Page 69 - Life of Christ - textbook (3)

Jerusalem (13:22). Surprisingly, some Pharisees warned Jesus of Herod’s desire to kill Him, advising Him
to “depart from here”. Actually, the leaders were being dishonest in trying to get Jesus to leave Perea,
as He was relatively safe in that location from the hands of the religious leaders and Rome.

Jesus Travels to Bethany and Raises Lazarus from the Dead (John 11:1-16; John 11:17-44; John 11:45-
57)

While Jesus was ministering in Perea, Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany, became sick.
The sisters sent word to Jesus to come at once so that He could heal Lazarus. Jesus deliberately delayed
His journey to Bethany until Lazarus died. When He finally arrived near the home of the two sisters He
loves, Lazarus had already been buried for four days. Both sisters were perplexed by Jesus’ delay, for
the journey from Perea was only a day’s travel. Upon arrival, Jesus came to the tomb which was a cave
with a large stone covering the opening. This is strikingly like the burial tomb of Jesus. The raising of
Lazarus was almost like a dress rehearsal for the resurrection of our Lord in the very near future.

Jesus ordered the stone to be rolled away. In the Jewish culture, contact with a dead body, especially
after the body had decayed, was defiling and required the purification process in order to be cleansed.
Besides that, it would be disgusting for those who removed the stone or were in the vicinity of the area
because of the great stench of decaying flesh that would emanate from the tomb. Martha objected to
removing of the stone for those very reasons. It would also reopen the painful wound of her brother’s
death and burial.

Jesus lifted His eyes to heaven and prayed to His heavenly Father and this public prayer is recorded in
the Gospels. Jesus is demonstrating to all that the miraculous raising of Lazarus was the work of His
Father as He does the works of God. God demonstrates His power and glory through His Son. Having
prayed, Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” It’s a good thing he used his name, because
if He had not, every dead body
in the region have walked out
of the grave!

The raising of Lazarus from the
dead dramatically concluded
Jesus’ public ministry among
the Jews. While some came to
believe in Him because of this
great miracle, His opponents,
alarmed at Jesus’ growing
popularity, resolved to put him
to death. A threat of execution
had already hung-over Jesus,
but now the religious
authorities decided that His
popularity threatened their
existence and standing with the View of Jerusalem from Bethany
people.

Many of the Jewish people from Jerusalem who had come with Mary had seen the raising of Lazarus and
believed in Him. But some went to the Pharisees and reported to them what Jesus had done. The chief

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