Six days before Passover, a supper is prepared for Jesus at Bethany. Martha serves, and Lazarus is among those reclining with Jesus at the table.
The scene is domestic and celebratory, yet it also publicly displays the man whom Jesus raised from the dead.
Formal meals in the Greco-Roman and Jewish world could be eaten while reclining on couches arranged around a low table, particularly at banquets and festive meals. The Greek wording used of Lazarus fits this reclining posture rather than the modern picture of sitting upright in a chair. Serving guests was an expected household responsibility and could carry honor rather than implying menial humiliation.
John does not specify the owner of the house in this verse.
The meal customs help readers picture Mary's later access to Jesus' feet and understand why Lazarus' presence is conspicuous.
The supper joins hospitality with testimony: a household serves Jesus while the restored Lazarus reclines beside him as living evidence of the sign that has intensified the conflict.