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Day 1 of 7 — Day 1

Jesus Wept

The One Where Nobody Stays Dead.

Q: What Does the Bible Say About Stress?

Jesus said 'come to me, all who are weary.' The Bible takes stress seriously and prescribes prayer, rest, community, and trust — not just 'try harder.'

Q: Did Left Behind Get the Rapture Right?

Left Behind popularized one view. Many Christians hold different views.

Q: What Does the Bible Say About Grief?

The Bible doesn't rush past grief. Jesus wept. David wrote laments. Paul said grieve — but not without hope. Grief is sacred, not shameful.

Q: What Does the Bible Say About Death?

The Bible calls death 'the last enemy' — but also says it's already been defeated. Christians grieve, but not without hope.

John 11 — Jesus cries, then tells a four-day-dead man to get up

8 min read

Key Takeaways

Martha hit Jesus with 'where were you' and 'I still trust you' in the same breath — lowkey the most real faith confession in the entire Bible.

📢 Chapter 11 — The One Where Nobody Stays Dead 💀

This is one of the most intense chapters in the entire . gets a message that one of His closest friends is dying — and instead of rushing to help, He waits. On purpose. What follows is a rollercoaster of grief, , frustration, and one of the most jaw-dropping in the Bible.

Inside this Chapter

Hope Love Doubt Faith Grief Healing Suffering

Events in this Chapter

Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead

Questions about this Chapter

application

What Does the Bible Say About Stress?

prophecy

Did Left Behind Get the Rapture Right?

application

What Does the Bible Say About Grief?

theology

What Does the Bible Say About Death?

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Reflect & Apply

1Jesus wept even though He was about to fix the situation. What does that tell you about grief?
2Martha said 'if you had been here, this wouldn't have happened.' Have you ever been that honest with God?

The setting is personal. This isn't a stranger in a crowd. , , and aren't just people Jesus healed one time — they're His people. His inner circle. And when everything falls apart for them, how Jesus responds reveals something about who He is that nobody saw coming.

The Message Nobody Expected 📩

So there was this man named who lived in — a small village near . He had two sisters, and . (Quick context: this is the same Mary who later with expensive perfume and wiped His feet with her hair — so this family was close with Jesus.) Lazarus got seriously sick, and the sisters sent an urgent message to Jesus:

"Lord, the one you love is ill."

They didn't even ask Him to come. They just told Him. Because they assumed if Jesus knew, He'd show up. But here's where it gets confusing — when Jesus heard the news, He said:

Jesus said: "This sickness won't end in death. It's for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

And then — even though He loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus deeply — He stayed where He was for two more days. Not because He didn't care. Because He had a plan nobody could see yet. The delay wasn't neglect. It was purpose. 🧠

"Let's Go Back to the Place They Tried to Unalive Us" 😬

After the two days, told His they were going back to . The Disciples immediately panicked:

"Rabbi, they were literally just trying to stone you there. And you want to go BACK?"

Fair point. But Jesus wasn't worried:

Jesus said: "Aren't there twelve hours in the day? If you walk in daylight, you don't stumble — because you can see the light. But if you walk at night, you stumble because you have no light in you."

Then He told them why they were going:

Jesus said: "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. I'm going to wake him up."

The Disciples, bless their hearts, completely missed it:

"Lord, if he's sleeping, he'll get better on his own."

Jesus had to spell it out:

Jesus said: "Lazarus has died. And for your sake, I'm glad I wasn't there — so that you may believe. Now let's go to him."

Then — yeah, THAT Thomas — said something lowkey iconic to the other Disciples:

"Let's go too, so we can die with him."

Was it dramatic? Absolutely. Was it loyal? Also absolutely. Thomas gets called the doubter, but here he's ready to walk into danger with Jesus no questions asked. Ride or die fr. 💯

Martha Pulls Up First 🏃‍♀️

When finally arrived, had already been in the tomb for four days. was only about two miles from , so a lot of people had come to comfort and .

The moment Martha heard Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him. Mary stayed in the house. And Martha didn't hold back:

"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now, I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you."

That's raw honesty and faith at the same time. "Where were you?" and "I still trust you" in the same breath. Jesus responded:

Jesus said: "Your brother will rise again."

