Are there not twelve hours in the day?
Even today in Jerusalem, only one day in every year, the daylight lasts for 12 hours

Previous Chapter: See, you have become well

One of the questions Jesus Christ asked during the final days of His ministry was, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?" The significance of this lies in the fact that in the land of Israel, there is only one day in the year when daylight lasts exactly twelve hours—a day that falls in mid-March. While daylight lasts ten hours during winter and up to fourteen hours during summer, there is a single day—exactly four weeks prior to the Passover festival when Jesus was crucified—when there are precisely twelve hours of daylight; that was the day the Lord asked, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?" - 7.Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8.The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9.Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10.But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. - John 11:7-10

However, on that morning, Jesus Christ was at a place 50 km away from Bethany; the reason for this was that the Jews had attempted to stone Him to death at the Temple - 39.Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand. 40.And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. - John 10:39-40

Only by realizing that Jesus Christ was at a location a twelve-hour journey away from Bethany can one grasp the other mysteries surrounding the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. 

First, Mary and Martha sent a messenger to inform the Lord about their brother Lazarus’s struggle with death; this messenger would have walked for twelve hours—an entire day—to convey the news to Jesus - 1.Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2.It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3.Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” - John 11:1-3

For instance, the messenger who set out on Friday morning to announce Lazarus's critical condition would have conveyed the news to the Lord only that night; he would have then departed on Saturday morning and returned to Bethany only on Saturday night. This means he would have arrived to tell Martha and Mary that the Lord had said Lazarus's illness was not unto death—and that he would soon recover—only *after* Lazarus had already died and been buried. How deeply that message must have shattered the hearts of Martha and Mary - 4.When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5.Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6.So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was - John 11:4-6

After her brother had died and been buried, how deeply must their faith have been shaken by the message sent by the very Christ they trusted—who had said, "He will not die"? That is why the Bible records that when the Lord set out after two days—leaving on a Monday morning and arriving that evening—Lazarus had already been buried for four days; this implies that Lazarus had died and his burial had been completed as early as the preceding Friday.

Jesus was in the place where Martha met Him

The death of her brother and the subsequent burial had created a situation where Martha lacked faith in the Lord; in her heart, she viewed Jesus merely as an ordinary man. That is why, instead of acknowledging Him as God, she said, "Whatever You ask of God, God will give You."

She had not prepared her heart to place her faith in the Lord; consequently, the Lord—who had walked for twelve hours to reach the outskirts of Bethany—stopped there without entering the village - 17.So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. 18.Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. 19.And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. 20.Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21.Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22.But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” 23.Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24.Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25.Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26.And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27.She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” 28.And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” 29.As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. 30.Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. - John 11:17-30

Mary fell down at His feet

But in Mary's heart, Jesus was God; upon seeing Him, she fell at His feet and accorded Him the honor due to God. Thus, Mary's action proclaimed Jesus as God before everyone, and she brought the Lord—who had been standing where Martha had met Him—into the village - 31.Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.” 32.Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33.Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34.And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35.Jesus wept. - John 11:31-35

Martha, the sister of him who was dead

To Martha—who had said, "It will smell; it has been four days"—was given the designation "Martha, the sister of the deceased"; yet Mary, who harbored no doubts after the Lord arrived, said nothing at all - 36.Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” 37.And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” 38.Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39.Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” 40.Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41.Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42.And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43.Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44.And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.” - John 11:36-44

The Fruit of Mary's Faith

Mary falling at Jesus' feet was no ordinary act; it served as a declaration to everyone present that Jesus was God. That is precisely why it is stated that those who came to Mary and witnessed what Jesus had done came to believe - Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him - John 11:45

Next Chapter: Show yourself to the Priest