John 11:45,46

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 Christ, his declaration of Lazarus's death, and prediction of his resurrection, the variety and multitude of the persons who were witnesses, the accidental circumstances which led them to be present, the consequent faith of many Jews who were there, (by no means prejudiced in favour of Jesus, or disposed to believe in him,) as well as the acknowledgment made of the reality of this miracle to the Jewish sanhedrim, are such testimonies, as must place this wonderful event beyond the power of cavil or contradiction: wherefore we cannot help being surprised to find that the cry, Lazarus, come forth, did not produce on all who were present an effect some way similar to that which it had on Lazarus: it raised him from the natural death, and might, through divine grace, have raised the most stupid of the spectators from the spiritual, by working in them the living principle of faith. It afforded, however, a dreadful confirmation of that weighty truth, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Every reader must be sensible that there is something incomparably beautiful in the whole of our Lord's behaviour on this occasion; after having given such an astonishing instance of his power, he did not speak one word in his own praise, either directly or indirectly. He did not rebuke the Jews for having, in former instances, maliciously detracted from the lustre of his miracles, every one of which derived additional credit from this incontestable wonder. He did not say how much they were to blame for persisting in their incredulity, though he well knew what they would do: he did not insinuate, even in the most distant manner, the obligations which Lazarus and his sisters were laid under bythis signal favour; he did not upbraid Martha and Mary with the discontent that they had expressed, at his having delayed to come to the relief of their brother. Nay, he did not so much as put them in mind of the mean notion they had entertained of his power; but, always consistent with himself, he was on this, as on every other occasion, a pattern of perfect humility and absolute self-denial. It is beautiful to observe the gradation in the resurrections of the dead performed by our Lord: the first person he raised, Jairus's daughter, had been in the state of death only a few hours; the second, the son of the widow of Nain, was raised as his friends were carrying him out to burial; but when Jesus recalled Lazarus to life, he had been in the grave no less than four days; and therefore, according to our apprehensions, his resurrection was the greatest of the three, the whole power of death being accomplished upon h