Some
of them said, “Couldn’t this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have also kept this man from dying?” Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 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.” Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see God’s glory?” So they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, “Father, I thank you that you listened to me. I know that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude that stands around I said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” He who was dead came out, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Free him, and let him go.”
John 11:37-44
John 11 [33.] When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?”
They told him, “Lord, come and see.”
Jesus wept.
John 11 [36.] The Jews therefore said, “See how much affection he had for him!” Some of them said, “Couldn’t this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have also kept this man from dying?”
John 11 [38.] Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 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.”
John 11 [40.] Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see God’s glory?”
John 11 [41.] So they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, “Father, I thank you that you listened to me. I know that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude that stands around I said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
John 11 [44.] He who was dead came out, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth.
Jesus said to them, “Free him, and let him go.”
John 11 [45.] Therefore many of the Jews, who came to Mary and saw what Jesus did, believed in him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees, and told them the things which Jesus had done. The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, “What are we doing? For this man does many signs. If we leave him alone like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
Meaning:
Jesus had wept with the mourners, and some said, “See how much affection he had for him!” (John 11:36). These verses bring the story of Lazarus to its climax: Jesus stands before the tomb, prays to his Father, and calls the dead man out.
- “Couldn’t this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind...?”
Some of the bystanders remembered the healing of the man born blind in Jerusalem (John 9:6-7). Their question mixed sympathy with doubt: if he could do that, why did he let his friend die? They were about to learn that Jesus had come not to prevent this death but to overcome it.
- “Again groaning in himself, came to the tomb”
The word for “groaning” suggests strong, even indignant emotion. Jesus was moved by the grief around him and stirred against death itself, the enemy that brings such sorrow. The tomb was a cave with a stone across the entrance, much like the tomb in which Jesus himself would be laid (Mark 16:3).
- “Lord, by this time there is a stench”
After four days the body was decaying. Her faith in Jesus was real, but she could not yet imagine what he intended. Jesus reminded her of his promise: “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see God’s glory?” His words recall what he had said at the beginning, that this sickness was “for the glory of God” (John 11:4).
- “Father, I thank you that you listened to me”
Jesus gave thanks before the tomb was opened, as though the answer had already been given. His prayer shows his perfect unity with the Father. He prayed publicly for the sake of the crowd, so that when Lazarus came out, they would know that the Father had sent him.
- “Lazarus, come out!”
Jesus shouted three words, and the dead man heard. Jesus had said, “the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live” (John 5:25). Through Ezekiel God had promised, “I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people” (Ezekiel 37:12). What God promised for the last day, Jesus did at Bethany as a foretaste.
- “Free him, and let him go”
Lazarus came out still bound in grave wrappings. Jesus told the bystanders to unbind him, giving them a part in the miracle. Lazarus had been restored to ordinary life and would one day die again. Jesus’ own resurrection would be greater: “Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more” (Romans 6:9).
The Significance of John 11:37-44
- Jesus shares our sorrow and confronts death
Jesus was deeply moved at the grave. He does not stand at a distance from human grief, and he is not resigned to death. He came to destroy it.
- Faith that sees God’s glory
Martha was called to trust Jesus’ word when everything she could see said otherwise. Believers are still called to rest on his promises when circumstances seem hopeless.
- Set free to live
Lazarus was called out of the tomb and then freed from his wrappings. In the same way, Jesus calls people from spiritual death to life, and his people help one another walk in freedom.
Cross-References:
John 5:25: "the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live." Jesus’ promise fulfilled at Lazarus’ tomb.
Ezekiel 37:12: "Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people;" God’s promise to open the graves.
Romans 6:9: "Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more." Jesus’ resurrection is greater than Lazarus’ return to life.
John 11:4: "This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God," The purpose stated at the start of the story.
Conclusion: At the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus was deeply moved, ordered the stone removed, and reminded Martha that if she believed she would see God’s glory. After thanking the Father aloud so that the crowd might believe, he called Lazarus by name, and the dead man came out still bound in his wrappings. The sign revealed Jesus as the Lord of life and pointed ahead to his own resurrection.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible