Bishop Newcome supposes that our Lord might have stayed about a month at Bethabara.
The harmonists and chronologists differ much in fixing dates, and ascertaining times. In cases of this nature, I believe men may innocently guess as well as they can; but they should assert nothing.
Verse 2
It was that Mary which anointed - There is much disagreement between learned men relative to the two anointings of our Lord, and the persons who performed these acts. The various conjectures concerning these points the reader will find in the notes on [Mat 26:7], etc., but particularly at the end of that chapter. Dr. Lightfoot inquires, Why should Bethany be called the town of Martha and Mary, and not of Lazarus? And he thinks the reason is, that Martha and Mary had been well known by that anointing of our Lord, which is mentioned [Luk 7:37]; (see the note there); but the name of Lazarus had not been mentioned till now, there being no transaction by which he could properly be brought into view. He therefore thinks that the aorist αλειψασα, which we translate anointed, should have its full force, and be translated, who had formerly anointed; and this he thinks to have been the reason of that familiarity which subsisted between our Lord and this family; and, on this ground, they could confidently send for our Lord when Lazarus fell sick. This seems a very reasonable conjecture; and it is very likely that the familiarity arose out of the anointing.
Others think that the anointing of which the evangelist speaks is that mentioned [Joh 12:1], etc., and which happened about six days before the passover. St. John, therefore, is supposed to anticipate the account, because it served more particularly to designate the person of whom he was speaking.
Verse 3
He whom thou lovest is sick - Nothing could be more simple, nor more modest, than this prayer: they do not say, Come and heal him: or, Command the disease to depart even where thou art, and it will obey thee: - they content themselves with simply stating the case, and using an indirect but a most forcible argument, to induce our Lord to show forth his power and goodness: - He is sick, and thou lovest him; therefore thou canst neither abandon him, not us.
Verse 4
This sickness is not unto death - Not to final privation of life at this time; but a temporary death shall be now permitted, that the glory of God may appear in the miracle of his resurrection. It is very likely that this verse contains the message which Christ sent back, by the person whom the afflicted sisters had sent to him; and this, no doubt, served much to strengthen their confidence, though their faith must have been greatly exercised by the death of their brother: for when this took place, though they buried him, yet they believed, even then, probably on the ground of this message, that Jesus might raise him from the dead. See [Joh 11:22].
Verse 5
Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus - Therefore his staying two days longer in Bethabara was not through lack of affection for this distressed family, but merely that he might have a more favorable opportunity of proving to them how much he loved them. Christ never denies a less favor, but in order to confer a greater. God's delays, in answering prayers offered to him by persons in distress, are often proofs of his purpose to confer some great kindness, and they are also proofs that his wisdom finds it necessary to permit an increase of the affliction, that his goodness may be more conspicuous in its removal.
Verse 8
The Jews of late sought to stone thee - It was but a few weeks before that they were going to stone him in the temple, on the day of the feast of the dedication, [Joh 10:31].
Verse 9
Are there not twelve hours in the day? - The Jews, as well as most other nations, divided the day, from sun-rising to sun-setting, into twelve equal parts; but these parts, or hours, were longer or shorter, according to the different seasons of the year. See the note on [Joh 1:39]. Our Lord alludes to the case of a traveler, who has to walk the whole day: the day points out the time of life - the night that of death. He has already used the same mode of speech, [Joh 9:4] : I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh when no man can work. Here he refers to what the apostles had just said - The Jews were but just now going to stone thee. Are there not, said he, twelve hours in the day? I have not traveled these twelve hours yet - my last hour is not yet come; and the Jews, with all their malice and hatred, shall not be able to bring it a moment sooner than God has purposed. I am immortal till my work is done; and this, that I am now going to Bethany to perform, is a part of it. When all is completed, then their hour, and that of the power of darkness, shall commence. See [Luk 22:53].
If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not - A traveler should use the day to walk in, and not the night. During the day he has the sun, the light of this world: he sees his way, and does not stumble: but, if he walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in it, [Joh 11:10]; i.e. there is no sun above the horizon. The words εν αυτῳ, [Joh 11:10], refer not to the man, but to the world, the sun, its light, not being above the horizon. Life is the time to fulfill the will of God, and to prepare for glory. Jesus is the light of the world; he that walks in his Spirit, and by his direction, cannot stumble - cannot fall into sin, nor be surprised by an unexpected death. But he who walks in the night, in the darkness of his own heart, and according to the maxims of this dark world, he stumbles - falls into sin, and at last falls into hell. Reader! do not dream of walking to heaven in the night of thy death. God has given thee the warning: receive it, and begin to live to him, and for eternity.
Verse 11
Lazarus sleepeth - It was very common among the Jews to express death by sleep; and the expression, falling asleep - sleeping with their fathers, etc., were in great use among them. The Hebrews probably used this form of speech to signify their belief in the immortality of the soul, and the resurrection of the body.
It is certain that our Lord received no intimation of Lazarus's death from any person, and that he knew it through that power by which he knows all things.
Verse 12
If he sleep, he shall do well - That is, if he sleep only, etc. Though the word sleep frequently meant death, (see [Act 7:60]; [1Cor 11:30]; [1Cor 15:18], [1Cor 15:20]), yet, as it was an ambiguous term, the disciples appear here to have mistaken its meaning. Because, in certain acute disorders, the composing the patient to rest was a favorable sign; therefore the words, If he sleep, he shall do well, or recover, became a proverbial forth of speech among the Jews. In most diseases, sleep is a very favorable prognostic: hence that saying of Menander: - Ὑπνος δε πασης εϚιν ὑγιεια νοσου.
