João 11
R.C.H. Lenski · Citado em PreceptAustin
João 11
Lenski writes "Instead of hostility their question expresses perplexity, in fact, the very perplexity with which Martha and Mary wrestled. They, too, had used φιλεῖν (phileo) in their message to Jesus. How could Jesus have such affection for Lazarus and yet somehow fail to be at hand and heal him before he died? As in the case of the sisters and their word of deep regret to Jesus (Jn 11:21, 32), a degree of faith in Jesus is manifested in this question of the Jews. (BORROW The interpretation of St. john's gospel PAGE 810) If He loved Lazarus so much why did He not keep Him alive? This question seems to speak somewhat disparagingly of Jesus, and certainly is not an expression of faith. They question His love and His power. However they would soon see a greater miracle than keeping Lazarus from dying. John MacArthur on some of them writes "The mourners were probably mocking, but confused; they knew by experience that Jesus had the power to heal, as their reference to that previous incident indicates. But if Jesus truly loved Lazarus as much as He appeared to, why had He delayed? Why had He not made every effort to reach Bethany while Lazarus was still alive?" Steven
João 11
Lenski - The sight of this stronghold of death causes the former feeling of indignation “again” to rise. And this time Jesus does not put his feeling into words but promptly proceeds to action.... In some of these tombs, very common in that rocky country, the floor is level with the outside, in others it is lower, a step or two leading down to it. The size of the hewnout chamber would be in accord with the owner’s wealth. A heavy slab of stone closed the opening, which might be quite perpendicular or slanting back (BORROW The interpretation of St. john's gospel PAGE 812) Like many stories in the Bible, Lazarus' tomb has been memorialized with a church in a where the tomb was thought to be located (see below), but the authenticity of this location is by now means certain. Instead of visiting some crypt with a church built over it, one should believe the story in John and how Lazarus' return to life was a foreshadowing of the Cross of Christ and His resurrection that must be believed in order to receive eternal life. LAZARUS' TOMB (Wikipedia) - The Tomb of Lazarus is a traditional spot of pilgrimage located in the East Jerusalem town of al-Eizariya (meaning "place] of Lazarus"), in Israel, the biblical village of Bethany, on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives, some 2.4 km (1.5 miles) east of Jerusalem. The tomb is the purported site of a miracle recorded in the Gospel of John in which Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.[1] IMAGERY OF THE GRAVE DICTIONARY OF BIBLICAL IMAGERY - PAGE 1200- GRAVE The grave conjures up many kinds of images, most of them negative. In its most concrete expression the grave is simply a tomb or place of burial (Gen 35:20; Mk 16:3). Often, however, imagery of the grave as the abode of the dead is evoked. Sheol (Heb) and Hades (Gk) represent the lowest place imaginable in contrast to the highest heavens (Is 7:11; Mt 11:23). The grave does not simply represent a termination of life but points beyond it to a place where two irreconcilable destinies coexist (Lk 16:22, 26). The grave is the epitome of darkness (Job 17:13; 18:18; Lam 3:6). Spatially, its abode is the farthest recess from light, a prison detaining one from life and activity in the upper world. It is described as “the pit,” and its entrance as going down “into the dust” (Job 17:14, 16). The grave is ritually unclean (Num 19:16) and is a place where such detestable nighttime activities as necromancy take place (1 Sam 28:8; Is 45:18–19; 65:4). Loneliness and solitude (Ps 31:17–18; Is 47:5) represent the chief epithets on the gravestone. It is a place where one’s only companions are worms (Job 17:12, 14), consuming the last vestiges of the flesh that represents the experience of pleasures in the life above. In this sense, experience in the grave is the very antithesis of the enjoyment of life. It is the absence of companionship, the love between man and woman, the sounds of joy and laughter, sampling the fruits of one’s labor or participation in worship (Ps 88:10–12; Is 38:18). By way of contrast the grave also presents a positive image. The social outcast Job looks to the grave for consolation (Job 3:11–19), for there the strife of the upper world ceases. In an even greater sense the grave represents ultimate paradise for the miserable Lazarus (Lk 16:22, 25). This parable highlights the antithetical nature of the experience of the grave for its occupants with respect to their experience in life and their ultimately separate destinies. Epithets are intimately connected