The Desire of Ages
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 58: "Lazarus, Come Forth"
This chapter is based on Luke 10:38-42; John 11:1-44.
Among the most steadfast of Christ's disciples was Lazarus
of Bethany. From their first meeting his faith in Christ had been strong; his
love for Him was deep, and he was greatly beloved by the Saviour. It was for
Lazarus that the greatest of Christ's miracles was performed. The Saviour
blessed all who sought His help; He loves all the human family, but to some He
is bound by peculiarly tender associations. His heart was knit by a strong bond
of affection to the family at Bethany, and for one of them His most wonderful
work was wrought. {DA
524.1}
At the home of Lazarus, Jesus had often found rest. The
Saviour had no home of His own; He was dependent on the hospitality of His
friends and disciples, and often, when weary, thirsting for human fellowship,
He had been glad to escape to this peaceful household, away from the suspicion
and jealousy of the angry Pharisees. Here He found a sincere welcome, and pure,
holy friendship. Here He could speak with simplicity and perfect freedom,
knowing that His words would be understood and treasured. {DA 524.2}
Our Saviour appreciated a quiet home and interested
listeners. He longed for human tenderness, courtesy, and affection. Those who
received the heavenly instruction He was always ready to impart were greatly
blessed. As the multitudes followed Christ through the open [525]
fields, He unfolded to them the beauties of the natural world. He sought to
open the eyes of their understanding, that they might see how the hand of God
upholds the world. In order to call out an appreciation of God's goodness and
benevolence, He called the attention of His hearers to the gently falling dew,
to the soft showers of rain and the bright sunshine, given alike to good and
evil. He desired men to realize more fully the regard that God bestows on the
human instrumentalities He has created. But the multitudes were slow of
hearing, and in the home at Bethany Christ found rest from the weary conflict
of public life. Here He opened to an appreciative audience the volume of
Providence. In these private interviews He unfolded to His hearers that which
He did not attempt to tell to the mixed multitude. He needed not to speak to
His friends in parables. {DA
524.3}
As Christ gave His wonderful lessons, Mary sat at His feet,
a reverent and devoted listener. On one occasion, Martha, perplexed with the
care of preparing the meal, went to Christ, saying, "Lord, dost Thou not
care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she
help me." This was the time of Christ's first visit to Bethany. The
Saviour and His disciples had just made the toilsome journey on foot from
Jericho. Martha was anxious to provide for their comfort, and in her anxiety she
forgot the courtesy due to her Guest. Jesus answered her with mild and patient
words, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not
be taken away from her." Mary was storing her mind with the precious words
falling from the Saviour's lips, words that were more precious to her than
earth's most costly jewels. {DA
525.1}
The "one thing" that Martha needed was a calm,
devotional spirit, a deeper anxiety for knowledge concerning the future,
immortal life, and the graces necessary for spiritual advancement. She needed
less anxiety for the things which pass away, and more for those things which
endure forever. Jesus would teach His children to seize every opportunity of
gaining that knowledge which will make them wise unto salvation. The cause of
Christ needs careful, energetic workers. There is a wide field for the Marthas,
with their zeal in active religious work. But let them first sit with Mary at
the feet of Jesus. Let diligence, promptness, and energy be sanctified by the
grace of Christ; then the life will be an unconquerable power for good. {DA 525.2}
Sorrow entered the peaceful home where Jesus had rested.
Lazarus was stricken with sudden illness, and his sisters sent to the Saviour, [526]
saying, "Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick." They saw the
violence of the disease that had seized their brother, but they knew that
Christ had shown Himself able to heal all manner of diseases. They believed
that He would sympathize with them in their distress; therefore they made no
urgent demand for His immediate presence, but sent only the confiding message,
"He whom Thou lovest is sick." They thought that He would immediately
respond to their message, and be with them as soon as He could reach Bethany. {DA 525.3}
Anxiously they waited for a word from Jesus. As long as the
spark of life was yet alive in their brother, they prayed and watched for Jesus
to come. But the messenger returned without Him. Yet he brought the message,
"This sickness is not unto death," and they clung to the hope that
Lazarus would live. Tenderly they tried to speak words of hope and
encouragement to the almost unconscious sufferer. When Lazarus died, they were
bitterly disappointed; but they felt the sustaining grace of Christ, and this
kept them from reflecting any blame on the Saviour. {DA 526.1}
When Christ heard the message, the disciples thought He
received it coldly. He did not manifest the sorrow they expected Him to show.
