Martha already believed her brother would "rise again in the resurrection at the last day" (John 11:24). Jesus brings that hope out of the distant future and into His own person: "I am the resurrection, and the life" (John 11:25). His question asks whether she believes this about Him, now, standing in front of her. Barnes gives two reasons for asking: the words implied that Jesus was able then to raise Lazarus, and "it is a proper time for her to test her own faith." Gill adds that "every tittle of it is to be believed."

Martha answered at once: "Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world" (John 11:27). Her answer goes beyond the words about resurrection to the One who spoke them. Then she went and called her sister secretly, saying, "The Master is come, and calleth for thee" (John 11:28).

Martha's reply in John 11:24 shows that she already held the hope of a resurrection "at the last day." Jesus does not deny that hope; He grounds it in Himself.

The scene takes place near Bethany, "nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off," where "many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother" (John 11:18-19). Lazarus had been in the grave four days already (John 11:17).

Jesus answered grief with a Person, not a lecture. He is "the resurrection, and the life": the one who believes in Him, "though he were dead, yet shall he live," and the one who lives and believes in Him "shall never die" (John 11:25-26). Barnes explains that Jesus is the author or cause of the resurrection, so that it depends on His power and will.

Martha's answer is one of the great confessions in the Gospels. Barnes calls it "a noble confession," and Matthew Henry calls it "the good confession she witnessed," the same for which Peter was commended (Matthew 16:16). Her words match John's purpose for his whole book, written "that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20:31).