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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Memories of Bethany, by John Ross Macduff
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Memories of Bethany
+
+Author: John Ross Macduff
+
+Release Date: October 3, 2008 [EBook #26760]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMORIES OF BETHANY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Heiko Evermann, Nigel Blower and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+book was produced from scanned images of public domain
+material from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+             MEMORIES OF BETHANY.
+
+
+                    By the
+
+          REV. JOHN R. MACDUFF, D.D.
+
+
+                  Author of
+
+"MORNING AND NIGHT WATCHES," "WORDS OF JESUS,"
+   "MIND OF JESUS," "FOOTSTEPS OF ST. PAUL,"
+  "FAMILY PRAYERS," "MEMORIES OF GENNESARET,"
+          "STORY OF BETHLEHEM," ETC.
+
+
+                   NEW YORK:
+           ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS,
+               No. 530 Broadway.
+                     1861.
+
+
+
+
+                      To
+               MOURNERS IN ZION,
+                   with whom
+                    BETHANY
+  has ever been a name consecrated to sorrow,
+                     these
+                   MEMORIES
+                ARE INSCRIBED.
+
+
+
+
+PASSAGES REFERRING TO BETHANY IN THE SACRED NARRATIVE.
+
+
+I.
+
+Earliest Notice of Bethany.
+
+LUKE X. 38-42.--"And He entered into a certain village: and a certain
+woman named Martha received Him into her house. And she had a sister
+called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word. But
+Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, Lord,
+dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her
+therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her,
+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."
+
+
+II.
+
+Bethany in connexion with the Sickness, Death, and Resurrection of
+Lazarus.
+
+JOHN XI. 1.--"Now a certain _man_ was sick, _named_ Lazarus, of BETHANY,
+the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was _that_ Mary which
+anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose
+brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto Him, saying,
+Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard _that_, He
+said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that
+the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha, and
+her sister, and Lazarus. When He had heard therefore that he was sick,
+He abode two days still in the same place where He was."
+
+       *       *       *
+
+"And after that He saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I
+go, that I may awake him out of sleep. 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. 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."
+
+       *       *       *
+
+"Then, when Jesus came, He found that he had _lain_ in the grave four
+days already. (Now BETHANY was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen
+furlongs off.) And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort
+them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that
+Jesus was coming, went and met Him: but Mary sat _still_ in the house.
+Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother
+had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of
+God, God will give _it_ Thee. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall
+rise again. Martha saith unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in
+the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the
+resurrection, and the life: He that believeth in Me, though he were
+dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth, and believeth in Me,
+shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto Him, Yea, Lord: I
+believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into
+the world. 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.
+As soon as she heard _that_, she arose quickly, and came unto Him. Now
+Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha
+met Him. The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted
+her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed
+her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was
+come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying
+unto Him, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. When
+Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came
+with her, He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, and said, Where
+have ye laid him? They say unto Him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept.
+Then said the Jews, Behold how He loved him! And some of them said,
+Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that
+even this man should not have died! Jesus therefore again groaning in
+Himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
+Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was
+dead, saith unto Him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been
+_dead_ four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if
+thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they
+took away the stone _from the place_ where the dead was laid. And Jesus
+lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, 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. And when He thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus,
+come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with
+grave-clothes; and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith
+unto them, Loose him, and let him go."
+
+
+III.
+
+Notices of Bethany subsequent to the Raising of Lazarus.
+
+JOHN XII. 1-8.--"Then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to
+BETHANY, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the
+dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was
+one of them that sat at the table with Him. Then took Mary a pound of
+ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and
+wiped His feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of
+the ointment. Then saith one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's
+_son_, which should betray Him, Why was not this ointment sold for three
+hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared
+for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what
+was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of My
+burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but Me
+ye have not always."
+
+MATTHEW XXVI. 12-13.--"For in that she hath poured this ointment on my
+body, she did _it_ for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever
+this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, _there_ shall also
+this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her."
+
+JOHN XII. 9.--"Much people of the Jews therefore knew that He was there:
+and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus
+also, whom he had raised from the dead."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+JOHN XII. 12-15.--"On the next day much people that were come to the
+feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches
+of palm trees, and went forth to meet Him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed
+is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus,
+when He had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, Fear not,
+daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt."
+
+MATTHEW XXI. 10-12.--"And when He was come into Jerusalem, all the city
+was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus
+the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of
+God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and
+overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that
+sold doves."
+
+MARK XI. 11-15.--"And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple:
+and when He had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide
+was come, he went out unto BETHANY, with the twelve. And on the morrow,
+when they were come from Bethany, He was hungry: And seeing a fig-tree
+afar off having leaves, He came, if haply he might find any thing
+thereon: and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves; for the
+time of figs was not _yet_. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man
+eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And His disciples heard _it_. And
+they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to
+cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the
+tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves."
