John 11 In selecting this word we are struck with the frequency of its occurrence in this chapter. There is: I. The "If" of wisdom. Jesus answered "If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not." The Lord is laying down a great philosophy of work, he is indicating that there are times and seasons f... [ Continue Reading ]
John 11:4 The Christian Uses of Sickness I. We do not sufficiently consider sickness in a Christian light. Undoubtedly, the failure of health is, and will ever be, esteemed a misfortune to any man. It would be going counter to the current of nature to attempt to think of it otherwise. But at this... [ Continue Reading ]
John 11:9 I. The first and most obvious thought which the text presents to us is that of the predestination of life. God has marked out beforehand the length of the life. This was true, first and foremost, of the life of Christ. His day had its twelve hours. In the way in which He walked, He was in... [ Continue Reading ]
John 11:11 There seems to me to be contained in these few words one of the most powerful charms in the world to lull the bitterness of death, and to make us anxious to become such as that we may humbly venture to apply them to ourselves. What would we, each of us, give, when our last hour was come,... [ Continue Reading ]
John 11:15 Five Paradoxes In the single verse of our text we find no less than five paradoxes. They are disclosed in the words, but interpreted in the deeds of Jesus Himself. If their force and significance be carefully studied, they will help our understanding of many a mystery in the providentia... [ Continue Reading ]
John 11:21 _(with John 11:32)_ The Reason of Christ's Absence It seems to me that the language of the two sisters, confirmed as it is by our Saviour's own words, gives us a wonderful glimpse of His human character, and a great insight into the meaning of His miracles of healing. I. "If Thou hadst... [ Continue Reading ]
John 11:25 This Divine name is a pledge to us of many joys; but chiefly of three Divine gifts. I. The first is a perfect newness of body and soul. This is a thought of wonder almost beyond conception or belief. Death and the forerunners of death have so fast a hold upon the body; sin and the soils... [ Continue Reading ]
John 11:25 I. There is in this text something far beyond the general lot of man, or of man's world; here is a conscious act of man's spirit spoken of as the condition of life with Christ, and that state asserted to place a man superior to death and all its power. And this conscious act of man's spir... [ Continue Reading ]
John 11:32 There is in these words I. A consciousness of Divine power and mastery. There is no lingering doubt about our Lord's Divine power. It is admitted in the term Lord, and in this unhesitating confession of His Kingship over death. The sisters realised that He was able to save, even from de... [ Continue Reading ]
John 11:34 What led our Lord to weep over the dead, Who could at one word restore him; nay, had it in purpose so to do? I. First of all, as the context informs us, He wept from very sympathy with the grief of others. We cannot see God's sympathy, and the Son of God, though feeling for us as great... [ Continue Reading ]
John 11:35 I. We hardly know a statement of greater comfort than that of our text, and the account of Christ's sorrowing over the impenitent Jerusalem. The Christian mourner would be scarcely able to dry his tears if he must believe that Christ had never shed tears, and he would not comparatively be... [ Continue Reading ]
John 11:38 I. The general truth which is symbolically taught through such a miracle as the raising of Lazarus, is the truth that man's natural state is a state of moral death; and that to Christ alone must we look if we would be restored to moral life. In going towards the grave that He might summo... [ Continue Reading ]
John 11:39 We have here the Grave, the Stone, the Command I. In the grave we are to see heathendom. Under any circumstances it is hard, and ought to be hard, to change the religion, whether of an individual, or of a race. It is hard, because it is so noble. I suppose if anything under the sun shou... [ Continue Reading ]
John 11:47 The Retributive Character of Divine Justice Observe: I. That men who set what they foolishly count their interest against their convictions determined to stifle the latter lest they should sacrifice the former these allow that Christ wrought miracles, but persist in rejecting Him for fe... [ Continue Reading ]
John 11:49 Consider: I. This unscrupulous priest and his savage advice. Remember who he was: the high priest of the nation, with Aaron's mitre on his brow and centuries of illustrious traditions embodied in his person; in whose heart justice and mercy should have found a sanctuary, if they had fled... [ Continue Reading ]