John 6:39-40

6:39 Now this is the will of the one who sent me – that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up ¹  at the last day. 6:40 For this is the will of my Father – for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up ²  at the last day.” ³ 

John 11:39

11:39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” ⁴  Martha, the sister of the deceased, ⁵  replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, ⁶  because he has been buried ⁷  four days.” ⁸ 

[6:39]  ¹ tn Or “resurrect them all,” or “make them all live again”; Grk “raise it up.” The word “all” is supplied to bring out the collective nature of the neuter singular pronoun αὐτό (auto) in Greek. The plural pronoun “them” is used rather than neuter singular “it” because this is clearer in English, which does not use neuter collective singulars in the same way Greek does.

[6:40]  ² tn Or “resurrect him,” or “make him live again.”

[6:40]  ³ sn Notice that here the result (having eternal life and being raised up at the last day) is produced by looking on the Son and believing in him. Compare John 6:54 where the same result is produced by eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood. This suggests that the phrase in 6:54 (eats my flesh and drinks my blood) is to be understood in terms of the phrase here (looks on the Son and believes in him).

[11:39]  ³ tn Or “Remove the stone.”

[11:39]  ⁴ tn Grk “the sister of the one who had died.”

[11:39]  ⁵ tn Grk “already he stinks.”

[11:39]  ⁶ tn Or “been there” (in the tomb – see John 11:17).

[11:39]  ⁷ 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.