Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead

Now Jesus had a good friend whose name was Lazarus. He was from the town of Bethany in Judea, and he had two sisters - Mary and Martha. Jesus loved them all very much. One day, the sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, "Lord, your friend Lazarus is very sick." When Jesus heard this, he said, “Lazarus' sickness will not end in death, but it will bring glory to God and the Son of God will be also be glorified through it.”

Two days later, Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go back to Judea." "But Teacher," the disciples answered, "Just a short time ago the people there wanted to stone you to death!" Then he said, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, and I must go and wake him up."

So his disciples replied, "Lord, if Lazarus is sleeping, he will wake up and get better on his own." Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. And I'm glad we were not there when he died, for now you will witness amazing things that will cause your faith in me to grow. Come, let's go see him."

When Jesus got there, Lazarus had already been dead for four days. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him. When she saw Jesus, Martha said, "Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I believe that God will give you whatever you ask Him."

Jesus replied, "I am the Resurrection and the Life. The one who believes in me will live, even though he dies. Indeed, everyone who believes in me will never die. Do you believe this, Martha?" "Yes, Master!" she answered. "I do believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who has come from God into the world."

Then Mary arrived. She fell at Jesus' feet and said, "Lord, if only You had been here, my brother would not have died." "Where have you put Lazarus?" he asked them. They told Him, "In the tomb, Lord, come and see." And Jesus wept with them.

The tomb was a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. When Jesus arrived at the tomb, he told them, "Roll the stone aside." But Martha protested, "Lord, he has been dead for four days, so there will be a bad smell."

Jesus responded, "Didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believe?" So they rolled the stone aside.

Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, thank You for hearing Me. I know that you always listen to Me, but I said this for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe You sent Me." Then Jesus shouted, "Lazarus, come out!"

And Lazarus did! He was still all wrapped up in grave clothes. Jesus told them, "Help him get out of those grave clothes and let him go!"

Many of the Jewish people believed in Jesus because of this miracle. But the religious leaders of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered together to plan how they could kill him.