John 11:41

41 So they moved the stone away from the entrance. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you 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, "Move the stone away." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said, "But, Lord, it has been four days since he died. There will be a bad smell."
40 Then Jesus said to her, "Didn't I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?"
41 So they moved the stone away from the entrance. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you heard me.
42 I know that you always hear me, but I said these things because of the people here around me. I want them to believe that you sent me."
43 After Jesus said this, he cried out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.