Peræa to Bethany. Raising of Lazarus.

  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. [She could not say she believed it, for Lazarus had believed in Jesus and yet he had died. So, evading the question, she confessed her faith in him. Believing him, she accepted whatever he might say. She responds in the words of that apostolic creed which, in its ultimate application, embraces all that is true and discards all that is false ( Matthew 16:16 ; John 6:68 John 6:69 ; 20:31 ; 1 John 5:1-5 ).tfg.cgi?section=T#">Section

  28 And when she had said this, she went away, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Teacher is here, and calleth thee. [She called Mary secretly, for she wished that Mary might have a private word with Jesus such as she had just had.]

  29 And she, when she heard it, arose quickly [moved by ardent feeling], and went unto him.

  30 (Now Jesus was not yet come into the village, but was in the place where Martha met him.)

  31 The Jews then who were with her in the house, and were consoling 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.

[Rather, to wail ( Matthew 2:18 ; Mark 5:38 ). According to Eastern custom, the Jews followed her as friends, to assist in the demonstration of mourning. This frustrated the effort of Martha to keep secret the Lord's coming, and caused the miracle to be wrought in the presence of a mixed body of spectators.]

  30 (Now Jesus was not yet come into the village, but was in the place where Martha met him.)

  31 The Jews then who were with her in the house, and were consoling 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 [in grief and dependence, but with less self-control than Martha], saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. [That both sisters used this phrase, shows that it is an echo of the past feelings and conversations of the sisters. It is clear that they felt hurt at his not coming sooner, as he could have done.]

  33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled [The verb translated "groaned" carries in it the idea of indignation. But the fact that sin had brought such misery to those he loved was enough to account for the feeling],

  34 and said, Where have ye laid him? [This question was designed to bring all parties to the tomb; it was not asked for information. See Section 58,tfg.cgi?section=T#">Section They [the sisters] say unto him, Lord, come and see.

  35 Jesus wept.

[This is not the verb for wailing, but for shedding tears. On another occasion, when Jesus saw with prophetic eye a vast city, the center of God's chosen nation, sweeping on to destruction, he lamented aloud ( Luke 19:41 ), but here, as a friend, he mingled his quiet tears with the two broken-hearted sisters, thus assuring us of his sympathy with the individual grief of each lowly disciple ( Romans 12:15 ). Nor did the nearness of comfort prevent his tears. They were tears the midst of a family drowned in grief,--will not his tears flow with theirs, though he knows that he has the power of giving immediate relief?"]

  35 Jesus wept.

  36 The Jews therefore said, Behold how he loved him!

  37 But some of them said, Could not this man, who opened the eyes of him that was blind, have caused that this man also should not die?

[Knowing the miracle which he had performed upon a blind man ( John 9:1-13 ), they could therefore see no reason why he should not have performed one here.]

  37 But some of them said, Could not this man, who 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. [These stones were frequently in the shape of large grindstones resting in a groove, so that they could be rolled in front of the door of the tomb. Tombs had to be closed securely to keep out jackals and other ravenous beasts.]

  39 Jesus saith, Take ye away the stone. [Miracles only begin where human power ends.] Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time the body decayeth; for he hath been dead four days. [She evidently thought that Jesus wished to see the remains of his friend, and her sisterly feeling prompted her to conceal the humiliating ravages of death. Her words show how little expectation of a resurrection she had.]

  40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou believedst, thou shouldest see the glory of God? [Jesus reminds her of his words which are recorded in verses 25 and 26, and of the message which he sent, found in verse 4, thus removing her objections.]

  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.

[Jesus, dwelling in constant communion with the Father, knew that the Father concurred in his wish to raise Lazarus. He therefore makes public acknowledgment, and offers a prayer of thanksgiving, for the Father's gracious answer to this and all that it may induce faith in the bystanders. He wished all present to know that the miracle about to be wrought is not the work of some independent wonder-worker, but is performed by him as one commissioned and sent of God. In other words, the miracle was wrought to prove the concord between the Son and the Father, the very fact which the Jews refused to believe. Rationalists criticize this prayer as a violation of the principle at Matthew 6:5 Matthew 6:6 , and Weisse called it "prayer for show." But it shows on its face that it is not uttered by Jesus to draw admiration to himself as a praying man, but to induce faith unto salvation in those who heard.]

  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. [The loud cry emphasized the fact that the miracle was wrought by personal authority, and not by charms, incantations, or other questionable means. His voice was as it were an earnest of the final calling which all shall hear ( Revelation 1:5 ; John 5:28 John 5:29 ; 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ). It has been happily said he called Lazarus by name, lest all the dead should rise.]

  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. [It is thought by some that Lazarus walked forth from the tomb, and the fact that the Egyptians sometimes swathed their mummies so as to keep the limbs and even the fingers separate is cited to show that Lazarus was not so bound as to prevent motion. But the grave-clothes were like a modern shroud, wrapped around arms and legs, and mummies also were thus wrapped after their limbs were swathed. It was part of the miracle that Lazarus came out bound hand and foot, and John puts emphasis upon it.]

  45 Many therefore of the Jews, who came to Mary and beheld that which he did, believed on him.

  46 But some of them

[some of the class mentioned in verse 37] went away to the Pharisees, and told them the things which Jesus had done. [By the miracle Jesus had won many from the ranks of his enemies, but others, alarmed at cause for alarm. Farrar argues that these may have gone to the Pharisees with good intentions toward Jesus, but surely no friend of Jesus could have been so hasty to communicate with his enemies. But the way in which the Evangelist separates these from the believers of verse 45, stamps their action as unquestionably hostile.]

  46 But some of them