John 11:44 — Community Reflections

JOHN 11:44 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.”

The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, 'Take off the grave clothes and let him go' — Lazarus emerges from the tomb still bound in his burial wrappings (othonia, linen strips; and soudarion, the face cloth), which must be removed for him to be fully alive and mobile. Jesus commands the onlookers to remove the grave clothes, involving them in the process of restoration and suggesting that the community must cooperate in facilitating the new life Jesus has given. The command to 'let him go' (apoluō) means to release him to normal life.

Church Fathers on John 11:44

Christ, as man, being inferior to the Father, prays to Him for Lazarus’s resurrection; and declares that He is heard: And Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
Alcuin · 8th century

He lifted up His eyes; mystically, He lifted up the human mind by prayer to the Father above. We should pray after Christ’s pattern, Lift up the eyes of our heart, and raise them above present things in memory, in thought, in intention. If to them who pray worthily after this fashion is given the promise in Isaiah, You shall cry, and He shall say, Here I am; what answer, think we, our Lord and Savior would receive? He was about to pray for the resurrection of Lazarus He was…
Origen · 3rd century

i.e. There is no difference of will between Me and You. You have heard Me, does not show any lack of power in Him, or that He is inferior to the Father. It is a phrase that is used between friends and equals. That the prayer is not really necessary for Him, appears from the words that follow, And I knew that You heard Me always: as if He said, I need not prayer to persuade You; for Ours is one will. He hides His meaning on account of the weak faith of His hearers. For God…
Chrysostom · 4th century

Read all 25 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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