Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.
When Jesus came to Bethany, Lazarus had already been dead and laid in the tomb for four days. His delay was not from lack of love but by divine wisdom, letting death triumph so the resurrection would give crowning evidence that He was the Son of God. Because the body had lain long enough to see corruption, calling Lazarus forth was His greatest miracle, showing His power over death and revealing the Father through the Son. Many who saw it believed and glorified God, while those who had rejected light remained unbelieving and grew more hostile. Lazarus himself had no experience of death to recount, for the dead know nothing, but he stood as a living witness to Christ's divine power, pointing to the day when Christ's voice will call the dead in Christ from their graves to immortal life.
Arrival After Four Days
When Jesus came to Bethany, Lazarus had already been dead and buried in the grave or tomb for four days. He made that return to Judea with the twelve though it was dangerous, for the Jews there were determined to kill Him and Thomas had urged the disciples to go and die with Him. On the way He labored as was His custom to relieve suffering and heal the sick. While He was still at a distance from the house He heard the mourners, and He learned from several persons that Lazarus was dead and had been buried four days.
The mourning around the house followed Hebrew custom, in which relatives gave up all business for several days and lived on the coarsest food. Hired professional mourners were wailing and shrieking according to the custom of the time, and Jesus heard them before He arrived at the house. The noise filled the home that had once been His quiet, pleasant resting-place. Martha and Mary had prepared their brother for burial with anguished and heavy hearts. They had sent word expecting their beloved friend to come at once and heal him, with no further urgent message, and then they spent two long, sorrowful days after the burial waiting for Jesus, looking anxiously for Him and longing to see Him and hear His words of presence and comfort.
Jesus had known of Lazarus's sickness in the humble home at Bethany even before the messenger reached Him, and He could have stayed the power of death from where He was. Yet He let the fever rapidly increase until death triumphed in the fight between life and death. His delay was guided by divine wisdom and was God's plan that Lazarus should die and be laid in the tomb before the Saviour arrived, not lack of love. Mary and Martha trusted Him to do what was best.
He delayed because He could not witness suffering without relieving it, and Lazarus's death was permitted so that his resurrection would give the Jews crowning evidence that Jesus was the Son of God. In raising Lazarus, Jesus knew He would pay the ransom for that life on the cross.
Miracle and Its Witness
The raising of Lazarus, a beloved disciple, was Christ's greatest and crowning miracle, showing that He had power over death and could awaken the dead. His body had been dead long enough to have seen corruption, so raising him was convincing evidence of Christ's divinity and revealed the Father through the works done by the Son. The raising was evidence of Jesus' Messiahship that Nicodemus could not dispute, and evidence of Christ's authority, though the priests and elders who saw such evidence did not recognize it.
The raising after four days was one of three raisings during His ministry, with the son of the widow of Nain and the ruler's daughter. Those three were raised back to mortal life, not clothed with immortality, and remained subject to death and decay. In contrast, those who came forth at Christ's own resurrection were raised to everlasting life as trophies of His victory, redeemed to be where He is and nevermore to see death or sorrow. Christ called Lazarus out of the tomb, and the raising points to the time when His voice will call the dead in Christ from their graves to immortal life, where they will be with the Lord. The demonstration of His character as Savior and Lifegiver at Lazarus' grave took place shortly before His entry into Jerusalem.
The return from the dead had a powerful effect on people's minds, drawing a large and enthusiastic multitude to where Jesus was staying. Because of the crowning miracle many were led to believe in Jesus and glorified God, while those who had repeatedly rejected light remained unbelieving in the face of overwhelming evidence, became more hostile, told the priests and rulers what Jesus had done, and aroused anew the hatred and increased jealousy of His bitterest enemies the Pharisees. Lazarus had no experience to recount from death, for the dead know nothing; after Christ raised him, he became a living witness and testimony to Christ's divine power and to His identity as the Son of God. Jesus wept in sympathy and gave Mary and Martha their brother back, and his return from the grave filled his sisters with unspeakable joy. Raising the dead to life fulfilled His mission as the Pattern Man, just as certainly as toiling as a carpenter hiding His divine mission, as treading the foaming billows on the Sea of Galilee, and as dying as man's sacrifice on the cross to lift the whole race to a new and perfect life.
