John 11-12

International Children’s Bible

The Death of Lazarus

11 There was a man named Lazarus who was sick. He lived in the town of Bethany, where Mary and her sister Martha lived. ² Mary is the woman who later put perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. Mary’s brother was Lazarus, the man who was now sick. ³ So Mary and Martha sent someone to tell Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

⁴ When Jesus heard this he said, “This sickness will not end in death. It is for the glory of God. This has happened to bring glory to the Son of God.” ⁵ Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ But when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days. ⁷ Then Jesus said to his followers, “Let us go back to Judea.”

⁸ The followers said, “But Teacher, the Jews there tried to kill you with stones. That was only a short time ago. Now you want to go back there?”

⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not 12 hours in the day? If anyone walks in the daylight, he will not stumble because he can see by this world’s light. ¹⁰ But if anyone walks at night he stumbles because there is no light to help him see.”

¹¹ After Jesus said this, he added, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. But I am going there to wake him.”

¹² The followers said, “But Lord, if he can sleep, he will get well.”

¹³ Jesus meant that Lazarus was dead. But Jesus’ followers thought that he meant Lazarus was really sleeping. ¹⁴ So then Jesus said plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there so that you may believe. But let us go to him now.”

¹⁶ Then Thomas (the one called Didymus) said to the other followers, “Let us go, too. We will die with him.”

Jesus in Bethany

¹⁷ Jesus arrived in Bethany. There he learned that Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was about two miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Many Jews had come there to comfort Martha and Mary about their brother.

²⁰ Martha heard that Jesus was coming, and she went out to meet him. But Mary stayed at home. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But I know that even now God will give you anything you ask.”

²³ Jesus said, “Your brother will rise and live again.”

²⁴ Martha answered, “I know that he will rise and live again in the resurrection^[a] on the last day.”

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will have life even if he dies. ²⁶ And he who lives and believes in me will never die. Martha, do you believe this?”

²⁷ Martha answered, “Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God. You are the One who was coming to the world.”

Jesus Cries

²⁸ After Martha said this, she went back to her sister Mary. She talked to Mary alone. Martha said, “The Teacher is here and he is asking for you.” ²⁹ When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Jesus. ³⁰ Jesus had not yet come into the town. He was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ The Jews were with Mary in the house, comforting her. They saw Mary stand and leave quickly. They followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to cry there. ³² But Mary went to the place where Jesus was. When she saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³ Jesus saw that Mary was crying and that the Jews who came with her were crying, too. Jesus felt very sad in his heart and was deeply troubled. ³⁴ He asked, “Where did you bury him?”

“Come and see, Lord,” they said.

³⁵ Jesus cried.

³⁶ So the Jews said, “See how much he loved him.”

³⁷ But some of them said, “If Jesus healed the eyes of the blind man, why didn’t he keep Lazarus from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus

³⁸ Again Jesus felt very sad in his heart. He came to the tomb. The tomb was a cave with a large stone covering the entrance. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Move the stone away.”

Martha said, “But, Lord, it has been four days since he died. There will be a bad smell.” Martha was the sister of the dead man.

⁴⁰ Then Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

⁴¹ So they moved the stone away from the entrance. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me. ⁴² I know that you always hear me. But I said these things because of the people here around me. I want them to believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ After Jesus said this, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with pieces of cloth, and he had a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take the cloth off of him and let him go.”

The Leaders Plan to Kill Jesus

⁴⁵ There were many Jews who had come to visit Mary. They saw what Jesus did. And many of them believed in him. ⁴⁶ But some of them went to the Pharisees. They told the Pharisees what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷ Then the leading priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the Jewish council. They asked, “What should we do? This man is doing many miracles. ⁴⁸ If we let him continue doing these things, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come and take away our Temple and our nation.”

⁴⁹ One of the men there was Caiaphas. He was the high priest that year. Caiaphas said, “You people know nothing! ⁵⁰ It is better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed. But you don’t realize this.”

⁵¹ Caiaphas did not think of this himself. He was high priest that year. So he was really prophesying that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation ⁵² and for God’s scattered children. This would bring them all together and make them one.

⁵³ That day they started planning to kill Jesus. ⁵⁴ So Jesus no longer traveled openly among the Jews. He left there and went to a place near the desert. He went to a town called Ephraim and stayed there with his followers.

