21, is no slight evidence of the unsuspecting integrity of the narrator. For, if the story had been fictitious, its author would not have ventured to put the same words into the mouths of both the sisters, if he wished to preserve their individuality distinct. But, in fact, the agreement in the language is very natural, because the thought it expressed constantly recurred to their minds, and aggravated their grief. They had, perhaps, said the same thing to each other and to themselves a thousand times.

33, 34. He groaned in the spirit, &c. The heart of Jesus tenderly sympathized with the feelings of others; the grief of Mary and the Jews condoling with her, touched the springs of sorrow in his own breast, and when it was proposed to go to the grave, he naturally became more affected, as is related in the next verse.

35. Jesus wept. Though this is the shortest verse in the Bible, and contains but two words, it is yet full of deep meaning. It has been variously conjectured, that Jesus wept on account of sin, the cause of death to man; or, in view of the sin of the world, into which he was about to recall his departed friend; or, the past grief of the sisters and friends; or, as painfully reminded of his own cruel and approaching death; or, that his tears were tears of joy that he was so soon to revive Lazarus from the heavy sleep of the tomb. But is it not easier and more natural, in every respect, to view his grief as the result of a combination of causes, in which sympathy for others bore the

principal, though not the only part? This was no weakness in him, but his moral glory, that while his thoughts were conversant with themes of God and eternity, his affections were attuned to lowly sympathies with the sad and suffering, weeping with those that wept, and rejoicing with those that rejoiced; that while his head moved among the stars of heaven, his heart was with the children of the earth in all their sorrows and trials. He was by the grave of one whom he loved, and whose sisters and friends were weeping around him; he thought not of what was to be, but of what was, and his sensibility was thrilled, and his tears flowed, without his calculating whether this affliction was soon to be removed by the raising of Lazarus, or not. Bulfinch well remarks, that "powerful as was the evidence of raising the dead to life, the evidence of those holy tears speaks more impressively. Tears are the language of truth. An impostor never wept at the moment of perpetrating a deception."

36. Behold how he loved him! The bystanders naturally construed his grief as an expression of his love for the deceased, which it no doubt was in part, as well as of sympathy with the living.

"See how he loved!' exclaimed the Jews, As tender tears from Jesus fell; My grateful heart the thought pursues, And on the theme delights to dwell. "See how he loved who never shrank

From toil or danger, pain or death, Who all the cup of sorrow drank,

And meekly yielded up his breath!" 37, 38. Opened the eyes of the blind. Referring to the miracle related in

.

47

44. Bound hand and foot with grave-clothes, &c. It is customary in the east to swathe the dead body in numerous folds of linen, with aromatic spices, and bind the face about with a napkin. When Lazarus, therefore, arose from the niche in which the corpse was laid in the tomb, and stood forth to view, though confined in no coffin, he was still entangled in the grave-clothes, from which he could not disengage himself. — Loose him, and let him go. It is the remark of Furness, that at first view there seems to be here a descent in the narrative to a trifling particular; but when it is considered into what consternation the bystanders must have been thrown, at the sight of the dead man coming to life, rendering them, by the palsy of fear, incapable, for the moment, of assisting Lazarus in his vain struggles to free himself from the folds, in which he was wrapped, hand and foot, the sublime self-possession of Jesus appears in the important command by which he quietly bade them loose the graveclothes, and set the newly risen man at liberty. Priestley observes, that there was a natural gradation in the three miracles, by which Jesus raised persons to life. The first was a person just dead; the second was one who was carried out to be buried; and the third had been dead and buried four days.

45, 46. Believed on him. The ef

fect of the miracle on one class is here related-they were persuaded to believe in Jesus.-But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees. Those, on the other hand, who resisted the evidence of his authority from God, hastened to his enemies as informers, reporting what Jesus had done. Compare Luke xvi. 31. Thus the same influence produces different effects upon different minds, according as they are prepared for its reception.

"The same sun that softens the wax, hardens the clay." What perfect, undoubting confidence in the truth, what transparent honesty, that the writer should confess, that even this mighty miracle did not convince all, but that some remained hardened and hostile!

