When it is said
The Orthodox Church reads the whole story (John 11:1-45) as the Gospel on Lazarus Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday.
Anyone can say the sisters’ words for someone they love who is ill.
Where it comes from
Author known
Martha, Mary and Lazarus
Lazarus lived in the village of Bethany with his sisters Martha and Mary, and Jesus loved all three of them (John 11:1, 5). When Lazarus fell ill, the sisters sent Jesus this one line. Jesus said the sickness would not end in death but would show God’s glory (John 11:4). Lazarus did die, and then Jesus came to Bethany and raised him from the dead (John 11:43-44).
John 11:1-5; John 11:43-44
Sick, and loved by Christ
St John Chrysostom noticed that many people are shaken when someone dear to God falls ill or grows poor. They do not see that Lazarus was one of Christ’s friends, and he was sick. In Chrysostom’s reading, the sisters chose their words to move Jesus to pity, saying not “Lazarus is sick” but “the one You love is sick”.
John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of St John, Homily 62
What the words mean
They did not ask Him to come
St Augustine pointed out that the sisters did not even ask Jesus to come and heal their brother. Augustine put their trust into words of his own: “It is enough that Thou knowest; for Thou art not one that loveth and forsaketh.”
The Scripture in it
So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick.”
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.
In Greek
Κύριε, ἴδε ὃν φιλεῖς ἀσθενεῖ.
From the Patriarchal Greek text of 1904, on Elpenor (ellopos.net).