Fifth Sunday in Lent John 11:1-45

Ancient Lens

What can we learn from the historical context?

Back to Bethany

The trans-Jordan village of Bethany was the place in which Jesus’ ministry began. It is now the place in which our text finds him (see John 10:40). From the moment he arose from the muddy waters of the river, his mission had suffered its detractors, first the Devil and then a cadre of well-meaning and not-so-well-meaning religious types. There is perhaps a slight irony that the same location from which Jesus was thrust into his initial test in the wilderness will now usher him into his final test in the city of David.

Having retreated, following two failed attempts by the Jerusalem elite to stone him to death (see John 8 &…