Looking up to them, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the
glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." For two
days He remained in the place where He was. This delay was a mystery to the
disciples. What a comfort His presence would be to the afflicted household!
they thought. His strong affection for the family at Bethany was well known to
the disciples, and they were surprised that He did not respond to the sad
message, "He whom Thou lovest is sick." {DA 526.2}
During the two days Christ seemed to have dismissed the
message from His mind; for He did not speak of Lazarus. The disciples thought
of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus. They had wondered why Jesus, with
the power to perform wonderful miracles, had permitted John to languish in
prison, and to die a violent death. Possessing such power, why did not Christ
save John's life? This question had often been asked by the Pharisees, who
presented it as an unanswerable argument against Christ's claim to be the Son
of God. The Saviour had warned His disciples of trials, losses, and
persecution. Would He forsake them in trial? Some questioned if they had
mistaken His mission. All were deeply troubled. {DA 526.3}
After waiting for two days, Jesus said to the disciples,
"Let us go into Judea again." The disciples questioned why, if Jesus
were going to Judea, He had waited two days. But anxiety for Christ and for
themselves [527] was now uppermost in their
minds. They could see nothing but danger in the course He was about to pursue.
"Master," they said, "the Jews of late sought to stone Thee; and
goest Thou thither again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the
day?" I am under the guidance of My Father; as long as I do His will, My
life is safe. My twelve hours of day are not yet ended. I have entered upon the
last remnant of My day; but while any of this remains, I am safe. {DA 526.4}
"If any man walk in the day," He continued,
"he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world." He who
does the will of God, who walks in the path that God has marked out, cannot
stumble and fall. The light of God's guiding Spirit gives him a clear
perception of his duty, and leads him aright till the close of his work.
"But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light
in him." He who walks in a path of his own choosing, where God has not
called him, will stumble. For him day is turned into night, and wherever he may
be, he is not secure. {DA
527.1}
"These things said He: and after that He saith unto
them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out of
sleep." "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." How touching the words!
how full of sympathy! In the thought of the peril their Master was about to
incur by going to Jerusalem, the disciples had almost forgotten the bereaved
family at Bethany. But not so Christ. The disciples felt rebuked. They had been
disappointed because Christ did not respond more promptly to the message. They
had been tempted to think that He had not the tender love for Lazarus and his
sisters that they had thought He had, or He would have hastened back with the
messenger. But the words, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth," awakened
right feelings in their minds. They were convinced that Christ had not
forgotten His suffering friends. {DA 527.2}
"Then said His disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall
do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that He had spoken
of taking of rest in sleep." Christ represents death as a sleep to His
believing children. Their life is hid with Christ in God, and until the last
trump shall sound those who die will sleep in Him. {DA 527.3}
"Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may
believe; nevertheless let us go unto him." Thomas could see nothing but
death in store for his Master if he went to Judea; but he girded up his spirit,
and said to the other disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with
Him." He knew the hatred of the Jews toward Christ. It was their [528]
purpose to compass His death, but this purpose had not succeeded, because some
of His allotted time still remained. During this time Jesus had the
guardianship of heavenly angels; and even in the regions of Judea, where the
rabbis were plotting how they might take Him and put Him to death, no harm
could come to Him. {DA
527.4}
The disciples marveled at Christ's words when He said,
"Lazarus is dead. And I am glad . . . that I was not
there." Did the Saviour by His own choice avoid the home of His suffering
friends? Apparently Mary and Martha and the dying Lazarus were left alone. But
they were not alone. Christ beheld the whole scene, and after the death of
Lazarus the bereaved sisters were upheld by His grace. Jesus witnessed the
sorrow of their rent hearts, as their brother wrestled with his strong foe,
death. He felt every pang of anguish, as He said to His disciples,
"Lazarus is dead." But Christ had not only the loved ones at Bethany
to think of; He had the training of His disciples to consider. They were to be His
representatives to the world, that the Father's blessing might embrace all. For
their sake He permitted Lazarus to die. Had He restored him from illness to
