SECT. XXIII.

LAZARUS RAISED TO LIFE.*

(JOHN Xi.)

BETHANY.

Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When he had heard therefore

that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.

Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judea again. His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. These things said he : and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth ; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him. Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow-disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.† Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen fur*We have inserted here the raising of Lazarus to life on the authority of the principal harmonizers. Greswell, however, places it earlier.

Bethany lies almost hid from view in a small ravine at the base of Mount Olivet. It is about two miles from Jerusalem. By some harmonists a number of events are supposed to have happened on the way to Bethany, and Ebrard even thinks that several circuits were made; but all suppositions of the kind are wholly untenable, as Christ and his disciples seem to have travelled direct to Bethany. †Thomas conceived that nothing less than destruction could be the consequence of such a journey, the Jews having already attempted to put Jesus to death.

longs off. And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him : but Mary sat still in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. 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. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him. 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. 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.

They said Then said the

When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, and said, Where have ye laid him? unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Jews, Behold how he loved him! 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? Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.* Jesus said, Take ye

It was, and still is, customary to excavate sepulchres from the solid rock and to cover the mouth of the cave with a great stone. The body of the dead being carefully swathed in linen or cotton cloth, with a napkin tied over the forehead and under the chin, was deposited in the furthest part of the cave. Jesus here affords a striking testimony to his Messiahship, an emblem of his power to quicken the dead in sin, and a pledge of the final resurrection of believers to life and immortality.

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. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? 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. 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. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And 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. Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him. But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done.

Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: ard the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.* And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death. Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country

So great was the effect produced by this miracle that even from the ranks of his enemies Jesus obtained believers. The Pharisees and priests feared lest he should eventually attract to his side the entire nation, and, being considered a conspirator by the Romans, should incite them to a war of extermination. Caiaphas, filling the office of the high priesthood in the last year of its existencethe antitype being about to take the place of the type-utters unconsciously a prophecy respecting the Messiah's work. The Evangelist does not overlook the importance of the words nor the evidence furnished of the guiding hand of God, who makes even the malice of enemies the means of accomplishing his own designs.

K

near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim,* and there continued with his disciples.

Ten lepeis healed.

SECT. XXIV. INCIDENTS ON THE WAY TO

JERUSALEM.

(MATT. xix. MARK X. LUKE xvii., xviii. )

And Jesus arose from thence when he had finished all these sayings, and departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judea by the farther side of Jordan.† And great multitudes followed him, and he healed them there, and, as he was wont, taught them again.

And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: and they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way:

:

thy faith hath made thee whole.

And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the

*The situation of Ephraim cannot definitely be decided. It is generally, however, considered to have been the place about twenty miles to the north of Jerusalem which is mentioned in 2 Chron. xiii. 19. Here probably Jesus continued with his disciples for four or five weeks, and then commenced the eventful journey to Jerusalem, which terminated with his apprehension, sufferings, and death.

As

It is here probably that the accounts of Matthew and Mark again join the narrative of Luke. There is some difficulty about the expression used to describe the route by which Jesus journeyed; but the most probable solution is that he travelled along the boundary between Samaria and Galilee to the river Jordan, following the course of that river to Jericho, at which city we next find him. soon as he came into the valley of the Jordan he would meet large processions from the neighbourhood of the Sea of Galilee on the way to Jerusalem to attend the passover feast. Probably the position of the village where the ten lepers met Jesus was on the border of Samaria. Affliction, misfortune, and persecution induced them to associate. The priests were the judges of all leprous cases; them, therefore, the lepers were sent.

to

kingdom of God should come, he answered them and Discourse upon the said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: coming of the neither shall they say, Lo here! kingdom of or, lo there! for, God. behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away : and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life Gen. xix. 26. shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field, the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles Job xxxix. be gathered together.

30.

And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; saying, There was Parable of the importuin a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded nate widow. and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he

man;