Charles Ellicott Commentary John 11:24

"Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." — John 11:24 (ASV)

I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection...—Her answer expresses some disappointment. Her whole heart had been fixed on one thought, and in all that had happened, her hopes had found a support which seemed to warrant the hope for its accomplishment. She is now reminded of a general truth in which she had previously found rest, but this does not satisfy the expectation she had now formed.

We have all felt something of her disappointment as we have stood beside the tomb. We have known, with a knowledge fuller than hers, that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day; but this knowledge has often had little power to remove the deep sorrow of the heart. We conquer the pagan thought “lost for ever”; but we are often conquered by the thought “lost for the present.”

Regarding the thought of the resurrection, compare Notes on John 5:29 and Luke 14:14. The Pharisees expected the resurrection of the just to accompany the Messianic advent. (Compare Daniel 12:2 and 2 Maccabees 7:9.) Still, her answer is beyond what we might expect, considering the dimness that surrounds even the fullest expressions regarding the resurrection in the Old Testament, and it can be traced to earlier lessons she had received from Him who is teaching her now.