health, the miracle that is the most positive evidence of His divine character,
would not have been performed. {DA 528.1}
Had Christ been in the sickroom, Lazarus would not have
died; for Satan would have had no power over him. Death could not have aimed
his dart at Lazarus in the presence of the Life-giver. Therefore Christ
remained away. He suffered the enemy to exercise his power, that He might drive
him back, a conquered foe. He permitted Lazarus to pass under the dominion of
death; and the suffering sisters saw their brother laid in the grave. Christ
knew that as they looked on the dead face of their brother their faith in their
Redeemer would be severely tried. But He knew that because of the struggle
through which they were now passing their faith would shine forth with far
greater power. He suffered every pang of sorrow that they endured. He loved
them no less because He tarried; but He knew that for them, for Lazarus, for
Himself, and for His disciples, a victory was to be gained. {DA 528.2}
"For your sakes," "to the intent ye may
believe." To all who are reaching out to feel the guiding hand of God, the
moment of greatest discouragement is the time when divine help is nearest. They
will look back with thankfulness upon the darkest part of their way. "The
Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly," 2 Peter 2:9. From every temptation
and every trial He will bring them forth with firmer faith and a richer
experience. [529] {DA 528.3}
In delaying to come to Lazarus, Christ had a purpose of
mercy toward those who had not received Him. He tarried, that by raising
Lazarus from the dead He might give to His stubborn, unbelieving people another
evidence that He was indeed "the resurrection, and the life." He was
loath to give up all hope of the people, the poor, wandering sheep of the house
of Israel. His heart was breaking because of their impenitence. In His mercy He
purposed to give them one more evidence that He was the Restorer, the One who
alone could bring life and immortality to light. This was to be an evidence
that the priests could not misinterpret. This was the reason of His delay in
going to Bethany. This crowning miracle, the raising of Lazarus, was to set the
seal of God on His work and on His claim to divinity. {DA 529.1}
On His journey to Bethany, Jesus, according to His custom,
ministered to the sick and the needy. Upon reaching the town He sent a
messenger to the sisters with the tidings of His arrival. Christ did not at
once enter the house, but remained in a quiet place by the wayside. The great
outward display observed by the Jews at the death of friends or relatives was
not in harmony with the spirit of Christ. He heard the sound of wailing from
the hired mourners, and He did not wish to meet the sisters in the scene of
confusion. Among the mourning friends were relatives of the family, some of
whom held high positions of responsibility in Jerusalem. Among these were some
of Christ's bitterest enemies. Christ knew their purposes, and therefore He did
not at once make Himself known. {DA 529.2}
The message was given to Martha so quietly that others in
the room did not hear. Absorbed in her grief, Mary did not hear the words.
Rising at once, Martha went out to meet her Lord, but thinking that she had
gone to the place where Lazarus was buried, Mary sat still in her sorrow,
making no outcry. {DA
529.3}
Martha hastened to meet Jesus, her heart agitated by
conflicting emotions. In His expressive face she read the same tenderness and
love that had always been there. Her confidence in Him was unbroken, but she
thought of her dearly loved brother, whom Jesus also had loved. With grief surging
in her heart because Christ had not come before, yet with hope that even now He
would do something to comfort them, she said, "Lord, if Thou hadst been
here, my brother had not died." Over and over again, amid the tumult made
by the mourners, the sisters had repeated these words. {DA 529.4}
With human and divine pity Jesus looked into her sorrowful,
careworn [530] face. Martha had no inclination to recount the
past; all was expressed by the pathetic words, "Lord, if Thou hadst been
here, my brother had not died." But looking into that face of love, she
added, "I know, that even now, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will
give it Thee." {DA
529.5}
Jesus encouraged her faith, saying, "Thy brother shall
rise again." His answer was not intended to inspire hope of an immediate
change. He carried Martha's thoughts beyond the present restoration of her
brother, and fixed them upon the resurrection of the just. This He did that she
might see in the resurrection of Lazarus a pledge of the resurrection of all the
righteous dead, and an assurance that it would be accomplished by the Saviour's
power. {DA 530.1}
Martha answered, "I know that he shall rise again in
the resurrection at the last day." {DA 530.2}
Still seeking to give a true direction to her faith, Jesus
declared, "I am the resurrection, and the life." In Christ is life,
original, unborrowed, underived. "He that hath the Son hath life." 1
John 5:12. The divinity of Christ is the believer's assurance of eternal life.
"He that believeth in Me," said Jesus, "though he were dead, yet
shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.
