And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes: and his face was bound about with a cloth. Jesus said unto them,
Loose him, and let him go.
All Commentaries on John 11:44 Go To John 11
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Loose him, and let him go. Christ, says St. Gregory, by giving these orders to his apostles, shows that it belongs to his ministers to loose and absolve sinners, when they are moved to repentance, though it is God himself that forgiveth their sins; and they by his authority only. (Witham)
Lazarus comes forth bound from the sepulchre, that he might not be thought to be a phantom; and that the bystanders might themselves loose him, and touching and approaching him, might know for certain that it was he. (St. Chrysostom, hom. lxiii. in Joan.)
St. Cyril and St. Augustine both adduce this verse to show the power of priests in absolving sinners. See St. Cyril, lib. vii. last chap. in Joan. and St. Augustine, tract. 49. in Joan.
