Jana 11:30 Komentarz

In this chapter we have the history of that illustrious miracle which Christ wrought a little before his death - the raising of Lazarus to life, which is recorded only by this evangelist; for the other three confine themselves to what Christ did in Galilee, where he resided most, and scarcely ever carried their history into Jerusalem till the passion-week: whereas John's memoirs relate chiefly to what passed at Jerusalem; this passage therefore was reserved for his pen. Some suggest that, when the other evangelists wrote, Lazarus was alive, and it would not well agree either with his safety or with his humility to have it recorded till now, when it is supposed he was dead. It is more largely recorded than any other of Christ's miracles, not only because there are many circumstances of it so very instructive and the miracle of itself so great a proof of Christ's mission, but because it was an earnest of that which was to be the crowning proof of all - Christ's own resurrection. Here is, I. The tidings sent to our Lord Jesus of the sickness of Lazarus, and his entertainment of those tidings (v. 1-16). II. The visit he made to Lazarus's relations when he had heard of his death, and their entertainment of the visit (v. 17-32). III. The miracle wrought in the raising of Lazarus from the dead (Joh 11:33-44). IV. The effect wrought by this miracle upon others (Joh 11:45-57).

And some of them said,.... Who were averse to him, and bore him a secret grudge, and were willing to put the worst construction on every action of his: could not this man which opened the eyes of the blind; as it is said, at least pretended, that he did, Joh 9:6, for this must be understood as calling the miracle into question, and as a sneer upon it, and not as taking it for granted that so it was; and even supposing that, it is mentioned to his reproach, since if so, he might have caused that, even this man should not died: for either the above cure was a sham, or, if it was a real thing, he who did that could have prevented Lazarus's death; and if he could, and would not, where is his friendship? and what must be thought of all this show of affection to him? and what are these tears, but crocodile ones? but this reasoning, as specious as it may seem, was very fallacious; for he that cured the man born blind could raise Lazarus from the dead, which he intended; and therefore did not prevent his death, that he might still give more joy to the family, bring more glory to God, and himself, and more shame and confusion to his enemies.

The Jews then which were with her in the house,.... Who came from Jerusalem to visit this afflicted family, and continued in the house with them and comforted her; which was the end of their coming, Joh 11:19. This they endeavoured to do, though they did not succeed: when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily, and went out, followed her; they did not know what Martha whispered to her, but observed that she rose off her seat in great haste, and went out of the house at once; and therefore they went after to see where she went, and to persuade her to return; saying, within themselves; "thinking", as all the Oriental versions seem to read, she goeth unto the grave to weep there: the Jews were wont to go to the graves on different accounts; one was to see whether the persons were dead or not: for so it is said (p), "they go to the graves and visit until three days.'' It happened that they visited one, and he lived five and twenty years, and after that died: and another was on a religious account; such went to the graves of the prophets, wise men, and righteous, and prostrated themselves upon them, to pray with weeping and supplication, and seek mercy for themselves, and for their brethren, expressing their faith in the resurrection (q). Dr. Pocock (r) has given a large form of prayer used by them at such times, from Solomon bar Nathan; and is as follows: "let it be the will of the Lord our God, our Creator, our Holy One, the Holy One of Jacob, who hath created all the children of his covenant in judgment, and causes them to die in judgment, and will raise them again to the life of the world to come, who knows the number of them all; that he would hasten to awake our master and doctor, (such an one,) that holy, (or that righteous, or that wise doctor,) whose body dwells in this sepulchre, whose bones rest in the midst of these stones; and that he would quicken him with that eternal life which no death follows; with that life which swallows up all death, and which wipes away all tears, and takes away all reproach; together with all those who are written unto life in Jerusalem; with the seven shepherds, and eight principal men, who are spoken of in Mic 5:5, and give him a part with them that understand, and with them that justify many, who will be like the stars for ever and ever; and the whole residue of the people of the Lord, the house of Israel, who keep the covenant of our God, and do his pleasure, may the Lord our God shake all these out of their dust, and let their lot, and our lot, be in life, in everlasting life, that in it he may establish all, both great and small, according to what is written, Psa 72:16, "there shall be an handful of corn", &c. and confirm the assurance he gave by Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos, Isa 26:19, "thy dead men shall live", &c. and as he promised to Daniel, a man of desires, Dan 12:13, "but go thou thy way till the end be", &c. and as he promised to all the congregations of Israel, by his servant Ezekiel, the son of Buzi the priest, Eze 37:12, "therefore prophesy and say to them", &c. that the saints may rejoice with glory, and sing upon their beds, and that the righteous may rejoice, and exult before God, and be glad in his salvation, and say in that day, "behold this is our God, we have waited for him", &c. Isa 25:9; and we will bless the Lord from this time forth, and for ever, Hallelujah.'' A shorter one, which is in their liturgies, and is used as they pass by the sepulchres of the Israelites, is this: "blessed art thou, O Lord our God, who has formed you in judgment, and has quickened you in judgment, and has fed you in judgment, and knows the number of all of you, and he will quicken you, and restore you; blessed art thou, O Lord, that quickens the dead.'' But sometimes they went only to vent their grief, and lament the loss of their deceased friends, which the Jews imagined was the case of Mary. And such a custom as this is used by the Turks, whose women on Friday, which is their day of worship, go before sun rising to the graves of the deceased, which are without the city, where they mourn over the death of their friends, and sprinkle their monuments with water and flowers; and even such as are not at the funeral or interment of the dead, after some days, will go to the graves, and make their lamentations there, and inquire of the dead the reason of their departure, and, as it were, expostulate with them, and to their lamentations add oblations of loaves, cheeses, eggs, and flesh (s). The Persians also visit the sepulchres of their principal "Imams", or prelates (t); and the Jews were wont to visit the graves of their great men, in honour to them; yea, the disciples of the wise men used to meet there to study the law, thereby showing respect, and doing honour to the deceased. It is said of Hezekiah, Ch2 32:33, "that all Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, did him honour at his death"; from whence say the Talmudists (u) we learn, that they fixed a sitting or a school at his grave; the gloss is, a session (or school) of the wise men to study in the law there. So says Maimonides (w), when a king dies they make a sitting at his grave seven days, as it is said, Ch2 32:33, "they did him honour at his death"; that is, they made a sitting at his grave. (p) Massech. Semachot, c. 8. fol. 15. 1. (q) Cippi Heb. p. 3, 4. (r) Misc. not. in port. Maimon. p. 224. (s) Gejer de Ebraeor. Luctu, c. 6. sect. 26. (t) Reland de Relig. Mohammed. l. 1. p. 72. (u) T. Bab. Bava Kama, fol. 16. 2. (w) Hilchot Ebel. c. 14. sect. 25.

