Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judæa again.
After waiting two days beyond the news that Lazarus was sick, Jesus told His disciples He would return to Judea, to Bethany to awaken His friend who had died. Though the disciples were anxious because the Jews had lately sought to stone Him, He declared Himself safe under His Father's guidance while His day lasted, for he who walks in the path God marks out cannot stumble. The delay was not lack of love but deliberate wisdom, so that Lazarus would die and be buried and His raising would become undoubted proof of divine power. That raising was the last and crowning evidence that He is the Son of God and the Lifegiver, meant to unite His disciples to Him in unbreakable faith and lead many to believe. Lazarus had lain four days with his body seeing corruption and knowing nothing in death, and though restored he remained mortal, pointing to the day when Christ's voice will call the dead in Christ to glorious immortal life.
Setting and Decision
Then after that He said, Let us go into Judea again, after He had waited two days from hearing that Lazarus was sick. The sisters had sent only the trusting message that he whom He loved was sick, expecting Him to come at once to Bethany, but the messenger came back without Him bringing only the word that the sickness was not unto death. Two sorrowful days passed before His arrival.
The return to Judea meant going to Bethany, to the home of Lazarus where He often found rest. Having no home of His own and being dependent on the hospitality of friends and disciples, when weary and thirsting for human fellowship He was glad to escape to this peaceful household away from the suspicion and jealousy of the angry Pharisees and from the weary conflict of public life. There He found sincere welcome and pure, holy friendship, with appreciation for a quiet home and longing for human tenderness, courtesy and affection, and interested listeners. There He could speak with simplicity and perfect freedom, knowing His words would be understood and treasured, opening to an appreciative audience the volume of Providence as He did not to the mixed multitude, with no need to speak in parables.
When He decided to go He was with His few faithful followers in temporary refuge in a strange city, choosing to go again to the people He had labored to save who had driven Him away. His life had been one of persecution and insult, driven from Bethlehem by a jealous king, rejected by His own people at Nazareth, and condemned without cause to death at Jerusalem. Ever touched by human woe, He had healed the sick, restored sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and speech to the dumb, fed the hungry and comforted the sorrowful, walked upon the heaving billows and silenced their angry roaring by a word, cast out devils that acknowledged Him to be the Son of God, broken the slumbers of the dead, and held thousands entranced by words of wisdom. Yet He was unable to reach hearts blinded by prejudice and insane hatred who resolutely rejected the light.
The decision puzzled the disciples, and anxiety for Christ and for themselves was uppermost, because the Jews had lately sought to stone Him and hatred in Judea made return seem nothing but danger. Some were already questioning whether He was really the Christ since He had not saved Lazarus whom He loved. By going He meant to awake His friend Lazarus, calling death sleep, which the disciples misunderstood as rest in sleep until He told them plainly that Lazarus was dead and that His absence was for their sake that they might believe. In answer to the danger He declared Himself under His Father's guidance and safe as long as He did His will, for His twelve hours of day were not yet ended though He had entered the last remnant of His day. Safety is found in doing God's will in God's time, for he who walks in the path God has marked out cannot stumble and fall, since the light of God's guiding Spirit gives clear perception of duty and leads aright till the close of the work, while he who walks in a path of his own choosing where God has not called him turns day into night, stumbles for lack of light, and is nowhere secure.
Purpose and Power
The two days' waiting was not want of care for the stricken household but deliberate purpose guided by divine wisdom, that Lazarus should die and be buried before arrival so his death would become the occasion for undoubted proof of divine power. The raising that followed the resolve to go again was the last and crowning evidence that He is the Son of God, the Saviour of the world and the Lifegiver. It gave convincing proof of His divinity and revealed the Father through His works, and to a close watcher such as Nicodemus it became compelling evidence of Messiahship.
Going then was to bind the disciples to Him in faith that could not be broken, to work a crowning miracle that would convince all who could be convinced, lead many to believe and glorify God, and draw a large enthusiastic multitude to see Him. As the Jewish nation's last test the same miracle left those already rejecting light hardened, for the leaders in pride rejected Him and used it to stir the hostility of His enemies. The resolve reveals Him as health and strength in Himself, in whose immediate presence disease was always rebuked, who could not witness suffering without bringing relief nor witness disease or death without combating Satan's power.
Going to raise Lazarus kept before Him the dark shadow He must enter to pay the ransom for souls on the cross of Calvary, with greater pain mingled with mockery and the greatest humiliation, tasting death for every man, since every rescue cost deepest humiliation. Though strong to save the whole world, He wept at the grave at the thought that He could not save all whom Satan had laid low, but only the many, even all who would return to loyalty through God's gift of His only begotten Son as sacrifice for sin and transgression. His going to the grave, weeping with Mary and Martha and restoring their buried brother to them, shows He is touched by the sorrow of the bereaved and ready to help grieving mothers and all who trust in Him.
Lazarus had been dead four days and his body had seen corruption, yet he had no experience or account of conscious life while dead, for the dead know nothing. He was restored to life but remained mortal, still subject to death and decay and not made immortal. The return belonged to a mission that included raising the dead, displayed power over death and brought joy to the sisters, and points to the resurrection at His return when His voice will call the dead in Christ from the tomb to glorious, immortal life to be with the Lord forever.
