Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                 Chapter Eleven

                                                                                                                                               Verses 38-44

Still in grief, Jesus went to the grave which was a cave with a huge stone that covered the entrance. Jesus commanded that the stone be rolled away. Martha protested that Lazarus had been dead for four days which showed her lack of faith that Jesus could help him.

Everyone there heard Jesus' answer to Martha. Jesus told her that if she would only believe, she would see "the glory of God." The glory of God resides within the Almighty Power of His Love.

Apparently, some of these Jews became inspired by the Holy Spirit to roll the stone away. They all had a subdued faith that Jesus was about to bring into full consciousness. Jesus lifted up His eyes and prayed. His Father had already told Him that He would raise Lazarus from the dead, but Jesus told Martha to have faith with a voice loud enough for all to hear so that His Holy Spirit could arouse their latent faith.

Jesus cried with a loud voice for Lazarus to come forth so that all around Him would be sure to hear Him. Lazarus came out still bound with his grave clothes. Jesus ordered them to "Loose him and let him go." Jesus' command symbolized the fact that He had completely liberated Lazarus from death and all evil. Jesus liberates all who come to Him in faith from death and all evil. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14.

The specific unbelief of Martha and Mary and the crowd around Jesus was that Jesus could not help Lazarus after he had died. But Jesus proved that He has absolute power over physical death and over the spiritual death that evil has caused. Jesus only had to arouse a little faith in Martha and Mary and the crowd. In a day to come, Christ will arouse the latent faith still within the living souls and spirits of all humans confined to the regions of death, use His fiery wrath against evil to dissolve their systems to separate their repentant souls and spirits from their spiritual deaths, raise their souls and spirits from the dead and recreate them with new bodies to live forever on His recreated earth, and He will cast their spiritual deaths into the lake of fire. Revelation 5:11-14; Revelation 20:5; I Corinthians 3:11-15; II Peter 3:9-13; John 5:28-29. Jesus came to destroy only the Devil and all of his evil works, not living humans whom He creates and loves. John 12:31-32; Hebrews 2:14; I John 3:8; I Timothy 6:13. Everything God creates can only be eternal. He can never lose to death anything He has ever created. Ecclesiastes 3:14; Psalm 111:7-8; Psalm 36:6; Revelation 21:1-5.