+
+Verse 19-20.--"And when even was come, He went out of the city. And in
+the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig-tree dried up from the
+roots."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+LUKE XXIV. 50-52--"And He led them out as far as to BETHANY; and He
+lifted up His hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He
+blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into Heaven. And
+they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy."
+
+ACTS I. 9-12.--"And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld,
+He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And, while
+they looked stedfastly toward Heaven as He went up, behold, two men
+stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why
+stand ye gazing up into Heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from
+you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go
+into Heaven. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the Mount called
+Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath-day's journey."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+ZECHARIAH XIV. 4.--"And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount
+of Olives, which _is_ before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of
+Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the
+west, _and there shall be_ a very great valley; and half of the mountain
+shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south."
+
+       *       *       *
+
+"And it shall be in that day, _that_ living waters shall go out from
+Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward
+the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the Lord shall
+be King over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his
+name one."
+
+       *       *       *
+
+"And it shall come to pass, _that_ every one that is left of all the
+nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year
+to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of
+Tabernacles."
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+    I. OPENING THOUGHTS                        1
+
+   II. THE HOME SCENE                         11
+
+  III. LESSONS                                24
+
+   IV. THE MESSENGER                          34
+
+    V. THE MESSAGE                            42
+
+   VI. THE SLEEPER                            53
+
+  VII. LIGHTS AND SHADOWS                     67
+
+ VIII. THE MOURNER'S COMFORT                  77
+
+   IX. THE MOURNER'S CREED                    84
+
+    X. THE MASTER                             92
+
+   XI. SECOND CAUSES                         100
+
+  XII. THE WEEPING SAVIOUR                   108
+
+ XIII. THE GRAVE-STONE                       125
+
+  XIV. UNBELIEF                              134
+
+   XV. THE DIVINE PLEADER                    141
+
+  XVI. THE OMNIPOTENT SUMMONS                150
+
+ XVII. THE BOX OF OINTMENT                   161
+
+XVIII. PALM BRANCHES                         178
+
+  XIX. THE FIG-TREE                          191
+
+   XX. CLOSING HOURS                         211
+
+  XXI. THE LAST VISIT                        221
+
+ XXII. ANGELIC COMFORTERS                    240
+
+XXIII. THE DISCIPLES' RETURN                 257
+
+
+
+
+MEMORIES OF BETHANY
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+OPENING THOUGHTS.
+
+
+Places associated with great minds are always interesting. What a halo
+of moral grandeur must ever be thrown around that spot which was
+hallowed above all others by the Lord of glory as the scene of His most
+cherished earthly friendship! However holy be the memories which
+encircle other localities trodden by Him in the days of His
+flesh,--Bethlehem, with its manger cradle, its mystic star, and
+adoring cherubim--Nazareth, the nurturing home of His youthful
+affections--Tiberias, whose shores so often echoed to His footfall, or
+whose waters in stillness or in storm bore Him on their bosom--the
+crested heights where He uttered His beatitudes--the midnight mountains
+where He prayed--the garden where He suffered--the hill where He
+died,--there is no one single resort in His divine pilgrimage on which
+sanctified thought loves so fondly to dwell as on the home and village
+of BETHANY.
+
+Its hours of sacred converse have long ago fled. Its honoured family
+have slumbered for ages in their tomb. Bethany's Lord has been for
+centuries enthroned amid the glories of a brighter home. But though its
+Memories are all that remain, the place is still fragrant with His
+presence. The echoes of His voice--words of unearthly sweetness--still
+linger around it; and have for eighteen hundred years served to cheer
+and encourage many a fainting pilgrim in his upward ascent to the true
+Bethany above!
+
+There, the Redeemer of the world proclaimed a brief but impressive
+Gospel. Heaven and earth seemed then to touch one another. We have the
+tender tones of a _Man_ blended with the ineffable majesty of _God_.
+Hopes "full of immortality" shine with their celestial rainbow-hues
+amid a shower of holy tears. The cancelling from our Bibles of the 11th
+chapter of St John would be like the blotting out of the brightest
+planet from the spiritual firmament. Each of its magnificent utterances
+has proved like a ministering-angel--a seraph-messenger bearing its
+live-coal of comfort to the broken, bleeding heart from the holiest
+altar which SYMPATHY (divine and human) ever upreared in a trial-world!
+Many has been the weary footstep and tearful eye that has hastened in
+thought to BETHANY--"gone to the grave of Lazarus, to weep there."
