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B. W. Johnson
The Christian International Lesson Commentary for 1886

LESSON IV.--JULY 25.

THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS.--JOHN 11:17-44.

      GOLDEN TEXT.--Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life.--JOHN 11:25.
      TIME.--Last year of the ministry of Christ.
      PLACE.--Bethany, near Jerusalem.
      HELPFUL READINGS.--Dan. 12:1-4; John 5:21-29; 1 Cor. 15:1-54; 1 Thess. 4:14-17; Rev. 20:11-15.
      LESSON ANALYSIS.--1. Consolation to the Mourning Sisters; 2. That Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life Declared; 3. That He is the Resurrection and the Life Demonstrated.

INTRODUCTION.

      Starting from beyond the Jordan Christ might have reached Bethany on the evening of the first day's journey, but more probably about midday of the second. On his arrival he paused without the village for some reason. He was close to Jerusalem, the seat of his deadly enemies; while he never shrank from danger, neither did he rush heedlessly into it, and many Jews, evidently of influence, had been drawn to Bethany to offer their consolation to the mourning family; it was therefore desirable that the Lord should act with caution. The word was carried to the sisters, perhaps by one of his disciples sent forward before him, that the Lord was at hand. Mary, absorbed in her grief, does not seem to have heard it, but Martha, ever active and prompt, immediately went forth to meet him.


      17 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.
      18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:
      19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
      20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.
      21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
      22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.
      23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
      24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
      25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
      26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
      27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
      28 And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.
      29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.
      30 Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.
      31 The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.
      32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
      33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled.
      34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
      35 Jesus wept.
      36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!
      37 And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?
      38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
      39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
      40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
      41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
      42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
      43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
      44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
      17 So when Jesus came he found that he had been in the tomb four days already.   18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off;   19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother.   20 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary still sat in the house.   21 Martha therefore said unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.   22 And even now I know that whatsoever thou shalt ask of God, God will give thee.   23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.   24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.   25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live;   26 and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die. Believest thou this?   27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I have believed that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, even he that cometh into the world.   28 And when she had said this, she went away, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is here, and calleth thee.   29 And she, when she heard it, arose quickly, and went unto him.   30 (Now Jesus was not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met him.)   31 The Jews then who were with her in the house, and were comforting her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up quickly and went out, followed her, supposing that she was going unto the tomb to weep there.   32 Mary therefore, when she came where Jesus was, and saw him, fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.   33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,   34 and said, Where have ye laid him? They say unto him, Lord, come and see.   35 Jesus wept.   36 The Jews therefore said, Behold how he loved him!   37 But some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of him that was blind, have caused that this man also should not die?   38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it.   39 Jesus saith, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh; for he hath been dead four days.   40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou believedst, thou shouldest see the glory of God?   41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou heardest me.   42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the multitude that standeth around I said it, that they may believe that thou didst send me.   43 And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth!   44 He that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes; and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

      17. He found that he had lain in the grave four days already. Christ had in Galilee raised two persons from the dead, one soon after death; the other from the bier on which he was carried to burial. Now, in Judea, right at Jerusalem, in the face of his enemies, and just before his own death and burial, a crowning miracle is to be wrought. He will demonstrate that he is "the Resurrection and the Life" by demanding back from the grave one buried, buried four days, a period so long that in that hot climate decomposition had begun. The miracle is to be wrought under circumstances such that the most captious cannot question the reality of the death, or the resurrection.

      18. Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem. It was on the eastern slope of Mt. Olivet, distant fifteen stadia, or furlongs. The stadium was 600 feet, so that the distance was 9,000 feet, or a little less than two miles. [171]

      19. And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary. By "Jews" John distinguishes the inhabitants of Judea and usually means those of influence or official character. They came to "comfort." Pharisaism arranged that friends and professional mourners should, after the funeral, sit with the afflicted on the floor, silent, unless the latter spoke, but always ready to take up the word and add some instruction. Thirty days of mourning were prescribed, divided into three periods, with rigid rules for each period.

