John 11:41

41 They took the stone away. Jesus looked up and said, "I thank you, Father, that you listen to 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 "Take the stone away!" Jesus ordered. Martha, the dead man's sister, answered, "There will be a bad smell, Lord. He has been buried four days!"
40 Jesus said to her, "Didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believed?"
41 They took the stone away. Jesus looked up and said, "I thank you, Father, that you listen to me.
42 I know that you always listen to me, but I say this for the sake of the people here, so that they will believe that you sent me."
43 After he had said this, he called out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.