+
+"The town of Mary and her sister Martha," then, furnishes us alike with
+a garnered treasury of Christian solaces, and one of the very loveliest
+of the Bible's domestic portraitures. If the story of Joseph and his
+brethren is in the Old Testament invested with surpassing interest, here
+is a Gospel home-scene in the New, of still deeper and tenderer
+pathos--a picture in which the true Joseph appears as the central
+figure, without any estrangements to mar its beauty. Often at other
+times a drapery of woe hangs over the pathway of the Man of Sorrows.
+But _Bethany_ is bathed in sunshine;--a sweet _oasis_ in his toil-worn
+pilgrimage. At this quiet abode of congenial spirits he seems to have
+had his main "sips at the fountain of human joy," and to have obtained a
+temporary respite from unwearied labour and unmerited enmity. The "Lily
+among thorns" raised His drooping head in this Eden home! Thither we can
+follow Him from the courts of the Temple--the busy crowd--the lengthened
+journey--the miracles of mercy--the hours of vain and ineffectual
+pleading with obdurate hearts. We can picture Him as the inmate of a
+peaceful family, spirit blending with spirit in sanctified communion. We
+can mark the tenderness of His holy humanity. We can see how He loved,
+and sympathised, and wept, and rejoiced!
+
+As the tremendous events which signalised the close of His pilgrimage
+drew on, still it is _Bethany_ with which they are mainly associated. It
+was at _Bethany_ the fearful visions of His cross and passion cast their
+shadow on his path! From its quiet palm-trees[1] He issued forth on His
+last day's journey across Mount Olivet. It was with _Bethany_ in view
+He ascended to heaven. Its soil was the last He trod--its homes were the
+last on which his eye rested when the cloud received Him up into glory.
+The beams of the Sun of Righteousness seemed as if they loved to linger
+on this consecrated height.
+
+We cannot doubt that many incidents regarding His oft sojournings there
+are left unrecorded. We have more than once, indeed, merely the simple
+announcement in the inspired narrative that He retired from Jerusalem
+all night to the village where His friend Lazarus resided. We dare not
+withdraw more of the veil than the Word of God permits. Let us be
+grateful for what we have of the gracious unfoldings here vouchsafed of
+His inner life--the comprehensive intermingling of doctrine,
+consolation, comfort, and instruction in righteousness. His Bethany
+sayings are for all time--they have "gone through all the earth"--His
+Bethany words "to the end of the world!" Like its own alabaster box of
+precious ointment, "wheresoever the Gospel is preached," there will
+these be held in grateful memorial.
+
+The traveller in Palestine is to this day shewn, in a sort of secluded
+ravine on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives (about fifteen
+furlongs or two miles from Jerusalem), a cluster of poor cottages,
+numbering little more than twenty families, with groups of palm-trees
+surrounding them, interspersed here and there with the olive, the
+almond, the pomegranate, and the fig.[2]
+
+This ruined village bears the Arab name of El-Azirezeh--the Arabic form
+of the name Lazarus--and at once identifies it with a spot so sacred and
+interesting in Gospel story. It is described by the most recent and
+discerning of Eastern writers as "a wild mountain hamlet, screened by an
+intervening ridge from the view of the top of Olivet--perched on its
+open plateau of rock--the last collection of human habitations before
+the desert hills that reach to Jericho. ... High in the distance are the
+Peræan mountains; the foreground is the deep descent of the mountain
+valley."[3]
+
+"The fields around," says another traveller, "lie uncultivated, and
+covered with rank grass and wild flowers; but it is easy to imagine the
+deep and still beauty of this spot when it was the home of Lazarus and
+his sisters, Martha and Mary. Defended on the north and west by the
+Mount of Olives, it enjoys a delightful exposure to the southern sun.
+The grounds around are obviously of great fertility, though quite
+neglected; and the prospect to the south-east commands a magnificent
+view of the Dead Sea and the plains of Jordan."[4]
+
+                   "On the horizon's verge,
+    The last faint tracing on the blue expanse,
+    Rise Moab's summits; and above the rest
+    One pinnacle, where, placed by Hand Divine,
+    Israel's great leader stood, allow'd to view,
+    And but to view, that long-expected land
+    He may not now enjoy. Below, dim gleams
+    The sea, untenanted by ought that lives,
+    And Jordan's waters thread the plain unseen.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    Here, hid among her trees, a village clings--
+    Roof above roof uprising. White the walls,
+    And whiter still by contrast; and those roofs,
+    Broad sunny platforms, strew'd with ripening grain.
