John 11:21 — Community Reflections

JOHN 11:21 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.”

'Lord,' Martha said to him, 'if you had been here, my brother would not have died — Martha's first words address the painful delay: had Jesus been present, He could have healed Lazarus before death. Her words express both faith in Jesus' power to heal and confusion about His delayed response. The 'if you had been here' (ei ēs hōde) is a polite but pointed reference to His absence during the critical illness.

Church Fathers on John 11:21

Our Lord delayed His coming for four days, that the resurrection of Lazarus might be the more glorious: Then when Jesus came, He found that He had lain in the grave four days already.
Alcuin · 8th century

Our Lord had stayed two days, and the messenger had come the day before; the very day on which Lazarus died. This brings us to the fourth day.
Chrysostom · 4th century

Of the four days many things may be said. They refer to one thing, but one thing viewed in different ways. There is one day of death which the law of our birth brings upon us. Men transgress the natural law, and this is another day of death. The written law is given to men by the hands of Moses, and that is despised - a third day of death. The Gospel comes, and men transgress it - a fourth day of death. But Christ cloth not disdain to awaken even these.
Augustine · 4th century

Read all 21 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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