Charles Ellicott Commentary John 11:5

"Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus." — John 11:5 (ASV)

Now Jesus loved Martha. It is not easy to see the connection of this verse with what precedes it, or with what immediately follows it. The fact that He stayed two days where He was seems indeed opposed to the idea of His special love for the family. The most probable explanation is the one that connects John 11:5-7 together, and makes this love the motive for going into Judea again.

The word translated "loved" here is different from the one in John 11:3. There the word signifies the love of tender affection; here the word means the love of chosen friendship. (John 21:15 and following.) The difference here is not to be explained, as it frequently has been, by the difference in the persons who were the objects of the love, but rather by the difference in the persons whose words we are reading. In the language of the sisters, whose hearts are moved by the brother’s illness, the word of fullest emotion is natural. In the language of the Evangelist, the other word is no less natural.

It will be observed that in this verse, as in John 11:19 and following, Martha takes the first place as the elder sister.