+    Some wandering olive or unsocial fig
+    Amid the broken rooks which bound the path
+    Snatches scant nurture from the creviced stone."[5]
+
+Before closing these prefatory remarks, the question cannot fail to have
+occurred to the most unobservant reader, why the history of the Family
+of Bethany and the Resurrection of Lazarus, in themselves so replete
+with interest and instruction--the latter, moreover, forming, as it did,
+so notable a crisis in the Saviour's life--should have been recorded
+only by the Evangelist John. Strange that the other inspired penmen
+should have left altogether unchronicled this touching episode in sacred
+writ. One or other of two reasons--or both combined--we may accept as
+the most satisfactory explanation regarding what, after all, must remain
+a difficulty. John alone of the Gospel writers narrates the transactions
+which took place in _Judea_ in connexion with the Saviour's public
+ministry,--the others restricted themselves mainly to the incidents and
+events of His _Galilean_ life and journeys; at all events, till they
+come to the closing scene of all.[6] There is another reason equally
+probable:--A wise Christian prudence, and delicate consideration for the
+feelings of the living, may have prevented the other Evangelists giving
+publicity to facts connected with their Lord's greatest miracle; a
+premature disclosure of which might have exposed Lazarus and his sisters
+to the violence of the unscrupulous persecutors of the day. They would,
+moreover, (as human feelings are the same in every age,) naturally
+shrink from violating the peculiar sacredness of domestic grief by
+publishing circumstantially its details while the mourners and the
+mourned still lingered at their Bethany home. Well did they know that
+that Holy Spirit at whose dictation they wrote, would not suffer "the
+Church of the future" to be deprived of so precious a record of divine
+love and power. Hence the sacred task of being the Biographer of Lazarus
+was consigned to their aged survivor.
+
+When the Apostle of Patmos wrote his Gospel, as is supposed in distant
+Ephesus, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were, in all likelihood, reposing in
+their graves. Happily so, too, for ere this the Roman armies were
+encamped almost within sight of their old dwelling, and the inhabitants
+of Jerusalem undergoing their unparalleled sufferings.
+
+Add to this, John, of all the Evangelists, was best qualified to do
+justice to this matchless picture. Baptized himself with the spirit of
+love, his inspired pencil could best portray the lights and shadows in
+this lovely and loving household. Pre-eminently like his Lord, he could
+best delineate the scene of all others where the tenderness of that
+tender Saviour shone most conspicuous. He was the disciple who had leant
+on His bosom--who had been admitted by Him to nearest and most confiding
+fellowship. He would have the Church, to the latest period of time, to
+enjoy the same. He interrupts, therefore, the course of his narrative
+that he may lift the veil which enshrouds the private life of Jesus, and
+exhibit Him in all ages in the endearing attitude and relation of a
+_Human Friend_. Immanuel is transfigured on this Mount of Love before
+His suffering and glory! The Bethany scene, with its tints of soft and
+mellowed sunlight, forms a pleasing background to the sadder and more
+awful events which crowd the Gospel's closing chapters.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+THE HOME SCENE.
+
+
+The curtain rises on a quiet Judean village, the sanctuary of three holy
+hearts. Each of the inmates have some strongly-marked traits of
+individual character. These have been so often delicately and truthfully
+drawn that it is the less necessary to dwell minutely upon them here.
+There is abundant material in the narrative to discover to us, in the
+sisters, two characters--both interesting in themselves, both beloved by
+Jesus, both needful in the Church of God, but at the same time widely
+different, preparing by a diverse education for heaven--requiring, as we
+shall find, from Him who best knew their diversity, a separate and
+peculiar treatment.
+
+Martha, the elder (probably the eldest of the family), has been
+accurately represented as the type of activity; bustling, energetic,
+impulsive, well qualified to be the head of the household, and to
+grapple with the stern realities and routine of actual life; quick in
+apprehension, strong and vigorous in intellect, anxious to give a reason
+for all she did, and requiring a reason for the conduct of others; a
+useful if not a noble character, combining diligence in business with
+fervency in spirit.
+
+Mary, again, was the type of reflection; calm, meek, devotional,
+contemplative, sensitive in feeling, ill suited to battle with the cares
+and sorrows, the strifes and griefs of an engrossing and encumbering
+world; one of those gentle flowers that pine and bend under the rough
+blasts of life, easily battered down by hail and storm, but as ready to
+raise its drooping leaves under heavenly influences. Her position was at
+her Lord's feet, drinking in those living waters which came welling up
+fresh from the great Fountain of life; asking no questions, declining
+all arguments, gentle and submissive, a beautiful impersonation of the
+childlike faith which "beareth all things, hopeth all things, believeth
+all things." While her sister can so command her feelings as to be able
+to rush forth to meet her Lord outside the village, calm and
+self-possessed, to unbosom to Him all her hopes and fears, and even to
+interrogate Him about death and the resurrection, Mary can only meet Him
+buried in her all-absorbing grief. The crushed leaves of that flower of
+paradise are bathed and saturated with dewy tears. She has not a word of
+remonstrance. Jesus speaks to Martha--chides her--reasons with her; with
+Mary, He knew that the heart was too full, the wound too deep, to bear
+the probing of word or argument; He speaks, therefore, in the touching
+pathos of her own silent grief. Her melting emotion has its response in
+His own. In one word, Martha was one of those meteor spirits rushing to
+and fro amid the ceaseless activities of life, softened and saddened,
+but not prostrated and crushed by the sudden inroads of sorrow. Mary,
+again, we think of as one of those angel forms which now and then seem
+to walk the earth from the spirit-land; a quiet evening star, shedding
+its mellowed radiance among deepening twilight shadows, as if her home
+was in a brighter sphere, and her choice, as we know it was, "a better
+part, that never could be taken from her."[7] Beautifully and delicately
+has a Christian poet thus drawn her loving character:--
+
+    "Oh, blest beyond all daughters of the East!
