《The Biblical Illustrator – John (Ch.11~12)》(A Compilation)
11 Chapter 11
Verses 1-44
Verses 1-6
John 11:1-6
Now a certain man was sick named Lazarus of Bethany
Lazarus
The English reader would at first sight hardly recognize the New Testament “Lazarus” as identical with the Old Testament “Eleazar.
” The two words are, however, the same. In the dialect of the Jerusalem Talmud, words that begin with an aleph (in English, say, an unaspirated initial vowel, like a or e) often drop that initial. Eleazar (AL’AZR) thus becomes L’azar (L’AZR); and so the name occurs, in point of fact, more than once in the Talmud. When the word “Lazar,” again, was taken into the mouth of any person speaking Greek, he naturally added to it the Greek termination os (Latin, us), and so by gradual stages the Old Testament “Eleazar” became the New Testament “Lazarus.” (S. S. Times.)
Bethany
From the plain of Esdraelon southward to Hebron, and nearly parallel to the Mediterranean coast line, there extends a range of mountainous table land, in some points reaching an elevation of three thousand feet, and varying in breadth from twenty to twenty-five miles. Toward the south of the range, like a diadem on the head of the mountains, is the city of Jerusalem. East of the city, just across the deep and narrow valley of Jehosaphat, which forms the bed of the storm brook Kedron, rises the Mount of Olives. It is the most pleasant of all the mountains that are round about Jerusalem; in pilgrim language “the Mount of Blessing;” and travellers are frequently surprised by the beauty which still haunts it. It consists of a ridge a full mile long, curving gently eastward in its northern part, and rising into three rounded summits, of which the central and highest is more than twenty-six hundred feet above the level of the Mediterranean, and more than a hundred above the highest part of the neighbouring city. In a well-wooded and terraced ravine, high up on the eastern slope of the mount, screened from the summit by an intervening ridge, nestled the sweet village of Bethany. It is reached from Jerusalem (from which it is distant two short miles) by a rough bridle path, winding over bare rock and loose stones. Its name, “the place of dates,” seems to hint that it stood originally in the midst of palm trees. These trees, emblems of strength and victory, once so numerous that, in the coins of the Roman conquerors, “Judea Capta” appears as a woman weeping under a palm, have now disappeared from this neighbourhood as from Palestine generally. The modern hamlet (El-’Azariyeh, or the village of Lazarus, the old name not being locally known)
is inhabited by twenty or thirty thriftless Arab families. Into the walls of many of the houses large hewn stones are built, some of them beveled, which have evidently belonged to more ancient edifices. Though itself squalid and poverty-stricken, the village is very beautifully situated, looking out from a cloud of fruit trees, chiefly fig, almond, olive, and pomegranate, and with abundant pasturage around. It is sheltered from the cold north and west, and produces the earliest ripe fruit in the district, On the whole, it may claim to be regarded as one of the sweetest spots in Palestine, though greatly changed in the course of long ages of misrule from what it must have been when the land nourished a free and noble people; and to one who loves quiet beauty and peacefulness combined with a certain mystery, it commands one of the most striking landscapes in the southern part of the country. The house of Martha, that of Simon the leper, and the tomb of Lazarus, are still pointed out to visitors. The last is a deep vault, hewn out of the solid rock, in the very edge of the village. Dr. Robinson (followed by many) rejects the tradition which names this as the tomb; while others, relying on the notices in the Jerusalem Itinerary (A.D. 333), and by Eusebius and Jerome, are disposed to accept it, affirming that the vault has every characteristic of an ancient Jewish tomb both in form and construction, and accounting for its being so close upon the present village by the tendency of Jewish towns to advance, in the course of ages, toward spots reputed sacred. Most beautiful is the way in which Bethany is here named. In celestial geography, which counts places according to the saints who inhabit and beautify them, it was known to Jesus, it is known forever as the town of Martha and Mary and Lazarus. “This man was born there.” (J. Culross, D. D.)
The family at Bethany; or, natural varieties in religion
1.The facts of this chapter are a sufficient answer to the objection that there is no recommendation of friendship in the Bible. The Incarnate One Master and Model of man was a friend. Needing all the succours of our nature He sought and found those which friendship yields. Hence among His apostles there was an inner circle of three, and one of these especially “loved”; and among His general followers there was the family of Bethany.
2. It is delightful to think of Jesus there. It often happens that great men have some home where they may unbend, and where they need not be other than men, with the certainty of being loved. To Bethany Jesus betook Himself after the labours of the day, and there He felt at home.
3. Who would not like to have seen Him there? Home is the best sanctuary of the heart. It is an evil sign when it ceases to attract. We could have missed many scenes in Christ’s life rather than this.
