Since Mary and those who came with her wept, Human nature was disposed to tears and was troubled. But the Lord suppresses the shock in the spirit, that is, by the Spirit He restrains confusion and restrains it, and He asks a question without showing any tears. But since the Lord grieved, because He was truly a Man and wished to prove the reality of His human nature, He allowed it to do its own. At the same time, He restricts the flesh, rebukes it by the power of the Holy Spirit; but the flesh, unable to endure the prohibition, is troubled, sighs, and gives itself over to sorrow. The Lord allows His humanity to experience all this, partly in order to affirm that He was Man in truth, and not by providence, and partly in order to teach us to set limits and measures to sorrow and sorrowlessness. For to have no sympathy and tears is characteristic of beasts, but to shed many tears and give way to much sorrow is characteristic of women. And since the Lord took upon Himself our flesh and blood (Heb. 2:14), He takes part in that which is proper to man and nature, and shows us the measure in both. "Where have you laid him?" asks the Lord, not because He does not know (for, having been elsewhere and far away, He knew that Lazarus was dead), but so that they would not think that He was summoned by Himself to a miracle; He wishes to learn everything from them and to perform a miracle at their request, in order to free it from all suspicion. And since there was no hint of the resurrection of Lazarus, and it did not occur to anyone that He was coming to raise him up, and not only to weep, so they said to Him: Lord! Go and see. And the wicked Jews, in spite of the fact that great misfortune is before their eyes, and yet they do not abandon their malice, they say, "Could this one, who opened the eyes of the blind man, not be able to cause this one not to die?" This is said in humiliation of the miracle performed on the blind man (John 9). They should have been amazed at this miracle, but they cast doubt on the reality of Lazarus' death and, without waiting for the end of the matter, pronounce an insulting sentence in advance. Thus envy corrupted their minds.

     Jesus, again grieving inwardly, comes to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay on it. Jesus says, "Take away the stone." The sister of the deceased, Martha, said to Him: "Lord! already stinks; for four days he was in the tomb. Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" So, they took away the stone from the cave where the deceased lay. And Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, forgive them! thank you for hearing me. I knew that You would always hear Me; but I have said these things for the people standing here, that they may believe that you have sent me.

 Why does the evangelist again note that Jesus wept and grieved out of sympathy? In order that we may know that He has truly clothed Himself with our nature. John, in comparison with the other Evangelists, proclaims a higher teaching about the Lord and theologizes something great; wherefore also of His bodily works He tells of those who are more humble. Wherefore also in the sorrow of the Lord he finds much that is human, and thus proves the truth of His flesh, so that thou mayest know that the Lord was God and at the same time Man. For just as Luke by the Lord's struggle, sorrow, and sweat (ch. 22), so John proves by His tears that He bore true flesh. Why did the Lord not resurrect Lazarus when the stone was still lying on the tomb? For He Who raised up a dead body with one word and animated one that had already begun to decay, He could have rolled away the stone with a word much more conveniently. - "Take away the stone," says the Lord, in order to make them witnesses of the miracle, so that they could not say, as before about the man born blind: "This is he; it is not he" (John 9:9). For being present in the very place and taking away the stone with their own hands should have stopped the mouths of the ill-intentioned witnesses of the miracle. "It's already stinking; for four days since he was in the tomb," said Martha out of unbelief, because she considered it impossible for her brother to be resurrected after so many days after his death. So she was still low in faith! Christ, reminding her of His conversation with her and as if reproaching her for forgetfulness, says: "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" The Lord says to His disciples that Lazarus died in order that "the Son of God" might be glorified through this (v. 4 above), and He says to Martha: "Thou shalt see the glory of "God," meaning the Father. He uses different expressions about one and the same thing - because of the weakness of his listeners. There were Jews here. To tell Martha that you would see the glory of the "Son of God," the Lord found inappropriate, because He would be considered vain. And now, having spoken of the glory of the Father, He made the speech moderate and acceptable. Why does the Lord pray, or rather, does He take the form of prayer? Listen to how He Himself says: "For the people standing here, I have said this, so that they may believe that You have sent Me, that is, so that they may not consider Me an adversary of God, so that they may not say that I am not of God, in order to prove to them that this deed was done by Me according to Your will. And what for this reason, and not for another, is presented to the worshippers, that is, for those who are coming, pay attention to the prayer itself. "Thank Thee" (Father!), that "Thou hast heard Me." It is clear that this is not a prayer, but only the position and type of prayer. And that He does not need prayer is evident from the fact that He did many other things without prayer. For example: "I tell you, demon! come out of it" (Luke 4:35); again, "I will, be cleansed" (Matt. 8:3); again: "Thy sins are forgiven" (Matt. 9:2), and this is the most important thing; and to the sea: "Be still, be still" (Mark 4:39). So, in order for those present here to believe that He is from heaven, and not an adversary of God, the Lord prays. For if in such works of Him, in all the proofs of His oneness of mind with the Father, it was said that He was not of God, what would not have been said if He had done nothing of the kind?

