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only as a prophet hitherto; and it was necessary that they should now be farther instructed, that as God was to exert himself, they might believe that God was there.

Verse 27. Yea, Lord: I believe] Пiseuxa, I have believed. Either meaning that she had believed this for some time past, or that since he began to teach her, her faith had been considerably increased: but verbs præter, in Greek, are often used to signify the present. Martha here acknowledges Christ for the Messiah promised to their fathers, but her faith goes no farther; and having received some hope of her brother's present, resurrection, she waited for no farther instruction, but ran to call her sister.

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Verse 23. The Master is come] This was the appellation || which he had in the family; and from these words it appears that Christ had enquired for Mary, desiring to have her present, that he might strengthen her faith previously to his raising her brother.

Verse 30. Jesus was not yet come into the town] As the Jewish burying-places were without their cities and villages, it appears that the place where our Saviour was when Martha met him, was not far from the place where Lazarus was buried. See the note on Luke vii. 12.

Verse 31. She goeth unto the grave to weep there.] It appears that it was the custom for the nearest relatives of the deceased to go at times, during the three days of weeping, accompanied by their friends and neighbours, to mourn near the graves of the deceased. They supposed that the spirit hovered about the place where the body was laid, for three days, to see whether it might be again permitted to cuter but when it saw the face change, it knew that all hope was now past. It was on this ground, that the seven || days of lamentation succeeded the three days of weeping, because all hope was now taken away. They had traditions

33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, 34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. 35 Jesus wept.

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Ver. 21.

- Gr. he troubled himself. Luke 19. 41.

that in the course of three days, persons who had died, were raised again to life. See Lightfoot.

Verse 33. He groaned in the spirit, &c.] Here the blessed Jesus shews himself to be truly man; and a man too, who, notwithstanding his amazing dignity and excellence, did not feel it beneath him to sympathize with the distressed, and weep with those who wept. After this example of our Lord shall we say that it is weakness, folly and sin to weep for the loss of relatives? He who says so, and can act in a similar case to the above, according to his own doctrine, is a reproach to the name of man. Such apathy never came from God:—it is

generally a bad cyon, implanted in a nature miserably depraved, deriving its nourishment from a perverted spirit or a hardened heart; though in some cases, it is the effect of an erroneous, ascetic mode of discipline.

It is abolishing one of the finest traits in our Lord's human character to say, that he wept and mourned here, because of sin and its consequences. No. Jesus had humanity in its perfection; and humanity unadulterated, is generous and sympathe tic. A particular friend of Jesus was dead: and as his friend, the affectionate and friendly soul of Christ was troubled; and he mingled his sacred tears with those of the afflicted relatives. Behold the man, in his deep heartfelt trouble, and in his flowing tears! but when he says, Lazarus, come forth! behold the GOD! and the God too of infinite clemency, love and power. Can such a Jesus refuse to comfort the distressed, or save the lost? Can he restrain his mercies from the penitent soul, or refuse to hear the yearnings of his own bowels? Can such a character be inattentive to the welfare of his creatures? Here is God manifested in the flesh! living in human nature, feeling for the distressed, and suffering for the lost! Reader! ask thy soul, ask thy heart, ask the bowels of thy compassions, if thou hast any, could this Jesus unconditionally reprobate

Conversation between our Lord

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36 Then said the Jews, Behold how him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for A.M. 4033. he hath been dead four days. An. Olymp. he loved him!

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CCII. 1. 37 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?

38 Jesus, therefore, again groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.

A. D. 29. An. Olymp. CCII. 1.

40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

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41 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.