⁵⁵ It was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast. Many from the country went up to Jerusalem before the Passover. They went to do the special things to make themselves pure. ⁵⁶ The people looked for Jesus. They stood in the Temple and were asking each other, “Is he coming to the Feast? What do you think?” ⁵⁷ But the leading priests and the Pharisees had given orders about Jesus. They said that if anyone knew where Jesus was, he must tell them. Then they could arrest Jesus.

Jesus with Friends in Bethany

12 Six days before the Passover Feast, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived. (Lazarus is the man Jesus raised from death.) ² There they had a dinner for Jesus. Martha served the food. Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus. ³ Mary brought in a pint of very expensive perfume made from pure nard. She poured the perfume on Jesus’ feet, and then she wiped his feet with her hair. And the sweet smell from the perfume filled the whole house.

⁴ Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ followers, was there. (He was the one who would later turn against Jesus.) Judas said, ⁵ “This perfume was worth an entire year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” ⁶ But Judas did not really care about the poor. He said this because he was a thief. He was the one who kept the money box, and he often stole money from it.

⁷ Jesus answered, “Let her alone. It was right for her to save this perfume for today—the day for me to be prepared for burial. ⁸ The poor will always be with you, but you will not always have me.”

The Plot Against Lazarus

⁹ A large crowd of Jews heard that Jesus was in Bethany. So they went there to see not only Jesus but also Lazarus. Lazarus was the one Jesus raised from death. ¹⁰ So the leading priests made plans to kill Lazarus, too. ¹¹ Because of Lazarus many Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem

¹² The next day a great crowd in Jerusalem heard that Jesus was coming there. These were the people who had come to the Passover Feast. ¹³ They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Jesus. They shouted,

¹⁴ Jesus found a colt and sat on it. This was as the Scripture says,

¹⁶ The followers of Jesus did not understand this at first. But after Jesus was raised to glory, they remembered that this had been written about him. And they remembered that they had done these things to him.

People Tell About Jesus

¹⁷ There had been many people with Jesus when he raised Lazarus from death and told him to come out of the tomb. Now they were telling others about what Jesus did. ¹⁸ Many people went out to meet Jesus, because they had heard about this miracle. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to each other, “You can see that nothing is going right for us. Look! The whole world is following him.”

Jesus Talks About His Death

²⁰ There were some Greek people, too, who came to Jerusalem to worship at the Passover Feast. ²¹ They went to Philip. (Philip was from Bethsaida, in Galilee.) They said, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” ²² Philip told Andrew. Then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

²³ Jesus said to them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to receive his glory. ²⁴ I tell you the truth. A grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die. Then it makes many seeds. But if it never dies, it remains only a single seed. ²⁵ The person who loves his life will give up true life. But the person who hates his life in this world will keep true life forever. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me. Then my servant will be with me everywhere I am. My Father will honor anyone who serves me.

²⁷ “Now I am very troubled. What should I say? Should I say, ‘Father, save me from this time’? No, I came to this time so that I could suffer. ²⁸ Father, bring glory to your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have brought glory to it, and I will do it again.”

²⁹ The crowd standing there heard the voice. They said it was thunder.

But others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

³⁰ Jesus said, “That voice was for you, not for me. ³¹ Now is the time for the world to be judged. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown down. ³² I will be lifted up from the earth. And when this happens, I will draw all people toward me.” ³³ Jesus said this to show how he would die.

³⁴ The crowd said, “We have heard from the law that the Christ will live forever. So why do you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

³⁵ Then Jesus said, “The light will be with you for a little longer. So walk while you have the light. Then the darkness will not catch you. He who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶ So believe in the light while you still have it. Then you will become sons of light.” When Jesus had said this, he left and hid himself from them.

Some Don’t Believe in Jesus

³⁷ Though Jesus had done many miracles before the people, they still did not believe in him. ³⁸ This was to make clear the full meaning of what Isaiah the prophet said:

³⁹ This is why the people could not believe: Isaiah also said,

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

⁴² But many people believed in Jesus, even many of the leaders. But because of the Pharisees, they did not say that they believed in him. They were afraid that they would be put out of the synagogue. ⁴³ They loved praise from men more than praise from God.

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried out, “He who believes in me is really believing in the One who sent me. ⁴⁵ He who sees me sees the One who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come as light into the world. I came so that whoever believes in me would not stay in darkness.

⁴⁷ “If anyone hears my words and does not obey them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸ There is a judge for the one who refuses to believe in me and does not accept my words. The word I have taught will be his judge on the last day. ⁴⁹ The things I taught were not from myself. The Father who sent me told me what to say and what to teach. ⁵⁰ And I know that eternal life comes from what the Father commands. So whatever I say is what the Father told me to say.”