💫WEB · John 11:5
What does John 11:5 mean?
"Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus."
— John 11:5 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
It was that Mary who had anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother, Lazarus, was sick.
The sisters therefore sent to him, saying, “Lord, behold, he for whom you have great affection is sick.”
But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, that God’s Son may be glorified by it.”
Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.
When therefore he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days in the place where he was.
Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let’s go into Judea again.”
The disciples told him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and are you going there again?”
Explanation
John 11:5 is a simple but important statement embedded in the larger story of the raising of Lazarus. In plain language, the verse tells us that Jesus had genuine affection and care for a particular family—Martha, her sister Mary, and their brother Lazarus, who lived in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. This is not a vague or generic statement about Jesus loving humanity in the abstract; it names specific people whom he knew personally and cared for deeply.
The context is crucial to understanding why this verse is included at all. John is setting up the account of Lazarus's illness, death, and resurrection. Just before this verse, the sisters had sent word to Jesus that "he whom you love is sick" (John 11:3), and immediately after this verse, John notes that despite hearing of Lazarus's sickness, Jesus stayed where he was for two more days before going to Bethany (John 11:6). The Gospel of John was written, according to its own stated purpose (John 20:31), so that readers might believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and have life in his name. This particular episode—the raising of Lazarus—serves as the climactic sign in John's Gospel, pointing forward to Jesus's own death and resurrection. Verse 5 functions almost as a narrative pause, ensuring the reader understands that what foll
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