Swindoll Study Bible - Book of John - Flipbook - Page 38
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dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me
will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed
you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has
come into the world from God.” 28 Then she returned
to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners
and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see
you.” 29 So Mary immediately went to him.
30 Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place
where Martha met him. 31 When the people who were
at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily,
they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep.
So they followed her there. 32 When Mary arrived and
saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you
had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other
people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up
within him,* and he was deeply troubled. 34 “Where
have you put him?” he asked them.
They told him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Then Jesus
wept. 36 The people who were standing nearby said,
“See how much he loved him!” 37 But some said, “This
man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Laz
arus from dying?”
38 Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a
cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 39 “Roll
the stone aside,” Jesus told them.
But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord,
he has been dead for four days. The smell will be
terrible.”
40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you
would see God’s glory if you believe?” 41 So they
rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to
heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me.
42 You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the
sake of all these people standing here, so that they
will believe you sent me.” 43 Then Jesus shouted,
“Lazarus, come out!” 44 And the dead man came out,
his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face
wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap
him and let him go!”
J ohn 1 2 : 8
for the entire nation. 52 And not only for that nation,
but to bring together and unite all the children of God
scattered around the world.
53 So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began
to plot Jesus’ death. 54 As a result, Jesus stopped his
public ministry among the people and left Jerusalem.
He went to a place near the wilderness, to the village
of Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples.
55 It was now almost time for the Jewish Passover
celebration, and many people from all over the country arrived in Jerusalem several days early so they
could go through the purification ceremony before
Passover began. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, but as
they stood around in the Temple, they said to each
other, “What do you think? He won’t come for Passover, will he?” 57 Meanwhile, the leading priests and
Pharisees had publicly ordered that anyone seeing
Jesus must report it immediately so they could arrest him.
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
12
Six days before the Passover celebration began,
Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—
the man he had raised from the dead. 2 A dinner was
prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus
was among those who ate* with him. 3 Then Mary
took a twelve-ounce jar* of expensive perfume made
from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet
with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was
filled with the fragrance.
4 But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon
betray him, said, 5 “That perfume was worth a year’s
wages.* It should have been sold and the money given
to the poor.” 6 Not that he cared for the poor—he was
a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’
money, he often stole some for himself.
7 Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in
preparation for my burial. 8 You will always have
the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”
1:33 Or he was angry in his spirit. 11:47 Greek the Sanhedrin. 11:48 Or
1
our position; Greek reads our place. 11:49 Greek that year; also in 11:51.
12:2 Or who reclined. 12:3 Greek took 1 litra [327 grams]. 12:5 Greek worth
300 denarii. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s full day’s wage.
The Plot to Kill Jesus
45 Many
IMPACT John 11:45 Lazarus, just by living, became
a reason the gospel was being shared. He was a walking miracle.
You don’t have to have been physically raised from
the dead for your life to have an impact for Jesus on
those you come into contact with each day. In fact, I’m
convinced that every believer can, and often does, offer
glimpses of God to the people around them. We would
be absolutely amazed to know what an impact our lives
are having on other people. It would probably be a
great encouragement to us.
Perhaps you wrestle with the feeling that God isn’t
using you or that you’re not really a significant part of
His plan. But you will not know the impact of your life
until eternity.
LIVING INSIGHTS
of the people who were with Mary believed
in Jesus when they saw this happen. 46 But some went
to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
47 Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the
high council* together. “What are we going to do?”
they asked each other. “This man certainly performs
many miraculous signs. 48 If we allow him to go on
like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then
the Roman army will come and destroy both our
Temple* and our nation.”
49 Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time,* said,
“You don’t know what you’re talking about! 50 You
don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man
should die for the people than for the whole nation
to be destroyed.”
51 He did not say this on his own; as high priest at
that time he was led to prophesy that Jesus would die