Martha nodded — she knew the theology:

"I know he'll rise again in the resurrection on the last day."

And then Jesus said a crucial thing He's ever said:

Jesus said: "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

He didn't say "I know about the " or "I can point you toward ." He said it. The resurrection isn't just an event on the last day — it's a Person standing right in front of her. And Martha's answer hit different:

"Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world."

a remarkably powerful confession of in the entire Bible — and it came from a grieving woman who still chose to trust. ✨

Mary, Tears, and the Shortest Verse in the Bible 😭

Grief

went back and quietly told :

"The Teacher is here. He's calling for you."

Mary got up immediately and went to . The mourners who were with her followed, thinking she was going to the tomb to weep. But when Mary found Jesus, she fell at His feet — the same words as her sister, but with the weight of someone completely broken:

"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

When Jesus saw her crying — and everyone around her crying — something happened. The text says He was deeply moved in His spirit and greatly troubled. This wasn't a surface-level reaction. This was grief hitting Jesus at His core.

Jesus said: "Where have you laid him?"

They said, "Lord, come and see."

And then: Jesus wept.

Two words. The shortest verse in the Bible. And a profoundly powerful. The — who already knew He was about to raise from the dead — still cried. He didn't skip past the grief just because He knew the ending. He entered into the pain with them.

Some people in the crowd saw it and said, "Look how much He loved him." But others were already second-guessing:

"He opened the eyes of a blind man — couldn't He have kept Lazarus from dying?"

The criticism was already brewing. But Jesus wasn't performing for critics. He was grieving with friends. 🫶

"Lazarus, Come Out" ⚡

Still deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid against it. And He said:

Jesus said: "Take away the stone."

— ever practical — tried to stop Him:

"Lord, it's been four days. There's going to be an odor."

Four days mattered. In Jewish belief, the spirit was considered fully departed after three days. This wasn't a borderline case. was gone gone. But Jesus looked at Martha and said:

Jesus said: "Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

They removed the stone. Jesus looked up and prayed — not for Himself, but so the people watching would know where this power came from:

Jesus said: "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the sake of the people standing here — so they may believe that you sent me."

And then He shouted with a voice that carried authority over itself:

Jesus said: "LAZARUS, COME OUT."

And the man who had been dead for four days walked out of the tomb. Hands and feet still wrapped in burial cloths. Face covered. Alive.

Jesus said: "Unbind him, and let him go."

No spell. No ritual. Just a command. Jesus spoke to like it was nothing — because to Him, it was. The same voice that called all of creation into existence called a dead man back to life. 🔥

The Religious Leaders Start Plotting 🐍

After seeing walk out of that tomb, a lot of the people who'd come to mourn believed in . But not everyone. Some went straight to the and reported what He'd done.

So the chief and the Pharisees called a meeting of the — the ruling council. And their concern wasn't "Is this from God?" It was:

"What are we going to do? This man keeps performing signs. If we let him keep going, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away our place and our nation."

They weren't threatened by a fraud. They were threatened because He was real. The were undeniable, and that terrified them — because it meant they were losing control.

Then , the that year, spoke up:

"You know nothing at all. Don't you understand that it's better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed?"

Here's the wild part: Caiaphas meant this as cold political calculation. But tells us he was actually without knowing it. As High Priest, he unknowingly spoke the exact truth — Jesus would die for the nation. And not just for , but to gather all the scattered children of God into one.

From that day on, they made plans to put Jesus to . The man who had just conquered death became the target of men who thought they could use death against Him. 👑

Jesus Goes Off the Grid 🏕️

After that, stopped walking openly among the Jewish leaders. He withdrew to a town called , near the wilderness, and stayed there with His . He wasn't hiding out of fear — He was moving on His own timeline, not theirs.

Meanwhile, the was approaching, and people were traveling to early to purify themselves. Everyone was buzzing about Jesus:

"What do you think — will He even show up to the feast?"

And in the background, the chief and had already issued orders: if anyone knew where Jesus was, they had to report it immediately so they could arrest Him.

The stage was being set. an incredibly powerful Jesus ever performed didn't convince the religious leaders to follow Him — it convinced them He had to be stopped. The closer you get to the , the clearer the lines get drawn: you're either with Him or against Him. No middle ground. 🎤⬇️