The scene now shifts from the region near Bethany of Perea (1:28; 10:40) to the Bethany in Judea. Both towns became sites where people believed on Jesus.
11:17 There is some evidence that the later Jewish rabbis believed that the spirit of a person who had died lingered over the corpse for three days or until decomposition of the body had begun. They believed that the spirit then abandoned the body because any hope of resuscitation was gone. They apparently felt that there was still hope that the person might revive during the first three days after death. Other scholars question whether this is what the Jews believed as early as this event.384In either case the fact that Jesus raised Lazarus after he had been dead for four days would have left no question that Jesus had truly raised the dead. Customarily the Jews buried a corpse the same day the person died due to the warm climate and the relatively rapid rate of decay it caused (cf. Acts 5:5-6, 10).
It is impossible to reconstruct an exact timetable of events day by day, though most commentators offered their views all of which involve some speculation. We do not know exactly how long it took the messenger to reach Jesus or how long Lazarus lived after the messenger came and told Jesus that Lazarus was dying (v. 3). We do not know how long it took Jesus to reach Bethany of Judea from where He was either.
11:18-19 Bethany was about 15 stadia (approximately one and three-quarters miles) east of Jerusalem. John implied that many family friends came from Jerusalem to console Mary and Martha. Prolonged grieving often lasting several days was customary in the ancient Near East.385Therefore many people from Jerusalem either witnessed or heard about Jesus' miracle.
11:20 This picture of Martha as the activist and Mary as the more passive of the two sisters harmonizes with Luke's presentation of them (Luke 10:38-42).
11:21-22 Martha addressed Jesus respectfully but probably not reverentially as "Lord."Some readers of the story have interpreted verse 21 as containing a rebuke, but Martha's words there do not necessarily imply criticism. At least they convey Martha's grief and her confidence in Jesus' power to heal people. In view of verses 24 and 39, verse 22 probably does not mean that Martha believed that Jesus could raise Lazarus back to life. More likely Martha was reaffirming her confidence in Him that her loss had not shaken. Her words in both verses expressed what many others who had faith in Jesus believed.
11:23-24 Jesus' response was also typical of Him. His words had an obvious literal meaning, but they were truer than anyone present realized at the moment. Jesus offered Martha comfort based on the Old Testament assurance that God would resurrect believers (Isa. 26:19; Dan. 12:2; cf. John 5:28-29). Martha, as the Pharisees, believed this Old Testament revelation, though the Sadducees did not (cf. Acts 23:7-8). The "last day"refers to the end of the present age as the Jews viewed history, namely just before Messiah would inaugurate the new kingdom age (cf. 6:39-40, 44, 54; 12:48).
"When we find ourselves confronted by disease, disappointment, delay, and even death, our only encouragement is the Word of God."386
11:25 Jesus proceeded to make another of His "I am"claims. He meant that He would personally affect resurrection and provide eternal life (cf. 5:21, 25-29). He wanted Martha to think about the Person who would do the resurrecting rather than the event. Jesus raises people to life just as He satisfies people as bread and is, therefore, the essential element in resurrection. Without Him there is no resurrection or life. This was really a double claim. Jesus meant that He was the resurrection and He was the life. This is clear because He dealt with the two concepts of resurrection and life separately in the discussion that followed.
Whoever believes in Jesus will live spiritually and eternally even though he or she dies physically (cf. 5:21). Jesus imparts eternal life to those who believe in Him. He is the life in the sense that He is its source and benefactor. Whereas He will affect resurrection for those who believe and die physically, He bestows eternal life and it begins for the believer before he or she dies physically.
"When you are sick, you want a doctor and not a medical book or a formula. When you are being sued, you want a lawyer and not a law book. Likewise, when you face your last enemy, death, you want the Savior and not a doctrine written in a book. In Jesus Christ, every doctrine is made personal (1 Cor. 1:30)."387
11:26 Furthermore every living person who believes in Jesus will not experience eternal spiritual death. This is another promise of salvation but also of eternal security.
Jesus then asked Martha to affirm her faith in Him as the One who will raise the dead and who now gives eternal life. He was questioning her faith in Him, not her faith in doctrines. She had already expressed her faith in the doctrine of the resurrection (v. 24).
11:27 Martha confessed that she did indeed believe that Jesus was the resurrection and the life. Her answer focused on His person, not just on the teachings of Judaism (cf. 20:28, 30-31). That she truly understood and believed what Jesus revealed about Himself is clear from her reply. She correctly concluded that if Jesus was the One who would raise the dead and impart spiritual life He must be the Messiah. She clarified that what she meant by "Messiah"was not the popular idea of a revolutionary leader but the biblical revelation of a God-man whom God promised to send from heaven (cf. 1:9, 49; 6:14). This saving faith rested on facts about Jesus that were true but went on to place personal trust in Him to fulfill His claims.
Martha's confession of faith is a high point in the fourth Gospel, as Peter's was in the first Gospel (cf. Matt. 16:16). This is the clearest expression of saving faith thus far in this book. Doubtless John recorded it because it advances his major purpose of convincing his readers that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, so they might obtain eternal life by believing in Him (20:31).
11:28 Martha's reaction is another good model. Having come to faith in Jesus herself she proceeded to bring others to Him knowing that He could help them too (cf. 1:40-45; 4:28-29). As Andrew had done (1:41-42), Martha brought her sibling to the Savior. She described Jesus to her sister as they both had known Him best. She did it secretly to enable Mary to meet with Jesus privately. Jesus had expressed interest in Mary coming to Him, and Martha became the agent who brought her to Him. Rabbis did not normally initiate contact with women, but Jesus was no ordinary rabbi.
11:29 Mary responded to Jesus' invitation to come to Him. This does not mean she became a believer in Him then. Nevertheless it seems clear that she did trust in Him at some time, as Martha did (cf. Matt. 26:6-12; Mark 14:3-9).
