of Matthew xxiv. and xxv., and supped that night with Simon the leper. (5) On Wednesday He tarried in Bethany. (6) On Thursday He went to Jerusalem, ate the passover, appointed the Lord's Supper, and the same night was taken before the priests as a prisoner. (7) On Friday He was crucified.
2. — [There they made him a supper.'] These words show the joyful hospitality with which the Master was received by the disciples. The expression, " they," may perhaps be used indefinitely, ac- cording to a common Hebraism. (Compare Matthew v. 15; x. 10; xiii. 48, and John xv. 6.) It then simply means, " a supper was made." If not so used, it evidently can apply to none but Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. — Whether the supper was on Friday evening, when our Lord arrived, after the Sabbath began, or on the Saturday, or the Sabbath Day, is immaterial. It is evident that hospitality was thought no breach of the Sabbath among the Jews.
Lightfoot says the feast of the Jews, on this particular day, six days before the passover, was always peculiarly liberal and sumptuous.
Hutcheson observes : " It is not unlawful at some times to enjoy the liberal use of the creatures in a sober manner. Christ doth not decline this supper; sometimes He went to the feasts of Pharisees, and sometimes of Publicans." (Luke vii. 36 ; Matt. ix. 11.)
[And Martha served.] The natural temperament of this good woman comes out here as elsewhere. She could not sit still and do nothing while her Lord was in her house. She must be actively stirring and trying to do something. Grace does not take away our peculiar characteristics.
[But Lazarus. ..sat at the table with him.] This appears to most commentators, from Chrysostom downwards, to be purposely mentioned, in order to show the reality of Lazarus' resurrection. He was not a ghost or a spirit. He had really been raised to life with a real body, and flesh and bones, and all the wants and conditions of a body. Thus we are practically taught that though a man's body dies, it may yet live again.
Is not this feast a faint type of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb? Jesus Christ will be there; those believers who died and are raised again at His second advent will be there ; and those who never died, but are found alive and believing when He comes, will be there. Then the number of guests will be complete.
8. — [Then took Mary... ointment... anointed... feet... Jesus, etc., etc.] This remarkable action of Mary, which, according to our Lord's saying in Matthew and Mark, is related all over the world, de- serves our special consideration.
The action itself was not an uncommon one in Eastern coun- tries, where the heat is very great, and the feet exposed to it by