The gospel of John refers to Jesus' miracles as 'signs.' These are incidents with a specific message and meant for a specific reason: to prove that Jesus Christ is God (John 20:30–31). But, Lord, said Martha, the sister of the dead man, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days. The Eastern Orthodox and Catholic traditions offer varying accounts of the later. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. Lazarus of Bethany (Latinised from, ultimately from Eleazar, 'God helped'), also venerated as Righteous Lazarus, the Four-Days Dead Eastern Orthodox Church 4 is the subject of a Gospel of John, in which Jesus restores him to life four days after his death. As He'll point out in the following verses, the purpose of these words is for the benefit of the audience. Jesus and his disciples went to Bethany and learned that Lazarus had been in the tomb. 38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. Jesus begins His prayer with thanksgiving to God. With a crowd that size, it would have been easily possible to muster enough muscle to open the grave. Those same people are now at Lazarus' graveside, observing what happens (John 11:35–37). Quite a few of them followed Mary when she went to see Jesus (John 11:31). Many people from Jerusalem have come to pay their neighborly respects to Mary and Martha (John 11:18–19). The 'they' referred to here almost certainly means the assembled crowd. The tomb is the purported site of a miracle recorded in the Gospel of John in which Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. The stone over Lazarus' grave might not have been as large, but moving it was not something one could do without a lot of effort and energy. The borrowed tomb used by Jesus after His crucifixion had a stone large enough that a group of women knew they'd need help to move it (Mark 16:3). Wealthier people could afford larger tombs, which could come with correspondingly larger stone caps.

The purpose of the cover was to keep scavengers away from the body, and to deter thieves. Stones used to cover burial plots in the ancient world were neither small nor convenient.

Jesus at lazarus tomb