Jesus proceeded to vindicate His claim that He was the One who would raise the dead and provide life (v. 25).
11:38 Jesus again felt the same angry emotion as He approached Lazarus' tomb (cf. v. 33). Tombs cut into the limestone hillsides of that area were common. Today many similar caves are visible to tourists. Normally a large round stone sealed the entrance against animals and curious individuals.
11:39 Even though Martha had confessed her belief that Jesus would raise the dead she did not understand that Jesus planned to raise her brother immediately. Jesus had given her no reason to hope that He would. The Jews customarily wrapped the bodies of their dead in cloth and added spices to counteract the odors that decomposition produced. They did not embalm them as thoroughly as the Egyptians did.391
Interestingly Martha did not appeal to Jesus on the basis of the ritual uncleanness that contact with a dead body would create for the Jews. Perhaps she had learned that ritual uncleanness was not something that bothered Jesus. Her concern was a practical one in harmony with her personality as the Gospel writers presented it.
11:40-41a Jesus' reply summarized what He had said to Martha earlier (vv. 23-26). He viewed raising someone to life as an act that glorified God by revealing His Son. Martha's willingness to allow the removal of the stone testified to her confidence in Jesus. When the stone was away from the tomb's entrance, every eye must have been on Jesus to see what He would do.
11:41b-42 Jesus addressed God in prayer characteristically as His Father. He spoke as though the raising of Lazarus was something that the Father had already decreed, which was true (cf. v. 11). His prayer was not a request for Lazarus' resurrection. Such a prayer would have glorified the Father. It was rather a prayer of thanksgiving for what the Father would shortly do. It had the effect of focusing attention on the Son as God's agent in performing the miracle. Jesus' prayer had the effect also of drawing the onlookers into His intimate relationship with the Father and proving that He really did do nothing independently of the Father (cf. 5:19-47).
Jesus' public prayer here is a good reminder that all leaders in public prayer should take those present into account when they pray. We should do so not by "playing to the gallery"(cf. Matt. 6:5) but by voicing prayers that are appropriate in view of who is present.
11:43-44 The dead heard the voice of the Son of God and lived, as Jesus had predicted (5:25, 28-29). If Jesus had not specified Lazarus by name, every dead person might have arisen at His command. Jesus probably cried out loudly to make clear that this resurrection was not an act of magic. Wizards typically muttered their incantations and spells quietly (cf. Isa. 8:19).392
The Jews did not wrap their dead so tightly in their grave clothes that Lazarus would have had difficulty doing what John wrote that he did.
The corpse was customarily laid on a sheet of linen, wide enough to envelop the body completely and more than twice the length of the corpse. The body was so placed on the sheet that the feet were at one end, and then the sheet was drawn over the head and back down to the feet. The feet were bound at the ankles, and the arms were tied to the body with linen strips. The face was bound with another cloth . . . Jesus' body was apparently prepared for burial in the same way (cf. 19:40; 20:5, 7). A person so bound could hop and shuffle, but scarcely walk."393
While there are similarities between Lazarus and Jesus' resurrections, we must also remember their significant differences. Lazarus came to life only to die again later as a mortal whereas Jesus arose never to die again, as immortal. Lazarus arose with the same physical body that went into his tomb, but Jesus arose with a spiritual body that could pass through solid objects (1 Cor. 15). Thus Lazarus' resurrection was only a pale anticipation of the resurrection of Jesus that was to come. Nevertheless it was the greatest of Jesus' signs.
"If Jesus Christ can do nothing about death, then whatever else He can do amounts to nothing [cf. 1 Cor. 15:19]."394
This miracle illustrated Jesus' ability to empower people with new life (cf. 14:6). He had previously raised the widow of Nain's son (Luke 7:15) and Jairus' daughter (Matt. f9:25; Mark 5:42; Luke 8:55) back to life, but Lazarus had been dead four days. There could now be no doubt about Jesus' ability to raise the dead. Physically He will do this for everyone at the resurrections yet future. He will raise Christians at the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:16), Old Testament and Tribulation saints at the Second Coming (Dan. 12:2; Rev. 20:4, 6), and unbelievers at the end of the Millennium (Rev. 20:5). Spiritually Jesus gives life to all who believe on Him the moment they trust in Him (5:24).
"Just as the preincarnate Word gave physical life and light to humankind in creation (1:2), so Jesus as the Word Incarnate gives spiritual life and light to people who believe in Him."395
There are many questions that John's account of this miracle leaves unanswered that tantalize our imaginations, such as what Lazarus reported to his friends. These things the evangelist deliberately avoided to focus the reader's attention on Jesus.