42 And I know that thou hearest me always :

39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto but because of the people which stand by I

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from eternity, any soul of man? Thou answerest NO! God repeats NO! Universal nature re-echoes NO! and the tears and blood of Jesus eternally say, NO!

away the stone, that Lazarus was not only dead, but that pu-. trescency had already taken place, that it might not be afterwards said that Lazarus had only fallen into a lethargy; but Verse 35. Jesus wept.] The least verse in the Bible, yet in- || that the greatness of the miracle might be fully evinced. ferior to none. Some of the ruthless ancients, improperly stiled He stinketh] The body is in a state of putrefaction. The fathers of the church, thought that weeping was a degradation Greek word of signifies simply to smell, whether the scent be of the character of Christ; and therefore, according to the tes-good or bad: but the circumstances of the case sufficiently timony of Epiphanius, Anchorat. c. 13. razed out of the Gospel of St. Luke, the place (chap. xix. 41.) where Christ is said to have wept over Jerusalem.

shew that the latter is its meaning here. Our translators might have omitted the uncouth term in the common text: but they chose literally to follow the Anglo-saxon, nu he rzinc; and it would be now useless to attempt any change, as the common reading would perpetually recur, and cause all attempts at mending, to sound even worse than that in the text.

Verse 36. Behold how he loved him!] And when we see him pouring out his blood and life upon the cross for mankind, we may with exultation and joy cry out, Behold how he hath loved us! | Verse 37. Could not this man, which opened the eyes, &c.] For he hath been dead four days.] TeTagtalos yag roti, this Through the maliciousness of their hearts, these Jews consi- is the fourth day, i. e. since his interment. Christ himself was dered the tears of Jesus as a proof of his weakness. We may buried on the same day on which he was crucified, see chap, xix. 42. and it is likely that Lazarus was buried also on the suppose them to have spoken thus: "If he loved him so well, See on ver. 17. why did he not heal him? And if he could have healed him, same day on which he died. Verse 40. If thou wouldest believe,. &c.] So it appears that why did he not do it, seeing he testifies so much sorrow at his death? Let none hereafter vaunt the miracle of the blind it is faith alone that interests the miraculous and saving power Instead of doğay, the glory, one MS. if he had been capable of doing that, he would of God in behalf of men. cure; not have permitted his friend to die." Thus will men reason reads duvaμ, the miraculous power. or rather madden, concerning the works and providence of God; till by his farther miracles of mercy or judgment, he converts or confounds them.

man's

Verse 41. Where the dead was laid.] These words are wanting in BC*DL. three others, Syriac, Persic, Arabic, Sahidic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Vulgate, Saxon, and in all the Itala. Griesbach leaves them out of the text.

Verse 38. It was a cave, &c.] It is likely that several of the Father, I thank thee] As it was a common opinion, that Jewish burying-places were made in the sides of rocks; some were probably dug down like a well from the upper surface, great miracles might be wrought by the power and in the and then hollowed under into niches, and a flat stone laid down name of the Devil, Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven, and inupon the top, would serve for a door. Yet from what the voked the supreme God before these unbelieving Jews, that Evangelist says, there seems to have been something peculiar they might see that it was by his power, and by his only, that in the formation of this tomb. It might have been a natural this miracle was done; that every hindrance to this people's grotto, or dug in the side of a rock or hill, and the lower faith might be completely taken out of the way, and that their part of the door level with the ground, or how could Lazarus faith might stand not in the wisdom of man, but in the power of have come forth, as he is said to have done, ver. 44.? the Most High. On this account our Lord says, he spoke because Verse 39. Take ye away the stone.] He desired to convince of the multitude, that they might see there was no diabolic in-. all those who were at the place, and especially those who took || fluence here; and that God in his mercy had visited this

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people,

Christ raises Lazarus

A. D. 29.

ST. JOHN.

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from the dead.

A.M.4033. said it, that they may believe that thou || Mary, and had seen the things which A.M. 4033.
An. Olymp. hast sent me.
Jesus did, believed on him.

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A. D. 29. An. Olymp. CCII. 1.

46 But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done.

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Ch. 20. 7. -bch. 2. 23. & 10. 42. & 12. 11, 18.

Verse 43. He cried with a loud voice] In chap. v. 25. our Lord had said, that the time was coming, in which the dead should hear the voice of the Son of God, and live. He now fulfills that prediction, and cries aloud, that the people may take notice, and see that even death is subject to the sovereign command of Christ.