Sleep is a remedy for every disease.
See Grotius here. The meaning of the disciples seems to have been this: There can be no need for thee to go into Judea to awake our friend Lazarus; he will awake time enough, and his very sleep is a presage of his recovery: therefore do not hazard thy life by going.
Verse 15
I am glad for your sakes that I was not there - "I tell you plainly, Lazarus is dead: and I am glad I was not there - if I had been, I should have been prevailed on to have healed him almost as soon as he fell sick, and I should not have had so striking an occasion to manifest the glory of God to you, and to establish you in the faith." It was a miracle to discover that Lazarus was dead, as no person had come to announce it. It was a greater miracle to raise a dead man than to cure a sick man. And it was a still greater miracle, to raise one that was three or four days buried, and in whose body putrefaction might have begun to take place, than to raise one that was but newly dead. See [Joh 11:39].
Verse 16
Thomas, which is called Didymus - Thomas, or תאום Thaom, was his Hebrew name, and signifies a twin - one who had a brother or a sister born with him at the same time: Didymus, Διδυμος, is a literal translation of the Hebrew word into Greek. In [Gen 25:24], Esau and Jacob are called תומים thomeem, twins; Septuag. διδυμα, from διδυμος, a twin - from the Anglo-Saxon, to double.
Let us also go, that we may die with him - That is, "Seeing we cannot dissuade our Lord from going, and his death is likely to be the inevitable consequence, let us give him the fullest proof we can of our love, by going and suffering death with him." Some think Thomas spoke these words peevishly, and that they should be translated thus, Must we also go, and expose ourselves to destruction with him? which is as much as to say: "If he will obstinately go and risk his life in so imminent a danger, let us act with more prudence and caution." But I think the first sense is to be preferred. When a matter is spoken which concerns the moral character of a person, and which may be understood in a good and a bad sense, that sense which is most favorable to the person should certainly be adopted. This is taking things by the best handle, and both justice and mercy require it. The conduct of most men widely differs from this: of such an old proverb says, "They feed like the flies - pass over all a man's whole parts, to light upon his sores."
Verse 17
He had lain in the grave four days already - Our Lord probably left Bethabara the day, or the day after, Lazarus died. He came to Bethany three days after; and it appears that Lazarus had been buried about four days, and consequently that he had been put in the grave the day or day after he died. Though it was the Jewish custom to embalm their dead, yet we find, from [Joh 11:39], that he had not been embalmed; and God wisely ordered this, that the miracle might appear the more striking.
Verse 18
Fifteen furlongs - About two miles: for the Jewish miles contained about seven furlongs and a half. So Lightfoot, and the margin.
Verse 19
Many of the Jews came - Bethany being so nigh to Jerusalem, many of the relatives and friends of the family came, according to the Jewish custom, to mourn with the afflicted sisters. Mourning, among the Jews, lasted about thirty days: the three first days were termed days of weeping: then followed seven of lamentation. During the three days, the mourner did no servile work; and, if any one saluted him, he did not return the salutation. During the seven days, he did no servile work, except in private - lay with his bed on the floor - did not put on his sandals - did not wash nor anoint himself - had his head covered - and neither read in the law, the Mishnah, nor the Talmud. All the thirty days he continued unshaven, wore no white or new clothes, and did not sew up the rents which he had made in his garments. See Lightfoot, and see on [Joh 11:31] (note).
Verse 20
Martha - went and met him - Some suppose she was the eldest of the two sisters - she seems to have had the management of the house. See [Luk 10:40].
Mary sat still in the house - It is likely that by this circumstance the evangelist intended to convey the idea of her sorrow and distress; because anciently afflicted persons were accustomed to put themselves in this posture, as expressive of their distress; their grief having rendered them as it were immovable. See [Ezr 9:3], [Ezr 9:4]; [Neh 1:4]; [Psa 137:1]; [Isa 47:1]; [Luk 1:79]; and [Mat 27:61].
Verse 21
If thou hadst been here, my brother had not died - Mary said the same words to him a little after, [Joh 11:32], which proves that these sisters had not a complete knowledge of the omnipotence of Christ: they thought he could cure at hand, but not at a distance; or they thought that it was because he did not know of their brother's indisposition that he permitted him to die. In either of these cases it plainly appears they had not a proper notion of his divinity; and indeed the following verse proves that they considered him in no other light than that of a prophet. Query - Was it not proper that Christ should, in general, as much as might be, hide the knowledge of his divinity from those with whom he ordinarily lodged? Had they known him fully, would not the reverence and awe connected with such a knowledge have overwhelmed them?
Verse 22
I know, that even now - She durst not ask so great a favor in direct terms; she only intimated modestly that she knew he could do it.
Verse 23
Thy brother shall rise again - That is, directly; for it was by raising him immediately from the dead that he intended to comfort her.
Verse 24
I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection - The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead was then commonly received; and though it was our Lord who fully exemplified it by his own resurrection, yet the opinion was common, not only among God's people, but among all those who believed in the God of Israel. The Jewish writings after the captivity are full of this doctrine. See 2 Maccabees 7:9, 14, 23, 36; 12:43; 14:46; Wis. 5:1, 7, 17; 6:6, 7. See also Josephus and the Targums, passim.