And since the miracle about to be performed was great, was not performed many times, and was to benefit many, the Lord arranges it so that many would become witnesses of the miracle. For the evangelist says that the Jews who were with her in the house followed after her.
Jn. 11:32. Then when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
Mary came to Christ with greater fervor than her sister Martha. For, "when she saw Him, she fell at His feet," not ashamed before the crowd, paying no attention to the fact that some of those present were hostile toward Christ. In the presence of the Teacher she cast aside all humanity and cared only about honoring Him. She says: "Lord! if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
Martha, however, does nothing of the sort, for she does not fall before Him, but on the contrary, when Christ even offers good hope concerning her brother, she shows herself to be unbelieving. Although Mary also appears imperfect when she says "if You had been here, my brother would not have died," nevertheless Christ does not say to her anything of the sort that He said to her sister, because there were many people present, and it was not the time for such words. He condescends even further, clearly revealing the human nature in Himself and manifesting its properties. For listen to what the Evangelist says.
Jn. 11:33. Jesus, when He saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled.
Since Mary and those who came with her were weeping, human nature was disposed to tears and was troubled. But the Lord suppresses the agitation in spirit, that is, by the Spirit He restrains the disturbance and holds it back, and asks a question, not at all revealing tears. But since the Lord was grieving, for He was truly Man and wished to confirm the reality of His human nature, He allowed it to do its own. At the same time He restrains the flesh, forbidding it by the power of the Holy Spirit; but the flesh, unable to endure the restraint, is troubled, sighs, and gives itself over to sorrow. All this the Lord permits His Humanity to experience, partly in order to confirm that He was Man in truth and not in appearance, and partly in order to teach us to set limits and measure to both grief and indifference. For to have no compassion and no tears is characteristic of beasts, while to shed many tears and give oneself over to much grief is characteristic of women. And since "the Lord partook of our flesh and blood" (Heb. 2:14), He also takes part in what is proper to man and nature, and shows us the measure in both.
Jn. 11:34. And He said: Where have you laid him?
"Where have you laid him?" the Lord asks not because He does not know (for, being in another place and far away, He still knew that Lazarus had died), but so that they would not think that He Himself volunteers to perform the miracle of His own accord. He wishes to learn everything from them and to perform the miracle at their request, so as to free it from all suspicion.
Jn. 11:34. Lord, come and see.
And since there was as yet no hint of the resurrection of Lazarus and it occurred to no one that He was going to resurrect him, and not merely to weep, they say to Him: "Lord, come and see."
Jn. 11:35. Jesus wept.
Jn. 11:36. Then the Jews said: see how He loved him.
Jn. 11:37. But some of them said: Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?
But the wicked Jews, despite the great misfortune before their eyes, still do not abandon their malice. They say: "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?" They say this to disparage the miracle performed on the man born blind (John 9:1–11). They ought to have marveled at that miracle, but on account of the death of Lazarus they cast doubt even on its reality, and without waiting for the outcome of the matter, they pronounce an insulting verdict in advance. So envy corrupted their minds.
Jn. 11:38. Jesus then, again groaning within Himself, comes to the tomb.
Why does the Evangelist again note that Jesus wept and grieved out of compassion? So that we may know that He truly clothed Himself in our nature. John, compared with the other Evangelists, proclaims the highest teaching about the Lord and theologizes something great; therefore, from His bodily deeds he also narrates the more humbling ones. For this reason, in the Lord's grief he finds much that is human, and thereby proves the reality of His flesh, so that you may know that the Lord was God and at the same time Man. For just as Luke, through the Lord's agony, distress, and sweat (Luke 22:44), so John, through His tears, proves that He bore true flesh.
Jn. 11:38. That was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
Why did the Lord not raise Lazarus while the stone still lay upon the tomb? For He who by a single word raised up the dead body and gave life to one already beginning to decompose could far more easily have rolled away the stone by a word.
Jn. 11:39. Jesus says: Take away the stone.
"Take away the stone," the Lord says in order to make them witnesses of the miracle, so that they could not, as before concerning the man born blind, say: "It is he; it is not he" (John 9:9). For being present at the very spot and removing the stone with their own hands was meant to shut the mouths of ill-intentioned witnesses of the miracle.
Jn. 11:39. Lord, by this time he stinks, for he has been in the tomb four days.
"He already stinks; for he has been in the grave four days," Martha said out of unbelief, because she considered the resurrection of her brother to be already impossible after so many days had passed since his death. So she was still not advanced in faith!
Jn. 11:40. Jesus says to her: Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?
Christ, reminding her of His conversation with her and as if reproaching her for her forgetfulness, says: "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
To His disciples the Lord says that Lazarus died so that "the Son of God" might be glorified through this (John 11:4), but to Martha He says "you will see the glory of God," meaning the Father. He uses different expressions about one and the same thing — on account of the weakness of the listeners. Here the Jews were present. To tell Martha that she would see the glory of "the Son of God," the Lord found inappropriate, because they would have considered Him vainglorious. But now, having spoken of the glory of the Father, He made His speech moderate and easy to accept.