Lazarus of Bethany was ill. He was the brother of Mary and Martha. His sisters sent word to Jesus that the man he loved was sick.
Jesus said that the illness would not end in death but would serve God’s glory. Although he loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed two more days where he was. Then he told his disciples that they would return to Judea.
Jesus loved the three siblings yet remained where he was for two more days. When he later spoke of returning to Judea, he first said that Lazarus had fallen asleep. The disciples understood him to mean ordinary rest, so Jesus told them plainly that their friend had died.
The disciples reminded him that people in Judea had recently tried to stone him. Jesus spoke of walking in the light of day and said that Lazarus, his friend, had fallen asleep and that he was going to wake him. When they thought he meant ordinary sleep, Jesus told them plainly that Lazarus had died.
By the time Jesus came to Bethany, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. Martha went out to meet him and said that her brother would not have died if Jesus had been there. Jesus told her that Lazarus would rise again. She spoke of the resurrection on the last day.
Jesus told her that he was the resurrection and the life, and asked whether she believed it. Martha said that she believed he was the Christ, the Son of God who was coming into the world.
Martha called Mary, who went to Jesus and fell at his feet. She too said that her brother would not have died if Jesus had been there. Jesus saw her and the others weeping, was deeply troubled, and asked where they had laid Lazarus. They told him to come and see. Jesus wept.
At the tomb, a cave closed by a stone, Jesus told them to take the stone away. Martha said that there would be an odor because it was the fourth day. Jesus told her that if she believed, she would see God’s glory.
After the stone was removed, Jesus looked upward and thanked the Father. Then he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”
The dead man came out, with his hands and feet bound in grave cloths and his face wrapped. Jesus told the people to unbind him and let him go.