Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:
Bethany lay close to Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off, a village near the city on the slope of the Mount of Olives. It was the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, where Jesus found rest, welcome, close friendship, and affection. There He performed the great miracle for Lazarus, calling him from the tomb after he had been dead four days. That raising was His crowning and last evidence of divine power that He is the Son of God, undeniable proof of His Messiahship and authority, a final test that led many to believe and intensified the opposition of the Pharisees. Lazarus came back with no experience of death to recount, for the dead know nothing, still subject to death, and his calling forth points to the time when Christ's voice will call the dead in Christ to immortal life to be with the Lord.
Bethany's Location and Home
Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off, a village close to the city where the raising of Lazarus took place. It lay near Jerusalem on the slope of the Mount of Olives. The nearness to the city meant the miracle there drew a large, enthusiastic crowd to the place where Jesus was staying, and served as undeniable evidence of His Messiahship.
Bethany was the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, where Lazarus lived with his sisters. There Jesus often found rest at Lazarus's house, and was received with welcome, close friendship, and affection, being closely bound to the family.
At that humble home Lazarus became sick and died. Jesus knew from a distance what was taking place there and could have stopped the power of death, yet He did not come at once. The sisters prepared Lazarus for burial while looking anxiously for Christ to come and speak words of comfort, and after laying him in the grave they waited two long, sorrowful days before Jesus arrived.
Raising Lazarus and Meaning
At Bethany Jesus performed the great miracle for Lazarus, calling him forth from the tomb after he had been dead four days. That raising was His crowning miracle and His last and crowning evidence of divine power that He is the Son of God. It was undeniable evidence of His Messiahship and authority, witnessed by the priests and rulers, including Nicodemus.
The miracle was a final test for the Jewish nation. It led many to believe in Jesus and at the same time intensified the opposition of the Pharisees. The raising there also drew a large, enthusiastic crowd to the place where Jesus was staying.
The raising was delayed because Christ in health and strength always rebuked disease in His immediate presence and could not look upon suffering or death without relieving it and combating Satan, so Lazarus was permitted to die that his resurrection might be the last and crowning evidence to the Jews. The conflict over Lazarus stood before the darker shadow of the cross where Christ must pay the ransom, bearing greater pain mingled with mockery and the greatest humiliation. He knew that for the life restored to Lazarus He must pay the price on Calvary, and that every such rescue brought Him deepest humiliation. He was strong to save the whole world, yet He wept at the grave at the thought that He could not save all whom Satan had laid low in death, though He gave Himself a ransom for many, for all who would use the privilege of coming back to loyalty to God through the sacrifice of the only begotten Son for sin and transgression.
Lazarus returned to life with no experience of death to recount, because the dead know nothing. He was restored to life but still subject to death, unlike those raised at Christ's resurrection, who were raised to everlasting life. His calling forth from the tomb points to the time when Christ's voice will call the dead in Christ from their tombs to immortal life, to be with the Lord. At Lazarus's grave Christ showed Himself to be the Saviour and Lifegiver. Raising the dead to life at Bethany fulfilled His mission as the Pattern Man just as certainly as toiling as a carpenter and hiding the great secret of His divine mission, as treading the foaming white-capped billows on the Sea of Galilee, and as dying as man's sacrifice upon the cross that He might lift the whole race to a new and perfect life.
Bethany lay close to Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off, a village near the city on the slope of the Mount of Olives. It was the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, where Jesus found rest, welcome, close friendship, and affection. There He performed the great miracle for Lazarus, calling him from the tomb after he had been dead four days. That raising was His crowning and last evidence of divine power that He is the Son of God, undeniable proof of His Messiahship and authority, a final test that led many to believe and intensified the opposition of the Pharisees. Lazarus came back with no experience of death to recount, for the dead know nothing, still subject to death, and his calling forth points to the time when Christ's voice will call the dead in Christ to immortal life to be with the Lord.
Bethany's Location and Home
Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off, a village close to the city where the raising of Lazarus took place. It lay near Jerusalem on the slope of the Mount of Olives. The nearness to the city meant the miracle there drew a large, enthusiastic crowd to the place where Jesus was staying, and served as undeniable evidence of His Messiahship.
Bethany was the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, where Lazarus lived with his sisters. There Jesus often found rest at Lazarus's house, and was received with welcome, close friendship, and affection, being closely bound to the family.
At that humble home Lazarus became sick and died. Jesus knew from a distance what was taking place there and could have stopped the power of death, yet He did not come at once. The sisters prepared Lazarus for burial while looking anxiously for Christ to come and speak words of comfort, and after laying him in the grave they waited two long, sorrowful days before Jesus arrived.
Raising Lazarus and Meaning
At Bethany Jesus performed the great miracle for Lazarus, calling him forth from the tomb after he had been dead four days. That raising was His crowning miracle and His last and crowning evidence of divine power that He is the Son of God. It was undeniable evidence of His Messiahship and authority, witnessed by the priests and rulers, including Nicodemus.
The miracle was a final test for the Jewish nation. It led many to believe in Jesus and at the same time intensified the opposition of the Pharisees. The raising there also drew a large, enthusiastic crowd to the place where Jesus was staying.
The raising was delayed because Christ in health and strength always rebuked disease in His immediate presence and could not look upon suffering or death without relieving it and combating Satan, so Lazarus was permitted to die that his resurrection might be the last and crowning evidence to the Jews. The conflict over Lazarus stood before the darker shadow of the cross where Christ must pay the ransom, bearing greater pain mingled with mockery and the greatest humiliation. He knew that for the life restored to Lazarus He must pay the price on Calvary, and that every such rescue brought Him deepest humiliation. He was strong to save the whole world, yet He wept at the grave at the thought that He could not save all whom Satan had laid low in death, though He gave Himself a ransom for many, for all who would use the privilege of coming back to loyalty to God through the sacrifice of the only begotten Son for sin and transgression.
Lazarus returned to life with no experience of death to recount, because the dead know nothing. He was restored to life but still subject to death, unlike those raised at Christ's resurrection, who were raised to everlasting life. His calling forth from the tomb points to the time when Christ's voice will call the dead in Christ from their tombs to immortal life, to be with the Lord. At Lazarus's grave Christ showed Himself to be the Saviour and Lifegiver. Raising the dead to life at Bethany fulfilled His mission as the Pattern Man just as certainly as toiling as a carpenter and hiding the great secret of His divine mission, as treading the foaming white-capped billows on the Sea of Galilee, and as dying as man's sacrifice upon the cross that He might lift the whole race to a new and perfect life.