John 11:1–44
The Raising of Lazarus
The big idea
Jesus weeps at a grave he is about to open, which means knowing the outcome does not make the loss less real.
Context you need before you preach it
This is the last and greatest of John's signs, and it is the event that triggers the plot to kill Jesus. Raising a man from the dead is what gets him killed.
The delay in verses 5–6 is deliberately jarring: "Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When therefore he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days." The therefore is the problem the whole chapter is working on.
The outline
He loved them, therefore he waited
vv. 1–16The hardest verse in the chapter. Love and delay are joined by a conjunction most of us would want removed.
Both sisters say the same sentence
vv. 17–32"If you had been here, my brother would not have died." He receives it from both without rebuke. To Martha he gives a claim: "I am the resurrection and the life."
Jesus wept
vv. 33–37He is groaning in spirit and troubled. He knows what he is about to do, and he cries anyway. This is the pastoral heart of the passage.
Lazarus, come out
vv. 38–44And then: "Free him, and let him go." The community has a job — the man is alive but still bound.
Application
- Grief is not a failure of faith. Jesus, with full knowledge of the resurrection, wept.
- Both sisters said the accusing thing to his face and neither was corrected. Honest complaint is permitted.
- Verse 44 gives the church its work: people can be alive and still tangled in grave clothes.
Where preachers go wrong on this text
- Rushing to the miracle. If you spend the sermon getting to verse 43 you will skip the verse people need most.
- Explaining the delay too neatly. The text lets it stay hard.
- Using it at a funeral in a way that implies the grieving family should expect the same outcome.
Other ways to structure it
The outline above is one defensible reading, not the only one. If it does not fit the congregation in front of you, these are legitimate alternatives:
- Preach "Jesus wept" alone as a funeral sermon.
- Preach the delay in verses 5–6 as a sermon on unanswered prayer and God's timing.
- Preach verse 44 as a sermon on the church's role in freeing people who are already alive.
Illustrations that fit this text
Frequently asked questions
Why did Jesus weep if he knew he would raise Lazarus?
Because death is genuinely terrible and knowing the ending does not make the present grief unreal. This is the verse that gives grieving Christians permission — their tears are not evidence of weak faith, since Jesus had perfect knowledge of the outcome and cried anyway.
You have preached this passage before
Probably more than once, and the earlier version had a line in it you would want back. Transcribe your sermons and every text you have ever preached becomes searchable by reference — $19/month for as many as you preach, and the first one is free.
More from John
Preaching resources for John — themes, famous chapters, and background for the whole book.
Preach it alongside
Ezekiel 37:1–14
Can These Bones Live?
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18
Grief With Hope
Revelation 21:1–5
Behold, I Make All Things New