with the grave. The manner in which a person goes to the grave acts as a stamp of finality on the traits that characterized the person’s life. Negatively, a person could go down to the grave in sorrow (Gen 44:29), as being dumbfounded (Ps 31:17), as violently slain (1 Kings 2:9) or as alive (Ps 55:15). Positively, the ideal epithet was to retire from this life in peace (1 Kings 2:6), where the absence of strife at death symbolizes harmony both in this life and in life beyond the grave (see AFTERLIFE). Familial associations are symbolized by the grave. A common metaphor for going to the grave is the phrase “he slept with his fathers” (of David, 1 Kings 2:10) or “he was gathered unto his people” (of Abraham, Gen 25:17). The grave is both a temporary generational gap and the ultimate gathering place of the family. In Semitic imagery the grave was the entrance to the underworld, just as the womb represented an entrance to life from the underworld (Ps 139:15). For those who never enter into life, the womb is a tomb, as both Job and Jeremiah observe in lamenting the day of their respective births (Job 3:10–16; Jer 20:17). The grave is not only represented by spatial imagery, but it is often personified as death itself. Here the negative aspects of the grave as Sheol are prominent. Death and the grave are personified as a tyrannical monarch over the kingdom of the dead (Hos 13:14). The grave is also personified as a powerful trap with cords that entangle its victim (2 Sam 22:6; Ps 18:5) or as a secure prison with bars to retain its prisoners (Job 17:16). It allows no escape or return to enjoyment of life in the upper world (Job 14:12). For the wicked dead the grave represents a place of punishment and eternal torment (Mt 10:28; see CRIME AND PUNISHMENT) and of separation from all sources of help or rescue (Lk 16:24). The grave and death are also personified as having insatiable appetites (Is 5:14; Hab 2:5; Prov 27:20; 30:15–16). Here the grave as Sheol is associated with swallowing (Prov 1:12; Ps 141:7), which is also represented by the god Mot (= death) in Canaanite mythology. In an interesting play on this metaphor, the Lord reverses the curse of the grave by “swallow[ing] up death for ever” (Is 25:8 RSV; cf. 1 Cor 15:54–57). Here the grave is transformed into a profoundly positive symbol in which those who “die in Christ” are not in Hades but rather are united with Christ (Lk 23:43; 2 Cor 5:8; Phil 1:23). For the righteous, then, the grave becomes a symbol of ultimate hope. This was true even for the miserable Job (cf. Job 19:25–26). See also BURIAL, FUNERAL; DARKNESS; DEATH; PIT. BIBLIOGRAPHY D. J. A. Clines, Job 1–20 (WBC; Dallas: Word Books, 1989); O. Keel, BORROW The Symbolism of the Biblical World (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1997 (1978). John 11:39 Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days." BGT John 11:39 λέγει ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἄρατε τὸν λίθον. λέγει αὐτῷ ἡ ἀδελφὴ τοῦ τετελευτηκότος Μάρθα· κύριε, ἤδη ὄζει, τεταρταῖος γάρ ἐστιν. KJV John 11:39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. NET John 11:39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, replied, "Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, because he has been buried four days." CSB John 11:39 "Remove the stone," Jesus said. Martha, the dead man's sister, told Him, "Lord, he's already decaying. It's been four days." ESV John 11:39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." NIV John 11:39 "Take away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." NLT John 11:39 "Roll the stone aside," Jesus told them.But Martha, the dead man's sister, protested, "Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible." NRS John 11:39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." NJB John 11:39 Jesus said, 'Take the stone away.' Martha, the dead man's sister, said to him, 'Lord, by now he will smell; this is the fourth day since he died.' NAB John 11:39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the dead man's sister, said to him, "Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days." YLT John 11:39 Jesus saith, 'Take ye away the stone;' the sister of him who hath died -- Martha -- saith to him, 'Sir, already he stinketh, for he is four days dead;' MIT John 11:39 Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said, "Lord, already he is giving off an offensive odor, for it has been four days." Remove: Mk 16:3 Lord: Jn 11:17 Ge 3:19 23:4 Ps 49:7,9,14 Ac 2:27 13:36 Php 3:21 John 11 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries BY NOW HE STINKETH! Jesus (Iesous) said, "Remove (airo) the stone." - Remove is a command in the aorist imperative, to take away the stone immediately! It is interesting that Jesus