Christ's Doctrine of Faith: A Study of "Believing" in John's Gospel (John 11:40)

Image Credit: Media from Wix

In John 11:40, we find the sixty-fourth occurrence of the idea of “believing” in John’s Gospel. The text says: “Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” (KJV). So, what is the immediate context of this passage, and what are some truths about faith we can draw from it?

First, the immediate context. Right after Martha affirms to her Lord that she believes that He is the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world, she makes her way to Mary, her sister, secretly to tell her that the Master is come and calls for her. Once Mary hears this, she quickly rises and comes to Jesus. The text then informs us that Jesus had not yet come into the town, but rather He stayed at the place where Martha met Him. Meanwhile, the Jews who were with Mary in the house and comforting her, when they saw her hastily rise up and go out, followed her, saying that she was going to the grave to weep. When Mary comes to Jesus and sees Him, she falls down at His feet and tells Him that, if He had been there, her brother would not have died. The text then tells us that, when Jesus saw the weeping of her and the Jews who came with her, He was moved with anger in His spirit and troubled Himself. [1] He asks them where they have laid Lazarus and they tell Him to come and see. Then, Jesus weeps. His sorrow provokes the Jews to marvel at His love for Lazarus, with some of them asking if He, who opened the eyes of the blind, could have made it so Lazarus would not have died. Therefore, Jesus, still moved with anger within Himself [2], came to the grave, which was a cave with a stone laid upon it. Jesus commands them to remove the stone, with Martha protesting that, by this time, Lazarus’s body stinks, since he has been dead for four days. Christ responds by asking her if He didn’t say to her that, if she would believe, she would see the glory of God. This is the immediate context of John 11:40!

Second, some truths about faith. First, faith is the means by which God’s glory is seen. Because Jesus plainly tells Martha that, if she believes, she would see God’s glory, obviously implying that, if she does not believer, she will fail to see the Divine glory. Second, piggybacking off of the first truth, this passage shows us why the lost fail to see the glory of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 says that unbelievers have their minds blinded so that the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, Christ being the Image of God, wouldn’t shine on them. So, belief in Jesus opens one’s sight to the glory of God in Him, while unbelief blinds the eyes of one’s heart to the ultimate Image of God. These are some truths about faith from John 11:40!

[1] https://biblehub.com/interlinear/john/11-33.htm and https://biblehub.com/greek/1690.htm

[2] https://biblehub.com/interlinear/john/11-38.htm and https://biblehub.com/greek/1690.htm