New Testament · Gospel

John 11:56

Lazarus

They kept looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple courts, “What do you think? Will He come to the feast at all?” John 11:56 · Berean Standard Bible
What It Means

John 11:56, in plain English

The crowds keep looking for Jesus in the Temple, asking each other, 'What do you think? Will He come to the feast?'

Why it's here

Everyone knows the leaders want to arrest Jesus. The big question on everyone's mind: will He dare to show up?

Who's speaking

The Passover pilgrims speculate about whether Jesus will come to Jerusalem for the festival.

Where it sits in the story

The whole city is buzzing with one question: will He come? They know it's dangerous. They know the leaders want Him dead. But they can't stop looking for Him.

A Closer Look

The scholarly reading

The pilgrims search for Jesus in the Temple courts, speculating about whether He will attend the feast—reflecting both popular interest and awareness of the official hostility against Him.

Language and setting

The question 'ti dokei hymin' (what do you think?) reveals the tension: Jesus' presence would be daring given the authorities' known intentions. The Temple setting heightens the dramatic irony.

Voice

The Passover pilgrims discuss among themselves whether Jesus will risk coming to the feast.

Significance

The pilgrims' speculation creates dramatic tension: will Jesus come to the feast despite the danger? The reader knows He will—and that His coming will fulfill Passover's deepest meaning.

In context

John 11:54–57

54As a result, Jesus no longer went about publicly among the Jews, but He withdrew to a town called Ephraim in an area near the wilderness. And He stayed there with the disciples.

55Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem to purify themselves before the Passover.

56They kept looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple courts, “What do you think? Will He come to the feast at all?”

57But the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where He was must report it, so that they could arrest Him.

Read all of John 11 — Jesus weeps at a tomb. Then He calls a dead man out of it. The shortest verse in the Bible and the most powerful — separated by minutes.

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