John chapter 11

vs 31

So Mary wasn't going by herself - there was a bunch of people going with her who were there to comfort her.

vs 32

Ok, yes, this is a bit more of an emotional response to Jesus' arrival. But it's the same attitude.


vs 33

What does "deeply moved in his spirit and troubled" mean? Surely it's just a more complicated way of saying that he got upset. You know, everyone is crying, Mary is at his feet weeping, that's a fairly upsetting sight. Jesus is upset about Lazarus, sure, but surely it is the sight of how much this death has upset everyone else that pains him so much.

vs 34

So Jesus goes to visit the tomb. Again, the people probably think Jesus is going there to mourn him.

vs 35-36

And perhaps he is mourning him. That's what everyone else seems to think. But perhaps his is weeping because of the pain that this death has brought to all these other people. Overall, death is not a happy thing. Well, that depends on which Christian theologian you ask. Some would say that death per se is not to be feared in Jewish culture, and that the only deaths that are very sad are those of young children or tragic deaths of men before their time. Death at a ripe old age was supposedly seen as a gift from God. I remain unconvinced, and I'm looking forward to reading more on the subject. it might not sound important, but it has large and long ramifications, reaching all the way back to creation and sin.

vs 37

Some of the people do not think that Jesus is mourning Lazarus. After all, if he loved him so much, couldn't he have healed him?

vs 38

See, this verse says that Jesus was again deeply moved. That would suggest to me that now, upon reaching the tomb, seeing the reality of it perhaps, he is moved because of the death of his friend. So maybe we've got all bases covered now.

vs 39

There is some mention around the traps that the Jews believed that the soul of a person hung around a body for 3 days, before leaving when they saw the body start to rot, and after this a person was really dead, and nothing was bringing them back. The problem is that this belief really appeared only after Jesus, and I'll bet that it was created partly to say that Jesus wasn't really dead. In any case, a body that is four days old supposedly is going to start to smell. Four days old is actually a misnomer - he has been in the tomb four days. Who knows how long the burial rites and stuff normally took (Jesus was a bit of an exception - he went fast). They could have kept the body in the household for two or three days for people to come and pay their respects - it's not uncommon.

vs 40

Actually, he told the disciples that. But he did say it, and now, they are going to.