+       What were the Orient thrones to that low seat,
+     Where thy hush'd spirit drew celestial birth!
+       Mary! meek listener at the Saviour's feet,
+       No feverish cares to that divine retreat
+     Thy woman's heart of silent worship brought,
+       But a fresh childhood, heavenly truth to meet
+     With love and wonder and submissive thought.
+       Oh! for the holy quiet of thy breast,
+     Midst the world's eager tones and footsteps flying,
+     Thou whose calm soul was like a well-spring, lying
+       So deep and still in its transparent rest,
+     That e'en when noontide burns upon the hills,
+     Some one bright solemn star all its lone mirror fills."
+
+Of Lazarus, around whom the main interest of the narrative gathers, we
+have fewer incidental touches to guide us in giving individuality to his
+character. This, however, we may infer, from the poignant sorrow of the
+twin hearts that were so unexpectedly broken, that he was a loved and
+lamented only brother, a sacred prop around which their tenderest
+affections were entwined. Included too, as he was, in the love which
+the Divine Saviour bore to the household (for "Jesus loved Lazarus"), is
+it presumptuous to imagine that his spirit had been cast into much the
+same human mould as that of his beloved Lord, and that the friendship of
+Jesus for him had been formed on the same principles on which
+friendships are formed still--a similarity of disposition, some mental
+and moral resemblances and idiosyncrasies? They were like-minded, so far
+as a fallible nature and the nature of a stainless humanity _could_ be
+assimilated. We can think of him as gentle, retiring, amiable,
+forgiving, heavenly-minded; an imperfect and shadowy, it may be, but
+still a faithful reflection and transcript of incarnate loveliness. May
+we not venture to use regarding him his Lord's eulogy on another,
+"Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!"
+
+Nor must we forget, in this rapid sketch, what a precious unfolding we
+have in this home portraiture of the humanity of the Saviour! "_The Man_
+Christ Jesus" stands in softened majesty and tenderness before our view.
+He who had a heart capacious enough to take in all mankind, had yet His
+likings (sinless partialities) for individuals and minds which were more
+than others congenial and kindred with His own. As there are some heart
+sanctuaries where we can more readily rush to bury the tale of our
+sorrows or unburden our perplexities, so had He. "Jesus wept!"--this
+speaks of Him as the human Sympathiser. "Jesus loved Lazarus"--this
+speaks of Him as the human Friend! He had an ardent affection for all
+His disciples, but even among _them_ there was an inner circle of holier
+attachments--a Peter, and James, and John; and out of this sacred _trio_
+again there was one pre-eminently "Beloved." So, amid the hallowed
+haunts of Palestine, the homes of Judea, the cities of Galilee, there
+was but _one_ Bethany. It is delightful thus to think of the heart of
+Jesus in all but sin as purely _human_, identical and identified with
+our own. He was no hermit-spirit dwelling in mysterious solitariness
+apart from His fellows, but open to the charities of life;--in all His
+refined and hallowed sensibilities "made like unto His brethren."
+Friendship is itself a holy thing. The bright intelligences in the upper
+sanctuary know it and experience it. They "cry one to another." Theirs
+is no solitary strain--no isolated existence. Unlike the planets in the
+material firmament, shining distant and apart, they are rather
+clustering constellations, whose gravitation-law is unity and love, this
+binding them to one another, and all to God. Nay--with reverence we say
+it--may not the archetype of all friendship be found shadowed forth in
+what is higher still, those mystic and ineffable communings subsisting
+between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a past eternity? We can thus
+regard the friendship of Jesus on earth--like all ennobled, purified
+affections--as an emanation from the Divine; a sacred and holy rill,
+flowing direct from the Fountain of infinite love. How our adorable Lord
+in the days of His flesh fondly clung even to hearts that grew faithless
+when fidelity was most needed! What was it but a noble and touching
+tribute to the longings and susceptibilities of His holy soul for human
+friendship, when, on entering the precincts of Gethsemane, He thus
+sought to mitigate the untold sorrows of that awful hour--"Tarry _ye_
+here and _watch_ with _Me_!"
+
+But to return. Such was the home around which the memories of its
+inmates and our own love to linger.