Jesus Christ, says Quesnel, omitted nothing to save this dead person: he underwent the fatigue of a journey, he wept, he prayed, he groaned, he cried with a loud voice, and commanded the dead to come forth. What ought not a minister to do in order to raise a soul, and especially a soul, long dead in trespasses and sins!

Ps. 2. 2. Matt. 26. 3. Mark 11. 1. Luke 22. 2.4 ch. 12. 19. Acts 4. 16.

Verse 45. Many of the Jews--believed on him.] They saw that the miracle was incontestable; and they were determined to resist the truth no longer. Their friendly visit to these dis tressed sisters, became the means of their conversion. How true is the saying of the wise man, It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting, Eccl. vii. 2. God never permits men to do any thing, through a principle of kindness to others, without making it instrumental of good to themselves. He that watereth shall be watered also himself, Prov. xi. 25. Therefore, let no man withhold good, while it is in the power of his hand to do it. Prov. iii. 27.

humane, amiable, and glorious Saviour! Those who obstinately resist the truth of God, are capable of every thing that is base, perfidious, and cruel.

Verse 46. But some of them went their ways] Astonishing! Verse 44. Bound hand and foot with grave-clothes] Swathed some that had seen even this miracle, steeled their hearts against about with rollers—xigass, from new, I cut. These were longit; and not only so, but conspired the destruction of this most slips of linen a few inches in breadth, with which the body and limbs of the dead were swathed, and especially those who were embalmed, that the aromatics might be kept in contact with the flesh. But as it is evident that Lazarus had not been Verse 47. Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a embalmed, it is probable that his limbs were not swathed toge- council] The Pharisees, as such, had no power to assemble ther, as is the constant case with those who are embalmed, but councils; and therefore only those are meant who were scribes separately; so that he could come out of the tomb at the com- or elders of the people, in conjunction with Annas and his mand of Christ, though he could not walk freely, till the roll-son-in-law Caiaphas, who were the high-priests here mentioned.

See chap. xviii. 13, 24.

ers were taken away. But some will have it that he was swathed exactly like a mummy, and that his coming out in that What do we? This last miracle was so clear, plain, and state was another miracle. But there is no need of multiply-incontestable, that they were driven now to their wit's end. ing miracles in this case: there was one wrought which was a most sovereign proof of the unlimited power and goodness of God. Several of the primitive Fathers have adduced this resurrection of Lazarus as the model, type, proof, and pledge of the general resurrection of the dead.

Loose him, and let him go.] He would have the disciples and those who were at hand take part in this business, that the fullest conviction might rest on every person's mind concerning the reality of what was wrought. He whom the grace of Christ converts and restores to life, comes forth at his call, from the dark dismal grave of sin, in which his soul has long been buried: he walks, according to the command of Christ, in newness of life; and gives, by the holiness of his conduct, the fullest proof to all his acquaintance that he is alive from the dead.

Their own spies had come and borne testimony of it. They told them what they had seen, and on their word, as being in league with themselves against Jesus, they could confidently rely.

Verse 48. All men will believe on him] If we permit him to work but a few more miracles like these two last, (the cure of the blind man, and the resurrection of Lazarus) he will be universally acknowledged for the Messiah; the people will proclaim him king, and the Romans, who can suffer no govern ment here but their own, will be so irritated, that they will send their armies against us, destroy our temple, and utterly dissolve our civil and ecclesiastical existence. Thus, under the pretence of the public good, these men of blood hide their hatred against Christ, and resolve to put him to death. To

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get the people on their side, they must give the alarm of destruction to the nation, if this man be permitted to live: we shall be all destroyed! their former weapons will not now avail. On the subject of keeping the sabbath, they had been already confounded, and his last miracles were so incontestable, that they could no longer cry out, He is a deceiver.

|| remarkable words, Caiaphas had no other intention than merely to state that it was better to put Jesus to death than to expose the whole nation to ruin on his account. His maxim was, it is better to sacrifice one man, than a whole nation. In politics nothing could be more just than this: but there are two words to be spoken to it. First, The religion of God says, we must not do evil that good may come : Rom. iii. 8. Secondly, It is not certain that Christ will be acknowledged as king by all the people; nor, that he will make any insurrection against the Romans; nor, that the Romans will, on his account, ruin the temple, the city, and the nation. This Caiaphas should have considered. A person should be always sure of his premises before he attempts to draw any conclusion from them. See Calmet. This saying was proverbial among the Jews: see several instances of it in Schoetgen.

