Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
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And as there were many women of this name, He distinguishes her by her well-known act: It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick
The resurrection of Lazarus is more spoken of than any of our Lord’s miracles. But if we hear in mind who He was who wrought this miracle, we shall feel not so much of wonder; as of delight. He who made the man, raised the man; and it is a greater thing to create a man, than to revive him. Lazarus was sick at Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. The place was near Jerusalem.
John here confirms the passage in Luke, where this is said to have taken place in the house of one Simon a Pharisee: Mary had done this act therefore on a former occasion. That she did it again at Bethany is not mentioned in the narrative of Luke, but is in the other three Gospels.
A cruel sickness had seized Lazarus; a wasting fever was eating away the body of the wretched man day by day: his two sisters sat sorrowful at his bedside, grieving for the sick youth continually. They sent to Jesus: Therefore his sisters sent to Him, saying, Lord, behold he whom you love is sick.
They did not say, Come and h...
1. Among all the miracles wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrection of Lazarus holds a foremost place in preaching. But if we consider attentively who did it, our duty is to rejoice rather than to wonder. A man was raised up by Him who made man: for He is the only One of the Father, by whom, as you know, all things were made. And if all things were made by Him, what wonder is it that one was raised by Him, when so many are daily brought into the world by His power? It is a greater deed to create men than to raise them again from the dead. Yet He deigned both to create and to raise again; to create all, to resuscitate some. For though the Lord Jesus did many such acts, yet all of them are not recorded; just as this same St. John the evangelist himself testifies, that Christ the Lord both said and did many things that are not recorded; but such were chosen for record as seemed to suffice for the salvation of believers. You have just heard that the Lord Jesus raised a dead man to...
After our Lord had departed to the other side of Jordan, it happened that Lazarus fell sick: A certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany. In some copies the copulative conjunction precedes, to mark the connection with the words preceding. Lazarus signifies helped. Of all the dead which our Lord raised, he was most helped, for he had lain dead four days, when our Lord raised him to life.
s29 , 30.—As soon as she heard that, &c. Because Jesus wished to go to the sepulchre of Lazarus, which, according to the manner of the Jews, was outside the village or town: hence He did not wish to enter Bethany, because He would have to quit it again to go to the sepulchre. Therefore He remained outside, and there awaited Mary.
Lazarus, a man honourable and rich, and therefore another person than the Lazarus who lay full of sores at the doors of the rich glutton ( Luke 16)
Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha, in which, i.e, they dwelt as honoured residents, and as disciples and hostesses of Christ.
Mystically, Bethany is in the Hebrew the house of affliction, according to the Syriac version, and this agrees to the circumstances; for the sickness and death of Lazarus afflicted both him and his sisters.
Secondly, Bethany is house of obedience.
Thirdly, Bethany, says Pagninus, is the same as the house of reply, or of the Lord"s hearing, because there Christ heard the prayer of Martha and Mary, interceding for the life of Lazarus.
John passes from what Christ did in the Feast of the Dedication, as appears from John 10:22, to the doings of Christ a little before the last Passover, as appears in John 5:55; that Isaiah , he leaps from December to March: he omits therefore the doings of Christ in J...
With a purpose does the Evangelist make mention of the names of the women, showing that they were distinguished for their piety. Wherefore also the Lord loved them. And of the many things which probably had been done for the Lord by Mary, he mentions the ointment, not at haphazard, but to shew that Mary had such thirst after Christ that she wiped His feet with her own hair, seeking to fasten to herself more really the spiritual blessing which comes from His holy Flesh; for indeed she appears often with much warmth of attachment to have sat close to Christ without being distracted by interruption, and to have been drawn into friendly relationship with Him.
At the end of the preceding chapter, we are told that Jesus went into the place where John the Baptist was first baptizing. This place, as may be gather from St. John, (chap. i. ver. 28. and 44.) was Bethania; but not the Bethania where the sisters of Lazarus resided. The Bethania where Christ was at this time was beyond the Jordan, and was likewise called Beth bara; whereas the Bethania where Lazarus lay sick, was two miles to the south of Jerusalem, and formed a part of the suburbs of that city. It is called the town of Martha and Mary, because they lived there; in the same manner as Bethsaida is called the city of Peter and Andrew. (Calmet)
First we are to observe that this was not the harlot mentioned in Luke, but an honest woman, who treated our Lord with marked reverence.
They hope to excite Christ’s pity by these words, Whom as yet they thought to be aman only. Like the centurion and nobleman, they sent, not went, to Christ; partly from their great faith in Him, for they knew Him intimately, partly because their sorrow kept them at home.
That here signifies not the cause, but the event. The sickness sprang from natural causes, but He turned it to the glory of God.
Wherein the Evangelist instructs us not tobe sad, it sickness ever falls upon good men, and friends of God.
1. Many men, when they see any of those who are pleasing to God suffering anything terrible, as, for instance, having fallen into sickness, or poverty, and any other the like, are offended, not knowing that to those especially dear to God it belongs to endure these things; since Lazarus also was one of the friends of Christ, and was sick. This at least they who sent said, Behold, he whom You love is sick. But let us consider the passage from the beginning. A certain man, It says, was sick, Lazarus of Bethany. Not without a cause nor by chance has the writer mentioned whence Lazarus was, but for a reason which he will afterwards tell us. At present let us keep to the passage before us. He also for our advantage informs us who were Lazarus' sisters; and, moreover, what Mary had more (than the other), going on to say, It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment. Here some doubting say, How did the Lord endure that a woman should do this? In the first place then it is necessary...
And because they were women and it did not become them to leave their home if they could help it. Great devotion and faith is expressed in these words, Behold, he whom you love is sick. Such was their idea of our Lord’s power, that they were surprised, that one, whom He loved, could be seized with sickness.
