Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
All Commentaries on John 11:1 Go To John 11
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
The resurrection of Lazarus is more spoken of than any of our Lord’s miracles. But if we hear in mind who He was who wrought this miracle, we shall feel not so much of wonder; as of delight. He who made the man, raised the man; and it is a greater thing to create a man, than to revive him. Lazarus was sick at Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. The place was near Jerusalem.
John here confirms the passage in Luke, where this is said to have taken place in the house of one Simon a Pharisee: Mary had done this act therefore on a former occasion. That she did it again at Bethany is not mentioned in the narrative of Luke, but is in the other three Gospels.
A cruel sickness had seized Lazarus; a wasting fever was eating away the body of the wretched man day by day: his two sisters sat sorrowful at his bedside, grieving for the sick youth continually. They sent to Jesus: Therefore his sisters sent to Him, saying, Lord, behold he whom you love is sick.
They did not say, Come and heal; they dared not say, Speak the word there, and it shall be done here; but only, Behold, he whom you love is sick. As if tosay, It is enough that you know it, you are not one to love and then to desert whom you love.
When Jesus heard that, He said, This sickness is not to death. For this death itself wasnot to death, but to give occasion for a miracle; whereby men might be brought to believe in Christ, and so escape real death. It was for the glory of God, wherein observe that our Lord calls Himself God by implication, thus confounding those heretics who say that the Son of God is not God. For the glory of what God? Hear what follows, That the Son of God might be glorified thereby, i.e. by that sickness.
He is sick, they sorrowful, all beloved. Wherefore they had hope, for they were beloved by Him Who is the Comforter of the sorrowful, and the Healer of the sick.
