Notes of an Address on John 11:19-4619And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. 20Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house. 21Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 22But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. 23Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. 24Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 27She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. 28And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. 29As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him. 30Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him. 31The 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. 32Then 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. 33When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, 34And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. 35Jesus wept. 36Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! 37And 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? 38Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. 39Jesus 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. 40Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? 41Then 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. 42And 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. 43And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. 44And 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. 45Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him. 46But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. (John 11:19‑46)
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THE WORD OF HOPE
Before the Lord's arrival at Bethany four long days had passed, and during those days the anxious, sorrowing women had one source of consolation. The Lord sent them a word of assurance. He told their messenger, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God that the Son of God may be glorified thereby.” This word was therefore carried to the weeping anxious women—the sickness was not unto death, but for the glory of God.
The faith of the women was tried by this delay. The Lord waited in apparent indifference, and did not go to the comfort and help of these distressed ones; though He sent them His word of assurance. And after all was not His word a sufficient basis for trust? He gave them His guarantee that the glory of God would be the final result of their brother's sickness. However unable they were to understand how this could be, the promise was given to sustain their hearts until the moment of deliverance came.
This history represents a condition of things which still recurs. And our great solace in the hour of trial is the word of the Lord. Some do not exercise faith until they are well out of their difficulties and sorrows. Then they are apt to exclaim, “Ah, I knew all would be well.” But up to the moment of deliverance they had been torn with doubts and fears. Yet there is the plain, general promise, “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose"; though we seldom, if ever, see at the time how they are working together for good, any more than the sisters at Bethany saw how their brother's sickness and death could be to the glory of God.
God's word then is given us for the strengthening of our faith. It is a sure means of comfort, for comfort signifies making the heart strong to endure. It enables the believer to lay hold upon his resources in God and to trust in them, the result being the possession of peace of heart in the midst of the most trying circumstances.
The disciples in the storm saw the winds and the waves stilled by the word of Jesus. Their agitated minds were then set at rest, but they might have been so before, for they were equally safe when the waves were raging. Our great difficulty is to view such matters in the abstract, and see the future result in the present. Confidence seems easy when we consider either the troubles that are past or that are to come; but when we are face to face with them it is not so simple. However it is during the trial of our faith that the fine gold is brought to view upon the surface (1 Peter 1:77That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: (1 Peter 1:7)).
In due time the Lord arrived at Bethany, and the truth of resurrection was demonstrated in the case of Lazarus, and death was robbed of its prey. Martha ran to meet Him, saying, “Lord, if thou hadst been here my brother had not died. But I know that even now whatsoever thou shalt ask of God, God will give it thee” (verses 21, 22). She believed Jesus was the Messiah, and she associated His personal presence in the chosen land with long life for the righteous. The Lord said to her, “Thy brother shall rise again.” But Martha's answer was, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (verses 23, 24).
In each of Martha's replies she stated what was absolutely true, but she found no comfort. She lacked the knowledge of the right truth. True comfort is based upon the particular truth suited to the circumstances of the moment. For this purpose the word of truth must be rightly divided. It is no question of rule or routine, but the Lord Himself in our trials and difficulties brings out of the Scriptures what shall be for our immediate benefit.
Clearly from what Martha said she did not realize that the Son of God was able to give life, to abolish death, to overcome him that had the power of death. So when the Lord spoke of her brother rising again, she said, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
This was a view that only tended to intensify her sorrow. Resurrection seemed so far off; it seemed long to wait until the last day. But the Lord had something to reveal which would suit her present need. In effect, the Lord showed that the key to her difficulty was with Himself. She was looking at the resurrection as an act of power at the end of all things. But Life was there before her. Life had come into the world, for “in him was life.” The Son was the source of it, the bestower of it; He possessed it as truly as He was a Man from Nazareth. He was the Resurrection and the Life; and it was not at all a question of God answering prayer as in the case of Elisha and the Shunammite's son.
But though what the Lord stated was a recondite doctrine, He gave it what perhaps may be called a personal form. He simply set Himself before her as the object for her heart. If it were a question of resurrection He was competent to undertake it and carry it through. Death introduced no difficulty to Him. One greater than all the universe beside said to Martha, “I am the Resurrection and the Life.”
The Lord Jesus Christ therefore at the graveside issued His command, “Lazarus, come forth,” and the dead man came forth at that word. Previously He had declared, “The hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice [the Son of man's] and shall come forth.” He was then speaking of a day that is yet to come. But here at Bethany He demonstrated that His power was then present, and the bystanders witnessed the dead brother of Mary and Martha respond to the voice of Him who was the Resurrection and the Life.