did not need the stone removed in order to call forth Lazarus. So why did He do it this way? I cannot be dogmatic but as the stone was rolled away the stench of the rotting flesh would surely have been apparent to the onlookers. This would be clear evidence that Lazarus was truly dead ("the smell test")! The overwhelming odors would not lie! John says nothing about odors so my thought is clearly speculative. As an aside what if they had not obeyed and removed the stone? The point is that they obeyed without questioning Jesus' command. THOUGHT - Sometimes the Lord gives us commands which in a given situation or circumstance we do not fully understand. It is then that we must choose to walk by faith not sight and obey without grumbling or questioning His wisdom. Martha, the sister of the deceased (teleutao), said to Him, "Lord (kurios), by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days (literally, “he is a four-day man") - Martha panics! She does not say there is presently even an odor but that there will be if the tomb is opened! Even though Martha had expressed belief in the resurrection, we see a slight faith failure here with her reaction (compare Jesus' question in next verse). Where is her focus? On the tomb, not the One Who had clearly stated He personally was the resurrection and the life. (I surely would have done exactly what Martha did!) She experienced a momentary wavering of her faith (Haven't we all!) Martha's objection is not disobedience but a legitimate point in the context. What she has missed is what Jesus had stated earlier and repeats in the next verse. Deceased (teleutao) is in the perfect tense - died and still dead. The Jews did not embalm bodies and the intense heat typical of this area led to rapid decay of the human flesh! If you have ever smelled an animal that has lain by the roadside for several days, you can imagine what was going through the mind of Martha! Of course, what had Martha failed to remember? Jesus prophetic promise "Your brother shall rise again." (Jn 11:23+) She had simply misinterpreted His promise as a reference to a future general resurrection (see note above) of all the dead (John 5:25, 28, 29+) She was right about the fact of his having been dead four days but the deduction she drew was wrong: she failed to count on a greater fact, the Christ Who would conquer death (and presumably also the revolting smell of decaying flesh)! THOUGHT - There is a principle here. There are times when our circumstances are such that we see no way out and feel like the test (or temptation) is too great. It is in those times that we become like Martha, and forgot the promise of Paul that "No temptation (test) has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation (test) will provide the (SPECIFIC) way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." (1Co 10:13+). Stench is ozo used only here in the NT with one use in the Lxx of Ex 8:10+ where they piled the dead frogs "in heaps and the land (OF EGYPT) became foul (ozo)" (ED: THAT VERB "OZO" HAS A TOUCH OF Onomatopoeia! cf "OOZE")." Martha's real fear of a stench only serves to accentuate the greatness of the miracle that Jesus was about to perform! R C H Lenski - The Egyptians disemboweled the body and removed the brain and then soaked the body in a chemical solution for seventy days and thus prevented decay. (BORROW The interpretation of St. john's gospel PAGE 812)
João 11
Lenski - The very essence of prayer is to say to God what is in our hearts. As far as those are concerned who hear us pray, the very object is that they may hear and may be impressed and affected by what they hear. Genuine prayers, uttered aloud, always have a corresponding effect. These prayers would draw also the hearts of others up to God, that they may recognize him and may also glorify him in their own hearts. (BORROW The interpretation of St. john's gospel PAGE 816) Sent (649) apostello rom apo = from, away from + stello = to withdraw from, avoid) means to send off, to send forth, to send out. To send out; to commission as a representative, an ambassador, an envoy. The idea is to send forth from one place to another. But the meaning of apostello is more than just to send because it means "to send off on a commission to do something as one’s personal representative, with credentials furnished" (Wuest) To send upon some business (Mt. 2:16; 10:5; 20:2). To send away in the sense of to dismiss (Mk 12:3, 4). To send or thrust forth as a sickle among corn (Mk 4:29). The rabbis used the term apostello to refer to one called and sent as an official representative of another (something like our English "Ambassador" Apostello in John's Gospel - Jn. 1:6; Jn. 1:19; Jn. 1:24; Jn. 3:17; Jn. 3:28; Jn. 3:34; Jn. 4:38; Jn. 5:33; Jn. 5:36; Jn. 5:38; Jn. 