+
+Mary, Martha, and Lazarus--all three partakers of the same grace,
+fellow-pilgrims Zionward, and that journey sanctified and hallowed by a
+sacred fellowship with the Lord of pilgrims. The Saviour's own precious
+promise seems under that roof of lowly unobtrusive love to receive a
+living fulfilment: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name,
+there am I in the midst of them." Though many a gorgeous palace was at
+that era adorning the earth, where was the spot, what the dwelling, half
+so consecrated as this? Solomon had a thousand years before, two miles
+distant, in presence of assembled Israel, uttered the exclamation, "But
+will God in very deed dwell with men upon earth?" He was now verily
+dwelling! Nor was it under any gorgeous canopy or august temple. He had
+selected Three Human Souls as the shrines He most loved. He had sought
+their holy, heavenly converse as the sweetest incense and costliest
+sacrifice. How or where they first saw Jesus we cannot tell. They had
+probably been among the number of those pious Jews who had prayerfully
+waited for the "consolation of Israel," and who had lived to see their
+fondest wishes and hopes realised. The Evangelist gives no information
+regarding their previous history. The narrative all at once, with an
+abruptness of surpassing beauty, leaves us in no doubt that the Divine
+Redeemer had been for long a well-known guest in that sunlit home, and
+that, when the calls and duties of His public ministry were suspended,
+many an hour was spent in the enjoyment of its peaceful seclusion.
+
+We can fancy, and no more, these oft happy meetings, when the Pilgrim
+Saviour, weary and worn, was seen descending the rocky footpath of
+Olivet,--Lazarus or his sisters, from the flat roof of their dwelling,
+or under the spreading fig-tree, eager to catch the first glimpse of His
+approach.
+
+When seated in the house, we may picture their converse: Themes of
+sublime and heavenly import, unchronicled by the inspired penmen, which
+sunk deep into those listening spirits, and nerved two of them for an
+after-hour of unexpected sorrow. If there be bliss in the interchange of
+communion between Christian and Christian, what must it have been to
+have had the presence and fellowship of the Lord Himself! Not seeing
+Him, as _we_ see Him, "behind the lattice," but seated underneath His
+shadow, drinking in the living tones of His living voice. These
+"children of Zion" must, indeed, have been "joyful in their King."
+
+One of these hallowed seasons is that referred to in the 10th of St
+Luke, where Martha the ministering spirit, and Mary the lowly disciple,
+are first introduced to our notice. That visit is conjectured to have
+occurred when Jesus was returning to the country from the Feast of
+Tabernacles. The Bethany circle dreamt not then of their impending
+trial. But, foreseen as it was by Him who knows the end from the
+beginning, may we not well believe one reason (the main reason) for His
+going thither was to soothe them in the prospect of a saddened home? So
+that, when the stroke _did_ descend, they might be cheered and consoled
+with the remembrances of His visit, and of the gracious words which
+proceeded out of His mouth.
+
+And is not this still the way Jesus deals with His people? He visits
+them often by some precious love-tokens--some special manifestations of
+His grace and presence before the hour of trial. So that, when that hour
+does come, they may not be altogether prostrated or overwhelmed with it.
+Like Elijah of old, they have their miraculous food provided before they
+encounter the sterile desert. When they come to speak of their crushed
+hearts, they have solaces to tell of too. Their language is, "I will
+sing of _mercy_ and _judgment_!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We may be led to inquire why a character so lovely as that of Lazarus
+was not enlisted along with the other disciples in the active service of
+the Apostleship. Why should Peter and Andrew, John and James, be
+summoned from their boats and nets on Gennesaret to follow Jesus, and
+this other, imbued with the same spirit and honoured with the same
+regard, be left alone and undisturbed in his village home?
+
+"To every man there is a work." Some are more peculiarly called to
+active duty, and better fitted for it; others for passive obedience and
+suffering. Some are selected as bold standard-bearers of the cross,
+others to give their testimony in the quiet seclusion of domestic life.
+Some are specially gifted, as Paul, to appear in the halls of Nero or on
+the heights of Mars' Hill, and, confronting face to face the world's
+boasted wisdom, maintain intact the honour of their Lord. Others are
+required to glorify Him on beds of sickness, or in homes of sorrow, or
+in the holy consistent tenor of their everyday walk. Some are called as
+Levites to temple service; others to give the uncostly cup of cold
+water, or the widow's mite; others to manifest the meek, gentle,
+unselfish, resigned, forgiving heart, when there is no cup or mite to
+offer!
