John 11:3

Joh 11:3-6. Therefore his sisters — Observing his sickness was of a dangerous kind, and therefore being full of concern for him, knowing where Jesus was, thought proper to send him word of it; for they firmly expected that he, who had cured so many strangers, would willingly come and give health to one whom he so tenderly loved. When Jesus heard this he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God — The event of this sickness will not be death, in the usual sense of the word, a final separation of his soul and body; but a manifestation of the glorious power of God, and a confirmation of the doctrine and mission of his Son. Dr. Campbell renders the clause, will not prove fatal, observing that this reading gives the full import of the Greek expression, ουκ εστι προς θανατον, and at the same time preserves the ambiguity intended. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister, &c. — That is, he loved them with a peculiar affection, on account of their unfeigned piety toward God, their friendship and affection toward one another, and their faith in him as the Messiah, and had often visited them, and lodged at their house. And, in consequence of his peculiar love to them, he was determined to conduct himself toward them, in their present trying circumstances, in such a manner as he knew would be most for their final advantage, though it might, for a while, be an occasion of greater affliction to them. When he heard therefore that he was sick — Instead of making all possible haste to go to him, and without declaring he had any thoughts of going; he abode two days still — On the other side of Jordan; and in the same place where he was before — This he did not only though he loved them, but because he loved them. He loved them, and therefore he designed to do something great and extraordinary for them; to work such a miracle for their relief, as he had not wrought for any of his friends. If he had gone immediately, and had arrived at Bethany while Lazarus was still alive, and had cured his sickness, he would have done no more for him than he had done for many; if he had come to him, and raised him when he was but just dead, he would have done no more than he had done for some; but deferring his relief so long, he had an opportunity of doing more for him than he had done, or ever should do, for any other. Observe, reader, God hath gracious intentions even in his apparent delays. See Isa 54:7-8. Christ’s friends at Bethany were not out of his thoughts, nor was his affection to them lessened, though when he heard of their distress he made no haste to give them relief. “His lingering so long after their message came, did not proceed from want of concern for his friends, but happened according to the counsels of his own wisdom. For the length of time that Lazarus lay in the grave put his death beyond all possibility of doubt, and removed every suspicion of a fraud, and so afforded Jesus a fit opportunity of displaying the love he bare to Lazarus, as well as his own almighty power, in his unquestionable resurrection from the dead. It is true, the sisters were thus kept a while in painful anxiety, on account of their brother’s life, and in the conclusion were pierced with the sorrow of seeing him die. Yet they would think themselves abundantly recompensed by the evidence accruing to the gospel from this astonishing miracle, as well as by the inexpressible surprise of joy which they felt, when they received their brother again from the dead.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11:3 The two sisters had a dilemma. They knew Jesus’ power as a healer, but they also realized that his return to Judea would entail personal risk (11:8).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 11:3. Ὃν φιλεῖς, whom Thou lovest) This is more modest, than if they were to say, he who loves Thee, or Thy friend; comp. Joh 11:11, “Our friend Lazarus” [Jesus’ words].—ἀσθενεῖ, is sick) They elegantly do not express [but leave to be inferred] the consequent, therefore come to our help [Joh 11:31-32, (Mary to Jesus) “Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Truly greater things were now close at hand.—V. g.] Comp. ch. Joh 2:3, “When they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto Him, They have no wine” [leaving the consequent unexpressed, but implied, Do Thou relieve them]. The great love of the sisters towards their brother here shines forth.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_11:3-4. Merely the message that the beloved one is sick. The request lay in the message itself, and the addition ὃν φιλεῖς supplied the motive for its fulfilment.

εἶπεν] spoken generally, and not addressed to any definite person, but in the hearing of those present, the messenger and the disciples. Sufficient for the moment as a preparation both for the sisters and the disciples.

οὐκ ἔστι πρὸς θάνατον] πρός refers to destination (comp. afterwards ὑπέρ): it is not to have death for its result, which, however, does not mean, as the antithesis shows: it is not deadly, he will not die of it. The idea of death is used with a pregnancy of meaning, and the words signify: he shall not fall a prey to death, as death usually is, so that no reawakening takes place; θάνατος γὰρ κυρίως ὁ μέχρι τῆς κοινῆς ἀναστάσεως, Euth. Zigabenus. Comp. Mat_9:24. That Jesus certainly knew, by His higher knowledge, that the death of Lazarus was certain and near at hand, though the death must be conceived as not having yet actually taken place (see on Joh_11:17), is confirmed by Joh_11:14;for the assumption of a second message (Paulus, Neander, Schweizer) is purely arbitrary. With this significant declaration, Jesus designed to supply to the sisters something fitted, when the death of their brother took place, to stimulate the hope to which Martha gives actual expression in Joh_11:22. There is no warrant for dragging in a reference to the spiritual and eternal life of the resurrection (Gumlich).

