A Study of John 11:38-44

“Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.””

John 11:38-44 ESV

Observation/Summary (short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

Jesus, being deeply moved on account of the grief of Martha and Mary, and also because Lazarus had died, came to the tomb of Lazarus and He said, “Take away the stone.” Then, Martha told Jesus that there would be an odor because Lazarus had been dead for four days, but Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”. So, they removed the stone covering the tomb and Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”

After saying this, Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, “Lazarus, come out.” Then, Lazarus, the man who had been dead for four days, came out of the tomb with his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth, and Jesus said, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Textual Analysis and Implication (what is being said and what does this mean?):

This passage begins with Jesus, being deeply moved, arriving at the tomb of Lazarus, which had a stone placed in front of the entrance. The previous verses tell us Jesus was “deeply moved” and “greatly troubled” when He was confronted with the death of Lazarus, the grief of the sisters of Lazarus, Martha and Mary, and the general unbelief of the crowd who did not understand why Jesus, who had healed a blind man, did not prevent the death of Lazarus in the first place. In regard to this last point, in the study of the previous passages we discussed how Jesus allowed the death of Lazarus in order to display His power over death by raising Lazarus from the dead in order to strengthen the faith of many. But now we come to the point where Jesus approached the covered tomb containing the body of Lazarus.

The Jews often buried their dead in caves that were either natural or dug out. These caves were either vertical or horizontal and were covered by a stone. The supposed location of Lazarus’ tomb had a Christian church built over it by the 4th century A.D., and this church was called the “Lazerion.” This is the word from which the modern Muslim name, “El-Azariyeh” is derived. Whether this is truly the site of Lazarus’ initial burial is up for debate, but nevertheless today a mosque is placed in front of what would be the entrance to the tomb.

Next, in verses 39-40, Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” to which Matha said, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”. Martha, in accordance with the depiction we see of her active character in Luke 10, unnecessarily takes charge of the situation to tell Jesus that opening the tomb may not be a good idea for, as the King James Version of this passage puts it, “…by this time he stinketh.” After all, a body that had been dead for at least four days in the heat of the Near East is bound to smell bad. And she did not understand from her previous conversation with Jesus (vs. 20-27) that He was going to immediately raise Lazarus from the dead, nor should she have. No one expected what was about to happen. This clues us into the fact that the body was not embalmed, but rather, wrapped in linen cloth with aromatic spices to counteract the odors of decomposition as was the custom.

Jesus had told His disciples earlier in this passage that the death of Lazarus was for the glory of God, but He had not told them He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead either. He also did not reference “glory” in the recent conversation with Martha, but He did ask the rhetorical question, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” as a way of referring to their recent discussion where she acknowledged Jesus to be the “resurrection and the life” by declaring Him to be the Christ (Messiah) and the Son of God. Jesus referred to this because her confession means that she should trust Him even when faced with the darkness of death itself. And if she would do so, then she would see God’s glory revealed in delightful and unexpected ways.

And so, they removed the stone covering the tomb and Jesus said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” Clearly, Martha consented and the stone was removed, no doubt with the help of the other mourners who were there. Then Jesus prayed and His prayer is noteworthy for a few reasons. First, He addressed God as His “Father,” just as He does in John 17:1, 11, 25 and elsewhere. Second, the way Jesus prays, saying “thank you that you have heard me…” comes across as if Jesus had already asked to raise Lazarus and His request had been granted, and now He is merely thanking the Father for doing what had already been determined to be done. And Thirdly, from the way Jesus here prays in public it is clear He is not performing for those around Him, or as the 19th century Scottish theologian Marcus Dods puts it, “No pomp of incantation, no wrestling in prayer even; but simple words of thanksgiving, as if Lazarus had already returned.”

Rather than, “playing to the gallery,” as D.A. Carson points out, Jesus’ prayer here serves to demonstrate the closeness of His relationship to His Father. This prayer also shows the truth of what Jesus said in John 5:19 which is that He, the Son, does nothing apart from His Father, but rather, is dependent upon and obedient to the Father’s will. This serves to show and confirm to those who heard that Jesus was indeed sent by God. This example from Jesus should also teach us that public prayers, in contrast to private prayers, should be formed with those who hear us in mind.

Finally for this section of the chapter, Jesus said with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” Then Lazarus, the man who had died, came out with hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth, and Jesus said, “Unbind him, and let him go.” In John 5:25, 28-29, Jesus spoke of a day when all the dead will hear His voice, come out of the tombs and live; some to a resurrection of life and others to a resurrection of judgment. Here, we see a small foretaste of this event that will happen on the last day of this age as Lazarus is called forth from his tomb. While John does not mention it here, many have also said that had Jesus not specified, “Lazarus,” then perhaps all the dead would have emerged from all the surrounding tombs. That is quite a thought indeed.

Many also wonder how Lazarus, being bound with linen strips, could have walked out of the tomb. I think it is reasonable to conclude he must have shuffled or perhaps even hopped as it was the custom in this time and place to lay the dead body on a sheet starting at the ankles which would go up and over the head, and back down again to the feet. So, the feet were bound at the ankles and another linen cloth was wrapped around the head and face. This would have made it difficult to move for sure but not impossible, and it provides a good reason for Jesus immediately ordering people to unbind Lazarus once he emerged from the tomb.

As we read of this resurrection, we understandably want to compare it with the resurrection of Jesus, and we should. The first difference though is that while Lazarus stumbled out of the tomb and needed help removing his graveclothes, Jesus’ own linen graveclothes were found neatly folded up, and the face cloth was found folded up “in a place by itself” (John 20:7). The main difference between the resurrection of Lazarus and Jesus is that Lazarus received a resuscitation of mortal life in a natural body, but Jesus’ resurrection resulted in Him receiving a “spiritual body” as Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 15:44.

In his natural body, Lazarus would die again one day, but in His spiritual body, that is also material, Jesus will never die again. Jesus left His graveclothes in the tomb, and was able to eat and be touched, but also able to move through walls and closed doors, materializing in rooms and appearing and disappearing at will. In this we see Jesus as the “firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent.” (Colossians 1:18), and we get a sort of sneak preview into what sort of bodies believers in Christ will receive when we are not merely resuscitated one day, but rather, resurrected in the same way as Jesus. This resurrection of Lazarus, while miraculous to be sure, is only a faint shadow of the great and eternal resurrection that is yet to come.

Response (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):

This passage should cause us to see Jesus as the only one who has power over death, and the power to give life. Importantly, having this power also proves He is the one true God incarnate. He proved He has this power by raising Lazarus, and then proved it again in an even greater way when He rose from the dead Himself after being crucified and buried in a covered and guarded tomb.

This knowledge should now prompt us to act by responding to His call to repent of our sin and  believe in Him for salvation and eternal life. Whatever we might not understand about God, this at least is clear: It is only by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ that we can be saved from death and resurrected to joyful, pleasure filled eternal life one day.

Lastly, if we respect nothing else in this world, we should at least respect power, and no one is more powerful than the all powerful God of the universe. So, whatever questions or frustrations one might have, we must respect God and respond to His gracious and merciful call to repent and believe in Jesus Christ alone as our Lord God and Savior.

Self Reflection:

1. Do I respect earthly power, meaning, do I at least respect the power held by my own governmental authorities? The most basic self-preservation instincts cause most of us to do so.
2. How much more should I then respect the infinite power held by the God of all creation above any finite power of this world?
3. How does this respect for power lead me to stand in awe of the matchless, merciful beauty of Christ who is the all-powerful God of creation who suffered, bled and rose again for me?
4. What sort of response should this cause for me in regard to His command to repent and believe in Him alone for salvation and life?