+
+Believer! rejoice that your path is marked out for you. Your lot in
+life, with all its "accidents," is your Lord's appointing. Dream not, in
+your own short-sighted wisdom, that, had you occupied some other or more
+prominent position--had your talents been greater, or your worldly
+influence more extensive--you might have glorified your God in a way
+which is at present denied to you. He can be served in the lowliest as
+well as in the most exalted stations. As the tiniest leaf or smallest
+star in the world of nature reflects His glory as well as the giant
+mountain or blazing sun, so does He graciously own and recognise the
+humblest effort of lowly love no less than the most lavish gifts which
+splendid munificence and costly devotion can cast into His treasury. Let
+it be your great aim and ambition to honour Him just in the position He
+has seen meet to assign you. "Let every man," says the Apostle, "wherein
+he is called, therein abide with God." However limited your sphere, you
+may become a centre of holy influences to the little world around you.
+Your heart may be an incense-altar of love and affection, kindness and
+gentleness to man--your life a perpetual hymn of praise to your Father
+in Heaven; glorifying Him, like Martha, by active service; like Mary, by
+sitting at His feet; or, like Lazarus, by holy living and happy dying,
+and leaving behind you "the Memory of the Just" which is "blessed."
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+LESSONS.
+
+
+As yet the home of Bethany is all happiness. The burial-ground has been
+untraversed since, probably years before the dust of one, or perhaps
+both parents had been committed to the sepulchre.[8] Death had long left
+the inmates an unbroken circle. Can it be that the unwelcome intruder is
+so nigh at hand?--that their now joyous dwelling is so soon to echo to
+the wail of lamentation? We imagine it but lately visited by Jesus. In a
+little while the arrow hath sped; the sacredness of a divine friendship
+is no guarantee against the incursion of the sleepless foe of human
+happiness. Bethany is a mourning household. The sisters are bowed in the
+agony of their worst bereavement--the prop of their existence is laid
+low--"_Lazarus is dead!_"
+
+At the very threshold of this touching story, are we not called on to
+pause, and read _the uncertainty of earth's best joys and purest
+happiness_; that the brightest sunshine is often the precursor of a dark
+cloud. When the gourd is all flourishing, a worm may unseen be preying
+at its root! When the vessel is gliding joyously on the calm sea, the
+treacherous rock may be at hand, and, in one brief hour, it has become a
+shattered wreck!
+
+It is the touching record of the inspired historian in narrating
+Abraham's heaviest trial--"After _these things_, God did tempt Abraham."
+After _what_ things? After a season of rich blessings, gilding a future
+with bright hopes!
+
+Would that, amidst our happy homes, and sunshine hours, and seasons of
+holy and joyous intercourse between friend and friend, we would more
+habitually bear in mind "This is not to last!" In one brief and
+unsuspected moment Lazarus may be taken. The messenger may now be on the
+wing to lay low some treasured object of earthly solicitude and love.
+God would teach us--while we are glad of our gourds--not to be
+"exceeding glad;" not to nestle here as if we were to "live alway," but
+rather, as we are perched on our summer boughs, to be ready at His
+bidding to soar away, and leave behind us what most we prize.
+
+It tells us, too, _the utter mysteriousness of many of the divine
+dispensations_.
+
+"LAZARUS IS DEAD!" What! He, the head, and support, and stay of two
+helpless females? The joy and solace of a common orphanhood,--a brother
+evidently made and born for their adversities? What! Lazarus, whom Jesus
+tenderly loved? How much, even to his Lord, will be buried in that early
+grave! We may well expect, if there be one homestead in all Palestine
+guarded by the overshadowing wings of angels to debar the entrance of
+death, whose inmates may pillow their heads night after night in the
+confident assurance of immunity from trial, it must surely be that loved
+resort--that "Arbour in His Hill Difficulty," where the God-man
+delighted oft to pause and refresh His wearied body and aching mind.
+Will Omnipotence not have set its mark, as of old, on the door-posts and
+lintels of that consecrated dwelling, so that the destroyer, in going
+his rounds elsewhere, may pass by it unscathed? How, too, can the
+infant Church spare him? The aged Simeon or Anna we dare not wish to
+detain. Burdened with years and infirmities, after having got a glimpse
+of their Lord and Saviour, let them depart in peace, and receive their
+crowns. These decayed trees in the forest--those to whom old age on
+earth is a burden--let them bow to the axe, and be transplanted to a
+nobler clime. But one in the vigour of life--one so beautifully
+combining natural amiability with Christian love--one who was
+pre-eminently the _friend_ of Jesus, and that _word_ profoundly
+suggestive of all that was lovely in a disciple's character. Death may
+visit other homes in that sequestered village, and spread desolation in
+other hearts, but surely the Church's Lord will not suffer one of its
+pillars so prematurely to fall!
+
+And yet it is even so! The mysterious summons has come!--the most
+honoured home on earth has been rudely rifled!--the most loving of
+hearts have been cruelly torn; and inscrutable is the dealing, for
+"_Lazarus is dead_!"