Verse 51. This spake he not of himself] Wicked, and worthless as he was, God so guided his tongue, that contrary to his intention he pronounced a prophecy of the death of Jesus Christ.

I have already remarked, that the doctrine of a vicarious atonement had gained, long before this time, universal credit in the world. Words similar to these of Caiaphas are by the prince of all the Roman poets, put in the mouth of Neptune, when promising Venus that the fleet of Æneas should be preserved, and his whole crew should be saved, one only excepted, whose death he speaks of in these remarkable words;

Both our place and nation.] Literally this place, roY TOTOV: but that the temple only is understood is clear from Acts vi. 13, 14. 2 Macc. i. 14. ii. 18. iii. 18. v. 16, 17. x. 7. where it is uniformly called the place, or the holy place, because they considered it the most glorious and excellent place in the world. When men act in opposition to God's counsel, the very evils which they expect thereby to avoid, will come upon them. They said, If we do not put Jesus to death, the Romans will destroy both our temple and nation. Now it was because they put him to death, that the Romans burnt and razed their temple to the ground, and put a final period to their political existence. See Matt. xxii. 7. and the notes on chap. xxiv. Verse 49. Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year] By the law of Moses, Exod. xl. 15. the office of high priest was for life, and the son of Aaron's race always succeeded his father. But at this time the high priesthood was almost annual: the Romans and Herod put down, and raised up whom they pleased, and when they pleased, without attending to any other rule than merely that the person put in this office should be of the sacerdotal race. According to Josephus, Ant. xviii. c. 3. the proper name of this person was Joseph, and Caiaphas was his sirname. He possessed the high priesthood for eight or nine years, and was deposed by Vitellius, governor of Judea. See on Luke iii. 2. Ye know nothing] Of the perilous state in which ye stand. Verse 50. Nor consider] Ye talk more at random than according to reason, and the exigencies of the case. There is a various reading here in some MSS. that should be noticed. Instead of oude dañoyd, which we translate ye do not consider,|| account. It was no historic fact, nor indeed does it tend to and which properly conveys the idea of conferring, or talking|| together; oude Xoyicode, neither do ye reason or consider rightly, is the reading of ABDL. three others; and some of the primitive Fathers. Griesbach, by placing it in his inner margin, shews that he thinks it bids fair to be the true reading. Dr. White thinks that this reading is equal, and probably preferable to that in the text. Lectio æqualis, forsitan præferenda receptæ. That one man should die for the people] In saying these

"Unum pro multis dabitur caput.”

"One life shall fall, that many may be sav'd." Which victim the poet informs us was Palinurus, the pilate of Eneas's own ship, who was precipitated into the deep by a divine influence. See VIRG. En. v. 1. 815, &c.

There was no necessity for the poet to have introduced this

decorate the poem. It even pains the reader's mind; for after suffering so much in the sufferings of the pious hero and his crew, he is at once relieved by the interposition of a god, who promises to allay the storm, disperse the clouds, preserve the fleet, and the lives of the men ; but,-one must perish! The reader is again distressed, and the book ominously closes with the death of the generous Palinurus, who strove to the last to be faithful to his trust, and to preserve the life of his master.

Christ retires to Ephraim

ST. JOHN.

in the wilderness. A.M. 4033. that Jesus should die for that na-among the Jews; but went thence A.M.40. unto a country near to the wilderness, An. Olymp into a city called "Ephraim, and there

A. D. 29.

An. Olymp. tion;

CCII. 1.

52 And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.

continued with his disciples.

