Bible Trivia Quiz | Lazarus and the Family at Bethany | Digging Deeper

Question 1. When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, why did He stay where He was two more days before going to Bethany?

Answer: Jesus said the sickness was “not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby” (John 11:4). He told His disciples He was glad for their sakes He was not there, “to the intent ye may believe” (John 11:15).

Context & Exhortation: Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus, “Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick” (John 11:3). John tells us plainly that “Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus” (John 11:5). Yet when Jesus heard the news, He stayed two more days where He was (John 11:6).

The delay was not a lack of love. Jesus knew Lazarus would die, and He intended to raise him so that God would be glorified and His disciples would believe (John 11:4; John 11:15). 

By the time He arrived, no one could say Lazarus had only been sleeping or had recovered on his own.

When Jesus finally stood at the grave, He told Martha, “Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” (John 11:40). 

The waiting led to a greater miracle than a healing would have been.

Family, what looks to us like God's delay is not always God's denial. So, let us keep trusting His love while we wait, believing that He is working toward something greater than we can see.

Question 2. John says Lazarus had been in the grave four days when Jesus came. How far was Bethany from Jerusalem?

Answer: About fifteen furlongs, a little under two miles (John 11:18).

Context & Exhortation: By the time Jesus reached Bethany, Lazarus had been in the grave four days (John 11:17). John then adds a detail about the village: “Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off” (John 11:18). A furlong was about an eighth of a mile, so Bethany was a little under two miles from the city.

Because Bethany was so close to Jerusalem, “many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother” (John 11:19). That meant a crowd of people from the city would be standing at the grave when Jesus called Lazarus out.

Being that close to Jerusalem was also dangerous for Jesus. His disciples had reminded Him, “Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?” (John 11:8). 

After the miracle, some of the people went straight to the Pharisees, and the council began to plan His death (John 11:46–53).

Sometimes we stay away from people who are grieving because we don't know what to say, or because going would be inconvenient or cost us something. Jesus did not stay away, and neither should we.

Question 3. Jesus told Martha that whoever believes in Him, “though he were dead, yet shall he live.” What did He say about whoever lives and believes in Him?

Answer: That he “shall never die” (John 11:26).

Context & Exhortation: When Jesus told Martha, “Thy brother shall rise again”, she answered that she knew he would rise “in the resurrection at the last day” (John 11:23–24). Like many Jews of her time, she believed God would raise the dead at the end of the age.

Jesus then made two promises. Those who believe in Him and have died will live again, and “whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (John 11:25–26). 

Believers still die physically, so Jesus was speaking of a life with God that death cannot end.

He had taught the same thing earlier: “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life … but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). 

Martha answered, “Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God” (John 11:27).

Jesus asked Martha, “Believest thou this?” (John 11:26), and He is asking each of us the same question today. What’s your answer? I certainly believe. We have to face death and loss with this hope, that life in Christ never ends.

Question 4. The Bible says simply, “Jesus wept.” What did Jesus see that moved Him to weep at Bethany?

Answer: He saw Mary weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping also. He groaned in the spirit and was troubled (John 11:33–35).

Context & Exhortation: Mary came to Jesus, fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died” (John 11:32). 

Martha had said the same words when she met Him on the road (John 11:21). Around Mary, the mourners were weeping as well.

When Jesus saw their grief, “he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled” (John 11:33). He asked where they had laid Lazarus, and then “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). He knew He was about to raise Lazarus, yet He still shared their sorrow.

The people watching understood what His tears meant: “Behold how he loved him!” (John 11:36). 

Hebrews says we do not have a high priest “which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities” (Hebrews 4:15). This means Jesus feels our weakness and pain with us. He doesn’t stand at a distance from our grief. 

So, let’s bring our tears to Him without shame, and let us also weep with those who weep, as He did (Romans 12:15).

Question 5. When Martha objected to taking away the stone, what did Jesus remind her He had already told her?

Answer: “Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” (John 11:40).

Context & Exhortation: The grave was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance (John 11:38). When Jesus said, “Take ye away the stone”, Martha objected that Lazarus had been dead four days and the body would already smell (John 11:39).

Jesus answered by pointing her back to His word. He had said at the start that this sickness was “for the glory of God” (John 11:4), and He had just told Martha, “I am the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25). Now He reminded her that if she believed, she would see the glory of God (John 11:40).

They took away the stone, and Jesus prayed, “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me” (John 11:41). Then He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth”, and the man who had been dead came out (John 11:43–44).

Like Martha, we can believe God’s promise and still hesitate when He asks us to take a practical step. 

Family, God has already made us some promises. Let us hold on to what He has already told us, and obey Him even when it doesn't make sense to us.

Question 6. After Lazarus was raised, why did the chief priests plan to put Lazarus to death as well?

Answer: Because on account of him, many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus (John 12:10–11).

Context & Exhortation: After Lazarus was raised, many who saw it believed on Jesus, but some went and told the Pharisees (John 11:45–46). The council met, and “from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death” (John 11:53).

A few days before the Passover, Jesus ate supper in Bethany, and Lazarus sat at the table with Him (John 12:1–2). Crowds came, not only to see Jesus, but to see Lazarus (John 12:9). Lazarus did not need to preach; his living presence was proof of what Jesus had done.

That is why the chief priests “consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death” (John 12:10). They were not trying to disprove the miracle. They were trying to get rid of the evidence.

Family, a changed life is one of the strongest witnesses there is. So, let us live in a way that shows what Jesus has done for us, even when that brings opposition.

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