     Having said this, He cried out with a loud voice: Lazarus! Go away. And the dead man came out, wrapped hand and foot in funeral clothes, and his face was bound with a handkerchief. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, let him go." Then many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus had done, believed in Him. And some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

 The Lord, giving thanks to the Father more than asking (for, as it is said, He had no need of prayer and help from it, because He is equal to the Father), called out with a loud voice, autocratic and sovereign. For He did not say, In the name of My Father, Lazarus, go away; nor thus: Father! resurrect him; but, as it is said, autocratically, stopping the mouths of all who say that He is less than the Father. For what could be found equal to such power, that He said to the dead as to the living: Lazarus, go away? And now the words have been fulfilled in deed: "The time is coming when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and when they have heard, they shall live" (John 5:25). Lest anyone think that Christ received such power from another, He foretells in advance what He had to prove by His very deed. The loud voice of the Saviour, which resurrected Lazarus, serves as an image of the great trumpet that will sound in the general resurrection (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16). The Lord cried out loudly in order to stop the mouths of the Greeks, who talk idly that the soul dwells in the tomb (together with the body), for He calls it loudly, as if far away. As this particular resurrection was, so will the general resurrection be suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:52). "Gone out," it is said, "dead man, bound hand and foot." To go out seemed no less strange to the bound man than to be resurrected. And so, to the miracle of the resurrection was added another miracle - that the one who was completely bound moved. The Lord commands to untie him, so that those who approach and touch him will see that this is himself. "Let him," he said, "go." This is out of dislike of fame. For He does not bring him out (Himself), nor commands him to walk with Him in order to show Himself. When the miracle was performed, some of those who saw it believed, and others declared it to the Pharisees, no doubt in order to defame Him, who had done something unrighteous, since He had commanded that the buried man be dug up.

     Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together a council and said, "What shall we do?" This Man works many miracles. If we leave Him thus, then all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take possession of our place and people. 

One should have been amazed and amazed at the Lord when He performed such miracles; the Pharisees, on the contrary, make up advice on how to destroy Him. What extreme madness! Him Who in the bodies of others overcomes death, they think to put to death in order to hide His glory; and after so many miracles, they consider Him a simple man. What, they say, should we do? This "Man" works many miracles. And what kind of crime is it if He works miracles? In this case, one should believe in Him, worship Him, and not consider Him a mere person. Look at the impudence of the Pharisees! Trying to stir up the people, they spread the rumor that all Jews were in danger and destruction from the Romans on suspicion of stealing the supreme power. If, they say, we abandon Him, a great many people will follow him, attracted by the appearance of miracles, and finally the Romans will suspect us all of stealing the supreme power, and will take our cities and destroy them. So they spoke with guile. In order not to appear that they are building fetters for Christ out of envy, they expose a common danger, stirring up the people against Christ as the future author of their destruction. "Perhaps understand this miracle in relation to the inner man. Our mind is a friend of Christ, but it is often overcome by the weakness of human nature, falls into sin and dies a spiritual death and the most pitiful death, but worthy of pity on the part of Christ, for the dead is His friend. Let the sisters and relatives of the dead mind, the flesh, like Martha (for Martha is more corporeal and material), and the soul, like Mary (for Mary is more pious and reverent), come to Christ and fall down before Him, leading after them the thoughts of confession, as they did the Jews. For Judas means confession. And the Lord, without a doubt, will appear at the grave, the blindness lying in the memory will command to be taken away, as if it were some stone, and will bring to mind future blessings and torments. And he will cry out with the great voice of the Gospel trumpet: Come out of the world, do not be buried in worldly amusements and passions; - just as He said to His disciples: "Ye are not of the world" (John 15:19), and the Apostle Paul: "And we shall go out to Him beyond the camp" (Heb. 13:13), that is, the world, and thus He will raise from sin the dead, whose wounds smelled of malice. The deceased emitted a smell because he was four days old, that is, he died to the four meek and bright virtues and was unmoved and immovable to them. However, although he was motionless and bound hand and foot, squeezed by the bonds of his own sins, and seemed to be completely inactive, although he was covered with a handkerchief over his face, so that when the fleshly veil was imposed, he could not see anything divine, in short, he was in the worst position both "by activity", which is indicated by hands and feet, and "by contemplation", which is indicated by a covered face, "And so, though he is in such a distress, yet he will hear, 'Loose him, good angels or priests who serve salvation, and give him forgiveness of sins, let him go and begin to do good.' - And some understood by "Martha" the Jewish Church, and by "Mary" the Church of the Gentiles. The Jewish Church cares about many things, for the commandments of the law are many and they are inconvenient to fulfill, and the Church of the Gentiles does not need many commandments, but a few, in which the whole law and the prophets are contained (Matt. 22:40), the commandments about love. By their brother, who is raised from the dead, they understood the souls of people who descend into hell for their sins, according to what is written: "Let sinners return to hell" (Psalm 9:18), but the Lord resurrects these souls.