Text -- John 11:38-44 (NET)

Lazarus Raised from the Dead

11:38 Jesus, intensely moved again, came to the tomb. (Now it was a cave, and a stone was placed across it.) 11:39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, because he has been buried four days.” 11:40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” 11:41 So they took away the stone. Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. 11:42 I knew that you always listen to me, but I said this for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 11:43 When he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 11:44 The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, and a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Joh 11:38

¹ tn Or (perhaps) “Jesus was deeply indignant.”

² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

NET Notes: Joh 11:39

¹ tn Or “Remove the stone.”

² tn Grk “the sister of the one who had died.”

³ tn Grk “already he stinks.”

⁴ tn Or “been there” (in the tomb – see John 11:17).

⁵ sn He has been buried four days. Although all the details of the miracle itself are not given, those details which are mentioned are important. The statement made by Martha is extremely significant for understanding what actually took place. There is no doubt that Lazarus had really died, because the decomposition of his body had already begun to take place, since he had been dead for four days.

NET Notes: Joh 11:40

¹ tn Grk “Jesus said to her.”

NET Notes: Joh 11:41

¹ tn Or “they removed.”

² tn Grk “lifted up his eyes above.”

³ tn Or “that you have heard me.”

NET Notes: Joh 11:42

¹ tn Grk “that you always hear me.”

² tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

NET Notes: Joh 11:43

¹ tn Grk “And when.”

² sn The purpose of the loud voice was probably to ensure that all in the crowd could hear (compare the purpose of the prayer of thanksgiving in vv. 41-42).

NET Notes: Joh 11:44

¹ sn Many have wondered how Lazarus got out of the tomb if his hands and feet were still tied up with strips of cloth. The author does not tell, and with a miracle of this magnitude, this is not an important fact to know. If Lazarus’ decomposing body was brought back to life by the power of God, then it could certainly have been moved out of the tomb by that same power. Others have suggested that the legs were bound separately, which would remove the difficulty, but the account gives no indication of this. What may be of more significance for the author is the comparison which this picture naturally evokes with the resurrection of Jesus, where the graveclothes stayed in the tomb neatly folded (20:6-7). Jesus, unlike Lazarus, would never need graveclothes again.

² tn Grk “and his face tied around with cloth.”

³ tn Grk “Loose him.”