John 11:31
The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.
Those in the house comforting Mary in shared grief saw her rise hastily and go out, and followed her because they assumed she was going to the tomb to weep there. She had risen with an eager look when told the Master had come and was calling for her, and went not to the grave but to where Jesus was waiting to kneel at His feet and say that if He had been there her brother would not have died, which those following did not know. The moment belongs to Bethany, where Jesus was bound by tender affection to the devoted household of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, and He had delayed going to them by divine wisdom. It is part of the greatest and most wonderful of His miracles, wrought when Lazarus had been dead four days. The raising stands as convincing proof of His Messiahship, divinity, and authority, making Lazarus a living testimony to His divine power, and it shows His power over death pointing to the future resurrection when His voice will call the dead in Christ to immortal life.
Mary's Hasty Departure
The verse belongs to the events at Bethany, in the home of Lazarus where Jesus had often found rest. Lazarus was among the most steadfast of His disciples, strong in faith from their first meeting and deep in love for Him, and greatly beloved by the Saviour. Mary listened earnestly to His words, and the whole family was devoted to Him and bound to Him by peculiarly tender affection and strong associations. Guided by divine wisdom, Jesus delayed going to His friends at Bethany.
Those in the house comforting Mary in shared grief over Lazarus saw her rise hastily and go out. They assumed she was hurrying to the tomb to weep there, and for that reason they followed her. In fact she had risen hastily with an eager look when Martha told her the Master had come and was calling for her. She did not go to the grave but went to where Jesus was waiting, seeking a quiet moment with Him, which the mourners following her did not know. There she knelt at His feet and said with quivering lips that if He had been there her brother would not have died. The scene belongs to Jesus' sympathy for the bereaved, when He restored Lazarus to Mary and Martha, bringing her dead brother from the grave and filling the sisters with joy.
Christ's Victory Over Death
The verse belongs to the record of the greatest and most wonderful of Christ's miracles, wrought for Lazarus of Bethany, who had been dead four days when Christ called him from the tomb. Christ stayed away because in His immediate presence disease was always rebuked and He could not witness suffering without bringing relief and combatting Satan, and Lazarus was permitted to die so that his resurrection would be the last and crowning evidence to the Jews that Jesus is the Son of God. The raising is unmistakable evidence of Jesus' Messiahship, a convincing proof of His divinity and authority, making Lazarus a living testimony to His divine power and identity, through whom the Father was revealed to believers and unbelievers.
At Lazarus's grave Christ's character as Savior and Lifegiver was demonstrated in confronting Satan's work of disease and death. The raising shows Christ's power over death and points to the future resurrection, when His voice will call the dead in Christ to immortal life to be with the Lord. Lazarus, like the son of the widow of Nain and Jairus' daughter raised during His ministry, was raised only temporarily and remained subject to death and decay, unlike those who came forth at Christ's own resurrection as trophies of His victory, raised to everlasting life.
Christ wept at the grave at the thought that He could not save all whom Satan's power had laid low, though He had given Himself a ransom for many, even all who would return to loyalty to God. Every rescue, including Lazarus, brought Him deeper humiliation, because for that life He must pay the ransom on the cross of Calvary and taste death for every man. The miracle had a powerful effect and drew a large, enthusiastic multitude to see Jesus. In raising the dead to life He was just as certainly fulfilling His mission as the Pattern Man as when He toiled as a carpenter hiding His divine mission, when He trod the waves on the Sea of Galilee, and when He died as man's sacrifice on the cross to lift the whole race to a new and perfect life.