So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
41. And Jesus again raised his eyes. This was the token of a mind truly prepared for prayer; for before any one calls on God aright, he must be brought into communication with him, and this can only be done when, raised above the earth, he ascends even to heaven.
Here we have, I. Christ's tender sympathy with his afflicted friends, and the share he took to himself in their sorrows, which appeared three ways: - 1. By the inward groans and troubles of his spirit (Joh 11:33): Jesus saw Mary weeping for the loss of a loving brother, and the Jews that came with her weeping for the loss of a good neighbour and...
Commenting on John 11:33-44
Then they took away the stone,.... "From the door of the sepulchre", as the Arabic version adds; from the place where the dead was laid: this clause is left out in the Alexandrian copy, and in the Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions: and Jesus lift up his eyes; to heaven; this is a praying gesture, as in Joh 17:1, and said, Father, I...