John 11:41

41 Therefore they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I do thankings to thee, for thou hast heard me;

John 11:41 Meaning and Commentary

John 11:41

Then they took away the stone
"From the door of the sepulchre", as the Arabic version adds;

from the place where the dead was laid:
this clause is left out in the Alexandrian copy, and in the Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions:

and Jesus lift up his eyes;
to heaven; this is a praying gesture, as in ( John 17:1 ) ,

and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me;
which cannot refer to the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead, or to any assistance given him in performing that miracle, because that as yet was not done; and when it was done, was done by his own power, as all the circumstances of it show; but it relates to everything in which he had before heard him, and was a foundation for him, as man, to believe he still would, in whatever was to come; and particularly to the present opportunity of showing his power in so remarkable a manner, and before so many witnesses.

John 11:41 In-Context

39 And Jesus saith, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith to him, Lord, he stinketh now, for he hath lain four days. [+Jesus saith, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith to him, Lord, he stinketh now, soothly he is of four days dead.]

40 Jesus saith to her, Have I not said to thee, that if thou believest [for if thou shalt believe], thou shalt see the glory of God?

41 Therefore they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I do thankings to thee, for thou hast heard me;

42 and I knew, that thou evermore hearest me [forsooth, I knew, for thou ever hearest me], but for the people that standeth about, I said, that they believe, that thou hast sent me.

43 When he had said these things, he cried with a great voice, Lazarus, come forth.