Bible Reading
John 11:1-44 “Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “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.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “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?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 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.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
[41:34]2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
[53:47]Romans 8:26 “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
[51:04]Observation questions
- What differences are seen in how Martha and Mary respond when Jesus arrives after Lazarus has died? [45:33]
- What does Martha’s first conversation with Jesus reveal about both her pain and her continuing hope? [42:53]
- How does Jesus respond differently to Mary than he does to Martha, and what does he do before going to Lazarus’s tomb? [46:30]
- What forms of comfort are named in connection with caring for people who are hurting? [53:47]
Interpretation questions
- Martha and Mary speak nearly the same words to Jesus, yet Jesus responds to each of them differently. What does this show about the different needs people may have in grief? [46:15]
- Why might Jesus’ tears matter deeply when someone feels that a loss is unfair, confusing, or “not how it is supposed to be”? [49:42]
- Jesus says that he is the resurrection and the life while Lazarus’s family is still in the middle of their sorrow. How can hope in resurrection be offered without using it to rush someone past grief? [43:21]
- Second Corinthians says that God comforts people so they can comfort others. How can a person’s past loss become a source of compassion without suggesting that the loss itself was good or caused by God? [52:36]
Application questions
- Where would you place yourself in the image of grief as water right now—on the shore, with waves at your ankles, or feeling pulled under? What loss, change, or disappointment has shaped that answer? [40:34]
- Is there a “Where were you?” question you have wanted to ask God? What might it look like to bring that honest question to God rather than hiding it? [55:23]
- When you are grieving, do you tend to respond more like Martha, who needed to talk and ask questions, or Mary, who needed someone to sit with her? How can trusted people care for you in the way you actually need?
- If words for prayer feel hard to find, what simple practice could help you rest in the Spirit’s intercession—silence, tears, a short prayer, a walk, or asking someone else to pray with you? [51:04]
- Think of someone who may be carrying grief, a diagnosis, divorce, disappointment, or another quiet loss. What is one specific act of presence or care you could offer this week—a message, a card, a meal, prayer, or simply time together? [56:17]
- What experiences of receiving God’s comfort have made you more able to sit with someone else’s pain? How might you offer that compassion without trying to fix or explain their loss? [53:40]
