John 11:41 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

NIV: So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, 'Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

NASB: So they removed the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes, and said, 'Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.

CSB: So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you heard me.

NLT: So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, 'Father, thank you for hearing me.

KJV: Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

NKJV: Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.

Stones used to cover burial plots in the ancient world were neither small nor convenient. The purpose of the cover was to keep scavengers away from the body, and to deter thieves. Wealthier people could afford larger tombs, which could come with correspondingly larger stone caps. The borrowed tomb used by Jesus after His crucifixion had a stone large enough that a group of women knew they'd need help to move it (Mark 16:3). The stone over Lazarus' grave might not have been as large, but moving it was not something one could do without a lot of effort and energy.

The "they" referred to here almost certainly means the assembled crowd. Many people from Jerusalem have come to pay their neighborly respects to Mary and Martha (John 11:18–19). Quite a few of them followed Mary when she went to see Jesus (John 11:31). Those same people are now at Lazarus' graveside, observing what happens (John 11:35–37). With a crowd that size, it would have been easily possible to muster enough muscle to open the grave.

Jesus begins His prayer with thanksgiving to God. As He'll point out in the following verses, the purpose of these words is for the benefit of the audience. The gospel of John refers to Jesus' miracles as "signs." These are incidents with a specific message and meant for a specific reason: to prove that Jesus Christ is God (John 20:30–31).

John 11:38–44 describes the seventh and final miraculous ''sign'' recorded in the gospel of John. This is by far the most spectacular, as Jesus restores life to a man who has been dead for four days. Lazarus' death is confirmed to the point that his family hesitates to open his tomb, fearing what a putrefying corpse will smell like. For the benefit of the crowd, Jesus prays loudly, then commands Lazarus to arise. Lazarus does so, still wrapped in his burial shrouds. This display of divine power only increases the resolve of Jesus' enemies to have Him killed as soon as possible.

Jesus has left the vicinity of Jerusalem to avoid hostile religious leaders. While gone, He receives word that a good friend, Lazarus, is sick. In fact, Lazarus has died by the time this message reaches Jesus. He purposefully waits a few days before returning to Bethany, arriving four days after Lazarus' burial. In front of Lazarus' mourning sisters—who Jesus weeps with—and an assembled crowd, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead in a stirring and spectacular miracle. This is the seventh of John's seven ''signs'' of Jesus' divine power. In response, religious leaders coordinate in their effort to have Jesus murdered.

After giving sight to a man born blind (John 9), Jesus sparred with religious leaders on at least two occasions (John 10). After another failed arrest attempt, Jesus left the area and went out where Jerusalem's politics had little influence. In this chapter, He returns to resurrect a recently-departed friend, Lazarus. That results in a renewed commitment from Jerusalem's religious leaders to have Jesus murdered. As the crucifixion draws near, Jesus will stage His triumphal entry in chapter 12, and then begin His final teachings to the disciples.

The gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls “signs”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.