John 11:38 “Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. 39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.”
I have personally visited “a cave” that is supposed to be “the grave” that “Lazarus” was buried in. It may not be the exact “grave”, but it fits the description and is in the right location. The description communicates to us that “Lazarus” was indeed dead and had been dead for four days (John 11:39), that his body was indeed buried, and that his body was secured in the tomb and was untampered with. The fact that his body was in a cave secured by “a stone” means that the grave could not have been easily entered, certainly not by wild creatures. It could also indicate that there was no trickery going on, that is that someone was not delivering food and water to him just to deceive the people. When “Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.”. Thus, “Lazarus” was in all probability buried without any kind of embalming, so that as soon as the grave was opened there would be an undeniable sent of death. All these providential events are preparing us for such a demonstration of the Sovereign Power Of God, that no matter what this present world casts into our path, we can confidently declare, “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us” (Daniel 3:17)!