4. There were three dwellers in that house. I do not know that He would or could have found, apart from female society, what He wanted and craved. The greatest men have always a feminine element, and have always pleasure in female fellowship. The household which Jesus loved presents religious varieties
I. IN ACTUAL EXISTENCE. We meet with them also in Luke 10:38-42, John 12:1-13.
1. These passages bring before us three types of character. Martha and Mary answering to Peter and John. On each occasion Martha is in action; while Mary is hearkening, sitting still, or pouring out her affection in unselfish homage. Of Lazarus’s works and acts we know nothing; but as Jesus loved him, we cannot imagine that there was nothing in him, or that what was in him was not good; and therefore conclude that it was of a kind which does not seek publicity. So we have here specimens of the three great departments of our nature--thought, feeling and action. They all loved Jesus after a natural manner, and Jesus loved them all and gave their characteristics immortal honour.
2. Men are naturally different in soul as in flesh. Had not man sinned we have no reason to suppose it would have been otherwise. There is endless variety in nature. There is difference in the Church. As man is not made alike, so he is not remade alike. This is true also of our minor parts and separate powers; not only of thoughts, but kinds of thinking, so of emotions and actions. Why not then in religion? In the case before us, in their quiet common life the presence of Jesus brings out their characteristic qualities, and so it does in their great woe and social feast.
II. AS MANIFESTED IN CONNECTION WITH CHRIST.
1. The practical in Martha honours Jesus. It has been a question whether the world is more indebted to men of action or of thought. Both are best, and both are necessary. Strong coupling chains are as needful as good engines, and “the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee.” Martha was the hand. Christ needed refreshment and she prepared it. I fancy her the bustling housewife, of robust health and good spirits, clear, but not deep in mind; warm-hearted, but not profound in feeling; ready to help, but judging help by coarser tests; honestly wishful for Mary’s help, but not displeased to have it known that she was doing alone; a woman who had no idea of letting the “grass grow under her feet,” and could express a bit of her mind. There are people of this sort in the Church: men of practical genius and active habits. I have known some never cool but when in hot water, and who never slept but as a top--on the spin. Like Martha, they “serve” and feed the body. They are the sappers and miners of the army, the Levites of the congregation. Let none usurp their office, and let them not themselves neglect it. But Martha warns them against two dangers
2. Mary represents the quiet, tender, sentimental disciples. Gentle, retiring, with a deep power of emotion, she preferred listening to labouring, privacy to publicity, worship to work, while yet her heart could well up on occasions in acts of unwonted love that would never have entered into Mary’s brains. There are Marys still, and they are not always feminine; as the Marthas are also often masculine; persons in whom the heart is the head. They are not good at general action, and are more remarkable for the fervour than the efficiency of their labours. As a rule their conception of ends is too high, and their conception of means too low. They work by impulse, and then they do more than others or nothing. They contribute to the gracefulness of religion, which requires “whatsoever things are lovely.” They add taste to its talents. Marthas supply the business-like prose, Marys the poetry of religion. Marthas rear the needful things in the garden of the Lord. Marys cultivate its flowers. Marthas “serve” the meals of the household of faith, Marys bring the costly spikenard. But this temperament is preeminently the temperament of devotion. The prayers of some speed the toil of others, returning like the rain, and blessing other scenes than those from which they rose. The Marthas little think, when in the full swing of their engagements, how much of their security and success is due to the prayers of the Marys.
3. Lazarus is a type of the more reflective, recipient, passive class. Had he been a man of much speech or action something of his as well as something about him would have been preserved. He had a heart open to Christ’s influence, pondered His discourse and deeds, and enjoyed a feast of wisdom and love while many were only being fed. There are such men still; they know more than they say, and feel more than they know. They are too sensitive for the rude friction of common life, and their retiring ways prevent their being appreciated or understood. They on whom Christ works may honour Him as well as those by whom He works.
III. HOW CHRIST TREATED THESE VARIETIES.
1. He recognized and honoured them. He sat at Martha’s table; He proclaimed His pleasure in Mary’s offering; and on Lazarus He wrought His most wondrous work. Special qualities, even when in excess, He did not reject. He looked at the motive. Whatever may be our native characteristics, love to Jesus will make them acceptable, and without that they will be an offence.
2. He guards them. When Martha would intrude on Mary’s sphere, He forbad her. And when the apostles censured Mary’s offering He reproved them. And still He looks with no kindly eye on those who are impatient of their brethren’s different excellences. There is a bigotry of character as well as of creed. On the other hand, there is a tendency in some to despond when conscious of the want of qualities which others exhibit. But you are called to be yourselves and to cultivate your own gifts. If you try to imitate others, you will spoil yourselves and caricature them.
