And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
Jesus asks where Lazarus has been laid after he has died and been placed in the tomb, the mourners answer with an invitation to come and see, and he goes with them to the cave closed by a stone before calling him out to raise him. He asks this while groaning in spirit and deeply troubled by the grief around him, standing beside the mourners in tender pitying compassion and weeping with those who mourn. His tears express both sympathy for human sorrow and suffering and anguish over unbelief and the power of death in the face of the rescue he offers. The raising that follows is his crowning miracle, giving convincing proof of his divinity and power over death as he gives the buried brother back to Mary and Martha for joy. That same tender compassion remains his presence to comfort those prostrated by the sad, unexpected death of loved ones when human words are too feeble to heal.
Setting at Lazarus's Grave
This question belongs to the account of Lazarus's death and resurrection after he had died and been laid in the tomb, and it comes before Jesus calls him out and raises him at the grave. Jesus asks where Lazarus has been laid, the mourners answer Lord, come and see, and Jesus goes together with them to the grave. That asking and going sets the immediate approach to the tomb where he will bring the dead brother back. The tomb to which they go is a cave with a stone laid over it.
Lazarus was of Bethany, among the most steadfast disciples, strong in faith, deep in love, and greatly beloved, and Jesus was bound to the family at Bethany by peculiarly tender affection. Jesus had no home of his own and depended on hospitality, and he often found rest in that peaceful household away from the suspicion and jealousy of the angry Pharisees. There he found sincere welcome, pure friendship, human tenderness, and interested listeners. In that home Jesus could speak with simplicity and perfect freedom, knowing his words would be understood and treasured, opening the volume of Providence and unfolding in private what he did not tell the mixed multitude, so he did not need to speak in parables. This was rest from public conflict among multitudes slow of hearing, to whom he unfolded nature to show God's hand upholding the world and his goodness in dew, rain, and sunshine to good and evil and his regard for human instrumentalities.
The scene is mournful because Lazarus was much beloved, his sisters wept with breaking hearts, and friends mingled their tears with theirs. That grief gathers both genuine sorrow and hypocritical displays of sorrow together around the grave. Jesus restrains indignation so as not to add to Mary's sorrow. Lazarus had been in the grave four days, long enough for his body to have seen corruption. The scene at his grave was demonstrated shortly before the entry into Jerusalem.
Sympathy and Divine Power
Jesus asks where Lazarus has been laid while groaning in spirit and deeply troubled by the distress surrounding the death, troubled by the grief of Mary and Martha and of the friends gathered to comfort them. The mourners answer with the invitation to come and see, and he goes together with them to the grave.
The question places him beside grieving mourners at a funeral, responding to their grief with concern and tender, pitying compassion for human sorrow and suffering. He is deeply moved by suffering and deeply saddened by death, and he weeps with those who mourn. His sympathy is shown to Mary and Martha in giving them back their buried brother, and that compassion does not turn him from his work of making salvation and eternal life possible for sinful people.
His asking for the burial place and going with the mourners to the grave sets the moment when he wept. He weeps in view of that human distress and in view of the fact that afflicted friends could mourn over the dead while the Saviour of the world stood by.
His tears and sorrow express anguish as he witnesses human unbelief, ingratitude, and rejection even though he came to bless and save. They reflect sorrow over the power of death and grief that not everyone will accept the rescue he offers.
That rescue of the dead comes at the cost of his own suffering and death, for he knows he must pay the ransom on the cross.
The verse belongs to his breaking the slumbers of the dead as one ever touched by human woe. It belongs with his healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and speech to the dumb, feeding the hungry, comforting the sorrowful, walking on the sea, silencing the storm by a word, casting out devils that acknowledged him as the Son of God, holding thousands by words of wisdom, and raising the dead. He does that mighty work for the people he labors to save while himself persecuted and insulted, driven from Bethlehem, rejected at Nazareth, condemned without cause at Jerusalem, finding temporary asylum elsewhere, and unable to reach hearts blinded by prejudice and hatred that resolutely reject the light.