ὑπὲρ τῆς δόξ. τ. θ.] i.e. for the furtherance of the honour of God. Comp. Joh_9:3. The emphatic and more definite explanation of the expression is given in ἵνα δοξασθῇ, etc.words which, containing the intention of God, state the kind and manner of the ὑπὲρ τ. δόξ. τ. θ., so far, namely, as the glorification of the Son of God involves the honour of God Himself, who works through Him (comp. Joh_5:23, Joh_10:30; Joh_10:38). It is in these words, and not in Joh_11:25 (Baur), that the doctrinal design of the narrative is contained. Comp. Joh_11:40; Joh_11:42.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 11:3 . The sisters were so intimate with Jesus that they naturally turn to Him in their anxiety, and send Him a notice of the illness, which is only a slightly veiled request that He would come to their relief: “Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is ill”. “Sufficit ut noveris. Non enim amas et deseris.” Augustine.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, he whom thou lovest is sick--a most womanly appeal, yet how reverential, to the known affection of her Lord for the patient. (See Joh 11:5, Joh 11:11). "Those whom Christ loves are no more exempt than others from their share of earthly trouble and anguish: rather are they bound over to it more surely" [TRENCH].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. He whom thou lovest is sick.] Nothing could be more simple, nor more modest, than this prayer: they do not say, Come and heal him: or, Command the disease to depart even where thou art, and it will obey thee: - they content themselves with simply stating the case, and using an indirect but a most forcible argument, to induce our Lord to show forth his power and goodness: - He is sick, and thou lovest him; therefore thou canst neither abandon him, not us.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. Lo, he whom thou lovest is sick. The message is short, but Christ might easily learn from it what the two sisters wished; for, under this complaint, they modestly state their request that he would be pleased to grant them relief. We are not forbidden, indeed, to use a longer form of prayer; but our principal object ought to be, to pour into the bosom of God all our cares, and every thing that distresses us, that he may afford deliverance. Such is the manner in which the women act towards Christ: they plainly tell him their distress, in consequence of which they expect some alleviation. We ought also to observe that, from Christ’s love, they are led to entertain a confident hope of obtaining assistance, he whom thou lovest; and this is the invariable rule of praying aright; for, where the love of God is, there deliverance is certain and at hand, because God cannot forsake him whom he loveth

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(3) Therefore his sisters sent unto him.—Better, The sisters therefore sent unto Him—i.e., because of the fact of the illness, which has been repeated at the close of the last verse, and also because of the intimacy between our Lord and this family, of which the anointing was a proof. (Comp. Joh_11:5.)

Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.—The words are given in the touching simplicity of the message just as they were sent by the sorrowing sisters. They feel that the sad news needs no addition, and that there is no necessity for a prayer for help. Weakness, conscious of strength which loves, needs but to utter itself. (Comp. Joh_11:21.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. Therefore his sisters sent] This shews that Joh_11:2 ought not to be made a parenthesis: ‘therefore’ refers to the previous statement. Because of the intimacy, which every one who knew of the anointing would understand, the sisters sent. Note that they are not further described; S. John has said enough to tell his readers who are meant: but would not a forger have introduced them with more description?

he whom thou lovest is sick] Exquisite in its tender simplicity. The message implies a belief that Christ could, and probably would, heal a dangerous sickness. See on Joh_11:5.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore his sisters sent unto him,.... Both the sisters of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, sent to Jesus; they did not go themselves, being women, and the place where Jesus was, was at some distance; and besides, it was necessary they should abide at home, to attend their brother in his sickness, and therefore they sent a messenger, or messengers to Christ,

saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick; for it seems that Lazarus was in a very singular manner loved by Christ, as man, as John the beloved disciple was; and this is the rather put into the message by the sisters, to engage Jesus to come to his assistance; and they were very right in applying to Christ in this time of need, who is the physician, both of the bodies and souls of men; and are greatly to be commended both for their modesty and piety, in not prescribing to Christ what should be done in this case: and it may be further observed, that such who are the peculiar objects of Christ's love, are attended in this life with bodily sickness, disorders, and diseases, which are sent unto them, not in a way of vindictive wrath, but in love, and as fatherly chastisements; which, as they are designed, so they are overruled for their good; and are to be considered, not as instances of wrath, but as tokens of love.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

3 Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.

