[4718] So according to the best reading.
[4719] St. Matt. xi. 12.
[4720] Comp. also St. Matt. xix. 30; xx. 16.
[4721] St. Matt. vii. 21, 22.
[4722] St. Matt. vii. 23.
[4723] St. Luke xiii. 27.
[4724] It is characteristic of higher' criticism when Hilgenfeld declares that the lawlessness' in St. Matthew's Gospel is intended as a covert hit at Pauline Christianity, and the unrighteousness' in St. Luke's as a retort upon Petrine or Jewish Christianity!
[4725] Rom. ii.
[4726] St. Matt. viii. 11.
[4727] St. Luke xiii. 31-35.
[4728] Perhaps we should rather read hour.'
[4729] See Book III. chap. xxviii.
[4730] St. Luke ix. 9.
[4731] as spoken of in St. Luke xiii. 32.
[4732] St. John xi. 8.
[4733] The word poreesthai, ver. 31, is also used in ver. 32 go,' and ver. 33 walk.'
[4734] The words to-day, and to-morrow, and the third day,' must not be taken as a literal, but as a well-known figurative expression. Thus we are told (Mechilta, Par. Bo, 18, towards end, ed. Weiss, p. 27 b), There is a "to-morrow" which is now [refers to the immediate present], and a "to-morrow" of a later time,' indicating a fixed period connected with the present, The latter, for example, in the passage illustrated in the Rabbinic quotation just made: Ex. xiii. 14, It shall be when thy son shall ask thee [literally] to-morrow,' in our A.V. in time to come.' So also Josh. xxii. 24. The third day' in such connection would be {hebrew}.
[4735] Even the death of John the Baptist may, as indicated, be said to have been compassed in Jerusalem.
[4736] vv. 34, 35.
[4737] St. Matt. xxiii. 37-39.
[4738] The words will be considered in connection with that passage.
[4739] St. Luke xiv. 1-11.
[4740] Chapter xvi.
[4741] St. Luke xiv. 4.
[4742] vv. 3, 4.
[4743] So - and not ass' - according to the best reading.
[4744] ver. 21.
[4745] ver. 7-11.
[4746] ver. 10.
[4747] Almost precisely the same sayings occur in Ab. de Rabbi Nathan 25 and Vayyikra R. 1.
[4748] vv. 12-14.
[4749] Chapter xvi.
[4750] Ab. i. 5.
[4751] Ab. de R. Nathan 7.
[4752] St. Luke xiv. 25-35.
[4753] xiii. 31-35.
[4754] ver. 25.
[4755] St. Matt. x. 37, 38.
[4756] St. Luke xiv. 26.
[4757] vv. 28-30.
[4758] vv. 31, 32.
[4759] ver. 33.
[4760] vv. 34, 35.
[4761] Bekhor. 8 b, lines 14, 13 from bottom.
[4762] In the Talmud: {hebrew} [has an evil odour, is spoiled] {hebrew}.
[4763] St. Luke xvii. 1-10.
[4764] xvii. 1.
[4765] vv. 1-4, comp. St. Matt. xviii. 6-35; ver. 6, comp. St. Matt. xvii. 20.
[4766] St. John xi.
[4767] St. Luke xvii. 1, 2.
[4768] vv. 3, 4.
[4769] ver. 6.
[4770] vv. 7-10.
[4771] See Book IV. chap. iii.
[4772] St. Matt. xviii. 1-6, &c., 21, 22.
[4773] St. Luke xvii. 6.
[4774] vv. 7-10. __________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER XXI. THE DEATH AND THE RAISING OF LAZARUS - THE QUESTION OF MIRACLES AND OF THIS MIRACLE OF MIRACLES - VIEWS OF NEGATIVE CRITICISM ON THIS HISTORY - JEWISH BURYING-RITES AND SEPULCHRES.
(St. John xi. 1-54.)
From listening to the teaching of Christ, we turn once more to follow His working. It will be remembered, that the visit to Bethany divides the period from the Feast of the Dedication to the last Paschal week into two parts. It also forms the prelude and preparation for the awful events of the End. For, it was on that occasion that the members of the Sanhedrin formally resolved on His Death. It now only remained to settle and carry out the plans for giving effect to their purpose.
This is one aspect of it. There is yet another and more solemn one. The raising of Lazarus marks the highest point (not in the Manifestation, but) in the ministry of our Lord; it is the climax in a history where all is miraculous - the Person, the Life, the Words, the Work. As regards Himself, we have here the fullest evidence alike of His Divinity and Humanity; as regards those who witnessed it, the highest manifestation of faith and of unbelief. Here, on this height, the two ways finally meet and part. And from this high point - not only from the resolution of the Sanhedrists, but from the raising of Lazarus - we have our first clear outlook on the Death and Resurrection of Christ, of which the raising of Lazarus was the typical prelude. From this height, also, have we an outlook upon the gathering of the Church at His empty Tomb, where the precious words spoken at the grave of Lazarus received their full meaning - till Death shall be no more. But chiefly do we now think of it as the Miracle of Miracles in the history of the Christ. He had, indeed, before this raised the dead; but it had been in far-off Galilee, and in circumstances essentially different. But now it would be one so well known as Lazarus, at the very gates of Jerusalem, in the sight of all men, and amidst surroundings which admitted not of mistake or doubt. If this Miracle be true, we instinctively feel all is true; and Spinoza was right in saying, [4775] that if he could believe the raising of Lazarus, he would tear to shreds his system, and humbly accept the creed of Christians.