John 11:41-44 41Therefore, they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42And I have known that you always hear me, but I have spoken on account of the crowd standing around, in order that they may believe that you sent me.” 43And after saying these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The man who had died came out, his feet and hands wrapped with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
The revelation about Jesus as the resurrection and the life continues with this passage. Jesus asked for the stone to be removed. Apparently, Martha was the family representative since she was the last one to speak, but it would have taken some effort to move a large stone. She and Mary had plenty of help with the group that had accompanied them from their home. All their minds must have been surprised and curious at what Jesus intended.
We get a glimpse into one of Jesus’ prayers. Jesus is a model for how to pray and what to pray for. Chapter 17 records a longer prayer, while the prayer at Lazarus’ tomb was quite short. Jesus prayed out loud and spefically for the people to hear. What he said was only the end of the prayer. His prayer is of thanksgiving for the Father having heard his prayer. The rest of the prayer is only assumed. Jesus had already prayed and confirmed that it was the Father’s will for Lazarus to rise from the dead. No doubt, other people had died during Jesus’ ministry, as the way of life goes, but he raised only a few, like the Jairus’ daughter in Mark 5.
Jesus expressed also his confidence that the Father always heard his prayer. This statement is significant and stated specifically for the people gathered at the tomb to hear. There may be several reasons why. One is that Jesus wanted the people to note his relationship with God, his Father. Everything Jesus did was according to God’s will, which he discerned through prayer and time with the Father. Second, he wanted them to understand his mission and that he had been sent by the Father. Third, Jesus wanted the people to put all this together to put their faith in him. They were about to experience one of the greatest miracles of all time, and Jesus wanted to make sure it had the intended impact on their commitment to him. A fourth more implied purpose may simply be as a model to the people of prayer. Jesus taught his disciples about prayer and would bring that topic up again the following week at the Last Supper (14:13-14; 15:7, 16). Jesus showed the typical way of praying by looking up, presumably to the sky representing heaven.
After praying, Jesus called to Lazarus to come out of the tomb. This situation is a fulfillment of 5:25, 28–29 about the dead hearing the voice of the Son of God and rising from the dead. These verses refer to the final resurrection at judgment. What Lazarus experienced was a foretaste of the great resurrection to come. Lazarus emerged all wrapped in the grave shroud. The Jews did not bury their dead like Egyptian mummies, all wrapped up tight, which would have made it impossible for Lazarus to walk unless the linen strips somehow came undone. A Jewish shroud was mostly one large sheet that covered from head to toe. Other smaller pieces would have been used to wrap other places, such as the face. The famous Shroud of Turin is an example of a large piece of grave cloth. Lazarus was able to scoot out of the grave but needed help getting unwrapped, so Jesus told the people to help him get loose. It must have been quite the site.
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