Lazarus's death is permitted so that his resurrection will give crowning, convincing proof of Christ's divinity and authority as Son of God. The raising, after the body has been dead long enough to have seen corruption, reveals the Father through Christ's works and shows his power over death. He brings the dead brother back from the grave and gives him back to Mary and Martha, filling the sisters with joy.
The returned Lazarus becomes a living witness to Christ's divine power and identity as the Son of God. He has no experience of the time he was dead to relate.
Witness Comfort and Hope
The raising that follows the question at the grave was Christ's crowning miracle, His greatest and most wonderful work, performed for Lazarus of Bethany, who was among His most steadfast disciples, strong in faith from their first meeting, deep in love, and greatly beloved, bound to Jesus by peculiarly tender affection. It was a final test to the Jewish nation and a testimony to divine power, giving the priests and elders undeniable evidence of Christ's authority as Son of God, and Lazarus himself became a living witness to that power, though he had no experience of the time he was dead to relate. Many believed in Jesus because of it and glorified God, while others remained hardened in unbelief and refused to recognize Him despite the evidence. The miracle had a powerful effect on minds and drew a large, enthusiastic crowd to Jesus.
Lazarus, together with the son of the widow of Nain and the ruler's or Jairus' daughter raised during the ministry, was restored only to mortal life and was not clothed with immortality, but remained subject to death and decay. Their raisings stand in contrast to those who came forth from the grave at Christ's own resurrection, who were raised to everlasting life to be with Him where He is, nevermore to see death or experience sorrow. Raising the dead fulfilled His mission as the Pattern Man just as certainly as toiling as a carpenter for wages and hiding His divine mission in an obscure, unhonored life at Nazareth, as walking on the white-capped waves of the Sea of Galilee, and as dying on the cross as man's sacrifice to lift the whole race to a new and perfect life. His pity for people in distress and His tears at human sorrow did not turn Him from that work of making salvation and eternal life possible for sinful people.
That same tender, pitying compassion shown beside the grave is His presence manifested to comfort those prostrated by the sad, unexpected death of loved ones when human words are too tame and feeble to meet the occasion. He is ever ready in special distress and great necessity to apply the soothing balm to heal the afflicted and oppressed who call upon Him.
Jesus asks where Lazarus has been laid after he has died and been placed in the tomb, the mourners answer with an invitation to come and see, and he goes with them to the cave closed by a stone before calling him out to raise him. He asks this while groaning in spirit and deeply troubled by the grief around him, standing beside the mourners in tender pitying compassion and weeping with those who mourn. His tears express both sympathy for human sorrow and suffering and anguish over unbelief and the power of death in the face of the rescue he offers. The raising that follows is his crowning miracle, giving convincing proof of his divinity and power over death as he gives the buried brother back to Mary and Martha for joy. That same tender compassion remains his presence to comfort those prostrated by the sad, unexpected death of loved ones when human words are too feeble to heal.
Setting at Lazarus's Grave
This question belongs to the account of Lazarus's death and resurrection after he had died and been laid in the tomb, and it comes before Jesus calls him out and raises him at the grave. Jesus asks where Lazarus has been laid, the mourners answer Lord, come and see, and Jesus goes together with them to the grave. That asking and going sets the immediate approach to the tomb where he will bring the dead brother back. The tomb to which they go is a cave with a stone laid over it.
Lazarus was of Bethany, among the most steadfast disciples, strong in faith, deep in love, and greatly beloved, and Jesus was bound to the family at Bethany by peculiarly tender affection. Jesus had no home of his own and depended on hospitality, and he often found rest in that peaceful household away from the suspicion and jealousy of the angry Pharisees. There he found sincere welcome, pure friendship, human tenderness, and interested listeners. In that home Jesus could speak with simplicity and perfect freedom, knowing his words would be understood and treasured, opening the volume of Providence and unfolding in private what he did not tell the mixed multitude, so he did not need to speak in parables. This was rest from public conflict among multitudes slow of hearing, to whom he unfolded nature to show God's hand upholding the world and his goodness in dew, rain, and sunshine to good and evil and his regard for human instrumentalities.
