_CHRIST RAISETH LAZARUS, FOUR DAYS BURIED. MANY JEWS BELIEVE. THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND PHARISEES GATHER A COUNSEL AGAINST CHRIST. CAIAPHAS PROPHESIETH. JESUS HIDETH HIMSELF. AT THE PASSOVER THEY INQUIRE AFTER HIM, AND LAY WAIT FOR HIM._ _Anno Domini 33._... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW A CERTAIN MAN WAS SICK,— About this time a friend of Christ, named Lazarus, was afflicted with a _dangerous sickness,_ ηνασθενων,— at _Bethany,_ a village about two miles from Jerusalem, but at a great distance from the place where our Lord now was. See the last chapter, John 11:40. Bethany is s... [ Continue Reading ]
IT WAS THAT MARY WHICH ANOINTED, &C.— Because the evangelist characterizes Mary, the sister of Lazarus, by her action of _anointing the Lord's feet,_ Grotius imagines, that the three anointings mentioned in the gospels are one and the same: but the answer is obvious. John having mentioned one anoint... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS SISTERS SENT UNTO HIM,— The modesty of his sisters, and their confidence in Christ's affection for their brother, appear very great. They do not desire the Lord to come to him; they do not desire him to heal their brother at a distance, as he had done other persons who were in a dangerous condit... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS SICKNESS IS NOT UNTO DEATH,— Compare Matthew 9:24 and Mark 5:39. All that our Lord could mean here was, that this sickness ofLazarus was not designed to end in his death, considered as a final removal from this world; and indeed, our Lord so fully explains afterwards what he meant by this ambig... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW JESUS LOVED MARTHA, &C.— On account of their unfeigned piety towards God, their friendship and affection towards each other, and their faith in him as the Messiah. See John 11:27. The evangelist mentions the love which Jesus bore to Mary, and her sister, and Lazarus, before he informs us, that,... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS ANSWERED, &C.— In answer to the fears and remonstrances of his disciples, Jesus replies, That as the hours of the day are appointed for the various works necessary to human life, and as he who travels in the daytime need not be afraid of stumbling, because he has the sun, the light of this wor... [ Continue Reading ]
OUR FRIEND LAZARUS SLEEPETH;— Our Lord might choose the expression _Lazarus sleepeth,_ partly out of tenderness, as being least shocking, when he spoke of so dear a friend; and it may also be considered as an instance of that modesty which characterizes all our Lord's actions. He does not immediatel... [ Continue Reading ]
LORD, IF HE SLEEP, HE SHALL DO WELL.— The disciples, understanding our Lord's words in a literal sense, replied, that they took Lazarus's sleeping as a favourable symptom of his speedy recovery; and, by saying so, they insinuated that there was no need of their going into Judea on this account, to t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I AM GLAD FOR YOUR SAKES, &C.— "I am glad for your sakes, that I was not in Judea before he died; for had I been there and recovered him, your faith in me as the Messiah must have wanted that great confirmation, which it will receive by your beholding me raising him again from the dead. _Neverth... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID THOMAS,—LET US ALSO GO,— "When Jesus had declared his resolution to go into Judea, _Thomas, who is called Didymus,_ conceiving nothing but destruction from such a journey, yetunwilling to forsake his blessed Master, _said, Let us also go, that we may die with him."_ For he knew the inveter... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HAD LAIN IN THE GRAVE FOUR DAYS— As a day or two at least must have been spent in making preparations for the funeral, and as Lazarus, when Jesus came, had been already buried _four days,_ he could not well have been less than five days dead when our Lord arrived—an additional circumstance to ill... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW BETHANY WAS NIGH UNTO JERUSALEM,— The evangelist mentions the vicinity of Bethany to Jerusalem, and speaks of the company of friends that were with the two sisters, to shew that, by the direction of divine providence, this great miracle had many witnesses, some of whom were persons of note, and... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN MARTHA, AS SOON AS SHE HEARD— It seems the news of our Lord's coming reached Bethany before him; for Martha, having heard of it, went out to meet him, being of a more active disposition than her sister, who continued in the house: being absorbed in grief, and perhaps retired to an inner apartme... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID MARTHA UNTO JESUS,— Martha's intention, no doubt, was to welcome Jesus; but being in an excess of grief, the first thing she uttered was a complaint, that he had not come sooner. Imagining that he could not cure her brother while at a distance from him, she thought that, by delaying to com... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS SAITH UNTO HER, THY BROTHER SHALL RISE AGAIN.— Our Lord's meaning was, that he should be raised _immediately,_ (see John 11:40.) according to her desire; yet, as the thing was so great, and beyond even her own expectation, she durst not understand him in any sense that favoured her wishes: (se... [ Continue Reading ]
I BELIEVE THAT THOU ART THE CHRIST,— By replying that she believed him to be the promised and expected Messiah, Martha insinuated, that she confided implicitly in every thing he said; and that there was no instance of power whatsoever which he was pleased to claim, that exceeded her belief. She bega... [ Continue Reading ]
