Thomas Aquinas Commentary John 11:1-5

"Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister Martha. And it was that Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. The sisters therefore sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. But when Jesus heard it, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus." — John 11:1-5 (ASV)

1. Above, our Lord shows His life-giving power by word; here He confirms it with a miracle by raising Lazarus from the dead.

First, we see the illness of Lazarus; second, his being raised from the dead (when he had heard therefore, John 11:6); and third, the effect this produced: many of the Jews, who had come to Mary and Martha . . . believed in him (John 11:45).

The Evangelist does three things concerning the first point:

1. The illness of Lazarus is mentioned.
2. His illness is made known: therefore, his sisters sent to him.
3. We see the reason for his illness: and Jesus, hearing it, said to them.

Concerning the first of these, he does three things:

1. He describes the person who was ill.
2. He describes where he was living.
3. He mentions one of his relatives.

2. The one who was ill was Lazarus: now there was a certain sick man named Lazarus. This presents to us a believer who hopes in God but still suffers the weakness introduced by sin, of whom we read: be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing (Psalms 6:2). For Lazarus means “one who is helped by the Lord,” and so this name signifies one who has confidence in divine help: my help comes from the Lord (Psalms 121:2).

3. Lazarus was at Bethany: of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. The village of Bethany was near Jerusalem, and our Lord was often a guest there, as has been said many times. It means a “house of obedience.” This leads us to understand that if someone who is ill obeys God, he can easily be cured by Him, just as a sick person who obeys his doctor regains his health. The servants of Naaman said to him: my father, if the prophet had commanded you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? (2 Kings 5:13).

Bethany was the home of Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus. Martha and Mary represent two ways of life, the active and the contemplative. We can understand from this that it is by obedience that one becomes perfect, both in the active and in the contemplative life.

4. His relative was Mary: Mary was she who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. The Evangelist describes this Mary by her most famous action so we can distinguish her from the many other women with the same name: Mary was she that anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair.

Still, there is some disagreement among the saints about this Mary. Some, like Jerome and Origen, say that this Mary, the sister of Lazarus, is not the same as the sinner mentioned: a woman of the city, who was a sinner . . . brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head (Luke 7:37). So, as Chrysostom says, she was not the prostitute mentioned in Luke. The Mary mentioned by John was an honorable woman, eager to receive Christ, while the name of the woman who was the sinner was kept secret. Furthermore, the Mary mentioned here by John could have done for Christ at the time of His Passion, because of her special devotion and love, something similar to what was done for Him by the sinner out of remorse and love. John, in order to praise her, is mentioning here, in anticipation, the action she would perform later (John 12:1–8).

Others, such as Augustine and Gregory, say that this Mary, mentioned by John, is the same as the sinner mentioned by Luke. Augustine bases his reason on this text. For the Evangelist is speaking here of the time before Mary anointed our Lord at the time of the Passion, as John says further on: Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus (John 12:3). So he says that what the Evangelist has mentioned here is the same event mentioned elsewhere (Luke 7:37). Ambrose maintains both sides. Therefore, according to the opinion of Augustine, it is clear that the sinner mentioned by Luke is this Mary whose brother Lazarus was sick—that is, a consuming fever was wasting his wretched body with its furnace-like flames.

5. The sisters of Lazarus, who were taking care of him, inform Jesus of his illness. Grief-stricken at the misfortune of the ailing youth, therefore, his sisters sent to him, Jesus, saying: Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick. This message brings to mind three things for consideration.

1. We see that the friends of God are sometimes afflicted with bodily illness. Thus, if someone has a bodily illness, this is not a sign that the person is not a friend of God. Eliphaz mistakenly argued against Job that it was: think now, who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? (Job 4:7). Accordingly, they say, Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights (Proverbs 3:12).
2. The second thing to note is that his sisters do not say, “Lord, come and heal him,” but simply mention his sickness: he is ill. This indicates that it is enough merely to state one’s need to a friend, without adding a request. For a friend, who desires the good of his friend as his own, is just as committed to warding off harm from his friend as he is from himself. This is especially true of the One who most truly loves: the Lord preserves all who love him (Psalms 145:20).
3. The third thing to consider is that these two sisters, who wanted their sick brother cured, did not come in person to Christ, as did the paralytic (Luke 5:18) and the centurion (Matthew 8:5). This was because of the confidence they had in Christ due to the special love and friendship He had shown them; or, perhaps it was their grief that kept them away: a friend, if he is steadfast, will be to you as yourself .

6. Now we have the reasons for the foregoing:

1. The illness of Lazarus.
2. The reason why, according to Augustine, his sisters did not come in person to Christ: now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister Mary, and Lazarus.

7. The reason for the illness of Lazarus is the glorification of the Son of God. Thus the Evangelist says, and Jesus, hearing it, said to them: this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God.

Here we should note that some physical illness leads to death and some does not. Those that lead to death are not ordained for some other purpose. Furthermore, every evil of punishment is inflicted by divine providence: does evil befall a city, unless the Lord has done it? (Amos 3:6). But as for the evil of fault, God is not its author, but its punisher. Now, all things that are from God are ordered. Consequently, every evil of punishment is ordered toward something: some toward death, and some toward something else. This illness was not ordered to death, but to the glory of God.

8. But did not Lazarus die from this illness? It seems so; otherwise, he would not have had the odor of one four days in the tomb, nor would his raising have been a miracle.

I answer that his illness was not ordained to death as a final end, but to something else, as has been said. That is, so that he who was raised, chastened as it were, might live a holy life for the glory of God, and that the Jewish people who saw this miracle might be converted to the faith: the Lord has chastened me sorely but he has not given me over to death (Psalms 118:18). Thus He adds, for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it. In this passage, according to Chrysostom, the words for and that do not indicate the reason for the events, but their sequence. For Lazarus was not made ill so that God might be glorified from it. Rather, his illness came from some other cause, and the glorification of the Son of God followed as a consequence, insofar as Christ used it for the glory of God by raising Lazarus.

This is true in one way, but not in another. It is possible to consider two reasons for Lazarus’s illness. One is the natural cause, and from this point of view, the statement of Chrysostom is true, because Lazarus’s illness, considering its natural causes, was not ordained to his rising from the dead. But we can consider another reason, and this is divine providence; and then Chrysostom’s statement is not true. For under divine providence, an illness of this kind was ordained to the glory of God. And so according to this, the for and the that do indicate the reason. It is the same as saying: for the glory of God, because although it was not ordained to this from the intent of its natural cause, yet from the intent of divine providence it was ordained to the glory of God, insofar as, once the miracle had been performed, people would believe in Christ and escape real death. So He says, that the Son of God may be glorified by it.

Here our Lord clearly calls Himself the Son of God, for He was to be glorified in the resurrection of Lazarus because He is true God: that we may be in his true Son (1 John 5:20); neither this man nor his parents has sinned, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him (John 9:3).

9. Here, according to Augustine, the Evangelist gives the reason why Lazarus’s two sisters did not come to Christ, which was due to their confidence in Him because of the special love He had for them. So the Evangelist remarks, now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister Mary, and Lazarus. Indeed, He who is the consoler of the sorrowful loved the sorrowing sisters, and He who was the savior of the weary loved the weary and dead Lazarus: Yes, he loved his people; all those consecrated to him were in his hand (Deuteronomy 33:3).