Commentary on the Four Gospel Books
The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
G117 The Lord Jesus Calls Lazarus to Life
John 11:28-44

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All New Testament verses quoted in this article are from the English Majority Text Version, and Old Testament verses are from the King James Version, unless otherwise noted.

John 11:28-44

28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”

29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.

30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was in the place where Martha met Him.

31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house and consoling her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb, so that she may weep there.”

32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, seeing Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.

34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

35 Jesus wept.

36 Then the Jews said, “Look how He loved him!”

37 But some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, have done something to keep this one from dying?”

38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying upon it.

39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the one having died, said to Him, “Lord, already there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”

41 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.

42 And I knew that You always hear Me, but because of the people standing around I said this, so that they may believe that You sent Me.”

43 And having said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”

44 And the one having died came out, bound hands and feet with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped in a handkerchief. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

In this lesson, we will together learn about the event when the Lord Jesus called Lazarus to come back to life after he had died and had been buried in the tomb for four days. This is a case that clearly demonstrates the power of the Lord Jesus, proving that He truly is the Christ, the Son of the God. This event likely took place less than two weeks before the Passover of the year 27—the very Passover during which the Lord Jesus was arrested and crucified on the cross [1].

John 11:28-30

28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”

29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.

30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was in the place where Martha met Him.

In the previous lesson, we learned from John 11:1–27 about Lazarus’s illness and how his two sisters, Martha and Mary, sent someone to inform the Lord Jesus. At that time, the Lord Jesus was likely staying at the house of Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector of the city of Jericho. Upon receiving the news, the Lord Jesus remained where He was for two more days before setting out for the home of Lazarus in the village of Bethany.

When Martha heard that the Lord Jesus had arrived in the village, she left her house to go out and meet Him. After speaking with the Lord and being told by Him that He is the resurrection and the life, Martha returned home and quietly called her sister Mary aside, telling her that the Lord Jesus had come and was calling for her.

We do not see John recording the Lord Jesus telling Martha to call Mary. However, we can understand that the Lord Jesus must have told Martha to summon Mary because He wanted Mary to go with Him to the tomb of Lazarus.

According to the custom of the Israelites, the place of burial was located outside the city or village. Perhaps the Lord Jesus did not want to enter the house but wanted to go directly to Lazarus’s tomb, so He waited for Mary outside the village.

Martha’s quietly calling Mary means she signaled to Mary to come aside so she could speak to her privately, rather than in front of the guests. When Mary was told by Martha that the Lord Jesus had come and was calling for her, she quickly got up and went to meet the Lord.

John 11:31-32

31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house and consoling her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb, so that she may weep there.”

32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, seeing Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

The term ″the Jews″ is often used in the Bible to refer to the Israelites who belonged to Judaism. They were likely relatives and friends of Lazarus’ family. When they heard the news of Lazarus’ death, they went to the house to attend the funeral and likely stayed for several days to comfort Martha and Mary. According to the customs of the Israelites, the mourning period for the dead lasted seven days, called the ″week of mourning″ (shiv’ah).

When the visitors saw Mary get up and leave the house, they thought she was going to the tomb to weep. Therefore, they followed her.

When Mary met the Lord Jesus, she fell at His feet—an act of worship. Mary said the same thing that Martha had said earlier: “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Mary’s words, like those of Martha before her, expressed her faith in the Lord Jesus’ power to heal. But perhaps Mary did not think that the Lord Jesus could raise someone who had been dead for four days.

John 11:33

33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.

The phrase ″He groaned in the spirit″ refers to a powerful emotion affecting the inner person of the Lord. The phrase ″and was troubled″ refers to the state in which that strong inner emotion is expressed outwardly through a person’s posture and gestures.

We must remember that the Lord Jesus was fully human, so He possessed the complete fashion of a man. Human fashion includes both the being and the nature of humanity, consisting of physical body, appearance, sensations and emotions, thoughts, attitudes, actions, lifestyle, and so forth. Therefore, when faced with Mary and others weeping and mourning for Lazarus, the one whom He loved, the Lord Jesus was deeply moved in spirit. That powerful emotion was outwardly manifested, making it clear to others that He was stirred because of His feelings.

The Lord Jesus deeply felt the pain, loss, and weakness of humanity in the face of death. His strong emotion before Lazarus’s death shows that He fully shared in the loss and sorrow of humankind; He was neither indifferent nor distant. He truly sympathized with people in all their trials and sufferings. His deep emotion revealed His compassion and boundless love for those in distress. He did not merely heal or perform miracles from a distance—He shared in their pain, wept with them, and showed closeness and utmost care.

This encourages us when we face grief and trials. Even in moments that seem hopeless, the Lord Jesus is always present, understanding, sharing, and having the power to help us.