      20. Martha . . . went and met him. Where Christ, either from caution, or because the mourning customs were offensive to him, or that the family might be prepared, had paused. The bustling, active sister, the type of all the Marthas, goes; the quiet Mary, so absorbed that she did not hear the message, remains.

      21, 22. If thou hadst been here, etc. These words express a conviction, a lamentation and a slight degree of reproach, all combined. She cannot realize that "All things work for good to them that love God" and groans in her sorrow, but at the same time intimates a faint hope, that she hardly dares to express, in the words, "I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee." She had a hope, probably hardly defined in her own mind.

      23, 24. Thy brother shall rise again. Martha does not understand this as an assurance that Lazarus shall be raised now, nor do I know that the Savior wished her so to understand it. His object was to lead her to a higher faith in himself as the "Resurrection and the Life." She declares her belief that he will rise at the last day, a belief that she held in common with all Jews except the Sadducees.

      25. I am the resurrection, and the life. She had declared her belief in the resurrection. Christ makes the grand, striking declaration that he is the RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE, words that never could have fallen from the lips of a sane mortal. They mean that he is the power which opens every grave, gives life to the sleepers, and calls them forth to a new existence; that the life that endows men with eternal being is in him and proceeds from him. In the light of his own resurrection they mean that when he burst open the tomb he did it for humanity and in him humanity has won the victory over death. His utterance was far [172] above what mere man could utter; it proclaimed a divine being and power, but the resurrection of Lazarus, a few moments later, was the demonstration of the truth of his words. His utterance was grander than man, Godlike, but immediately followed by a Godlike act in demonstration. It is another mode of declaring the same truth uttered when he told the Samaritans that he was the Water of Life, or the Galileans that he was the Bread of Life.

      26. Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Those dead, who believed in him, shall be raised and live, and those living who believe, shall never perish. Death will only be a change to a better existence and is to be disregarded. Whoever has faith in Christ, has Christ in him the hope of glory, never knows death, but passes at once "to be with Christ," to join the "general assembly and church of the first born whose names are written in heaven." There is no purgatory, no dismal Hades, no long period of unconsciousness, no death, because there is no cessation of their life in Christ.

      27. I believe that thou art the Christ, etc. He asks about her faith. She responds by the good confession that embraces all, Martha's creed, Peter's creed, the true "Apostles' creed," the only creed of the Apostolic church.

      28, 29, 30. Called Mary her sister secretly. The Lord had evidently directed her to do this, for she said, "The Master calleth for thee." At once, with a promptitude that shows her joy, Mary arose and hastened out of the town to the place where the Lord still tarried.

      31. She goeth to the grave to weep there. The message to Mary was secret. When she suddenly arose and left hurriedly the only explanation that suggested itself to the Jews was that she had gone to weep at the tomb, a custom of Jewish women. They at once followed obtrusively, thus preventing a private interview of the Master with Mary such as he had had with Martha. [173]

      32. She fell down at his feet. Her act depicts her grief, her dependence, and her faith in Christ. Her words are the same that Martha had uttered. Had the Lord been there her brother would not have died.

      33, 34. He groaned in spirit and was troubled. The word rendered "groaned," undoubtedly means "was indignant" and is so rendered in the margin of the Revision. Jesus was deeply moved by the grief of Mary, but the hypocritical weeping of the Jews who followed her and who were acting according to the rules, filled him with indignation. Instead of pausing to console Mary, he asked at once for the place of sepulture. Empty forms were odious to him.

      35. Jesus wept. The shortest verse in the Bible and one of the most touching. I see in the Lord weeping over the sins of Jerusalem, the Prophet; but in the Lord weeping at the tomb of Lazarus, the Brother.

