Lazarova smrt
1Neki se čovjek imenom Lazar razbolio. Živio je u Betaniji sa sestrama Marijom i Martom. 2Bila je to ona Marija koja je izlila dragocjenu miomirisnu pomast na Gospodinove noge i otrla ih svojom kosom.11:2 Događaj je zabilježen u 12. poglavlju. Kako im je brat Lazar bio bolestan, 3sestre pošalju Isusu poruku: “Gospodine, tvoj je voljeni prijatelj teško bolestan.”
4Kad je Isus to čuo, reče: “Njegova bolest nije na smrt, nego na Božju slavu. Božji Sin će se ovom prigodom proslaviti.” 5Iako je Isus žarko volio Martu, Mariju i Lazara, 6nije odmah krenuo, nego je ostao još dva dana u mjestu u kojemu se nalazio. 7Nakon dva dana napokon reče učenicima: “Hajdemo natrag u Judeju!”
8Ali učenici se usprotive. “Učitelju,” rekoše mu, “zar te nisu prije nekoliko dana židovski vođe u Judeji htjeli ubiti, a ti hoćeš onamo?”
9Isus odgovori: “Dvanaest ura traje dan i oni koji hodaju u svjetlu neće se spotaknuti jer vide svjetlo ovoga svijeta. 10Koji hodaju u mraku, spotiču se jer u sebi nemaju svjetla.” 11Zatim reče: “Naš prijatelj spava, ali idem ga probuditi.”
12Učenici su rekli: “Gospodine, ako spava, znači da ozdravit će!” 13Mislili su da Isus želi reći kako Lazar zaista spava, ali Isus je htio kazati da je umro.
14Tada im posve otvoreno reče: “Lazar je umro. 15Radi vas se radujem što nisam bio ondje jer će vam ovo biti nova prilika da vjerujete u mene. Hajdemo k njemu!”
16Nato Toma, zvani Blizanac, reče drugim učenicima: “Hajdemo i mi s njime umrijeti!”
17Kad je Isus došao u Betaniju, rekoše mu da Lazar već četiri dana leži u grobu. 18Betanija je od Jeruzalema bila udaljena otprilike tri kilometra,11:18 U grčkome: 15 stadija (približno 2,8 km). 19pa je mnogo Židova došlo izraziti sućut i utješiti Martu i Mariju zbog gubitka brata. 20Kad je Marta čula da Isus stiže, pođe mu u susret, a Marija ostane u kući. 21Marta reče Isusu: “Gospodine, da si ti bio ovdje, moj brat ne bi umro! 22Ali ipak znam da će ti Bog dati sve što od njega zatražiš.”
23“Tvoj će brat uskrsnuti!” reče joj Isus.
24“Hoće”, reče Marta, “kad i svi drugi, o uskrsnuću u posljednji dan.”
25“Ja sam uskrsnuće i život”, reče joj Isus. “Tko u mene vjeruje, ako i umre, živjet će. 26Tko god je živ i vjeruje u mene, neće nikada umrijeti. Vjeruješ li u to, Marta?”
27“Da, Gospodine,” odgovori ona, “vjerujem da si ti Krist, Božji Sin koji treba da dođe na svijet.” 28Zatim ode natrag Mariji i krišom joj reče: “Stigao je Učitelj i želi te vidjeti.” 29Kada je Marija to čula, brzo ustane i odmah pođe k njemu.
30Isus je još bio izvan sela, na mjestu gdje ga je susrela Marta. 31Kada su Židovi koji su bili u Marijinoj kući i tješili je vidjeli da tako žurno odlazi, pođu za njom. Mislili su, naime, da ide na grob oplakivati brata. 32Kad je Marija stigla do Isusa, padne pred njim ničice i reče: “Gospodine, da si ti bio ovdje, moj brat ne bi umro!”
33Kad Isus ugleda nju i Židove koji su došli s njom kako plaču, ostane duboko dirnut i potresen. 34“Kamo ste ga položili?” upita ih.
“Dođi i pogledaj”, odgovore. 35Isus zaplače. 36“Gledajte kako ga je volio!”, govorili su Židovi. 37A neki rekoše: “Zar taj koji je slijepcu vratio vid nije mogao spriječiti Lazarovu smrt?”
Isus podiže Lazara od mrtvih
38Isus opet ostane duboko dirnut. Uto stignu do groba. Bila je to špilja s teškim kamenom navaljenim na otvor. 39“Odmaknite kamen!” zapovjedi Isus.
Ali pokojnikova sestra Marta reče: “Gospodine, mora da je vonj već strašan jer je prošlo četiri dana otkako je umro!”
40“Nisam li ti rekao da ćeš, budeš li vjerovala, vidjeti Božju slavu?” upita ju Isus. 41I tako odmaknu kamen s groba. Isus pogleda u nebo i reče: “Hvala ti, Oče, što si me uslišao. 42Znam da me ti uvijek uslišavaš, ali to sam rekao zbog ovih ljudi, kako bi vjerovali da si me ti poslao.” 43Zatim glasno vikne: “Lazare, iziđi!” 44I Lazar iziđe—sav u povojima i lica zamotana u ručnik. Isus im reče: “Odvežite ga i pustite ga da ide!”
Zavjera protiv Isusa
(Mt 26:1-5; Mk 14:1-2; Lk 22:1-2)
45Kad brojni Židovi koji su bili s Marijom ugledali što se dogodilo, napokon povjeruju u njega. 46Ali neki odu javiti farizejima što je Isus učinio. 47Stoga svećenički glavari i farizeji sazovu Veliko vijeće11:47 U grčkome: Sanhedrin. da se dogovore što učiniti. “Što da radimo?” pitali su jedan drugoga. “Jer ovaj čovjek zaista čini čudesa. 48Ako ga pustimo na miru, sav će ga narod slijediti i povjerovati u njega, a onda će doći rimska vojska, pobiti nas i preuzeti vlast.”
49A jedan od njih, Kajfa, koji je te godine bio veliki svećenik, reče: “Ništa vi ne znate! 50Ne razumijete da je za vas bolje da jedan čovjek umre za narod, umjesto da sav narod izgine?”
51Kajfa to nije rekao po vlastitoj pameti. On je te godine bio veliki svećenik te je tako prorekao da će Isus umrijeti za sav narod, 52i to ne samo za izraelski narod već da bi okupio svu Božju djecu rasutu po svijetu.
53Toga dana istaknuti židovski vođe odluče ubiti Isusa. 54Zbog toga se Isus više nije javno kretao među Židovima, već ode u blizinu pustinje, u Efrajim, i ondje ostane s učenicima.
55Bližio se židovski blagdan Pasha, pa su mnogi ljudi dolazili u Jeruzalem nekoliko dana prije kako bi prije početka svetkovine obavili obred očišćenja. 56Željeli su vidjeti Isusa. Razgovarajući u Hramu, pitali su jedni druge: “Što mislite, hoće li doći na Pashu?” 57U međuvremenu su glavni svećenici i farizeji zapovjedili da svatko tko dozna gdje je Isus mora to odmah prijaviti kako bi ga uhvatili.
The Death of Lazarus
1Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2(This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
4When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
8“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
9Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”
11After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
12His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
16Then Thomas (also known as Didymus11:16 Thomas (Aramaic) and Didymus (Greek) both mean twin.) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus
17On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18Now Bethany was less than two miles11:18 Or about 3 kilometers from Jerusalem, 19and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
28After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34“Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35Jesus wept.
36Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead
38Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39“Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
The Plot to Kill Jesus
45Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”
49Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
51He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
54Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.
55When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. 56They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” 57But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.