The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 92

John nf hnm11,n be11,rt e.nd spiriL. Th1rJo (ver. :13), but it implies e. continuity of grand, trnn hnve been for 11.ll the ages e. grand holy indigne.tio? against the 1monll\ly of t~st.imouy to the fulness of his huml\nity, death, from which tho huml\n family and encl 11lso R Divine rcvele.tion of the very beo.rt he M its Representntive were sufforlng (of. of God (aee la&. xxv. S). It we.e not a K>.cw- Ter. 33). He oometh to the grave. 'fho llµ&s, M tlie weeping over Jenisnlcm (Luke (1,v111«iov or) tomb is forthwith described 1111 xix. 41). but profound e.nd wondrous follow- (u1r{iX111ov) a den, cavem,or cave,from n·lo,, feeling with human misery in all its forms, •pelunca, of which, po.rtly no.turn!, pmly then ime.ged before him in the grave of artificial, e.bund11nt nse wo.s made in the Enst. La.znrns. It is akin to the judicial blind- A stone lay (J,r' a~Tci) against it; or, over it; ness whioh hM obscured for the Tiibingen i.e. either closing it up as e. pit, or closing sohool llO much of the glory of Divine reve- the mouth of it, by being rolled along o le.tion, that Baur should regard this weeping ledge horizontal with tho base of the exca- of J esuE as unhistorical. ve.tion. The former kind of cave is shown Ycrs. 36, 37.-The J'ews therefore se.id, 11,tBethany, but no dependence can be ploced Jlehold how he loved him ! :But some of them on the tradition. (Cf. the account of our Ba.id, Could not this Man, who opened the Lord's own tomb, to which e. stone we.e rolled, eyes of the blind, he.ve caused the.t this man Matt. :uvii. 60; uviii. 2; M1uk xvi. 3, 4 ; also should not die l The effect upon the Luke xxiv. 2; cf. also Thomson, • The Land 'Iovlla,o, di ffera here, as always; but if (,ro>,.- and the Book,' pp. 101-108; e.nd art. >,.ol, ver. 45) many were favourably impres- "Buril\l," in Smith's ' Diction11ry.') The sed, we may believe here that the ,ro;>..;;.ol tomb of Joseph we.a that of o. rich mo.n, and ~~d one to another with genuine emotion, all these circumstances show opulence, re.thcr " Behold how he loved him l " ( J,p/;,...,, not than the beggary and rage of the Lazo.rue ;,-,&1ra. ; amabat, not diligebat). Tears are or the parable. often the crpression of love o.s well 88 grief. Ver. 39.-.Tesus saith, Take ye away the Hengstcnbcrg- sees in the cry of the better stone. •Apa.n ho.s rother the idea of " lift" claaE of these Jews, "How ha.she then let than "roll awe.y;" it is used for "take," him die?" probably he could not hn-.e helped "take away," "carry as o. burden." Martha, him if be would. In the language of the the sister of him that was dee.d, 1 said unto other J cws there was the suggestion of in- him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he ability, and the ironical hint that the cure bath been four days here. Martha's lan- of the blind mo.n, which had created so g-rea.t guage is another singulo.r illustration of the e. commotion, we.a only a delusion. Perhaps, desire on her po.rt to give a certain kind of too, 11, covert expectation of some further dis- advice aud direction to our Lord, as though play of wonder-working power. Stranss he might be the wiser o.nd better for her regards it e.e unhistorical that the previons monitions. The cbo.racterization of her as restorations from the dead should not be " 1 the sister of the dead " mo.n is not needed cited. But surely, when John wrote this for identification, but rather to explain or Gospel, the story of the widow's son and of jnstify her intrusion upon the solemn, stately Jairus's danghter we.e known throughout the direction of the Lord. She shrank from world. And if, in the middle of the second such an exposure of the body of her beloved century, this Gospel had been written by e. brother, 88 an m;i.necessa.ry act, since he wo.s speculative theologian, who deliberately set only to rise at the lasl day, or to be regarded himself to concoct such a narrative as this, by bis fo.ith in Christ before his death as with the view of completing the picture of havingalreadypassedfrom death and thruugh the Vanquisher of Rn.des, he would most death into a new life. She must bo.vc re- certainly have cited the Galilman miracles. linquished at that moment all hope of resur- John, however, is merely recording his own rection of the body of Lazarus there and experiences. These JeUJs at that time may then: -l,1!71 Ii(••• '' he already stinketh." This never have heard of either Nain or the is explained by many of the Fathers as ds.nghter of Jo.i.rns, end spoke merely of that proof that our Lord not only raised from which was within their own recollection and death-swoon Je.irus's daughter,o.nd the young experience. As they at.and here, these words man on his way to burial, bnt also a putre- 8l"e striking testimony to their historical va- fying corpse; thns giving three symbols of lidity. Ti,e Gospel which most unequivo- the effects of sin: (1) a young life blighted; ca.lly est.ablishes the cle.im of our Lord to a (2) a man's energies dissipattd and his con- Divine Personality or snbaistence, is more 1 Tischendorf (8th edit.), R.T., and West- explicit than e.ny of them in asserting his pme humanity, and giving proofs of it. cott and Hort, following N, A, B, 0, D, K, L, Ver. 38.-1ea111 therefore aga.in moved cte., give here TETEAEIITf/1CMos, with reforenoe with indignation within him&ell. The (l11 to one that had finished his course, rather ,avrcj) "in himself" is not so forcible an than -r,81111,c&-ros of T.B., referring to that ono exprll&lion u " shuddering in bis spirit" that had died and was dead, Oil, XT. 1-ri7.] 'rIJE OOSPEf, ACCORDING TO ST. ,JOHN. D5