CHAPTER XI. _Account of the sickness of Lazarus_, 1. _His sisters Martha and Mary send for Christ_, 2. _Our Lord's discourse with his disciples on this sickness and_ _consequent death_, 3-16. _He arrives at Bethany four days after the burying of Lazarus_, 17, 18. _Martha meets Christ-their co... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:2. _IT WAS_ THAT _MARY WHICH ANOINTED_] There is much disagreement between learned men relative to the two anointings of our Lord, and the persons who performed these acts. The various conjectures concerning these points the reader will find in the notes on Matthew 26:7, c., but partic... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:3. _HE WHOM THOU LOVEST IS SICK._] Nothing could be more _simple_, nor more _modest_, than this prayer: they do not say, Come and heal him: or, Command the disease to depart even where thou art, and it will obey thee: - they content themselves with simply stating the case, and using an... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:4. _THIS SICKNESS IS NOT UNTO DEATH_] Not to final privation of life at this time; but a temporary death shall be now permitted, that the glory of God may appear in the miracle of his resurrection. It is very likely that this verse contains the message which Christ sent back, by the pe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:5. _NOW JESUS LOVED MARTHA, AND HER SISTER, AND LAZARUS._] Therefore his staying _two days longer_ in Bethabara was not through lack of affection for this distressed family, but merely that he might have a more favourable opportunity of proving to them _how_ _much_ he loved them. Chris... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:8. _THE JEWS OF LATE SOUGHT TO STONE THEE_] It was but a few weeks before that they were going to stone him in the temple, on the day of the feast of the dedication, John 10:31.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:9. _ARE THERE NOT TWELVE HOURS IN THE DAY?_] The Jews, as well as most other nations, divided the day, from sun-rising to sun-setting, into twelve equal parts; but these parts, or hours, were longer or shorter, according to the different seasons of the year. John 1:39. Our Lord allud... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:11. _LAZARUS SLEEPETH_] It was very common among the Jews to express _death_ by _sleep_; and the expression, _falling_ _asleep - sleeping with their fathers_, c., were in great use among them. The Hebrews probably used this form of speech to signify their belief in the _immortality_ of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:12. _IF HE SLEEP, HE SHALL DO WELL._] That is, _if he sleep_ _only_, c. Though the word sleep frequently meant death, (see Acts 7:60; 1 Corinthians 11:30; 1 Corinthians 15:18, 1 Corinthians 15:20), yet, as it was an ambiguous term, the disciples appear here to have mistaken its meanin... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:15. _I AM GLAD FOR YOUR SAKES THAT I WAS NOT THERE_] "I tell you plainly, Lazarus is dead: and I am glad I was not there - if I had been, I should have been prevailed on to have healed him almost as soon as he fell sick, and I should not have had so striking an occasion to manifest the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:16. _THOMAS, WHICH IS CALLED DIDYMUS_] _Thomas_, or תאום _Thaom_, was his _Hebrew_ name, and signifies a _twin _- one who had a brother or a sister born with him at the same time: _Didymus_, διδυμος, is a literal translation of the Hebrew word into _Greek_. In Genesis 25:24, _Esau_ and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:17. _HE HAD_ LAIN _IN THE GRAVE FOUR DAYS ALREADY._] Our Lord probably left _Bethabara_ the day, or the day after, Lazarus died. He came to _Bethany_ three days after; and it appears that Lazarus had been buried about four days, and consequently that he had been put in the grave the da... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:18. _FIFTEEN FURLONGS_] About two miles: for the Jewish miles contained about seven furlongs and a half. So _Lightfoot_, and the _margin_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:19. _MANY OF THE JEWS CAME_] Bethany being so nigh to Jerusalem, many of the relatives and friends of the family came, according to the Jewish custom, to mourn with the afflicted sisters. Mourning, among the Jews, lasted about _thirty_ days: the _three_ first days were termed days of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:20. _MARTHA - WENT AND MET HIM_] Some suppose she was the eldest of the two sisters - she seems to have had the management of the house. See Luke 10:40. _MARY SAT_ STILL _IN THE HOUSE._] It is likely that by this circumstance the evangelist intended to convey the idea of her sorrow a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:21. _IF THOU HADST BEEN HERE, MY BROTHER HAD NOT DIED._] Mary said the same words to him a little after, John 11:32, which proves that these sisters had not a complete knowledge of the omnipotence of Christ: they thought he could cure at hand, but not at a distance; or they thought th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 22. _I KNOW, THAT EVEN NOW_] She durst not ask so great a favour in direct terms; she only intimated modestly that she knew he could do it.