AS SOON AS SHE HEARD THAT,— Mary no sooner heard the joyful news of the arrival of Jesus, than she arose, and went to him, without speaking a word to the company of friends, who, because she was of a softer disposition, paid especial attention to her grief; for they remained with her in the house af... [ Continue Reading ]
SHE FELL DOWN AT HIS FEET,— When Mary came to Jesus, she fell down at his feet, and expressed herself just as Martha had done, only she wept as she spake. Her affliction is described, though in few words, yet in those the most natural and pathetic; and her prostration performed without reserve befor... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN JESUS THEREFORE SAW HER WEEPING, &C.— There never was a more striking picture of distress than that before us, the two affectionate sisters absorbed in grief, the numerous sympathetic crowd bathed intears, and the Son of God himself so affected, that he re-echoed their groans, and voluntarily a... [ Continue Reading ]
WHERE HAVE YE LAID HIM?— Our Lord proposed this question, in order to deliver the minds of Martha and her sister from the suspence with which they were now tortured; and he proposed it before the multitude, to convince them that there was no fraud in the intended miracle. We cannot suppose that our... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS WEPT.— It appeared on this occasion, that our blessed Lord was possessed of the most delicate sensibility of human passions; for, when he beheld Martha and Mary and their friends around him all in tears, the tender feelings of love, of pity, and of friendship, so moved him, that he mingled his... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID THE JEWS, BEHOLD, &C.— Our Lord's tears had also another use; they caused those who saw them to wonder the more at the death of Lazarus, and consequently to doubt of his divine power, who prevented it not; whence the subsequent miracle, as less expected by them, became the more wonderful.... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS SAID, TAKE YE AWAY THE STONE.— Our Lord could with infinite ease have commanded the stone to roll away of itself,without employing any to remove it. But he judiciously avoided all unnecessary pomp and parade, and mingled all the majestyof this astonishing miracle with the most amiable modesty... [ Continue Reading ]
SAID I NOT UNTO THEE, &C.— Either Jesus had said more to Martha than is recorded, or possibly these words may be collected from the message which Jesus sent, John 11:4 and from what he said, John 11:25.; but we are not to suppose that in these histories we have an account of every word that was spok... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JESUS LIFTED UP HIS EYES, AND SAID,— On many occasions Jesus had publicly appealed to hisown miracles, as the proofs of his mission; but he did not ordinarily make a formal address to his Father before he worked them. Nevertheless, being about to raise Lazarus from the dead, he, in this instance... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE THUS HAD SPOKEN, HE CRIED, &C.— The dead man heard the voice of the Son of God, and came forth immediately; for he did not revive slowly and by degrees, as the dead child did, which was raised by the prophet Elijah. But the effect, thus instantly following the command, plainly shewed who... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE THAT WAS DEAD CAME FORTH,— It would have been the least part of the miracle, had Jesus made the rollers, with which Lazarus was bound, to unloose themselves from around his body, before he came forth: but he brought him out just as he was lying, and ordered the spectators to loose him, that t... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN MANY OF THE JEWS—BELIEVED— Considering the nature and circumstances of this great miracle, it ought to have silenced the peevishness of cavilling, might have overcome the obstinacy of prejudice, and should have put to shame the impudence of malice; for the deliberate and purposed delay of Chris... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN GATHERED THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND THE PHARISEES A COUNCIL,— The account which was given of Lazarus's resurrection raised the indignation of the rulers to the highest pitch. They assembled the sanhedrim, or great council of the nation forthwith, and, after consultation, blamed one another for havin... [ Continue Reading ]
AND—CAIAPHAS, BEING THE HIGH-PRIEST THAT SAME YEAR, SAID, &C.— It is well known, that the high-priesthood among the Jews was not annual; but the manyrevolutions about this period might justify thepresent manner of speaking, which signifies no more, as some think, than in _those days,_ or _at that ti... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN FROM THAT DAY FORTH THEY TOOK COUNSEL, &C.— The evangelist does not tell us what the measure was which they pitched upon for this purpose; only from the last verse of the chapter, it seems probable, that they agreed to issue out a proclamation against Jesus, promising a reward to any one who wo... [ Continue Reading ]
INTO A CITY CALLED EPHRAIM,— The situation of _Ephraim_ has not yet been determined; all that John says of it, is, that it stood in a country _near the wilderness;_ perhaps he meant the wilderness which is said to have gone up from Jericho to Bethel, Joshua 16:1. For Josephus mentions _Ephraim_ as n... [ Continue Reading ]
TO PURIFY THEMSELVES.— As a variety of circumstances might happen to multitudes, which would require purification, so some sort of cleansing required no less than _seven days;_ and the vows of the Nazarites likewise required some time. Compare 2 Chronicles 30:17. Some would render the last clause of... [ Continue Reading ]