Believest thou this?" Christ here looks forward to the time of His second
coming. Then the righteous dead shall be raised incorruptible, and the living
righteous shall be translated to heaven without seeing death. The miracle which
Christ was about to perform, in raising Lazarus from the dead, would represent
the resurrection of all the righteous dead. By His word and His works He
declared Himself the Author of the resurrection. He who Himself was soon to die
upon the cross stood with the keys of death, a conqueror of the grave, and
asserted His right and power to give eternal life. {DA 530.3}
To the Saviour's words, "Believest thou?" Martha
responded, "Yea, Lord: I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God,
which should come into the world." She did not comprehend in all their
significance the words spoken by Christ, but she confessed her faith in His
divinity, and her confidence that He was able to perform whatever it pleased
Him to do. {DA 530.4}
"And when she had so said, she went her way, and called
Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for
thee." She delivered her message as quietly as possible; for the priests
and rulers were prepared to arrest Jesus when opportunity offered. The cries of
the mourners prevented her words from being heard. [533] {DA 530.5}
On hearing the message, Mary rose hastily, and with an eager
look on her face left the room. Thinking that she had gone to the grave to
weep, the mourners followed her. When she reached the place where Jesus was
waiting, she knelt at His feet, and said with quivering lips, "Lord, if
Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." The cries of the mourners
were painful to her; for she longed for a few quiet words alone with Jesus. But
she knew of the envy and jealousy cherished in the hearts of some present
against Christ, and she was restrained from fully expressing her grief. {DA 533.1}
"When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews
also weeping which came with her, He groaned in the spirit, and was
troubled." He read the hearts of all assembled. He saw that with many,
what passed as a demonstration of grief was only pretense. He knew that some in
the company, now manifesting hypocritical sorrow, would erelong be planning the
death, not only of the mighty miracle worker, but of the one to be raised from
the dead. Christ could have stripped from them their robe of pretended sorrow.
But He restrained His righteous indignation. The words He could in all truth
have spoken, He did not speak, because of the loved one kneeling at His feet in
sorrow, who truly believed in Him. {DA 533.2}
"Where have ye laid him?" He asked, "They
said unto Him, Lord, come and see." Together they proceeded to the grave.
It was a mournful scene. Lazarus had been much beloved, and his sisters wept
for him with breaking hearts, while those who had been his friends mingled
their tears with those of the bereaved sisters. In view of this human distress,
and of the fact that the afflicted friends could mourn over the dead while the
Saviour of the world stood by,—"Jesus wept." Though He was
the Son of God, yet He had taken human nature upon Him, and He was moved by
human sorrow. His tender, pitying heart is ever awakened to sympathy by
suffering. He weeps with those that weep, and rejoices with those that rejoice.
{DA 533.3}
But it was not only because of His human sympathy with Mary
and Martha that Jesus wept. In His tears there was a sorrow as high above human
sorrow as the heavens are higher than the earth. Christ did not weep for
Lazarus; for He was about to call him from the grave. He wept because many of
those now mourning for Lazarus would soon plan the death of Him who was the
resurrection and the life. But how unable were the unbelieving Jews rightly to
interpret His tears! Some, who [534] could see nothing more than the
outward circumstances of the scene before Him as a cause for His grief, said
softly, "Behold how He loved him!" Others, seeking to drop the seed
of unbelief into the hearts of those present, said derisively, "Could not
this Man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man
should not have died?" If it were in Christ's power to save Lazarus, why
then did He suffer him to die? {DA 533.4}
With prophetic eye Christ saw the enmity of the Pharisees
and the Sadducees. He knew that they were premeditating His death. He knew that
some of those now apparently so sympathetic would soon close against themselves
the door of hope and the gates of the city of God. A scene was about to take
place, in His humiliation and crucifixion, that would result in the destruction
of Jerusalem, and at that time none would make lamentation for the dead. The
retribution that was coming upon Jerusalem was plainly portrayed before Him. He
saw Jerusalem compassed by the Roman legions. He knew that many now weeping for
Lazarus would die in the siege of the city, and in their death there would be
no hope. {DA 534.1}
It was not only because of the scene before Him that Christ
wept. The weight of the grief of ages was upon Him. He saw the terrible effects
of the transgression of God's law. He saw that in the history of the world,
beginning with the death of Abel, the conflict between good and evil had been
unceasing. Looking down the years to come, He saw the suffering and sorrow,
tears and death, that were to be the lot of men. His heart was pierced with the
pain of the human family of all ages and in all lands. The woes of the sinful
race were heavy upon His soul, and the fountain of His tears was broken up as
He longed to relieve all their distress. {DA 534.2}
"Jesus therefore again groaning in Himself cometh to
the grave." Lazarus had been laid in a cave in a rock, and a massive stone
had been placed before the entrance. "Take ye away the stone," Christ