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 23. _THY BROTHER SHALL RISE AGAIN._] That is, directly; for it was by raising him immediately from the dead that he intended to comfort her.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 24. _I KNOW THAT HE SHALL RISE AGAIN IN THE RESURRECTION_] The doctrine of the _resurrection of the dead_ was then commonly received; and though it was our Lord who fully _exemplified_ it by his own resurrection, yet the opinion was common, not only among God's people, but among all those who... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 25. _I AM THE RESURRECTION, AND THE LIFE_] Thou sayest that thy brother shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day; but by whom shall he arise if not by ME, who am the author of the resurrection, and the source of life? And is it not as easy for me to raise him _now_ as to raise him... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 26. _SHALL NEVER DIE._] Or, _Shall not die for ever_. Though he die a temporal death. he shall not continue under its power for ever; but shall have a resurrection to life eternal. _BELIEVEST THOU THIS?_] God has determined to work in the behalf of men only in proportion to their _faith_ in h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 27. _YEA, LORD: I BELIEVE_] πεπιστευκα, _I have believed_. Either meaning that she had believed this for some time past, or that, since he began to teach her, her faith had been considerable increased; but verbs _preter_, in Greek, are often used to signify the _present_. Martha here acknowled... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 28. _THE MASTER IS COME_] This was the appellation which he had in the family; and from these words it appears that Christ had inquired for Mary, desiring to have her present, that he might strengthen her faith, previously to his raising her brother.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 30. _JESUS WAS NOT YET COME INTO THE TOWN_] As the Jewish burying places were without their cities and villages, it appears that the place where our Saviour was, when Martha met him, was not far from the place where Lazarus was buried. Luke 7:12, Luke 7:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 31. _SHE GOETH UNTO THE GRAVE TO WEEP THERE._] It appears that it was the custom for the nearest relatives of the deceased to go at times, during the three days of weeping, accompanied by their friends and neighbours, to mourn near the graves of the deceased. They supposed that the spirit hove... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 33. _HE GROANED IN THE SPIRIT_, c.] Here the blessed Jesus shows himself to be _truly man_ and a man, too, who, notwithstanding his amazing dignity and excellence, did not feel it beneath him to sympathize with the distressed, and weep with those who wept. After this example of our Lord, shall... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 35. _JESUS WEPT._] The least verse in the Bible, yet inferior to none. Some of the _ruthless_ ancients, improperly styled _fathers_ of the Church, thought that weeping was a degradation of the character of Christ; and therefore, according to the testimony of _Epiphanius_, Anchorat. c. 13, raze... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 36. _BEHOLD HOW HE LOVED HIM!_] And when _we_ see him pouring out his blood and life upon the cross for mankind, we may with exultation and joy cry out, _Behold how he hath loved US_!... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 37. _COULD NOT THIS MAN, WHICH OPENED THE EYES_, c.] Through the maliciousness of their hearts, these Jews considered the tears of Jesus as a proof of his weakness. We may suppose them to have spoken thus: "If he loved him so well, why did he not heal him? And if he could have healed him, why... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 38. _IT WAS A CAVE_, c.] It is likely that several of the Jewish burying-places were made in the sides of rocks some were probably dug down like a well from the upper surface, and then hollowed under into niches, and a flat stone, laid down upon the top, would serve for a door. Yet, from what... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 39. _TAKE YE AWAY THE STONE._] He desired to convince all those who were at the place, and especially those who took away the stone, that Lazarus was not only _dead_, but that _putrescency_ had already taken place, that it might not be afterwards said that Lazarus had only fallen into a lethar... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 40. _IF THOU WOULDEST BELIEVE_, c.] So it appears that it is _faith_ alone that interests the miraculous and saving power of God in behalf of men. Instead of δοξαν, _the glory_, one MS. reads δυναμιν, _the miraculous power_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 41. _WHERE THE DEAD WAS LAID._] These words are wanting in BC*DL, _three_ others; _Syriac, Persic, Arabic, Sahidic, AEthiopic,_ _Armenian, Vulgate, Saxon_, and in all the _Itala_. _Griesbach_ leaves them out of the text. _FATHER, I THANK THEE_] As it was a common opinion that great miracles m... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 43. _HE CRIED WITH A LOUD VOICE_] In John 5:25, our Lord had said, _that the time was coming, in which the dead should hear the_ _voice of the Son of God, and live_. He now fulfils that prediction, and _cries aloud_, that the people may take notice, and see that even death is subject to the so... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 44. _BOUND HAND AND FOOT WITH GRAVE - CLOTHES_] _Swathed about_ _with rollers _- κειριαις, from κειρω, _I cut_. These were long slips of linen a few inches in breadth, with which the body and limbs of the dead were swathed, and especially those who were embalmed, that the aromatics might be k... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 45. _MANY OF THE JEWS - BELIEVED ON HIM._] They saw that the miracle was incontestable; and they were determined to resist the truth no longer. Their friendly visit to these distressed sisters became the means of their conversion. How true is the saying of the wise man, _It is better to go to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 46. _BUT SOME OF THEM WENT THEIR WAYS_] Astonishing! Some that had seen even this miracle steeled their hearts against it; and not only so, but conspired the destruction of this most humane, amiable, and glorious Saviour! Those who _obstinately_ resist the truth of God are capable of every thi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 47. _THEN GATHERED THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND THE PHARISEES A_ _COUNCIL_] The Pharisees, as such, had no power to assemble councils; and therefore only those are meant who were scribes or elders of the people, in conjunction with _Annas_ and his son-in-law _Caiaphas_, who were the _high priests_ he... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 48. _ALL MEN WILL BELIEVE ON HIM_] If we permit him to work but a few more miracles like these two last (the cure of the blind man, and the resurrection of Lazarus) he will be universally acknowledged for the Messiah; the people will proclaim him king; and the Romans, who can suffer no governm... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 49. _CAIAPHAS BEING THE HIGH PRIEST THAT SAME YEAR_] By the law of Moses, Exodus 40:15, the office of high priest was _for life_, and the son of Aaron's race always succeeded his father, But at this time the high priesthood was almost _annual_: the Romans and Herod put down and raised up _who... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 50. _NOR CONSIDER_] Ye talk more at _random_ than according to _reason_, and the exigencies of the case. There is a various reading here in some MSS. that should be noticed. Instead of ουδε διαλογιζεσθε, which we translate, _ye do not consider_, and which properly conveys the idea of _conferri... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 51. _THIS SPAKE HE NOT OF HIMSELF_] Wicked and worthless as he was, God so guided his tongue that, contrary to his intention, he pronounced a prophecy of the death of Jesus Christ. I have already remarked that the doctrine of a _vicarious_ _atonement_ had gained, long before this time, univer... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 52. _AND NOT FOR THAT NATION ONLY_, c.] These, and the preceding words in John 11:51, are John's explication of what was _prophetic_ in the words of Caiaphas: as if John had said, He is indeed to die for the sins of the Jewish nation, but not for theirs alone, but for the sins of the whole wor... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 53. _THEY TOOK COUNSEL TOGETHER_] συνεβουλευσαντο, they were of _one accord_ in the business, and had _fully made up their minds_ on the subject; and they waited only for a proper opportunity to put him to death.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 54. _WALKED NO MORE OPENLY_] παρρησια, He did not go as before through the cities and villages, teaching, preaching, and healing the sick. _NEAR TO THE WILDERNESS_] Some MSS. add, of _Samphourein_, or _Samphourim_, or _Sapfurim_. _A CITY CHILLED EPHRAIM_] Variously written in the MSS., _Eph... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:55. _THE JEWS' PASSOVER WAS NIGH AT HAND_] It is not necessary to suppose that this verse has any particular connection with the preceding. Most chronologists agree that our Lord spent at least _two_ months in Ephraim. This was the last passover which our Lord attended; and it was at... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:56. _THEN SOUGHT THEY FOR JESUS_] Probably those of _Ephraim_, in whose company Christ is supposed to have departed for the feast, but, having stayed behind, perhaps at Jericho, or its vicinity, the others had not missed him till they came to the temple, and then inquired among each ot... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 11:57. _HAD GIVEN A COMMANDMENT_] Had given order; εντολην, _positive order_, or _injunction_, and perhaps with a grievous _penalty_, that no one should keep the place of his residence a secret. This was their hour, and the power of darkness; and now they are fully determined to take away... [ Continue Reading ]