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55 And the Jews' pass-over was nigh at hand: and many went out of the country up

53 Then from that day forth they took coun- to Jerusalem before the pass-over, to purify sel together for to put him to death.

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54 Jesus therefore walked no more openly

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and his friend. Why then did the poet introduce this? Merely, as it appears to me, to have the opportunity of shewing in a few words his religious creed, on one of the most important doctrines in the world; and which the sacrificial || system of Jews and Gentiles proves, that all the nations of the earth credited.

As Caiaphas was high priest, his opinion was of most weight with the council; therefore God put these words in his mouth rather than into the mouth of any other of its members. It was a maxim among the Jews that no prophet ever knew the purport of his own prophecy, Moses and Isaiah excepted. They were in general organs by which God chose to speak. Verse 52. And not for that nation only, &c.] These, and the preceding words in ver. 51. are John's explication of what was prophetic in the words of Caiaphas: as if John had said, he is indeed to die for the sins of the Jewish nation, but not for theirs alone, but for the sins of the whole world: see his own words afterwards, 1 John ii. 1, 2.

Gather together in one] That he should collect into one body;-form one church out of the Jewish and Gentile believers.

Children of God that were scattered abroad.] Probably John only meant the Jews who were dispersed among all nations since the conquest of Judea by the Romans; and these are called the dispersed: chap. vii. 35. and Jam. i. 1. and it is because he refers to these only, that he terms them here, the children of God, which was an ancient character of the Jewish people: see Deut. xxxii. 5. Isai. xliii. 6. xlv. 11. Jer. xxxii. 1. Taking his words in this sense, then his meaning is this That Christ was to die not only for the then inhabitants of Judea, but for all the Jewish race wheresoever scat- || tered; and that the consequence would be, that they should be all collected from their various dispersions, and made one body. This comports with the predictions of St. Paul: Rom. xi. 1-32. This probably is the sense of the passage; and though, according to this interpretation, the Apostle may seem to confine the benefits of Christ's death to the Jewish people only, yet we find, from the passage aiready quoted from his first Epistle, that his views of this subject were after

wards very much extended; and that he saw, that Jesus Christ was not only a propitiation for their sins (the Jews) but for the sins of the whole world: see his 1st Epistle, chap. ii. ver. 2. All the truths of the gospel were not revealed at once, even to the Apostles themselves.

Verse 53. They took council together] EusSouλsuararo, they were of one accord in the business: and had fully made up their minds on the subject; and they waited only for a proper opportunity to put him to death.

Verse 54. Walked no more openly] Пaggia, he did not go as before through the cities and villages, teaching, preaching, and healing the sick.

Near to the wilderness] Soine MSS. add, of Samphourein, or Samphourim, or Sapfurim.

A city called Ephraim] Variously written in the MSS. Ephraim, Ephrem, Ephram, and Ephratha. This was a little village, situated in the neighbourhood of Bethel; for the scripture, 2 Chron. xiii. 19. and Josephus, War, b. iv. c. 8. s. 9. join them both together. Many believe that this city or village was the same with that mentioned, 1 Macc. v. 46. 2 Macc. xii. 27. Joshua gave it to the tribe of Judah: Jos. xv. 9. and Eusebius and Jerom say it was about twenty miles north of Jerusalem.

And there continued] Calmet says, following Toynard, that he staid there two months, from the twenty-fourth of January till the twenty-fourth of March.

Verse 55. The Jews' pass-over was nigh at hand] It is not necessary to suppose that this verse has any particular connexion with the preceding. Most chronologists agree that our Lord spent at least two months in Ephraim. This was the last pass-over which our Lord attended; and it was at this one that he suffered death for the salvation of a lost world. As the pass-over was nigh, many of the inhabitants of Ephraim and its neighbourhood, went up to Jerusalem, some time (perhaps seven or eight days, for so much time was required to purify those who had touched the dead) before the feast, that they might purify themselves; and not eat the pass-over otherwise than prescribed in the law. Many of the country people, in the time of Hezekiah, committed a trespass by not

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