Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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John
Book: John
Chapter: 11
Overview:
The sickness of
Lazarus.
(1-6) Christ returns to
Judea.
(7-10)
The
Death of
Lazarus.
(11-16) Christ arrives at
Bethany.
(17-32)
He raises
Lazarus.
(33-46) The
Pharisees consult against
Jesus.
(47-53) The Jews seek for him.
(54-57)
1-6 It is
No new thing for those whom
Christ loves, to be sick;
bodily distempers correct the corruption, and try the graces of
God's people. He came not to preserve his people from these
Afflictions, but to save them from their sins, and from the
wrath to come; however, it behooves us to apply to Him in behalf
of our friends and relatives when sick and afflicted. Let this
reconcile us to the darkest dealings of
Providence, that they
are all for the
Glory of
God: sickness, loss, disappointment,
are
So; and if
God be glorified, we ought to be satisfied.
Jesus
loved
Martha, and her sister, and
Lazarus. The families are
greatly favoured in which
Love and peace abound; but those are
most happy whom
Jesus loves, and
By whom he is beloved. Alas,
that this should seldom be the case with every person, even in
small families.
God has gracious intentions, even when he seems
to delay. When the work of deliverance, temporal or spiritual,
public or personal, is delayed, it does but stay for the right
time.
7-10 Christ never brings his people into any danger but he goes
with them in it. We are apt to think ourselves zealous for the
Lord, when really we are only zealous for our wealth, credit,
ease, and safety; we have therefore need to try our principles.
But our
Day shall be lengthened out, till our work is done, and
our
Testimony finished. A
Man has comfort and satisfaction while
in the way of his duty, as set forth
By the
Word of God, and
determined
By the
Providence of
God.
Christ, wherever he went,
walked in the
Day; and
So shall we, if we follow his steps. If a
Man walks in the way of his
Heart, and according to the course
of this world, if he consults his own
Carnal reasonings more
than the will and
Glory of
God, he falls into temptations and
snares. He stumbles, because there is
No Light in him; for
Light
in us is to our moral actions, that which
Light about us to our
natural actions.
11-16 Since we are sure to rise again at the last, why should
not the believing
Hope of that resurrection to eternal
Life,
make it as easy for us to
Put off the body and die, as it is to
Put off our clothes and go to sleep? A true
Christian, when he
dies, does but sleep; he rests from the labours of the past
Day.
Nay, herein
Death is better than sleep, that sleep is only a
short
Rest, but
Death is the
End of earthly cares and toils. The
disciples thought that it was now needless for
Christ to go to
Lazarus, and expose himself and them. Thus we often
Hope that
the good work we are called to do, will be done
By some other
Hand, if there be peril in the doing of it. But when
Christ
raised
Lazarus from the dead, many were brought to believe
On
him; and there was much done to make perfect the
Faith of those
that believed. Let us go to him;
Death cannot separate from the
Love of
Christ, nor
Put us out of the reach of his
Call. Like
Thomas, in difficult times Christians should encourage one
another. The dying of the
Lord Jesus should make us willing to
die whenever
God calls us.
17-32 Here was a
House where the fear of
God was, and
On which
his blessing rested; yet it was made a
House of mourning.
Grace
will keep sorrow from the
Heart, but not from the
House. When
God,
By his
Grace and
Providence, is coming towards us in ways
of
Mercy and comfort, we should, like
Martha, go forth
By Faith,
Hope, and
Prayer, to meet him. When
Martha went to meet
Jesus,
Mary sat still in the
House; this temper formerly had been an
advantage to her, when it
Put her at
Christ's feet to hear his
Word; but in the
Day of affliction, the same temper disposed her
to melancholy. It is our
Wisdom to watch against the
temptations, and to make use of the advantages of our natural
tempers. When we know not what in particular to ask or expect,
let us refer ourselves to
God; let him do as seemeth him good.
