John 11:41

41 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.

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 Jesus said , Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead , saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh : for he hath been dead four days.

40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe , thou shouldest see the glory of God?

41 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.

42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

43 And when he thus had spoken , he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.