But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
The Jews are sincere in their question. The healing of the man blind from birth had made a big impression on them, for they remembered it though it had happened three months ago (John 9:6,7). These Jews were confident in the power of Jesus to have healed Lazarus as were Martha (verse #21) and Mary (verse #32), but like the two sisters, they did not consider the resurrection of Lazarus to be a possibility.
John 9:6 Having said this, he spat on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.
John 9:7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
John 11:21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
John 11:32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”