3. He controls them. He gently chastened Martha’s anxious mind though He approved of Mary’s apparently wasteful offering; as much as to say--“If there be any extravagance let it be in honouring Me.” Martha’s activity was in danger of becoming worldliness; but Mary might go a great length in her affection without equal peril of losing her soul. The world reserves its praise for the devotees of Mammon, and the world is wrong. (A. J. Morris.)
Family disharmonies
What can be more irksome than to hear two sisters continually setting each other right upon trifling points, and differing from each other in opinion for no apparent reason but from a habit of contradiction? This family fault should be watched against; for it is an annoyance, though but a petty one, never to be able to open your lips without being harassed by such contradictions as, “Oh no! that happened on Tuesday, not Wednesday;” or if you remark that the clouds look threatening, to be asked in a tone of surprise, “Do you think it looks like rain? I am sure there is no appearance of such a thing.” Narrate an incident, every small item is corrected; hazard an opinion, it is wondered at or contradicted; assert a fact, it is doubted or questioned; till at length you keep silence in despair. (G. S. Bowes, B. A.)
He whom Thou lovest is sick
Christ’s love the comfort in sickness
A faithful, pious preacher was once lying dangerously ill, and the members of his church were praying earnestly at his bedside that the Lord would raise him up and preserve him to them; in doing so, among other things, they made mention of his tender watchfulness in feeding the lambs of the flock, making use of the expression, “Lord, Thou knowest how he loves Thee.” At this the sick man turned to them and said, “Ah, children, do not pray thus I when Mary and Martha sent to Jesus, their message was not--Lord, he who loveth Thee, but--Lord, behold he whom Thou lovest is sick! It is not my imperfect love to Him which comforts me, but His perfect love to me.” (R. Besser, D. D.)
The sisters’ message and the Lord’s response
The message contained no request. To a loving friend it was quite enough to announce the fact. Friends are not verbose in their descriptions. True prayer does not consist in much speaking, or fine long sentences. When a man’s child falls into a pit it is enough to tell the father the simple fact in the shortest manner possible. How useful it is to have praying sisters! As for our Lord’s reply, there was something very mysterious about it. He might of course have said plainly, “Lazarus will die, and then I will raise him again.” Yet there is a wonderful likeness between the style of His message and many an unfulfilled prophecy. He said enough to excite hope, and encourage faith and patience and prayer, but not enough to make Mary and Martha leave off praying and seeking God. And is not this exactly what we should feel about many an unfulfilled prediction of things to come? Men complain that prophecies are not so literally fulfilled as to exclude doubt and uncertainty. But they forget that God wisely permits a degree of uncertainty in order to keep on watching and praying. It is just what He did with Martha and Mary here. (Bp. Ryle.)
The appeal and the answer
I. THE COURSE THE SISTERS TOOK.
1. We need not doubt that they used all the means in their power for their brother’s restoration. But they looked to the Great Physician. This is one of the marks of a believer, that while he uses means he does not depend upon them.
2. They sent to Jesus. Their message was
II. THE GRACIOUS ANSWER. This was sent for present support until a complete answer could be given; and is so worded as to put their faith and patience to a severe test. The way by which Christ leads His people is that of simple confidence in Him. He directs them not to judge Him by the outward appearances of His providence at a dark and unfavourable moment; but by His sure word of promise (Isaiah 50:10). This answer may be viewed as the Lord’s general answer to His people--“for the glory of God.” The sorrow of the world has a different tendency Revelation 16:10-11). How mysterious must it have seemed after this message that their brother should die; but the mystery was afterwards unravelled, and the affliction, instead of terminating in death, was the occasion of giving physical and spiritual life. (J. Haldane Stewart, M. A.)
The test of discipleship
To whom do we go first in the time of our extremity? What is our resource in the day of trouble? Can we say with David, “From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee when my heart is overwhelmed?” or do we betake ourselves to some other helper? The answer to these questions will determine whether we are the friends of Jesus or not. Travelling once upon a railroad ear, I had among my fellow passengers a little laughing child who romped about and was at home with everybody, and while she was frolicking around it might have been difficult to tell to whom she belonged, she seemed so much the property of everyone; but when the engine gave a loud, long shriek, and we went rattling into a dark tunnel, the little one made one bound and ran to nestle in a lady’s lap. I knew then who was her mother! So in the day of prosperity it may be occasionally difficult to say whether a man is a Christian or not; but when, in time of trouble, he makes straight for Christ, we know then most surely whose he is and whom he serves. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)