John 11:41 Commentary and Bible Study

And then we come to the triumph of faith. Martha obviously motioned with her hand or said the word to the bystanders, open the grave. ‘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. 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.’He could have just said what he goes on to say – ‘Lazarus, come forth’, come out. And by his own power, he could have raised Lazarus. But it is very important that the Jews understand he not only has the power, but he does what he does because he is the anointed of the Father. So he prays, and it is done in the name of the Father and by his own power.