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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - John 11:1-16

We have in these verses, I. A particular account of the parties principally concerned in this story, John 11:1, 2. 1. They lived at Bethany, a village nor far from Jerusalem, where Christ usually lodged when he came up to the feasts. It is here called the town of Mary and Martha, that is, the town where they dwelt, as Bethsaida is called the city of Andrew and Peter, John 1:44. For I see no reason to think, as some do, that Martha and Mary were owners of the town, and the rest were their... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - John 11:1-5

11:1-5 There was a man Lazarus, who came from Bethany from the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived, and he was ill. It was Mary who had anointed the Lord with perfumed ointment, and who had wiped his feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus. "Lord," they said, "See! The one you love is ill." When Jesus heard the message, he said: "This illness is not going to prove fatal; rather it has happened for the sake of the glory... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - John 11:1-44

We have tried to expound the raising of Lazarus simply as the story stands written. But we can not evade the fact that of all the miracles of Jesus this presents the greatest problem. Let us honestly face the difficulties. (i) In the other three gospels there are accounts of people being raised from the dead. There is the story of the raising of Jairus' daughter ( Matthew 9:18-26 ; Mark 5:21-43 ; Luke 8:40-56 ). There is the story of the raising of the widow's son at Nain ( Luke... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - John 11:3

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... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - John 11:3

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. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - John 11:3

Verse 3 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... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 11:1-16

(1) The mystery and might of sacrificial love seen in the prelude of the miracle . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 11:1-16

The raising of Lazarus. This event, a third good work, hastened the final crisis. I. THE BETHANY FAMILY . "Now a certain man was sick , Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha." 1. Their home . It was a small village on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, two miles from Jerusalem. It is familiar to us in the earlier Gospels as the place to which our Lord resorted from time to time for happy retirement. It remains the sweetest spot in the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 11:1-57

7. Christ the Antagonist of death—a victory of love and power . The narrative of this chapter is a further advance in the proof that the unbelief of the Jews was aggravated by the greatness of the revelation. The issue of his sublime and culminating act of power, of his supreme and self-revealing work of transcendent tenderness and beauty, was a deeper and wilder passion of hatred. The evangelist completes his series of seven great miracles with one that in true and believing minds,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 11:3

Therefore the sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick ( ὃν φιλεῖς nominative to ἀσθενεῖ ). 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 φιλεῖν and ἀγάπαν , see notes on John 5:20 ; John 21:15 , John 21:17 . Trench, 'New Test. Syn.,' § 12. The former word is that of... read more

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