comes into the world.”