SYNOPSIS OF CHAPTER XIV

I.

IN BETHANY:

              The Village Described.

              Jesus and His Friends.

II.

IN JERUSALEM:

              The Feast of the Dedication.

              Why instituted?

                            How celebrated?

              Our Lord in the Porch of Solomon:

              His claims to be “One with the Father.”

                            His escape from the hands of the Jews.

III.

BEYOND THE JORDAN:

              Jesus and the Pharisees.

              Jesus and the Classes despised by the Pharisees.

              Our Lord and His Disciples.

IV.

IN BETHANY AGAIN: THE RAISING OF LAZARUS.

              Narrative of the Miracle (John 11:1–44).

              Its Consequences (John 11:45–54).

1. In Bethany. After having crossed the Jordan Jesus followed the wild road from Jericho to Jerusalem, and while His disciples pushed up to the Holy City to prepare for the festival of the Dedication, now very near at hand, He stopped at the little village of Bethany, about 2 miles east of the Jewish capital. This hamlet, now called El ‘Azarîjeh, consists at present of about forty hovels occupied by Mussulman inhabitants. It is surrounded by fig-gardens and terrace-walls, which present rather a pleasant aspect. In the centre of the village is a tall square tower rising above what is pointed out as the tomb of Lazarus, a deep recess cut into the rock, over which a church had been erected in the fourth century of our era. Bethany was for Our Lord a convenient place of rest and seclusion, because it was situated on the eastern slope of Mount Olivet, which shut it out from the busy city of Jerusalem, and also because it was the home of souls dear to His heart—Martha, Mary, and their brother Lazarus.

The visit of Jesus at this comparatively wealthy house was most welcome. This is manifest not only from the care and trouble of Martha in preparing food for Our Lord, but also from the calm attitude of Mary, who, sitting at the feet of Jesus, gave undivided attention to His words. In her anxiety to supply everything for Our Lord’s comforts Martha complained to Him of the apparent inaction of her younger sister. The reply of Jesus was no less admirable for its delicacy than for its far-reaching import. He gently called the attention of Martha to the distraction which her great solicitude about material things caused her, and then He added these remarkable words: “But one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

2. In Jerusalem. From Bethany Our Lord proceeded to Jerusalem to attend the feast of the Dedication. This festival occurred in the beginning of winter, in the Jewish month corresponding to part of November and December. It was instituted (B.C. 164) by Judas Machabeus in commemoration of the cleansing of the Temple after it had been profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes. It reminded the Jews of recent victories over the Gentiles, and accordingly it had become one of the favorite solemnities of the nation, now groaning under the hated yoke of pagan Rome. Although this festival could be kept everywhere throughout the land, yet crowds of patriots repaired yearly to Jerusalem for its eight days’ celebration.

It was about two months since Jesus had last been in Jerusalem, and it was well known to the Jewish authorities that during a great part of that time He had acted as one seeming to claim the Messianic dignity, yet not explicitly declaring Himself. As soon, therefore, as the Jewish rulers saw Him walking “in the Temple, in Solomon’s porch”—probably the eastern portico of the Court of the Gentiles—they came around Him and said, “How long dost Thou hold our souls in suspense? If Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.” In His answer Our Lord pointed to His well-known miracles as a sufficient evidence for all men disposed to hear, recognize, and follow Him. Then He went on, stating that His hand and the Father’s hand are one, and finally He declared explicitly, “I and the Father are one.” These last words of Jesus plainly amounted to a claim of the divine nature, and this the Jews understood so well that at once they took up stones to put Him to death, because of blasphemy, “and because that He, being a man, made Himself God.”

Our Lord then argued with His enemies (1) that there was no blasphemy on His part in saying, “I am the Son of God,” since the very name “God” was repeatedly ascribed in Holy Writ to God’s created representatives; (2) that the truth of His claim to intercommunion of nature between Himself and the Almighty was clearly evinced by the works of divine power He had so often wrought before their eyes. Their only reply was an attempt to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hands and withdrew from Judæa.

3. Beyond the Jordan. Threatened with imminent death, Jesus hastened to go again beyond the Jordan into the safer province of Peræa, and He took up His abode in Bethany, beyond Jordan, where John had formerly baptized. The words which the holy precursor had uttered on several occasions about Our Lord’s character and mission were still rumored in the district of Bethany, and many, having resorted to Jesus to ascertain whether He was indeed the Messias, believed in Him.

