{"id":74,"date":"2026-05-13T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=74&2026"},"modified":"2026-05-11T18:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T00:00:12","slug":"back-from-the-dead-john-1-11-44","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/back-from-the-dead-john-1-11-44\/","title":{"rendered":"Back From the Dead: John 11:1-44"},"content":{"rendered":"
Focus Passage: John 11:1-44 (CEV)<\/div>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1-2<\/sup> A man by the name of Lazarus was sick in the village of Bethany. He had two sisters, Mary and Martha. This was the same Mary who later poured perfume on the Lord\u2019s head and wiped his feet with her hair. 3<\/sup> The sisters sent a message to the Lord and told him that his good friend Lazarus was sick. <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 4<\/sup> When Jesus heard this, he said, \u201cHis sickness won\u2019t end in death. It will bring glory to God and his Son.\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 5<\/sup> Jesus loved Martha and her sister and brother. 6<\/sup> But he stayed where he was for two more days. 7<\/sup> Then he said to his disciples, \u201cNow we will go back to Judea.\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 8<\/sup> \u201cTeacher,\u201d they said, \u201cthe people there want to stone you to death! Why do you want to go back?\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 9<\/sup> Jesus answered, \u201cAren\u2019t there twelve hours in each day? If you walk during the day, you will have light from the sun, and you won\u2019t stumble. 10<\/sup> But if you walk during the night, you will stumble, because you don\u2019t have any light.\u201d 11<\/sup> Then he told them, \u201cOur friend Lazarus is asleep, and I am going there to wake him up.\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 12<\/sup> They replied, \u201cLord, if he is asleep, he will get better.\u201d 13<\/sup> Jesus really meant that Lazarus was dead, but they thought he was talking only about sleep. <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 14<\/sup> Then Jesus told them plainly, \u201cLazarus is dead! 15<\/sup> I am glad that I wasn\u2019t there, because now you will have a chance to put your faith in me. Let\u2019s go to him.\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 16<\/sup> Thomas, whose nickname was \u201cTwin,\u201d said to the other disciples, \u201cCome on. Let\u2019s go, so we can die with him.\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 17<\/sup> When Jesus got to Bethany, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18<\/sup> Bethany was only about two miles from Jerusalem, 19<\/sup> and many people had come from the city to comfort Martha and Mary because their brother had died. <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 20<\/sup> When Martha heard that Jesus had arrived, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed in the house. 21<\/sup> Martha said to Jesus, \u201cLord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22<\/sup> Yet even now I know that God will do anything you ask.\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 23<\/sup> Jesus told her, \u201cYour brother will live again!\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 24<\/sup> Martha answered, \u201cI know that he will be raised to life on the last day, when all the dead are raised.\u201d 25<\/sup> Jesus then said, \u201cI am the one who raises the dead to life! Everyone who has faith in me will live, even if they die. 26<\/sup> And everyone who lives because of faith in me will never really die. Do you believe this?\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 27<\/sup> \u201cYes, Lord!\u201d she replied. \u201cI believe that you are Christ, the Son of God. You are the one we hoped would come into the world.\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 28<\/sup> After Martha said this, she went and privately said to her sister Mary, \u201cThe Teacher is here, and he wants to see you.\u201d 29<\/sup> As soon as Mary heard this, she got up and went out to Jesus. 30<\/sup> He was still outside the village where Martha had gone to meet him. 31<\/sup> Many people had come to comfort Mary, and when they saw her quickly leave the house, they thought she was going out to the tomb to cry. So they followed her. <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 32<\/sup> Mary went to where Jesus was. Then as soon as she saw him, she knelt at his feet and said, \u201cLord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 33<\/sup> When Jesus saw that Mary and the people with her were crying, he was terribly upset 34<\/sup> and asked, \u201cWhere have you put his body?\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They replied, \u201cLord, come and you will see.\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 35<\/sup> Jesus started crying, 36<\/sup> and the people said, \u201cSee how much he loved Lazarus.\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 37<\/sup> Some of them said, \u201cHe gives sight to the blind. Why couldn\u2019t he have kept Lazarus from dying?\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 38<\/sup> Jesus was still terribly upset. So he went to the tomb, which was a cave with a stone rolled against the entrance. 39<\/sup> Then he told the people to roll the stone away. But Martha said, \u201cLord, you know that Lazarus has been dead four days, and there will be a bad smell.\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 40<\/sup> Jesus replied, \u201cDidn\u2019t I tell you that if you had faith, you would see the glory of God?\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 41<\/sup> After the stone had been rolled aside, Jesus looked up toward heaven and prayed, \u201cFather, I thank you for answering my prayer. 42<\/sup> I know that you always answer my prayers. But I said this, so that the people here would believe that you sent me.\u201d <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 43<\/sup> When Jesus had finished praying, he shouted, \u201cLazarus, come out!\u201d 44<\/sup> The man who had been dead came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with strips of burial cloth, and a cloth covered his face. <\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jesus then told the people, \u201cUntie him and let him go.\u201d <\/p>\r\n

Read John 11:1-44<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n

Of the several things that stood out in this passage, the one I will focus on in this post is what isn’t said in any of the gospels, and something that makes me wonder a little bit, because it would be a question that Lazarus would have been asked dozens, if not hundreds of times: “What was death like?”<\/p>\r\n

What surprises me is that any significant answer to this question would have spread like wildfire and probably would have reached Luke, who I’m a little surprised doesn’t even reference this event in his gospel at all. Matthew was there, so why isn’t this event in his gospel either?<\/p>\r\n

Even broader than this single passage is the lack of information from anyone who Jesus raised from the dead sharing what death was like. Our modern culture would have us think it is like flying into the light and entering heaven, but if this is the case, being resurrected at any time would be one of the cruelest things for Jesus to do.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

I’m inclined to distrust culture, because rarely do we ever get things “right”. Instead, what if death was simply a pause button on life, and those who were raised had nothing to share about death because they didn’t experience anything? Would being resurrected be as cruel then?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p>

Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Of the several things that stood out in this passage, the one I will focus on in this post is what isn’t said in any of the gospels, and something that makes me wonder a little bit, because it would be a question that Lazarus would have been asked dozens, if not hundreds of times: […]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[2],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"\nBack From the Dead: John 11:1-44 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/back-from-the-dead-john-1-11-44\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Back From the Dead: John 11:1-44 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Of the several things that stood out in this passage, the one I will focus on in this post is what isn’t said in any of the gospels, and something that makes me wonder a little bit, because it would be a question that Lazarus would have been asked dozens, if not hundreds of times: […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/back-from-the-dead-john-1-11-44\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-13T09:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cam\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/back-from-the-dead-john-1-11-44\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/back-from-the-dead-john-1-11-44\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cam\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"headline\":\"Back From the Dead: John 11:1-44\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-13T09:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/back-from-the-dead-john-1-11-44\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1121,\"articleSection\":[\"Written Journal Entries\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/back-from-the-dead-john-1-11-44\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/back-from-the-dead-john-1-11-44\\\/\",\"name\":\"Back From the Dead: John 11:1-44 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-13T09:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/back-from-the-dead-john-1-11-44\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/back-from-the-dead-john-1-11-44\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/back-from-the-dead-john-1-11-44\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Back From the Dead: John 11:1-44\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"description\":\"Your Life. 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