      36, 37. Behold how he loved him! Some of the Jews were touched by his evidence of tender affection. Others, remembering the healing of the blind man right there at Jerusalem, asked if he could not have saved Lazarus from death. The latter, however, spoke sneeringly in all probability. The occurrence of the words "groaning in himself" (was indignant) in verse 38, shows that there was something in their words to provoke his displeasure. The Greek particle rendered "And," means rather "but" and is so rendered by the Revision. Their argument is rather: "If he opened the eyes of a blind man, why could he not save a friend from death?"

      38. Jesus . . . cometh to the grave. Graves were sometimes cut perpendicularly in the rock, as we dig them in the earth, and sometimes were horizontally cut into the side of the hill. Sometimes natural eaves were selected and sometimes artificial. This family vault was a cave, closed by a stone that covered the entrance. For references to graves see Genesis 23:9 and 35:8; 1 Kings 2:24; Isaiah 14:15 and 22:16; Matthew 27:60; John 19:41.

      39, 40. Take ye away the stone. The large stone that closed the entrance and which several persons would be required to remove. The practical Martha at [174] once interposes. The body had been four days in the tomb, a period so long that decomposition must have begun. It will be offensive. She seems to have thought that the Lord's object was to look upon the dead body of his friend. He reminds her of his promise, conditioned upon their faith, contained in the message sent them (see verse 4). Their faith was to be shown, not in expectation, but in faithful obedience to his commands. Martha, at once, ceased to object, and the stone was removed. Faith, manifested in obedience, is a fundamental condition of divine blessing.

      41, 42. And Jesus lifted up his eyes. The Son always sought to honor the Father and to show that the Father was in him as he was in the Father. I thank thee that thou hast heard me. Constantly in communion with the Father he had the Father's answer already and assent to what he was about to do. Thou hearest me always. Even in Gethsemane, when the cup was not taken away; but he was now thankful that God had assented to his prayer, because such a miracle would induce the people to "believe that God had sent him."

      43. He cried in aloud voice. A suggestion of the "voice like the sound of many waters" (Rev. 1:15) at which all who are in their graves shall come forth (1 Thess. 4:16). It was the voice of authority. Lazarus, come forth. "Lazarus, here, out," is the literal rendering of the Greek; two words, simple, efficacious.

      44. And he that was dead came forth. The earth had never beheld a more wonderful or startling sight. At once the sleeper arose, came forth from the dark and cold bed where he had lain for four days, bound with his grave clothes, with the napkin still upon his face that had been bound under his jaw to keep it from falling. The lookers on, astonished, dazed, were only recalled to themselves, when the Lord bade them "Loose him and let him go." The winding sheet would interfere with his motion. A being with whom to will is to do, is divine. God said, Let there be light, and there was light. Christ said to the buried Lazarus, Come forth! and he came. There was not a moment's delay. So in all his miracles. Nature heard his voice at once. He spoke and it was done. [175]


PRACTICAL AND SUGGESTIVE.

      1. In our troubles we should send a message for Christ, as did the sisters of Bethany.

      2. Even if Christ delays his response we should not doubt that our troubles are for the glory of God and our own good. "All things work for good," etc.

      3. We should look upon Christ always as an all-sufficient helper. If present he can always deliver. "If thou hadst been here my brother had not died."

      4. We should always be assured of the tender sympathy of the Lord. "He can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities." He weeps with those who weep and rejoices with those who rejoice.

      5. We should never forget that He is the Fountain of Life; the Resurrection and the Life. If we have eaten the Bread of Life, drunk the Water of Life, have Christ the hope of glory formed in us, we have eternal life. It is begun. We are immortal. We shall never die. What is called death

                "Is only a narrow sea
That divides the heavenly land from ours."

      6. We have been told that there is inscribed on the monument over the clay of the infidel Hume, at Edinburg, Scotland, I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. In that grand truth is the hope of mankind.

      7. As he cried to Lazarus, Come forth, so shall he speak with the voice of an archangel to all that are in their graves and they shall come forth and live.

[CLC01 171-176]


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B. W. Johnson
The Christian International Lesson Commentary for 1886

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