John 11:34-35

34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

35 Jesus wept.

The Lord Jesus asked where Lazarus had been buried. Those present invited Him to go there. When He came to the tomb, the Lord Jesus wept.

In the whole Bible, John 11:35 is the shortest verse. In the original Greek there are only three words: the first is the definite article, the second is the name ″Jesus,″ and the third is the verb ″wept.″

The original Bible did not have chapter and verse divisions. In the 13th century, Stephen Langton introduced a system of dividing the entire Latin Bible (Vulgate) into chapters. In the 15th century, the Israelites divided the Old Testament in Hebrew into verses. In 1551, Robert Estienne divided the New Testament in Greek into verses. Since 1555, printed editions of the Bible have all been numbered by chapter and verse, as we have today. Dividing the Bible into chapters and verses has been of great help in searching for and quoting Bible verses.

We believe that the Holy Spirit inspired Robert Estienne to set aside a verse solely about the fact that the Lord Jesus wept. For the Holy Spirit wanted God’s people to notice and reflect on the meaning of the event.

The Lord Jesus wept because He was fully human. He possessed the complete nature of humanity, so He was deeply moved by all that was pitiable.

The Lord Jesus wept because He had compassion and sympathy for all human suffering.

The Lord Jesus wept because the consequence of sin—death—had come upon the one He loved.

Therefore, God’s people must be assured that the Lord Jesus always sympathizes with them in every circumstance. God’s people must know that He will help them overcome every difficulty and trial, conquer all sorrow, and receive peace and joy. God’s people must understand that the Lord Jesus will be deeply grieved if they deliberately fall into sin.

The Apostle Paul once wept as he wrote to God’s people in Philippi:

″For many walk, of whom often I was speaking to you, and now even weeping I tell you, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ.″ (Philippians 3:18).

God’s Word in Hebrews 10:29 calls those who have believed in the atoning death of the Lord Jesus but turn back to live in sin people who trample on the Son of *God.

John 11:36-37

36 Then the Jews said, “Look how He loved him!”

37 But some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, have done something to keep this one from dying?”

When the Jews saw that the Lord Jesus had wept, they said to one another that He loved Lazarus very much. But among them, some said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, have done something to keep this one from dying?”

It is possible that some said this out of sincere wonder, for they knew well the miracles the Lord Jesus had performed. It is possible that some said it with doubt about the Lord’s power. It is even possible that some said it in a mocking tone.

Today, there are also times when God’s people ask themselves: Could not the Lord Jesus Christ bring me out of this adversity? Could not the Lord Jesus Christ heal my incurable disease? Could not the Lord Jesus keep disaster from happening to me?

We need to understand and remember that:

1. The power of the Lord Jesus never changes: ″Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever″ (Hebrews 13:8).

2. Nothing is impossible for Him, for He is God: ″And looking on them, Jesus said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”″ (Matthew 19:26).

3. He does not always intervene immediately, for sometimes the delay in deliverance is for the glory of God: ″And when Jesus heard, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it”″ (John 11:4).

4. He may not heal physical ailments but grants grace for God’s people to endure, as with the Apostle Paul: ″And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may rest upon me″ (2 Corinthians 12:9).

5. He may not prevent calamities but walks with God’s people through every circumstance: ″When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee″ (Isaiah 43:2).

We need to follow the example of the Apostle Paul:

″Therefore I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in calamities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For whenever I am weak, then I am strong″ (2 Corinthians 12:10).

John 11:38

38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying upon it.

The strong emotional agitation in the spirit of the Lord Jesus before Lazarus’ tomb shows that He deeply understands the pain of death — the temporary victorious sign of sin over humanity. Humanity, created in the image and likeness of the God, was entrusted with authority over all other creatures, but because of the fall and sin, it must suffer death and separation from God.

Physical death — the body being separated from the soul — symbolizes spiritual death, when the soul is separated from God. The Lord Jesus was grieved because death had come upon everyone because of sin:

″Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death passed to all men, because all sinned.″ (Romans 5:12).

His agitation not only shows personal compassion for Lazarus but also deep empathy for all humanity dominated by death because of sin.

John 11:39

39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the one having died, said to Him, “Lord, already there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

The Israelites had the custom of burying the dead in natural caves, or they carved tomb caves into mountain or hillside slopes.

A tomb cave could be used as a burial place for an entire family. Inside the cave, it could be divided into many compartments, each serving as a burial spot for one person. This was the primary burial position. After about a year, when the body had decomposed, the bones were collected and placed in an ossuary, then put into another compartment or chamber in the cave. This was the secondary burial position. The previous compartment would then be reused for the next person. Such tomb caves allowed for many bodies and ossuaries to be stored, usually for a whole family or multiple generations, ranging from a few people to a dozen or more, depending on the size of the cave and the number of compartments.