THE GENERAL APPLICATION
The Lord in this revelation communicated a great truth, but one which is of general application. It was the habit of His ministry not to confine the scope of His words and deeds to the particular case in hand. Here the Lord came to restore by resurrection Lazarus to his sorrowing sisters, but the words He spoke have a far wider range than that domestic circle. The fact that He was the Resurrection and the Life was spoken not only for Martha and Mary, but for all who should believe in Him.
In His presence a dead person should live since He was the Resurrection, and in His presence a living person should never die, since He bestowed what is called “life more abundantly,” that is, a life that death cannot touch. Hence He said, “He that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die” (verses 25, 26, R.V.).
The doctrine of this passage is more fully expanded in the Epistles, where the effect of the coming of the Lord upon those who believe is set forth in greater detail. When He comes for His saints it will be in connection with the redemption of the body. If a believer is dead or “asleep” as scripture terms it, His resurrection-power will be exercised. The Lord will speak; and the effect of His call will be that the dead in Christ will rise and come forth from their graves.
Thus Lazarus is a type of the saints who will be “asleep” when Christ comes. Others beside Lazarus were dead and lying in their sepulchers at Bethany, but the Lord only addressed the one whom He knew and loved. He made a selection among those who were in the grave. And when the Lord descends from heaven with a shout, only those who know that voice will respond. Those whom the Shepherd knows and who know Him will hear His voice and will issue from their graves in the glory of the first resurrection.
Believers who will then be alive will likewise be affected by His coming. Only the order will be that which is indicated by the Lord's words—the Resurrection and the Life. First the dead will be raised; then the living will be changed, for those living and believing in Him will never die according to His promise. Those therefore who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord will not have the precedence of those that have fallen asleep in Christ.
The apostle dwells upon this theme when writing to the Thessalonian assembly (1 Thess. 4:13-1813But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13‑18)). It was a great concern of theirs that some of their number had “gone before” into the grave; and they feared that they would, in consequence, miss the joys of Christ's coming. But the reverse was the case. The departed would gain and not lose. They would rise first and then the living would be changed. The victors over the grave would have the precedence of the victors over death. And this order is in perfect correspondence with that of the Fourth Gospel.
At first sight we might imagine that Life and Resurrection is a preferable sequence, since the Son speaks of giving eternal life to the believer now. And this of course is true. Only a different line of things is before us here. The Lord is dealing with man's body—the corporeal nature. Therefore the exercise of His power is first of all in the way of resurrection.
But there was a greater wonder than resurrection, and this the Lord unfolded when He said, “Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believeth thou this?” Martha was a believer truly, but she did not understand the Lord's meaning in this revelation. However she did trust the Lord, and this trust she expressed in her reply, “Yea, Lord; I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world” (ver. 27). Though she failed to penetrate the depths of meaning in this truth, her great safeguard was her faith in the Lord which indeed qualified her to participate in the great blessing when He comes.
The Lord passed on to exemplify the truth of what He had uttered concerning Himself as the Resurrection. He raised Lazarus, but before He did so He showed sympathy to the full with those who were suffering in this sore trial. He felt the sorrow of this havoc which death had wrought at Bethany. Here were two sensitive sisters bowed down and broken-hearted by their brother's untimely decease. Death had robbed them of their loved one. And the Lord entered fully into the intense sadness of this bereavement. In His groans and tears He displayed such feelings of agitation that even the Jews said, “Behold how he loved him” (verse 36).
Some might possibly conceive that such manifestations of sorrow on the part of our Lord were needless, seeing He was about to raise Lazarus. But think what we should have missed if there were no record of His groaning and shedding tears. Now we may see how He knows “our frame.” As the prophet said of Him, “He bare our sorrows, and carried our infirmities.” He not only ministered to the sick and afflicted, but He did so with the truest and most effective sympathy.
If we seek to sympathize with the suffering it is needful that we should take their sorrows to ourselves. Merely to speak a word of condolence to others is not genuine sympathy. We must appropriate the trials of others and carry them upon the spirit. For such a service we need to have the Spirit of the Master within us, learning first His comfort for ourselves as displayed here, and then ministering the same to others.
In the consideration of this passage we have seen some glimpses of its beauty and instruction, but we may be sure that in every further contemplation of it we shall behold something fresh and something comforting. W.J.H.