John xi. 18. Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen Bethany. furlongs off: sume his place in society, to fulfil the ordinary duties of life, The next great fact which demonstrated the resurrection of From this miracle the disciples might have received the comfortable assurance that Death and Corruption had no power to resist the voice of their Lord and Master, it ought to have taught them, that though scourged, persecuted, and crucified, he had power to lay down his life and to take it up again-and the same voice which called the spirit of Lazarus from the invisible world, and bade it reanimate the corrupting body, shall again command the dust to live, and the dead to rise. The Scripture has given us a moral demonstration of the divine power of our Lord, which shall effect this mighty work, whenever the morning of the resurrection shall dawn, all who have been committed to the ground will be included among those whose bodies have entirely decayed, mouldered into dust, or are in various stages of corruption, from the first stiffening of the limbs, to their mingling with their kindred elements. As the earth is covered with the dew of the morning, so says the Scriptures shall it cast forth her dead. The sea shall give up her dead. The elements around us shall restore their borrowed atoms. Over the surface of the whole earth, the dust shall quicken into life; and man from the opening graves shall ascend into the air, and summoned in his body before the tribunal of the Most High, to be judged every man according to his works. The other Evangelists have omitted the resurrection of Lazarus, because (it is supposed) he was still alive when they wrote, and would have been rendered, by notice, more liable than otherwise to persecution. The question is discussed by Kuinoel, in loc. who comes to the same conclusion. We have hitherto been fortunate enough in this country to have escaped from the contamination of the German theological speculators on the miracles of Christ, &c. &c. Should any student, however, have become in any degree entangled by them, He will find a most admirable antidote in the writings of Kuinoel.-See particularly on the Resurrection of Lazarus. The resurrection of Lazarus was the last and most solemn appeal of a miraculous nature which be made to the Jewish nation before John xi. 19. 20. And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to Bethany. comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was 21. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been 22. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him. The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. his apprehension. St. John is the only Evangelist who has relat- Bb John xi. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw Bethany. him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sis- Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou 42. 43. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud 44. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot 45. 46. But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. SECTION XLVII. John xi. 47. 48. The Sanhedrim assemble to deliberate concerning the Resur- JOHN XI. 47, 48. Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a Jerusalem. council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him; and the Romans shall come, and take away both our place and nation 34. There is much difficulty in the reasoning of the Sanhedrim on this occasion. Why should they fear the Romans, even if John xi. 49. 50. 51. SECTION XLVIII. Caiaphas Prophesies. JOHN xi. 49-52. And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high Jerusalem. priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but, being high priest that year, he prophesied 35, That Jesus should die for that nation; they had acknowledged our Lord to be the Messiah? They nue; The cause of their apprehension seems to have been the meek and unostentatious pretensions of our Lord, and his severe reproofs of the pride and hypocrisy of the Pharisees and rulers. They demanded a Messiah who should appear with the insignia, as well as the reality of power, and who should not only contibut even enhance to the utmost the temporal dominion of the Jews. As our Lord did not possess the external proofs of royalty, they would not believe that He would be able to oppose the Roman power, whose vengeance they would certainly bring upon themselves, if they had acknowledged any other political sovereign; but as the resurrection of Lazarus was the cause of this assembling by the Sanhedrim, it is evident that the miraculous powers of our Lord must have been known to that body and the supposition of Lightfoot, therefore, that they knew him, is not irrational; they probably knew him as a Prophet, but not as the Messiah. 35 Commentators are divided respecting the meaning of these words. In the former ages of the Jewish Church, the spirit of prophecy rested with the High Priest. As this was the great year in which the object of the Jewish dispensation was attained, and the spirit of prophecy, according to the prediction of Joel, quoted by St. Peter, was abundantly poured forth; it is supposed that the High Priest was now inspired to utter certain words, with the full meaning of which he was unacquainted, as was frequently, and in the opinion of the Jews, uniformly, the case among the ancient prophets. Others interpret the words according to the literal sense in which they were spoken by Caiphas, and suppose that St. John gave them another signification. Hausenius, in his learned dissertation on this subject (a), endeavours to prove that the words of St. John must likewise be interpreted literally, and that Caiaphas did actually prophecy; and as High Priest foretell the necessity of Christ's death. The question is admirably summed up by Hausenius, in bis 17th section. Hoc modo et Saulus cum suis inter prophetas relatus, majori violentia spiritus actus est. E quibus constat, modum, quo profano Caiaphæ vaticinium inditum est, omnibus fere, qui impiis obtigerunt, tenuiorem, lenioremque fuisse. He then proceeds in his last section to shew that though this John xi. 52. And not for that nation only, but that also he should Jerusalem. gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. John xi. 53. SECTION XLIX. The Sanhedrim resolve to put Christ to Death. JOHN XI. 53. Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death. expression of Caiaphas must be considered as a real prophecy, כי היה מה שנוכר מנכותו דבר .27 .Isaaci Abarbenelis ad Jos. xiii שונה אליו לצורך שעה לכבוד ישרצל וכדי לברכם Grotius (b) quotes several curious opinions of the ancients respecting the communion of their chiefs and superiors with an invisible world. Homer tells us that a dream was only to be depended upon when it occurred to Agamemnon. The Spartans esteemed those dreams only as prophetical which were presented to the Ephori. Oracular responses were given both to Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar, to Lamech and Balaam. And in the former dispensation it belonged to the kings, or to the chief magistrate, to consult by Urim and Thummin (c). Dr. Lardner observes on these words, by prophesying-"I understand foretelling the event; which it was in a peculiar manner the office of the priest to do, when he was inquired of, or when God was inquired of by him, concerning any important matters under deliberation."-See 1 Sam. xxii. 11-13. xxiii. 9-11. and 2 Sam. v. 22-25. He thus paraphrases the whole passage "Caiaphas, who was the High Priest at that time, when it came to his turn to deliver his opinion, said, You have hitherto talked very weakly and ignorantly; you may proceed in the case before you without hesitation. The taking away the life of this man will be so far from being ruinous to the whole nation in this country, and in other parts, as some of you fear, that it will be much for the advantage of the people of God, every where. This however he said, not merely of himself, but being then High Priest, he foretold the issue and event of their counsels, and of the death of Jesus: and that it would come to pass that Jesus would die for that nation, and not for that nation only; but that through his death he would gather together in one the children of God, which were scattered abroad (d)." The advice of Caiaphas is such, indeed, as might have been expected from an unprincipled and worldly politician. He recommends them to save the state, by sacrificing the author of their supposed danger. One man must die for the peoplethat is, the life of this Jesus, although he has performed such mighty works, is of no value when compared with the possibi |