The scene is mournful because Lazarus was much beloved, his sisters wept with breaking hearts, and friends mingled their tears with theirs. That grief gathers both genuine sorrow and hypocritical displays of sorrow together around the grave. Jesus restrains indignation so as not to add to Mary's sorrow. Lazarus had been in the grave four days, long enough for his body to have seen corruption. The scene at his grave was demonstrated shortly before the entry into Jerusalem.
Sympathy and Divine Power
Jesus asks where Lazarus has been laid while groaning in spirit and deeply troubled by the distress surrounding the death, troubled by the grief of Mary and Martha and of the friends gathered to comfort them. The mourners answer with the invitation to come and see, and he goes together with them to the grave.
The question places him beside grieving mourners at a funeral, responding to their grief with concern and tender, pitying compassion for human sorrow and suffering. He is deeply moved by suffering and deeply saddened by death, and he weeps with those who mourn. His sympathy is shown to Mary and Martha in giving them back their buried brother, and that compassion does not turn him from his work of making salvation and eternal life possible for sinful people.
His asking for the burial place and going with the mourners to the grave sets the moment when he wept. He weeps in view of that human distress and in view of the fact that afflicted friends could mourn over the dead while the Saviour of the world stood by.
His tears and sorrow express anguish as he witnesses human unbelief, ingratitude, and rejection even though he came to bless and save. They reflect sorrow over the power of death and grief that not everyone will accept the rescue he offers.
That rescue of the dead comes at the cost of his own suffering and death, for he knows he must pay the ransom on the cross.
The verse belongs to his breaking the slumbers of the dead as one ever touched by human woe. It belongs with his healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and speech to the dumb, feeding the hungry, comforting the sorrowful, walking on the sea, silencing the storm by a word, casting out devils that acknowledged him as the Son of God, holding thousands by words of wisdom, and raising the dead. He does that mighty work for the people he labors to save while himself persecuted and insulted, driven from Bethlehem, rejected at Nazareth, condemned without cause at Jerusalem, finding temporary asylum elsewhere, and unable to reach hearts blinded by prejudice and hatred that resolutely reject the light.
Lazarus's death is permitted so that his resurrection will give crowning, convincing proof of Christ's divinity and authority as Son of God. The raising, after the body has been dead long enough to have seen corruption, reveals the Father through Christ's works and shows his power over death. He brings the dead brother back from the grave and gives him back to Mary and Martha, filling the sisters with joy.
The returned Lazarus becomes a living witness to Christ's divine power and identity as the Son of God. He has no experience of the time he was dead to relate.
Witness Comfort and Hope
The raising that follows the question at the grave was Christ's crowning miracle, His greatest and most wonderful work, performed for Lazarus of Bethany, who was among His most steadfast disciples, strong in faith from their first meeting, deep in love, and greatly beloved, bound to Jesus by peculiarly tender affection. It was a final test to the Jewish nation and a testimony to divine power, giving the priests and elders undeniable evidence of Christ's authority as Son of God, and Lazarus himself became a living witness to that power, though he had no experience of the time he was dead to relate. Many believed in Jesus because of it and glorified God, while others remained hardened in unbelief and refused to recognize Him despite the evidence. The miracle had a powerful effect on minds and drew a large, enthusiastic crowd to Jesus.
Lazarus, together with the son of the widow of Nain and the ruler's or Jairus' daughter raised during the ministry, was restored only to mortal life and was not clothed with immortality, but remained subject to death and decay. Their raisings stand in contrast to those who came forth from the grave at Christ's own resurrection, who were raised to everlasting life to be with Him where He is, nevermore to see death or experience sorrow. Raising the dead fulfilled His mission as the Pattern Man just as certainly as toiling as a carpenter for wages and hiding His divine mission in an obscure, unhonored life at Nazareth, as walking on the white-capped waves of the Sea of Galilee, and as dying on the cross as man's sacrifice to lift the whole race to a new and perfect life. His pity for people in distress and His tears at human sorrow did not turn Him from that work of making salvation and eternal life possible for sinful people.
That same tender, pitying compassion shown beside the grave is His presence manifested to comfort those prostrated by the sad, unexpected death of loved ones when human words are too tame and feeble to meet the occasion. He is ever ready in special distress and great necessity to apply the soothing balm to heal the afflicted and oppressed who call upon Him.