47, 48. A council, i. e. a meeting of the Sanhedrim. The distinguished success of Jesus is a crisis, in their judgment, demanding immediate attention and active measures, to arrest his growing influence. This man doeth many miracles. A most important concession, as coming from his bitterest enemies. - All men will believe on him. This was the point of their greatest difficulty and fear. They dreaded the increasing popularity of Jesus, as subtracting so much from their own influence. Take away both our place and nation, i. e. the temple or city, and people of the Jews. This was their second, smaller trouble,—since we

may not uncharitably suppose, that their patriotic feelings were less intense than their selfish ones they feared that Jesus would involve them in fatal hostilities with Rome, which would result in the subversion of both temple and nation. In this connexion it is worthy of observation, that their rejection of Christ, and the temper of mind which produced it, finally resulted in the very calamities which they here hypocritically affected to dread. Such is the fearful law of divine retribution evil to him that is evil, and good to him that is good, now and forever. 49, 50. Caiaphas. Note on Luke iii. 2. High-priest that same year. This office, so venerable for its sacredness and authority, had become the mere sport of the mercenary rulers of a foreign power. Individuals were, it is thought, chosen annually to fill the post. Ye know nothing at all, i. e. are destitute of political wisdom in this emergency. There was, probably, a secret party in the Sanhedrim itself, in favor of Jesus, of which Nicodemus was undoubtedly one. We are told, chap. xii. 42, that many among the chief rulers believed on him. That it is expedient. Or, for our interest, or advantage. The maxim of Caiaphas has been acted upon with too great frequency in the affairs of mankind, and

if not always with equally fatal consequences, as in this case, yet ever with loss and ruin in the final upshot. What is right is always expedient, under the righteous administration of God, in the long run, and the ultimate issue; but what we may suppose at the time to be expedient, may not always be right. Truth, and not our supposed interest, should then be our standard.

51, 52. And this spake he not of himself. The evangelist explains, in these two verses, that the high-priest did not, intentionally, or of himself, utter a prophecy, but that in his office of high-priest, gifted with such high and sacred authority, as added weight to his words, he inadvertently, without meaning it, and without being a genuine prophet, had uttered a true prediction respecting the death of Jesus, as it afterwards turned out. For he did actually die, not for the Jews only, "but for the benefit of the whole world, who, by becoming Christians, are united under one Head, and brought to join in the worship of the one living and true God."

53, 54. From that day forth, &c. Henceforth, their hostility took a more active form, and they pursued a more deliberate and determined course to accomplish his death. But for the present, Jesus fled from the

rising storm, and took refuge in a retired part of the country.-A city called Ephraim. Little is known of its location, but it is supposed to have been situated somewhere north of Jerusalem, probably between Jericho and Samaria. Carpenter supposes the narrative of chap. vi. to belong, according to the order of time, between ver. 54 and 55.

55. The Jews' passover. This shows that John was writing for those who were not Jews, but Gentiles. The approaching festival was the one at which Jesus was crucified. To purify themselves. Acts xxi. 24. Those who were in any respect unclean, according to the prescriptions of the law, must take the necessary measures, of sin-offerings, ablutions, fasting, prayer, and other observances, from one to six days, to purify themselves beforehand, that they might share in the privileges of the sacred festival. This, with the two last verses, would be more properly attached to the next chapter.

56, 57. Then sought they for Jesus. As they did at the Feast of Tabernacles. Chap. vii. 11, 12. — That they might take him. To prepare the way for the history of the subsequent seizure, trial, and death of Jesus, the evangelist here states the important decree of the Jewish Sanhedrim, requiring any man, who knew where Jesus was, to inform against him, that he might be apprehended.

(1.) The Scriptures manifest at

once their popular adaptation and their divine origin, in their characteristics as a narrative and historical work, and in this respect widely differ from the professedly sacred writings of false religions; from the Koran of Muhammed, the Oracles of Zoroaster, the Morals of Confucius, the Institutes of Menu, and the Veds of Hindostan. For these are mainly abstract in their nature, while the Bible relates the history, in the Old Testament, of God dealing with the children of Israel through Moses, and in the New, with the world through Jesus Christ. Those who object to stories, as constituting a part of the reading of children, should not forget, that the Scriptures themselves consist, in no small degree, of true stories, wonderfully, divinely fitted to excite the interest of the reader, and level to the comprehension of even an uncultivated mind. They, therefore, form the best text-book in morals and religion, both in common and in Sabbath schools, and in the heavenordained school of the family.

(2.) There is something in the life of Jesus with which all, whatever be their condition, may sympathize. Have any lost friends? Lazarus, the friend of Christ, died. Do any weep? Jesus wept. Ver. 35. Are men exposed to the temptations of a retired, or the dangers of a public, life? Our Lord experienced both. He had his hour of triumph, of elated hope; his