Ver. 3. Behold, he whom thou lovest is sick] This was enough to say to a loving Saviour. We need not be careful in anything, more than to make our wants known to God, Php 4:6, and let him alone to help us, how and when he pleaseth. So, to mind and move Christ for the labouring Church, it shall suffice to say, She whom thou lovest is sick, is in ill case, &c. But St Augustine asketh, Si amatur, quomodo infirmatur? If it is love, how is it weak? Oh, well enough: afflictions are Christ’s love tokens. "As many as I love," saith he, "I rebuke and chasten." God may give the dearly beloved of his soul into the hand of her enemies, Jer 12:7.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Whom thou lovest - Joh 11:5. The members of this family were among the few special and intimate friends of our Lord. He was much with them, and showed them marks of special friendship Luk 10:38-42, and they bestowed upon him special proofs of affection in return. This shows that special attachments are lawful for Christians, and that those friendships are especially lovely which are tempered and sweetened with the spirit of Christ. Friendships should always be cemented by religion, and one main end of those attachments should be to aid one another in the great business of preparing to die.

Sent unto him - They believed that he had power to heal him Joh 11:21, though they did not then seem to suppose that he could raise him if he died. Perhaps there were two reasons why they sent for him; one, because they supposed he would be desirous of seeing his friend; the other, because they supposed he could restore him. In sickness we should implore the aid and presence of Jesus. He only can restore us and our friends; he only can perform for us the office of a friend when all other friends fail; and he only can cheer us with the hope of a blessed resurrection.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Christ (as was said before) seems to have been very familiar at the house of these two sisters, and often to have made them his hostesses; and it should appear by this verse that in those visits he had showed particular kindnesses to this their brother Lazarus, who was now sick; this makes them style their brother, he whom thou lovest. They plead no merits either of their own or his, but only plead with him for his own goodness and love. Nor do they express in particular what they desired for their brother, though it is easily understood by their representation of his state and condition.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. Whom thou lovest—The sisters presume to make no request. They boast not of Lazarus’s love to Jesus; but modestly refer to the Lord’s love to Lazarus, and leave that love to decide what shall be done.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore the sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick (on fileiv nominative to asyenei). The sisters knew well what peril Jesus and his disciples would encounter by coming to Bethany, and they must have known that he could have healed him by a word; so they simply state the case. (On the difference between filein and agapan , see notes on Joh_5:20 Joh_21:15, Joh_21:17. Trench, "New Test. Syn.," The former word is that of personal affection and fondness, though occasion ally having grander associations and equivalent to amo, while agapaw is equivalent to diligo, and means the love of choice, of sentiment, of confidence and esteem.) There is delicate tact and beauty in the use of the two words, one by the sisters, the other by the evangelist. The statement of needs, the simple voice of our weakness, the infant"s cry, goes up to heaven. The bleat of the lost lamb is enough for the good Shepherd.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. His sisters sent unto him. Unto Jesus who was now beyond Jordan. In their distress they turn to the Lord.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

sent for Jesus

"asked Jesus to come"

love

Here "love" refers to brotherly love, a natural, human love between friends or relatives.

This sickness is not to death

Jesus implies that he knows what will happen related to Lazarus and his sickness. AT: "Death will not be the final result of this sickness" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

death

This refers to physical death.

instead it is for the glory of God so that the Son of God may be glorified by it

Jesus implies that he knows what the outcome will be. AT: "but the purpose is that the people might see how great God is because of what his power will allow me to do" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

Son of God

This is an important title for Jesus. (See: Translating Son and Father)

translationWords

send

love

die

glory

God

Son of God

glory

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

3. ἀπέστειλαν οὖν. This shews that Joh 11:2 ought not to be made a parenthesis; ‘therefore’ refers to the previous statement. Because of the intimacy, which every one who knew of the anointing would understand, the sisters sent. Note that they are not further described; S. John has said enough to tell his readers who are meant: but would not a forger have introduced them with more description?

κύριε, ἴδε δν φ. ἀσθ. Exquisite in its tender simplicity. The message implies a belief that Christ could cure a dangerous sickness, and no doubt (Joh 11:21; Joh 11:32) would heal His friend. Sufficit ut noveris. Non enim amas et deseris (S. Augustine). Thus of the seven typical miracles with which S. John illustrates the Lord’s ministry, the last, like the first, has its scene in the family circle. Like His Mother (Joh 2:3), the sisters state the trouble, and leave the rest to Him: and here, as there, He at first seems to refuse what He afterwards grants in abundance. On ἴδε see on Joh 1:29; on φιλεῖς Joh 11:5, Joh 5:20.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3.] The message (see vv. 21, 32) evidently was to request the Lord to come and heal him: and implies that the sickness was of a dangerous kind.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. ἀπέστειλαν οὖν αἱ ἀδελφαὶ πρὸς αὐτόν. “So the sisters sent to Him,” i.e. to Jesus; D b c e support πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν.