After waiting two days beyond the news that Lazarus was sick, Jesus told His disciples He would return to Judea, to Bethany to awaken His friend who had died. Though the disciples were anxious because the Jews had lately sought to stone Him, He declared Himself safe under His Father's guidance while His day lasted, for he who walks in the path God marks out cannot stumble. The delay was not lack of love but deliberate wisdom, so that Lazarus would die and be buried and His raising would become undoubted proof of divine power. That raising was the last and crowning evidence that He is the Son of God and the Lifegiver, meant to unite His disciples to Him in unbreakable faith and lead many to believe. Lazarus had lain four days with his body seeing corruption and knowing nothing in death, and though restored he remained mortal, pointing to the day when Christ's voice will call the dead in Christ to glorious immortal life.
Setting and Decision
Then after that He said, Let us go into Judea again, after He had waited two days from hearing that Lazarus was sick. The sisters had sent only the trusting message that he whom He loved was sick, expecting Him to come at once to Bethany, but the messenger came back without Him bringing only the word that the sickness was not unto death. Two sorrowful days passed before His arrival.
The return to Judea meant going to Bethany, to the home of Lazarus where He often found rest. Having no home of His own and being dependent on the hospitality of friends and disciples, when weary and thirsting for human fellowship He was glad to escape to this peaceful household away from the suspicion and jealousy of the angry Pharisees and from the weary conflict of public life. There He found sincere welcome and pure, holy friendship, with appreciation for a quiet home and longing for human tenderness, courtesy and affection, and interested listeners. There He could speak with simplicity and perfect freedom, knowing His words would be understood and treasured, opening to an appreciative audience the volume of Providence as He did not to the mixed multitude, with no need to speak in parables.
When He decided to go He was with His few faithful followers in temporary refuge in a strange city, choosing to go again to the people He had labored to save who had driven Him away. His life had been one of persecution and insult, driven from Bethlehem by a jealous king, rejected by His own people at Nazareth, and condemned without cause to death at Jerusalem. Ever touched by human woe, He had healed the sick, restored sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and speech to the dumb, fed the hungry and comforted the sorrowful, walked upon the heaving billows and silenced their angry roaring by a word, cast out devils that acknowledged Him to be the Son of God, broken the slumbers of the dead, and held thousands entranced by words of wisdom. Yet He was unable to reach hearts blinded by prejudice and insane hatred who resolutely rejected the light.
The decision puzzled the disciples, and anxiety for Christ and for themselves was uppermost, because the Jews had lately sought to stone Him and hatred in Judea made return seem nothing but danger. Some were already questioning whether He was really the Christ since He had not saved Lazarus whom He loved. By going He meant to awake His friend Lazarus, calling death sleep, which the disciples misunderstood as rest in sleep until He told them plainly that Lazarus was dead and that His absence was for their sake that they might believe. In answer to the danger He declared Himself under His Father's guidance and safe as long as He did His will, for His twelve hours of day were not yet ended though He had entered the last remnant of His day. Safety is found in doing God's will in God's time, for he who walks in the path God has marked out cannot stumble and fall, since the light of God's guiding Spirit gives clear perception of duty and leads aright till the close of the work, while he who walks in a path of his own choosing where God has not called him turns day into night, stumbles for lack of light, and is nowhere secure.
Purpose and Power
The two days' waiting was not want of care for the stricken household but deliberate purpose guided by divine wisdom, that Lazarus should die and be buried before arrival so his death would become the occasion for undoubted proof of divine power. The raising that followed the resolve to go again was the last and crowning evidence that He is the Son of God, the Saviour of the world and the Lifegiver. It gave convincing proof of His divinity and revealed the Father through His works, and to a close watcher such as Nicodemus it became compelling evidence of Messiahship.
Going then was to bind the disciples to Him in faith that could not be broken, to work a crowning miracle that would convince all who could be convinced, lead many to believe and glorify God, and draw a large enthusiastic multitude to see Him. As the Jewish nation's last test the same miracle left those already rejecting light hardened, for the leaders in pride rejected Him and used it to stir the hostility of His enemies. The resolve reveals Him as health and strength in Himself, in whose immediate presence disease was always rebuked, who could not witness suffering without bringing relief nor witness disease or death without combating Satan's power.
Going to raise Lazarus kept before Him the dark shadow He must enter to pay the ransom for souls on the cross of Calvary, with greater pain mingled with mockery and the greatest humiliation, tasting death for every man, since every rescue cost deepest humiliation. Though strong to save the whole world, He wept at the grave at the thought that He could not save all whom Satan had laid low, but only the many, even all who would return to loyalty through God's gift of His only begotten Son as sacrifice for sin and transgression. His going to the grave, weeping with Mary and Martha and restoring their buried brother to them, shows He is touched by the sorrow of the bereaved and ready to help grieving mothers and all who trust in Him.
Lazarus had been dead four days and his body had seen corruption, yet he had no experience or account of conscious life while dead, for the dead know nothing. He was restored to life but remained mortal, still subject to death and decay and not made immortal. The return belonged to a mission that included raising the dead, displayed power over death and brought joy to the sisters, and points to the resurrection at His return when His voice will call the dead in Christ from the tomb to glorious, immortal life to be with the Lord forever.