To this period of the last year of Our Lord’s ministry we may probably refer the various events which are recorded in Chapters 14–17:10 of St. Luke. Several of these events show us how, on the one hand, the Pharisees continued their hostility against Jesus, striving to entrap Him (14:1), to undermine His authority with the people (15:2), etc.; and how, on the other hand, Our Lord unmasked their hypocrisy (14:5, 6), rebuked their pride and their selfishness (14:7 sq.), and opposed their false notion that because they were the first invited guests of the kingdom they were sure to obtain a place therein (14:16–24). Very different, indeed, were the relations of Our Saviour with the classes despised by the Pharisees. They willingly drew near Him, knowing that they would find in Him a tender compassion for their manifold miseries; and He, on His part, delivered several touching parables—such as the parables of the lost sheep, of the prodigal son—on their behalf. Meantime Jesus inculcated upon His disciples important lessons, such as the necessity of self-denial to follow Him, the duty of forgiveness, etc., etc.

4. In Bethany Again. Jesus had been for some considerable time beyond the Jordan when He received from Martha and Mary a message informing Him of the illness of their brother, Lazarus. The words of their delicate prayer touchingly indicate the affectionate intimacy existing between Our Lord and this family: “Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick.”

Instead of uttering a word of power to heal His friend at a distance or of hastening to Bethany Jesus “remained still in the same place two days,” knowing that this illness of Lazarus was to be the occasion of great glory to “God” and to the “Son of God.”

On the third day Our Saviour proposed to His disciples to go into Judæa again, and they, learning from His mouth that their common friend Lazarus was actually dead, agreed to their Master’s proposal, despite their fears lest His enemies should apprehend Him and put Him to death.

Lazarus had died on the very day his sisters sent their anxious message to Jesus, and his burial had, according to Eastern customs, taken place a few hours after his death. As Our Lord started only after a two days’ delay, and spent a day to cross the Jordan and reach Bethany, he found at His arrival that His friend “had been four days already in the grave.” It was therefore in the midst of the seven days of mourning, and the friends of the family had come from Jerusalem, only about 2 miles distant, to pay the customary visit of condolence to the two sisters.

On the news of Our Saviour’s approach spreading through the village, Martha rushed out to meet Him, while Mary remained in the house. The words of Martha betrayed at once her faith and her sorrow: “Lord,” she said, “if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died;” then she ventured to mention her hope that He, even now, would do something for them. This was followed by the sublime words of Jesus, “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me, although he be dead, shall live,” and by the wonderful act of faith of Martha, “Yea, Lord, I have believed that Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, who art come into this world.”

Upon Mary’s arrival in tears, and accompanied by weeping friends, the scene became so moving that Jesus, weeping in His turn and groaning in spirit, inquired where they had laid the dead.

They repaired to the sepulchre, which was a cave, the mouth of which was closed with a large stone. At the bidding of Jesus, and despite the expostulations of Martha, the stone was removed, and after a brief prayer of thanksgiving to His Father, the Son of God uttered these three simple words: “Lazarus, come forth!” The summons was obeyed, and Lazarus, soon freed from the garments of death which were wound round his body, walked out of the sepulchre.

This was, indeed, a work of divine power, and many Jews who had witnessed this raising of a man from the corruption of the tomb believed in Jesus, while others, probably enraged at what had occurred, reported it to His enemies. Alarmed by this news, the chief priests and the Pharisees hastily convened a meeting of the Sanhedrim, at which the high priest Caiphas presided, and in which they debated what was to be done. This great miracle of Our Lord could not be denied any more than those He had already performed during His public career, and it was generally felt in the council that if He was allowed to continue His ministry the people at large would believe in His Messianic claims, rebel against the Roman power, and thereby bring about the ruin of Jerusalem and its Temple; for in the eyes of His enemies it was self-evident that Jesus was not the man who, in the event of a popular uprising, could cope successfully with the legions of Rome.

At length the high priest, arising, declared with disdain that his colleagues “knew nothing at all,” and then he cruelly advised them to put Jesus to death. “It is expedient for you,” he said, “that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.” This language of Caiphas was, as the sacred writer tells us, a wonderful though unconscious prediction of Our Lord’s sacrificial death, and from this time forward it was a settled resolve with the highest council of the nation, that the public safety required the death of our divine Saviour, and all that was deliberated upon in the following meetings of this same assembly was how the sentence of death could be best carried out.

Knowing the criminal designs of His enemies, Jesus withdrew to a safe distance from the Jewish capital and went secretly to Ephrem, where He was soon rejoined by His disciples. In this secluded place—about 16 miles north of Jerusalem—He eluded the furious search of His enemies, and probably spent the time preparing His disciples for His coming death.