(Hom. lxiii. 1) While the rest sat around her in her sorrow, she did not wait for the Master to come to her, but, not letting her grief detain her, rose immediately to meet Him; As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto Him. (Hom. lxiii. 1) He went slowly, that He might not seem to catch at an occasion of working a miracle, but to have it forced upon Him by others asking. Mary, it is said, arose quickly, and thus anticipated His coming. The Jews accompanied her: The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary that she arose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.

"Jesus was not yet come into the town." He proceeded somewhat slowly, that He might not seem to fling Himself upon the miracle, but rather to be entreated by them. At least, it is either with an intention of implying this that the Evangelist has said the, "riseth up quickly," or else he showeth that she ran so as to anticipate Christ's arrival. She came not alone, but drawing after her the Jews that were in the house. Very wisely did her sister call her secretly, so as not to disturb those who had come together, and not mention the cause either; for assuredly many would have gone back, but now as though she were going to weep, all followed her. By these means again it is proved that Lazarus was dead.

Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met Him. (Tr. xlix. 16) The Evangelist mentions this to show how it was that so many were present at Lazarus' resurrection, and witness of that great miracle.

When Martha professed her faith in Christ and wiped out by her reverent confession whatever blame there was in womanhood, a message is sent to Mary, because without Mary death could not be banished or life be restored. Let Mary come; let the one who bears the name of his mother come so that humanity might see that as Christ dwelt enclosed in the Virgin’s womb, so too to that extent the dead will come forth from the underworld, the dead will come forth from the tombs.

But Jesus had not yet come into the village, for He was walking slowly, so that they would not think that He Himself was seeking an occasion for the miracle, but that He would perform it at their request.

1526 Mary meets Christ at the same place where Martha had spoken to him; Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. The Evangelist mentions this so that we do not think that Mary's trip was unnecessary, for Christ could have reached her village just as quickly as Martha did. But Christ remained where he was so as not to appear to be thrusting himself into a miracle. Yet once he is asked and prompted, he does perform a miracle, once they realize that Lazarus is dead, and so the miracle cannot be denied. We can also understand from this that when we wish to have the advantage of Christ we should go to meet him, and not wait until he accommodates himself to us; rather, we should accommodate ourselves to him: "They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them" (Jer 15:19).

Account of the sickness of Lazarus, Joh 11:1. His sisters Martha and Mary send for Christ, Joh 11:2. Our Lord's discourse with his disciples on this sickness and consequent death, Joh 11:3-16. He arrives at Bethany four days after the burying of Lazarus, Joh 11:17, Joh 11:18. Martha meets Christ - their conversation, Joh 11:19-27. She returns and Mary goes out to meet him, in great distress, Joh 11:28-33. Christ comes to the grave - his conversation there, Joh 11:34-42. He raises Lazarus from the dead, Joh 11:43-46. The priests and Pharisees, hearing of this, hold a council, and plot his destruction, Joh 11:47, Joh 11:48. The remarkable prophecy of Caiaphas, and the consequent proceedings of the Jews, Joh 11:49-53. Jesus withdraws into a city called Ephraim, Joh 11:54. They lay wait for him at the passover, Joh 11:55-57.

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 Savior was, when Martha met him, was not far from the place where Lazarus was buried. See the note on Luk 7:12.

LAZARUS RAISED FROM THE DEAD--THE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS. (John 11:1-46) of Bethany--at the east side of Mount Olivet. the town of Mary and her sister Martha--thus distinguishing it from the other Bethany, "beyond Jordan." (See on Joh 1:28; Joh 10:40).