40  The Resurrection and the Life—  Part Three: The  Raising of Lazarus  (John 11:37–44)

But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?” So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” (11:37–44)

During His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ made many astonishing claims about Himself (see the list in chapter 24 of this volume). Yet He also gave powerful and convincing evidence, through the miraculous signs He performed, to support the truthfulness of those claims. When His enemies demanded to know whether or not He was the Messiah, Jesus pointed to those very signs as proof of His authenticity. He said,

Earlier in John’s gospel He declared, “The works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me” (5:36). And on the night before His death the Lord told His disciples, “The Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves” (14:10–11).

By healing a paralyzed man, Jesus proved that “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matt. 9:6); by casting out demons, He demonstrated that “the kingdom of God ha[d] come upon” His hearers (Luke 11:20). When John the Baptist sent messengers to ask Him, “Are You the Expected One [the Messiah], or do we look for someone else?” Jesus replied, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Luke 7:19, 22).

When the outraged Jewish authorities demanded to know what authority He had to cleanse the temple Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). As John notes, “He was speaking of the temple of His body” (v. 21). The Lord repeatedly told His disciples that He would rise from the dead (Matt. 16:21; 17:22–23; 20:18–19; Luke 24:6–7), and—as the greatest evidence of all—His resurrection proved that He was who He claimed to be. In the words of the apostle Paul, Jesus was “declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4).

Just as the feeding of the five thousand illustrated Jesus’ claim to be the bread of life (6:35), so also the raising of Lazarus illustrated His claim to be the resurrection and the life (11:25). This miracle is the last and most spectacular of the seven miraculous signs recorded in the gospel of John (for the others, see 2:1–11; 4:46–54; 5:1–17; 6:1–14; 6:15–21; 9:1–41). It was both a powerful encouragement to the disciples’ faith, and a powerful rebuke to the unbelieving Jews for their hard-hearted rejection of Him.

The entire eleventh chapter of John’s gospel revolves around Christ’s claim to be the resurrection and the life (vv. 25–26). He, not Lazarus, is the primary focus of the passage. The resurrection of Lazarus was not an end in itself (even for Lazarus, who had to die again); the goal was that Jesus and the Father would be glorified (vv. 4, 40). This passage is the third of the four sections into which the account of Lazarus’s resurrection may be divided: verses 1–16 recounted his illness and his sisters’ message to Jesus; verses 17–36 described Jesus’ arrival in Bethany; and verses 45–57 will relate the aftermath of the miracle.

The dramatic account of the actual raising of Lazarus in verses 37–44 unfolds in five scenes: the perplexity, the problem, the promise, the prayer, and the power.

THE PERPLEXITY

But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?” (11:37)

Throughout His ministry Jesus polarized people (cf. 7:12, 43; 9:16; 10:19), and this incident was no exception. After seeing Him weeping (v. 35), some of the mourners exclaimed, “See how He loved him!” (v. 36). Others, however, were not so sure and, picking up the attitude of the sisters, asked, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?” The Lord’s healing of the man born blind (9:1–41), the last major miracle He had performed in the vicinity of Jerusalem, had caused such a sensation among the people that it was still fresh in their minds several months later. The mourners were probably mocking, but confused; they knew by experience that Jesus had the power to heal, as their reference to that previous incident indicates. But if Jesus truly loved Lazarus as much as He appeared to, why had He delayed? Why had He not made every effort to reach Bethany while Lazarus was still alive?

The answer is that God “works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11) and “does not give an account of all His doings” (Job 33:13; cf. 40:2; Deut. 29:29). Jesus delayed because His purpose was not to heal Lazarus, but to raise him from the dead and thereby bring glory to Himself and to the Father (vv. 4, 40).

THE PROBLEM

So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” (11:38–39)

The doubts expressed in verse 37 by some of the mourners resulted in Jesus again being deeply moved (embrimaomai; cf. the discussion of v. 33 in the previous chapter of this volume) within as He came to the tomb. The tomb, as was common in Israel, was a cave (cf. Gen. 23:19). This was apparently a natural cave (the word translated cave is used elsewhere to describe natural as opposed to man-made caves; Heb. 11:38; Rev. 6:15), though tombs were sometimes artificially carved out of rock (Matt. 27:60). In either case, the floor would be leveled, and shelves for the bodies cut into the walls. The tomb was located outside the village, so that the living would not become ritually defiled by contact with dead bodies (Num. 19:16; cf. Matt. 23:27; Luke 11:44). It was also sealed by a large round stone, which was rolled in front of the opening to keep grave robbers and animals out.

Jesus’ terse command, “Remove the stone,” sent Martha (who by now had joined Mary and the other mourners) into a state of panic. She still did not understand that the Lord intended to raise Lazarus. Her concern was that her brother’s corpse, after four days in the tomb, would have begun to decompose. The Jews did not embalm, but used aromatic spices to temporarily mask the odor of decay. After four days, however, the stench coming out of an opened grave and a rotting corpse would have overpowered the aroma of the spices.

Martha evidently assumed that Jesus wanted to take one last look at the body of His friend. She, however, was horrified at the thought of seeing (and smelling) her beloved brother’s body in a state of decomposition, or of having his body viewed publicly in that condition. In her mind it was too late for Jesus to do anything for Lazarus; He had not arrived in time (v. 21). Since her brother had already been dead four days (the perfect tense of the participle indicates she believed that Lazarus had entered into a permanent state of death), Martha had given up all hope.

THE PROMISE

Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” (11:40)

Martha’s despair elicited a response from Jesus designed partly to give her hope, and partly as a gentle rebuke. The text does not record the Lord making this exact statement to Martha in their prior conversation (vv. 20–28). Therefore He may have been referring to an earlier remark that does not appear in Scripture, or this statement may have been intended as a composite of verse 4 (His words there were no doubt reported to Mary and Martha) and verses 23–26.