κύριε. It is thus that the sisters address Jesus throughout (vv. 21, 27, 32, 34, 39), although Martha speaks to Mary of Jesus as ὁ διδάσκαλος (v. 28), and the disciples address Him as Rabbi (v. 8). See the note on 1:38; and cf. 4:1, 13:13.

ἴδε: a favourite word with Jn. (see on 1:29).

ὃν φιλεῖς ἀσθενεῖ, “he whom thou lovest is sick.” They feel it unnecessary to send any explicit invitation to Jesus to come and heal their brother: “Sufficit ut noueris. Non enim amas et deseris” (Augustine).

ὃν φιλεῖς. So v. 36 ἴδε, πῶς ἐφίλει αὐτόν (cf. 20:2). But at v. 5 we have ἠγάπα ὁ Ἰησοῦς … τὸν Λάζαρον. There is no real distinction in meaning between the two verbs. Cf. 3:35, 5:20, and note on 21:17. See Introd., p. xxxvii n.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou lovest [φιλεις] . See on 5 20. "They do not say, come. He who loves needs but know" (Bengel).

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vv. 3, 4. “The sisters therefore sent to Jesus to say to him, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. 4.Jesus, having heard this, said: This sickness is not unto death; but it is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified thereby.”

The message of the sisters is full of delicacy; this is the reason why the evangelist reproduces it as it came from their lips (λέγουσαι, saying). The address, Lord, alludes to the miraculous power of Jesus; the term ἴδε, behold, to the impression which this unexpected announcement will not fail to produce upon Him; finally, the expression ὃν φιλεῖς,he whom thou lovest, to the tender affection which binds Jesus to Lazarus and makes it their duty not to leave Him in ignorance of the danger to which His friend is exposed. On the other hand, they do not insist; how could they press Him to come, knowing as they did the perils which await Him in Judea? They lay the case before Him: “Judge for thyself as to what must be done.”

The words of Jesus (Joh 11:4) are not given as a reply to this message; the statement is: he said, not: he answered. They are a declaration which was directed as much to the disciples who were present, as to the absent sisters. The ever original and very often paradoxical character of the sayings of the Lord must be very imperfectly understood, if one imagines that He meant seriously to say that Lazarus would not die of this sickness, and that only afterwards, in consequence of a second message, which is assumed by the narrative, He recognized His mistake (Joh 11:14).

No doubt, as Lucke observes, the glory of Jesus here on earth did not imply omniscience; but His moral purity excluded the affirmation of that of which He was ignorant. Reuss very fitly says: “Here is no medical statement.” The expression which Jesus makes use of is amphibological; whether it contained an announcement of recovery, or a promise of resurrection, it signified to the disciples that the final result of the sickness would not be death (οὐ πρὸς θάνατον). The glory of God is the resplendence which is shed abroad in the hearts of men by the manifestation of His perfections, especially of His power acting in the service of His holiness or of His love. And what act could be more fitted to produce such an effect than the triumph of life over death? Comp. Rom 6:4. In Joh 11:40, Jesus reminds Martha of the saying which He here utters, in the words: “Did I not say unto thee, that, if thou believedst, thou shouldst see the glory of God?”

We may and should infer from this expression, that, at the moment when Jesus was speaking in this way, the death of Lazarus and his resurrection were already present events to His view. For the very grave terms: for the glory of God, to the end that ..., indicate more than a mere miracle of healing (see Keil). We must therefore go back to this very moment in order to locate rightly the hearing of the prayer for which He gives thanks in Joh 11:42. This manifestation of divine power must also have shed its brightness over Him who was its agent. How can God be glorified in the person of His Son, without a participation on the part of the latter in His glory? ῞Ινα, in order that, does not therefore indicate a second purpose in juxtaposition with the one which had been previously indicated (ὑπέρ); it is the explanation of the means by which the latter will be attained. We see in this passage how far the meaning of the name Son of God passes, in the mouth of Jesus, beyond that of the title Messiah: it designates here, as in Joh 11:30, the one who is so united with the Fatherthat the glory of the one is the glory of the other. The pronoun δἰ αὐτῆς, by means of it, may be referred to the glory; but it is more natural to refer it to the sickness. This saying recalls that of Joh 9:3; but it passes beyond it in greatness, in the same degree in which the resurrection of Lazarus surpasses in glory the healing of the one who was born blind.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.