6:29; Jn. 6:57; Jn. 7:29; Jn. 7:32; Jn. 8:42; Jn. 9:7; Jn. 10:36; Jn. 11:3; Jn. 11:42; Jn. 17:3; Jn. 17:8; Jn. 17:18; Jn. 17:21; Jn. 17:23; Jn. 17:25; Jn. 18:24; Jn. 20:21; Chris Tiegreen - Public Prayers (from One Year At His Feet Devotional) “I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” John 11:42 “Large asking and large expectation on our part honor God.” —A. L. Stone IN WORD Too often our prayers are the private matter of our own hearts. That is, of course, where they begin. That is where God deals with us and speaks to us. But not all prayers are to be left there. The glory of God is a public matter, and nowhere on earth is God more glorified than when He is clearly at work. Miracles occur every day, but they often go unnoticed or are considered “coincidental” because no one heard the specific prayer of someone’s heart that God answered in His mercy and power. When mercy and power come, the prayer needs to have already been on record. God is glorified as He responds to public requests. Jesus spells this out for us. As He approaches the tomb of Lazarus, He is grateful for the public forum. He could have done this miracle with a minimum of onlookers and in the privacy of the tomb. He could have lifted up a silent prayer, leaving people to wonder whose prayers were answered. Was Lazarus raised because of Mary and Martha’s goodness? because of Lazarus’s faithfulness? because of a huge medical misunderstanding? No, it was a divine response to Jesus’ prayer. It was, in essence, yet another sign from heaven saying, “This is My Son.” It was validation that God was at work in Jesus and that Jesus was doing God’s work. How do we know? Because before Lazarus got up, Jesus prayed. Out loud. IN DEED We’re afraid to pray such risky prayers. That’s understandable; we should only pray them after we’ve arrived at a position of faith and confidence in God’s will and with sensitivity to His timing. But once we’re there, we need to let God show His glory publicly. His demonstration of power is usually not a private, personal matter. It is more often a showcase for His mercy. When our prayers are witnessed by others and then God answers, He receives honor, and the faith of others is strengthened. John 11:43 When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." BGT John 11:43 καὶ ταῦτα εἰπὼν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ ἐκραύγασεν· Λάζαρε, δεῦρο ἔξω. KJV John 11:43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. NET John 11:43 When he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" CSB John 11:43 After He said this, He shouted with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" ESV John 11:43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." NIV John 11:43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" NLT John 11:43 Then Jesus shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" NRS John 11:43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" NJB John 11:43 When he had said this, he cried in a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!' NAB John 11:43 And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" YLT John 11:43 And these things saying, with a loud voice he cried out, 'Lazarus, come forth;' MIT John 11:43 After saying this, he shouted with full voice, "Lazarus, come out!" Lazarus: 1Ki 17:21,22 2Ki 4:33-36 Mk 4:41 Lu 7:14,15 Ac 3:6,12 9:34,40 John 11 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries LAZARUS COME FORTH! When He had said these things, He cried out (kraugazo - cry loudly) with a loud (megas) voice - Cried out (kraugazo) describes a loud cry and the addition of "with a loud voice" emphasizes the "divine decibel level" so to speak! It is notable that when Jesus put forth this same power in calling back to life Jairus’ daughter Luke recording "He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, "Child, arise!"" (Lk 8:54+) Mark records "Taking the child by the hand, He *said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”)." (Mk 5:41+) Almost certainly the loud voice was for the sake of the Jews who witnessed this event that they might clearly associate Jesus' calling forth with Lazarus' coming forth. There could be no argument of the cause-effect relationship. Recall that the raising of Jairus' daughter was done in the presence of only "Peter and John and James, and the girl’s father and mother." (Lk 8:51+) This miracle was public and Jesus knew the effect would be to catalyze the desire of the Jewish leaders to put Him to death. Admittedly, Jesus' raising of the widow's son in Lk 7:12-17+ was more public and the report went throughout Judea, but there is no record of the Jewish leaders reacting to this miracle. (Related Resource - How many people were raised from the dead in the Bible?) A T