said. Thinking that He only wished to look upon the dead, Martha objected,
saying that the body had been buried four days, and corruption had already
begun its work. This statement, made before the raising of Lazarus, left no
room for Christ's enemies to say that a deception had been practiced. In the
past the Pharisees had circulated false statements regarding the most wonderful
manifestations of the power of God. When Christ raised to life the daughter of
Jairus, He had said, "The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth." Mark
5:39. As she had been sick only [535] a short time, and was raised
immediately after death, the Pharisees declared that the child had not been
dead; that Christ Himself had said she was only asleep. They had tried to make
it appear that Christ could not cure disease, that there was foul play about
His miracles. But in this case, none could deny that Lazarus was dead. {DA 534.3}
When the Lord is about to do a work, Satan moves upon someone
to object. "Take ye away the stone," Christ said. As far as possible,
prepare the way for My work. But Martha's positive and ambitious nature
asserted itself. She was unwilling that the decomposing body should be brought
to view. The human heart is slow to understand Christ's words, and Martha's
faith had not grasped the true meaning of His promise. {DA 535.1}
Christ reproved Martha, but His words were spoken with the
utmost gentleness. "Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe,
thou shouldest see the glory of God?" Why should you doubt in regard to My
power? Why reason in opposition to My requirements? You have My word. If you
will believe, you shall see the glory of God. Natural impossibilities cannot
prevent the work of the Omnipotent One. Skepticism and unbelief are not
humility. Implicit belief in Christ's word is true humility, true
self-surrender. {DA 535.2}
"Take ye away the stone." Christ could have
commanded the stone to remove, and it would have obeyed His voice. He could
have bidden the angels who were close by His side to do this. At His bidding,
invisible hands would have removed the stone. But it was to be taken away by
human hands. Thus Christ would show that humanity is to co-operate with
divinity. What human power can do divine power is not summoned to do. God does
not dispense with man's aid. He strengthens him, co-operating with him as he
uses the powers and capabilities given him. {DA 535.3}
The command is obeyed. The stone is rolled away. Everything
is done openly and deliberately. All are given a chance to see that no
deception is practiced. There lies the body of Lazarus in its rocky grave, cold
and silent in death. The cries of the mourners are hushed. Surprised and
expectant, the company stand around the sepulcher, waiting to see what is to
follow. {DA 535.4}
Calmly Christ stands before the tomb. A sacred solemnity
rests upon all present. Christ steps closer to the sepulcher. Lifting His eyes
to heaven, He says, "Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me."
Not long before this, Christ's enemies had accused Him of blasphemy, and had
taken up stones to cast at Him because He claimed to be the Son of [536]
God. They accused Him of performing miracles by the power of Satan. But here
Christ claims God as His Father, and with perfect confidence declares that He
is the Son of God. {DA
535.5}
In all that He did, Christ was co-operating with His Father.
Ever He had been careful to make it evident that He did not work independently;
it was by faith and prayer that He wrought His miracles. Christ desired all to
know His relationship with His Father. "Father," He said, "I
thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And I knew that Thou hearest Me always: but
because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou
hast sent Me." Here the disciples and the people were to be given the most
convincing evidence in regard to the relationship existing between Christ and
God. They were to be shown that Christ's claim was not a deception. {DA 536.1}
"And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud
voice, Lazarus, come forth." His voice, clear and penetrating, pierces the
ear of the dead. As He speaks, divinity flashes through humanity. In His face,
which is lighted up by the glory of God, the people see the assurance of His
power. Every eye is fastened on the entrance to the cave. Every ear is bent to
catch the slightest sound. With intense and painful interest all wait for the
test of Christ's divinity, the evidence that is to substantiate His claim to be
the Son of God, or to extinguish the hope forever. {DA 536.2}
There is a stir in the silent tomb, and he who was dead
stands at the door of the sepulcher. His movements are impeded by the
graveclothes in which he was laid away, and Christ says to the astonished
spectators, "Loose him, and let him go." Again they are shown that
the human worker is to co-operate with God. Humanity is to work for humanity.
Lazarus is set free, and stands before the company, not as one emaciated from
disease, and with feeble, tottering limbs, but as a man in the prime of life,
and in the vigor of a noble manhood. His eyes beam with intelligence and with
love for his Saviour. He casts himself in adoration at the feet of Jesus. {DA 536.3}
The beholders are at first speechless with amazement. Then there
follows an inexpressible scene of rejoicing and thanksgiving. The sisters
receive their brother back to life as the gift of God, and with joyful tears
they brokenly express their thanks to the Saviour. But while brother, sisters,
and friends are rejoicing in this reunion, Jesus withdraws from the scene. When
they look for the Life-giver, He is not to be found. {DA 536.4}
Click here to read the next chapter:
"Priestly Plottings"
|