To enlarge
Martha's expectations, our
Lord declared himself to
be the Resurrection and the
Life. In every sense he is the
Resurrection; the source, the substance, the
First-fruits, the
cause of it. The redeemed soul lives after
Death in happiness;
and after the resurrection, both body and soul are kept from all
evil for ever. When we have read or heard the
Word of
Christ,
about the great things of the other world, we should
Put it to
ourselves, Do we believe this
Truth? The crosses and comforts of
this present time would not make such a
Deep impression upon us
as they do, if we believed the things of eternity as we ought.
When
Christ our Master comes, he calls for us. He comes in his
Word and ordinances, and calls us to them, calls us
By them,
calls us to himself. Those who, in a
Day of peace, set
themselves at
Christ's feet to be taught
By him, may with
comfort, in a
Day of trouble, cast themselves at his feet, to
find favour with him.
33-46 Christ's tender sympathy with these afflicted friends,
appeared
By the troubles of his
Spirit. In all the
Afflictions
of believers he is afflicted. His concern for them was shown
By
his kind inquiry after the remains of his deceased friend. Being
found in fashion as a
Man, he
Acts in the way and manner of the
sons of men. It was shown
By his tears. He was a
Man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief. Tears of compassion resemble those of
Christ. But
Christ never approved that sensibility of which many
are proud, while they weep at mere tales of distress, but are
hardened to real woe. He sets us an
Example to withdraw from
scenes of giddy mirth, that we may comfort the afflicted. And we
have not a High
Priest who cannot be touched with a feeling of
our infirmities. It is a good step toward raising a soul to
spiritual
Life, when the
Stone is taken away, when prejudices
are removed, and got over, and way is made for the
Word to enter
the
Heart. If we take
Christ's
Word, and rely
On his power and
faithfulness, we shall see the
Glory of
God, and be happy in the
sight. Our
Lord Jesus has taught us,
By his own
Example, to
Call
God Father, in
Prayer, and to draw nigh to him as children to a
Father, with humble reverence, yet with holy boldness. He openly
made this address to
God, with uplifted eyes and loud voice,
that they might be convinced the
Father had sent him as his
beloved Son into the world. He could have raised
Lazarus By the
silent exertion of his power and will, and the unseen working of
the
Spirit of
Life; but he did it
By a loud
Call. This was a
figure of the
Gospel Call,
By which dead souls are brought out
of the
Grave of
Sin: and of the sound of the
Archangel's trumpet
at the last
Day, with which all that sleep in the
Dust shall be
awakened, and summoned before the great tribunal. The
Grave of
Sin and this world, is
No place for those whom
Christ has
quickened; they must come forth.
Lazarus was thoroughly revived,
and returned not only to
Life, but to health. The sinner cannot
quicken his own soul, but he is to use the
Means of Grace; the
believer cannot sanctify himself, but he is to lay aside every
weight and hinderance. We cannot convert our relatives and
friends, but we should instruct, warn, and invite them.
47-53 There can hardly be a more clear discovery of the
Madness
that is in
Man's
Heart, and of its desperate
Enmity against
God,
than what is here recorded. Words of
Prophecy in the mouth, are
not clear evidence of a principle of
Grace in the
Heart. The
calamity we seek to escape
By Sin, we take the most effectual
course to bring upon our own heads; as those do who think
By
opposing
Christ's kingdom, to advance their own worldly
interest. The fear of the wicked shall come upon them. The
Conversion of souls is the gathering of them to
Christ as their
ruler and
Refuge; and he died to effect this.
By dying he
purchased them to himself, and the
Gift of the
Holy Ghost for
them: his
Love in dying for believers should unite them closely
together.
54-57 Before our
Gospel Passover we must renew our
Repentance.
Thus
By a voluntary
Purification, and
By religious exercises,
many, more devout than their neighbours, spent some time before
the
Passover at
Jerusalem. When we expect to meet
God, we must
solemnly prepare.
No devices of
Man can alter the purposes of
God: and while hypocrites amuse themselves with forms and
disputes, and worldly men pursue their own plans,
Jesus still
orders all things for his own
Glory and the
Salvation of his
people.