Yohanes 11:20-27

11:20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary was sitting in the house. ¹  11:21 Martha ²  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 ³  you.” ⁴ 

11:23 Jesus replied, ⁵  “Your brother will come back to life again.” ⁶  11:24 Martha said, ⁷  “I know that he will come back to life again ⁸  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 ⁹  even if he dies, 11:26 and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. ¹⁰  Do you believe this?” 11:27 She replied, ¹¹  “Yes, Lord, I believe ¹²  that you are the Christ, ¹³  the Son of God who comes into the world.” ¹⁴ 

[11:20]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Grk “Then Martha.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[11:22]  ³ tn Or “give.”

[11:22]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Grk “Jesus said to her.”

[11:23]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Grk “Martha said to him.”

[11:24]  ⁸ tn Or “will rise again.”

[11:25]  ⁹ tn That is, will come to life.

[11:26]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “will never die forever.”

[11:27]  ¹¹ tn Grk “She said to him.”

[11:27]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the Son of God, the one who comes into the world.”