The Sickness and Death of Lazarus

Notes

1. "The eleventh is in some respects the great central chapter of this gospel of life—even as it does indeed happen to be also literally the central chapter." "The ten chapters which precede have served to indicate how Jesus revealed Himself to the Jews in every aspect that was likely to win faith, and how each fresh revelation only served to embitter them against Him, and harden their unbelief into hopeless hostility."

2. "Jesus had often found the rest that His weary human nature required at the house of Lazarus in Bethany. . . . A dark cloud now hung over this quiet home where Jesus had rested. Lazarus was stricken with sudden illness. The afflicted sisters sent a message to Jesus: 'Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick.' They made no urgent requirement for the immediate presence of Jesus, for they believed that He would understand the case and relieve their brother. Lazarus was a firm believer in the divine mission of Jesus; he loved Him ardently and was in turn beloved by the blessed Master, whose peace had rested on his quiet home. The faith and love which the brother and sisters felt toward Jesus encouraged them to believe that He would not disregard their distress. . . . The sisters counted the days and hours that must intervene between the sending of the message and the arrival of Jesus to their aid. As the time approached when they should expect Him, they anxiously watched the travelers who appeared in the distance, hoping to discover the form of Jesus. . . . Presently their messenger returns, but unaccompanied by Jesus. He bears to the sorrowing sisters the words of the Saviour, 'This sickness is not unto death.' But the hearts of the sisters fail them, for lo, their brother is already wrestling with the fierce destroyer, and soon closes his eyes in death. . . . Jesus did not delay going to the relief of Lazarus through want of interest in the stricken family; but He designed to make the sorrowful event of the death of Lazarus an occasion to give undoubted proof of His divine power, and unite His disciples to Him in a faith that could not be broken. Already some of them were questioning in their minds if they had not been deceived in the evidences of His divine power; if He was really the Christ, would He not have saved Lazarus, whom He loved? Jesus designed to work a crowning miracle, that would convince all who would, by any means, be convinced, that He was the Saviour of the world."—Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 2, pp. 358, 360, 361.

3. "When Mary and Martha sent to Jesus, their message was—not, Lord, He who loveth Thee, but—'Lord, behold, He whom Thou lovest is sick.' It is not my imperfect love to Him which comforts me, but His perfect love to me."

4. "The Lord loves thee, and yet He tarries with His consolation! Be still, my soul, for thou shalt yet praise Him for having refused thee a smaller boon, that He might bestow upon thee a greater." "The persuasion of Christ's love must be graven in our hearts so deeply that no semblance of indifference on His part will ever make the slightest impression upon us. 'This is the victory that overcometh the world.'"

5. "In the forefront of this marvelous chapter stands the affirmation, 'Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus;' as if to teach us that at the very heart and foundation of all God's dealings with us, however dark and mysterious they may be, we must dare to believe in and assert the infinite, unmerited, and unchanging love of God."

6. A glorious experience came to the family at Bethany through the channel of suffering. "Who can estimate how much we owe to suffering and pain? . . . Suffering robs us of proud self-reliance, and casts us in an agony at the feet of God. Suffering prunes away the leaves in which we rejoiced, that the sap may find its way into fruit. Suffering isolates the soul, shutting it away from all creature aid, and surrounding it by a wall of fire. The leaves of the aromatic plant must be crushed ere they will emit their fragrance; the ore must be plunged in the furnace ere the gold is set free; the pebble must be polished on the lapidary's wheel ere its brilliant colors are apparent."

7. The implied request of the sisters seemed for the time to be unheeded, but this was only that Jesus might "do exceeding abundantly above all that we [they] ask or think." "When we do not receive the very things we ask for at the time we ask, we are still to believe that the Lord hears, and that He will answer our prayers. We are so erring and short-sighted that we sometimes ask for things that would not be a blessing to us, and our heavenly Father in love answers our prayers by giving us that which will be for our highest good,—that which we ourselves would desire, if with vision divinely enlightened we could see all things as they really are. When our prayers seem not to be answered, we are to cling to the promise; for the time of answering will surely come, and we shall receive the blessing we need most. But to claim that prayer will always be answered in the very way and for the particular thing that we desire, is presumption. God is too wise to err and too good to withhold any good thing from them that walk uprightly. Then do not fear to trust Him, even though you do not see the immediate answer to your prayers. . . . We may have no remarkable evidence at the time that the face of our Redeemer is bending over us in compassion and love; but this is even so."

8. "It agrees beautifully with divine decorum, that Scripture nowhere speaketh of any one having died in the presence of the Prince of Life. If we suppose that death could not have assailed Lazarus when Jesus was near, the words of the two sisters gain a much more sublime signification, and the Lord's joy on account of His absence appears in a clearer light."

Suggestions for Further Study.

1. Note the wonderful power of inspiration for condensed statement. How many facts are mentioned in verse 1?

2. What sometimes seems to men evidences of God's displeasure or of His neglect may be but the preliminary conditions for a special display of His power and glory. See John 9:3.

3. What is the teaching of this lesson concerning the condition of man in death?

4. What hint is given as to the relation between sleep and health?

5. What is the true relation between faith and miracles?

6. Jesus spoke of Lazarus as "our friend." Who are the friends of Jesus?

7. How is life only in Christ taught in this lesson?