Jesus therefore, six days before the passover, came to Bethany, where was the dead [man] Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from among [the] dead.
Six days before the Passover, John stops the clock and gives us a date — the last week of the Lord's life on earth has begun. He does not spend its opening hours in Jerusalem, where the leaders had turned against Him. He spends them in a village where a man He had called out of a grave was still alive.
This one time-stamp marks the start of a stretch of days that fills the rest of the Gospel.
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany. So everything recorded between John 12:1 and John 20:25 falls into a brief period of seven or eight days. This is surely the most wonderful week in the world's history. In the home at Bethany lived the three who were objects of His love and who loved Him in return. A suitable opportunity had now come for them to show it. Behind them lay the death of Lazarus and His calling him to life by the voice of the Son of God. Just ahead lay the death and resurrection of the Son of God Himself.
The mention of the Passover matters. That feast turned on a lamb. Commentators line up the days of Abib, the Passover month, with the Lord's own movements.
The lamb was taken on the tenth of Abib, the day (John 12:1, 12) when our Lord entered Jerusalem on the donkey's colt. It was killed on the fourteenth, the day He died.
He was not being swept along by events. The leaders had made their plans, yet the timing belonged to Him.
But the time was drawing near when the true Passover Lamb was to be killed. We must always remember that no man took His life from Him. He laid it down of Himself.
Of all the places He could have stayed, He chose this small village. The choice says something about both places.
He will not stay in rebellious and unbelieving Jerusalem. He goes to Bethany, where the power of resurrection had been shown. There, after His people have rejected Him, He can find an object and a refuge for His heart among men.
Bethany gathers up more of His story than any other village.
Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany. It was, may we not say, the one place on earth that was specially dear to the heart of Christ. It was "the town of Mary", a saint greatly approved of Christ. It was the scene of the display of His glory in raising Lazarus. It was "there they made Him a supper". And, as we learn from Luke, it was there "He lifted up His hands and blessed them" at His ascension.
John does not just name the village. He identifies it by what happened there: a man who had been dead was alive again.
Lazarus at the table was the living witness of the glory of God in resurrection. Simon's house was full of people who knew that death had been robbed of its victory in Bethany. Those who had mourned at the tomb were now rejoicing at the table.
This supper stands right beside the hostility of the leaders.
The feast at Bethany (12:1-3) is in precious contrast with the hostility of the leaders. Here, at least, our Lord is welcome. It is a picture of a Christian feast. In it we see the power of divine grace that has given life, the liberty of true service free from self-seeking, and the joy of true worship that pours its fragrance on the feet of the blessed Lord.
- Dated. "Six days before the Passover" opens the week that runs from John 12 to John 20. Those few days carry the death and resurrection of the Son of God.
- Deliberate. The Passover lamb was set apart days before its death. Jesus walked toward the feast on His own terms. No man took His life from Him; He laid it down Himself.
- Chosen. Jerusalem refused Him, so He went to Bethany. There He was welcome, and there He would later lift His hands and bless His own.
- Marked. The village is named by a miracle: Lazarus, once mourned at a tomb, now a living witness of resurrection glory.
- Contrasted. While the leaders raged, Bethany made Him a supper — life, service and worship answering His love in the shadow of the cross.
There therefore they made him a supper, and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those at table with him.
Six days before the Passover, in the village where Lazarus had come out of the tomb, a small group set a table for Jesus. Each person gets one line: Martha serving, and Lazarus — once dead — now seated at the table as a guest. Commentators read this scene as a picture of what the Lord receives from those He has blessed.
Through His ministry Jesus was the one who gave. This meal reverses the direction.
It was not often that anyone made a feast for Christ in this world. At times men were glad enough to receive blessing from Him. How seldom they thought of offering anything to the Blesser! In the early days of His ministry, Levi had indeed "made Him a great feast in his house" (Luke 5:29). He invited a large company of sinners to sit down with Him. Now, at length, in the closing days of His path on earth, a feast is spread for Him at which He sits down among His saints.
It happened while the authorities were already moving against Him. (Where the ESV says "dinner", the older wording used in the quotes below is "supper".)
While the world's hatred of Christ was rising, there is a little company who gather to make "Him a supper". The leaders of this world may hold their councils to put Christ to death, and issue their commands for Christ to be delivered into their hands. But this little company are not moved by their evil plotting or their useless commands. In the face of all opposition, they make "Him a supper". Surely that supper was very acceptable to Him, and the love that prepared it very precious in His sight.
John does not say where the meal took place. The other Gospel writers do — and that detail explains why John mentions Lazarus at all.
Where did the supper take place? On this John is silent; but his fellow Evangelists have both put it on record. It took place in the house of Simon the leper... Once we know the supper was in his house, we see why John mentions Lazarus sitting at the table with the Lord that day. If the supper had been in Lazarus' house, such a notice would have been unnecessary.
The man at the table had recently been in a grave. His presence was itself evidence.
Lazarus at the table was the living witness of the glory of God in resurrection. Simon's house was full of people who knew that death had been robbed of its victory in Bethany. Those who had mourned at the tomb were now rejoicing at the table.
Martha had served the Lord before. She serves again here, but something has changed.
In this happy company at Bethany we can see service, communion and worship each represented, all combining to make "Him a supper". Martha still serves, but she is no longer burdened by her service. In earlier days her service had a larger place in her thoughts than Christ. Now Christ has a larger place than her service. She is serving to make "Him a supper".
The three people here do three different things, and none is out of step.
So it was at Bethany. Lazarus was at the table, Mary at the Master's feet, and Martha was about the house. Everything was in beautiful order, because Christ was the object of each one. Lazarus would have been out of place if he had set about preparing the supper. And if Martha had sat at the table, no supper would have been prepared. But both were in their right places. We may be sure that both would rejoice in the fragrance of Mary's ointment as she poured it on the feet of their ever-loving and beloved Lord.
Each response here traces back to what these people knew of Him.
Martha was hostess and served Him. Lazarus had his part with Him at the supper table. Mary expressed her heart's devotion to Him by spending her costly ointment on Him. So we see how the knowledge of Him and of His resurrection power led to service, to communion, and to worship. Everything was happily in order — and just because it was, hostile criticism spoke out against Mary's action.
- Raised. Lazarus at the table was the living witness of God's glory in resurrection. Those who had mourned at the tomb were now rejoicing at the meal.
- Received. People were glad to take blessing from Christ. They rarely thought of offering anything back to the Blesser. Here at last a feast is spread for Him.
- Released. Martha still serves, but she is no longer burdened. Christ now has a larger place in her thoughts than her service does.
- Right places. Each one is in a different place, and each is right, because Christ is the object of all three. Swap their roles and the beauty collapses.
- Result. Knowing Him and His resurrection power produced service, communion and worship. Criticism came just because everything was in order.