In either case, Jesus’ reminder challenged Martha to stop being concerned about her brother’s body and to start focusing on Him. The Lord promised her that if she would believe she would see the glory of God revealed. That did not, of course, make the miracle dependent on her faith. It was a sovereign act of Christ, designed to glorify Himself and the Father by putting His resurrection power on display. Consequently it would have happened no matter how Martha had responded. But though all present would see the miracle, only those who had faith in Christ would see the fullness of God’s glory reflected in it. Leon Morris explains,

THE PRAYER

So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” (11:41–42)

Reassured by the Lord’s promise, Martha gave her consent, and some of the bystanders removed the stone from the entrance to the tomb. Jesus, of course, did not need their help; a stone is no obstacle for the One who has the power to raise the dead. It may be, as the church father Chrysostom thought (Morris, John, p. 360 n. 79), that Jesus involved the bystanders so there would be no doubt that it was really Lazarus who was raised (cf. 9:9).

Jesus was not asking the Father to raise Lazarus, but thanking Him that He had already heard and granted His request, just as He always heard Him. In contrast to the Jewish practice of His day, Jesus addressed God directly as Father (e.g., 12:28; 17:1, 5, 11, 21, 24–25; Matt. 11:25–26; 26:39, 42; Luke 23:34, 46). The prayer was not for Jesus’ benefit, but so the people standing around would believe that He had been sent by the Father (cf. 4:34; 5:23–24, 30, 36–38; 6:29, 38–39, 44, 57; 7:16, 18, 28–29, 33; 8:16, 18, 26, 29, 42; 9:4; 10:36; 12:44–45, 49; 13:3, 20; 14:24; 15:21; 16:5, 27; 17:3, 8, 18, 21, 23, 25; 20:21; Matt. 10:40; Mark 9:37; Luke 4:43; 10:16). It was a public affirmation of Jesus’ mission and unity with the Father, which would soon be authenticated by the raising of Lazarus.

THE POWER

When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” (11:43–44)

Having concluded His prayer, Jesus called Lazarus back to life. The text emphasizes the loudness of His command; the verb kraugazo (cried out) in itself means “to shout,” or “to speak with a loud voice,” even without the added phrase a loud voice. Why Jesus cried out with a

loud voice is not expressly stated. It may have symbolized the power it took to raise the dead. Or He may have done it to distance Himself from the whispered mutterings of sorcerers and magicians (cf. Isa. 8:19). In any case, His voice immediately captured the complete attention of everyone present.

It has often been observed that the Lord’s power is so great that had He not addressed Lazarus by name, all the dead in all the graves would have come forth. One day in the future, that is precisely what will happen. Earlier in John’s gospel Jesus said, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment” (5:28–29). Jesus’ raising of Lazarus was a preview of the divine power He will display when He raises all the dead on the last day.

The actual wording of Jesus’ command was succinct, terse, almost abrupt in its simplicity. The Greek text literally reads, “Lazarus! Here! Outside!” Stumbling blindly toward the familiar, beloved voice that called him, the man who had died came forth. In contrast to the circuslike atmosphere that marks the performances of modern “faith healers” (who in any case cannot raise the dead), there was no showmanship, theatrics, or hype. Jesus was content to let His divine power speak for itself. At His command the king of terrors (Job 18:14) yielded up his lawful captive; the grave was robbed of its victory (1 Cor. 15:55); the door of death and Hades was unlocked by the One who alone holds the keys (Rev. 1:18).

The onlookers stared in shocked amazement as the strange apparition, bound hand and foot with wrappings, with his face wrapped around with a cloth (cf. 20:7), shuffled his way to the door of the tomb. (In keeping with Jewish burial custom, Lazarus’s body was loosely wrapped in strips of cloth, which allowed him to walk awkwardly on his own.) Some of the bystanders likely fled in panic, bewildered and unnerved by the startling scene.

After the miracle, Jesus immediately gave the practical command to unbind Lazarus and let him go (note His equally practical order to give Jairus’s daughter something to eat after He raised her [Mark 5:43]). “Jesus was never so carried away by the wonder of His miracles that He forgot the needs of the person” (Morris, John, 562).

And with that John draws a curtain on the scene. He does not describe Lazarus’s tearful reunion with Martha and Mary, or the stunned reactions of the people in the crowd. Nor does he report on Lazarus’s experience after resurrection. All of that would have detracted from his reasons for recounting the miracle—that the Lord Jesus Christ might be glorified (v. 4) and that the readers of John’s gospel might believe that Jesus is who He claimed to be (20:31).

There is significance in Jesus’ involving the bystanders in touching and unwrapping Lazarus: “The very mourners who doubted [Jesus] were agents in the completion of the miracle. In their participation the mourners in fact became part of the sign and therefore were undeniable witnesses to the power of Jesus” (Gerald L. Borchert, John 1–11, The New American Commentary [Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2002], 363).

Although it was the climactic miraculous sign of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the raising of Lazarus “could be only a pale anticipation of what was yet to come” (D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991], 419). Just a short time later, Jesus would Himself rise from the dead (Matt. 28:1–8; Mark 16:1–8; Luke 24:1–11; John 20:1–10; Acts 2:30–33; 1 Cor. 15:1–11). Lazarus rose with a mortal, corruptible body that would one day die again. But Jesus Christ rose as the conqueror of death who is “the first fruits of all who are asleep. … For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:20–22). Because of His resurrection, all believers (including Lazarus) will one day receive glorified, incorruptible bodies. Then, Paul writes, “this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’” (1 Cor. 15:54).