When the Lord Jesus commanded the stone blocking the tomb’s entrance to be removed, Martha spoke up, seemingly to prevent it. Perhaps she thought that the Lord Jesus wanted to enter the tomb to visit the body and see Lazarus’s face.

Lazarus’s death was certain; no one could doubt that he was not dead. With the spring weather in Israel, where the average temperature ranges from 15 to 25 degrees Celsius, a corpse begins to decompose and emit odor within 24 to 72 hours after death. Since the body had been in the tomb for the fourth day, exceeding 72 hours, it certainly would have started to smell.

John 11:40-42

40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of *God?”

41 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.

42 And I knew that You always hear Me, but because of the people standing around I said this, so that they may believe that You sent Me.”

Before Martha’s affirmation that Lazarus had been dead for four days and that the body was already smelling, the Lord Jesus reiterated the words He had spoken to her earlier. It is very likely that this was the statement He made following Martha’s response recorded in verse 27. However, for some reason, John did not record it, similar to how the Lord told Martha to go home and call Mary to meet Him.

We understand that many of the Lord Jesus’ sayings and actions were not documented. Yet, what has been recorded is sufficient for humanity to know about the Lord Jesus and His atoning death. At the end of the book of John, the Apostle John clearly wrote: ″And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that not even the world itself would have room for the books which would be written. Amen″ (John 21:25).

When the stone blocking the tomb was removed, the Lord Jesus looked up and prayed to the God. The words “heard” and ″hear″ in verses 41 and 42 mean both to hear and to respond to the request. The God always answers every prayer of the Lord Jesus because Jesus always does the will of the God, pleasing Him completely.

The prayer of the Lord Jesus was to demonstrate to all who were present that He was sent by the God and that every prayer He made was answered by the God. This also served as a sign that He is the Christ.

John 11:43-44

43 And having said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”

44 And the one having died came out, bound hands and feet with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped in a handkerchief. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

Immediately after the prayer of thanksgiving to the God, the Lord Jesus cried out with a loud voice, commanding Lazarus to come out of the tomb. Before the witnesses—Martha, Mary, and the crowd—Lazarus came out of the tomb.

Verse 44 is very special. Instead of writing, “Lazarus came out,” John wrote, “The one having died came out.” John wants to emphasize that Lazarus truly had died. Yet, at the command of the Lord Jesus, Lazarus was raised to life and stepped out of the tomb.

Although Lazarus had been raised and stepped out, he likely walked with difficulty because his hands and feet were still bound with burial cloths, and a cloth still covered his face.

In the time of the Lord Jesus, the Israelites typically wrapped the dead body as follows:

1. The body was washed with warm water, then anointed with various fragrant oils or perfumes.

2. The body was wrapped in sections with strips of burial cloth. The hands and feet were bound separately. The head was covered with a separate cloth that also covered the face.

3. The entire body was wrapped with one or more long layers of cloth.

The event of Lazarus being raised and stepping out of the tomb still wrapped in burial cloths around his feet, hands, and face further proves that he truly had died and was properly buried. The Lord Jesus commanded that the burial cloths be removed from Lazarus so he could walk normally.

Regrettably, John did not record the reactions of Lazarus, Martha, Mary, or the other Jews afterward. However, it is certain that day was a great day of rejoicing for Lazarus’s family, their relatives, and the villagers. The news likely spread quickly to Jerusalem, so that about two weeks later, when the Lord Jesus entered the city, He was welcomed by the people as the Christ.

We conclude this lesson here.

May the Holy Spirit guide us into all the truths of God’s Word (John 16:13). May the Word of God sanctify us (John 17:17). May the Faithful *God of Peace Himself sanctify our spirit, soul, and body entirely, without blame (1 Thessalonians 5:23), at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Beloved Savior. Amen!

Timothy Christian Huynh
Priscilla Christian Huynh
08/09/2025

Notes:

[1] https://preachingfromthebible.net/the-day-of-the-lords-death-and-the-day-of-the-lords-resurrection/

About Using “*God”, “the God” and “holy spirit”

Wherever the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts of the Bible use a definite article with a noun to denote GOD, we translate it into English as *God or “the God” to refer to God the Father. We understand that “God,” without a definite article, was used as a collective noun for all and any of the three Persons of the Godhead. And “God,” with a definite article, was used to refer to God the Father.

In the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, the term “holy spirit” (πνευματι αγιω) without the definite article “the” (το) is used to denote the power of God, which is given by God the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit” (το πνευματι το αγιω) is God, and “holy spirit” (πνευματι αγιω) is the power that comes from God.