When Jesus learned that Lazarus was sick, He made the statement that his sickness would not end in death.  And yet, Lazarus did die.  Contradiction?  Hardly!  Believers live with Jesus for eternity and will not experience the second death.

Jesus delayed going to see Lazarus. Why? By the time Jesus reached the tomb Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. Mary and Martha would have already been back after the customary three days was over to permanently anoint his body on the fourth day. (That means Jesus did not come to the tomb until the fifth day) . They knew Lazarus was dead.  Details concerning the importance of the three days can be found in the book, The Journey of Jesus from the Manger to the Mansion by Phil and Patti Moore.  Available on Amazon. 

KJV says Jesus“tarried”, which is such a descriptive word. How often when we are in distress and call out to God, does He “tarry” in His answer? But look at why He tarried in the story of Lazarus. He tarried so that they would believe. Could He tarry with our answers to prayer to bring about an even deeper faith or that we may grow spiritually?

When Jesus was returning to raise Lazarus, the disciples knew that He was in danger by going there, yet they said they were willing to die with Him. What happened later when Jesus was arrested? Were they willing to die for Him then?

When Jesus saw the people weeping over Lazarus, He was deeply moved in spirit. KJV says he “groaned in the spirit”. He was troubled not only because they were sorrowful, but also troubled that they didn’t understand the “cocoon” of death.  We can equate our life on earth as the life of a “caterpillar”. It isn’t until we go into the “cocoon” of death and spend a time that we are able to emerge as beautiful “butterflies” in the resurrection. Too often we want to remain a worm!  We need to live as a "butterfly" in a "caterpillar" world.  See the booklet Butterfly Living in a Caterpillar World by Phil and Patti Moore.

Obviously Martha understood about the resurrection of the dead on the last day.  

We may think with our modern mind-set that Lazarus was buried in a tomb that was part of a bigger cemetery.  But Scripture says the tomb was a cave.  So, most likely it was not a populated cemetery. We have heard it said that Jesus needed to call the name Lazarus because if He didn't name the dead person to be raised, then all those who were in the graves would come forth.  But that may not be the case.

When the Sanhedrin met, they were concerned about what Jesus was doing and wanted to stop Him. Notice what Caiaphas prophesied. He knew that Jesus would die not only for the Jewish nation but would die for all the scattered tribes to bring them back into unity as one.  Truth is that Jesus died for ALL people, whether they accept Him or not.

Jesus avoided the Jews after that and retired to Ephraim, a city sixteen miles northeast of Jerusalem on the borders of the wilderness.