It was getting too hot too risky - for Jesus in the Jerusalem area, and he thought it prudent to get away from town for awhile before his enemies could do him harm. The Pharisees had threatened to stone him, and, on another occasion, to arrest him. So he and his disciples hurried to a remote district in TransJordan, "to the place where John at first baptized, and there he remained" (John 10:40).

He had been there about three months when some messengers, sent by his good friends Mary and Martha of Bethany, brought the kind of news we all dread to hear: "Lord, he whom you love is ill" (John 11:3). The message referred to their brother, Lazarus.

Jesus seemed to receive the news calmly. Instead of rushing off, "he stayed two days longer in the place where he was" (John 11:6b). Finally, he sa…