When Jesus came to Bethany, Lazarus had already been dead and laid in the tomb for four days. His delay was not from lack of love but by divine wisdom, letting death triumph so the resurrection would give crowning evidence that He was the Son of God. Because the body had lain long enough to see corruption, calling Lazarus forth was His greatest miracle, showing His power over death and revealing the Father through the Son. Many who saw it believed and glorified God, while those who had rejected light remained unbelieving and grew more hostile. Lazarus himself had no experience of death to recount, for the dead know nothing, but he stood as a living witness to Christ's divine power, pointing to the day when Christ's voice will call the dead in Christ from their graves to immortal life.
Arrival After Four Days
When Jesus came to Bethany, Lazarus had already been dead and buried in the grave or tomb for four days. He made that return to Judea with the twelve though it was dangerous, for the Jews there were determined to kill Him and Thomas had urged the disciples to go and die with Him. On the way He labored as was His custom to relieve suffering and heal the sick. While He was still at a distance from the house He heard the mourners, and He learned from several persons that Lazarus was dead and had been buried four days.
The mourning around the house followed Hebrew custom, in which relatives gave up all business for several days and lived on the coarsest food. Hired professional mourners were wailing and shrieking according to the custom of the time, and Jesus heard them before He arrived at the house. The noise filled the home that had once been His quiet, pleasant resting-place. Martha and Mary had prepared their brother for burial with anguished and heavy hearts. They had sent word expecting their beloved friend to come at once and heal him, with no further urgent message, and then they spent two long, sorrowful days after the burial waiting for Jesus, looking anxiously for Him and longing to see Him and hear His words of presence and comfort.
Jesus had known of Lazarus's sickness in the humble home at Bethany even before the messenger reached Him, and He could have stayed the power of death from where He was. Yet He let the fever rapidly increase until death triumphed in the fight between life and death. His delay was guided by divine wisdom and was God's plan that Lazarus should die and be laid in the tomb before the Saviour arrived, not lack of love. Mary and Martha trusted Him to do what was best.
He delayed because He could not witness suffering without relieving it, and Lazarus's death was permitted so that his resurrection would give the Jews crowning evidence that Jesus was the Son of God. In raising Lazarus, Jesus knew He would pay the ransom for that life on the cross.
Miracle and Its Witness
The raising of Lazarus, a beloved disciple, was Christ's greatest and crowning miracle, showing that He had power over death and could awaken the dead. His body had been dead long enough to have seen corruption, so raising him was convincing evidence of Christ's divinity and revealed the Father through the works done by the Son. The raising was evidence of Jesus' Messiahship that Nicodemus could not dispute, and evidence of Christ's authority, though the priests and elders who saw such evidence did not recognize it.
The raising after four days was one of three raisings during His ministry, with the son of the widow of Nain and the ruler's daughter. Those three were raised back to mortal life, not clothed with immortality, and remained subject to death and decay. In contrast, those who came forth at Christ's own resurrection were raised to everlasting life as trophies of His victory, redeemed to be where He is and nevermore to see death or sorrow. Christ called Lazarus out of the tomb, and the raising points to the time when His voice will call the dead in Christ from their graves to immortal life, where they will be with the Lord. The demonstration of His character as Savior and Lifegiver at Lazarus' grave took place shortly before His entry into Jerusalem.
The return from the dead had a powerful effect on people's minds, drawing a large and enthusiastic multitude to where Jesus was staying. Because of the crowning miracle many were led to believe in Jesus and glorified God, while those who had repeatedly rejected light remained unbelieving in the face of overwhelming evidence, became more hostile, told the priests and rulers what Jesus had done, and aroused anew the hatred and increased jealousy of His bitterest enemies the Pharisees. Lazarus had no experience to recount from death, for the dead know nothing; after Christ raised him, he became a living witness and testimony to Christ's divine power and to His identity as the Son of God. Jesus wept in sympathy and gave Mary and Martha their brother back, and his return from the grave filled his sisters with unspeakable joy. Raising the dead to life fulfilled His mission as the Pattern Man, just as certainly as toiling as a carpenter hiding His divine mission, as treading the foaming billows on the Sea of Galilee, and as dying as man's sacrifice on the cross to lift the whole race to a new and perfect life.