+
+    "He, the young and strong, who cherish'd
+       Noble longings for the strife,
+     By the roadside fell, and perish'd
+       On the threshold march of life."
+
+And worse, too, than all, "the Lord is absent." Why is Omniscience
+tarrying elsewhere, when His presence and power are above all needed at
+the house of His friend?
+
+The disconsolate sisters, in wondering amazement, repeat over and over
+again the exclamation, "If Jesus had been here, this our brother had not
+died!" "Hath He forgotten to be gracious?" "Surely our way is hid from
+the Lord, our judgment is passed over from our God."
+
+Ah! the experience of His people is often still the same. What are many
+of God's dispensations?--a baffling enigma--all strangeness--all mystery
+to the eye of sense. _Useless_ lives prolonged, _useful_ ones taken! The
+honoured minister of God struck down, the unfaithful watchman spared!
+The philanthropic and benevolent have an arrest put on their manifold
+deeds of kindness and generosity; the grasping, the avaricious, the
+mean-souled--those who neither fear God nor do good to man, are suffered
+to live on from day to day! What is it but the picture here presented
+eighteen hundred years ago--_Judas_ spared to be a _traitor to his
+Lord_, while--_Lazarus is dead_!
+
+But let us be still! The Saviour, indeed, does not now lead us forth,
+amid the scene of our trial, as He did the bereft sisters, to unravel
+the mysteries of His providence, and to shew glory to God, redounding
+from the darkest of His dispensations. To _us_ the grand sequel is
+reserved for eternity. The grand development of the divine plan will not
+be fully accomplished till _then_; faith must meanwhile rest satisfied
+with what is baffling to sight and sense. This whole narrative is
+designed to teach the lesson that there is an undeveloped future in all
+God's dealings. There is an unseen "why and wherefore" which cannot be
+answered here. Our befitting attitude and language _now_ is that of
+simple confidingness--"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do
+right?"--Listening to one of these Bethany sayings (we shall by and by
+consider), whose meaning will be interpreted in a brighter world by Him
+who uttered it in the days of His flesh--"Said I not unto thee, that if
+thou wouldest _believe_ thou shouldest _see_ the glory of God?"
+
+    "O thou who mournest on thy way,
+     With longings for the close of day,
+     He walks with thee, that Angel kind,
+     And gently whispers--'Be resign'd;
+     Bear up--bear on--the end shall tell,
+     The dear Lord ordereth all things well.'"
+
+Our duty, meanwhile, is that of children, simply to trust the
+faithfulness of a God whose footsteps of love we often fail to trace.
+All will be seen at last to have been not only _for_ the best, but
+really _the best_. Dark clouds will be fringed with mercy. What we call
+now "baffling dispensations," will be seen to be wondrous parts of a
+great connected whole,--the wheel within wheel of that complex
+machinery, by which "all things" (yes, ALL things) are now working
+together for good.
+
+"Lazarus is dead!" The choicest tree in the earthly Eden has succumbed
+to the blast. The choicest cup has been dashed to the ground. Some great
+lights in the moral firmament have been extinguished. But God can do
+without human agency. His Church can be preserved, though no Moses be
+spared to conduct Israel over Jordan, and no Lazarus to tell the story
+of his Saviour's grace and love, when other disciples have forsaken Him
+and fled.
+
+We may be calling, in our blind unbelief, as we point to some ruined
+fabric of earthly bliss--some tomb which has become the grave of our
+fondest affections and dearest hopes--"Shall the dust praise thee, shall
+_it_ declare thy truth?" _Believe! believe!_ God will not give us back
+our dead as He did to the Bethany sisters; but He will not deprive us of
+aught we have, or suffer one garnered treasure to be removed, except for
+His own glory and our good. _Now_ it is our province to _believe_ it--in
+_Heaven_ we shall _see_ it. Before the sapphire throne we shall _see_
+that not one redundant thorn has been suffered to pierce our feet, or
+one needless sorrow to visit our dwelling, or tear to dim our eye. Then
+our acknowledgment will be, "We have _known_ and _believed_ the love
+which God hath to us."
+
+    "Oh, weep not though the beautiful decay,
+       Thy heart must have its autumn--its pale skies
+     Leading mayhap to winter's cold dismay.
+     Yet doubt not. Beauty doth not pass away;
+       His form departs not, though his body dies.
+       Secure beneath the earth the snowdrop lies,
+     Waiting the spring's young resurrection-day."[9]
+
+Be it ours to have Jesus _with_ us, and Jesus _for_ us, in all our
+afflictions. If we wish to insure these mighty solaces, we must not
+suffer the hour of sorrow and bereavement to overtake us with a Saviour
+till _then_ a stranger and unknown. St Luke tells us the secret of
+Mary's faith and composure at her loved one's grave:--_She had, long
+before her day of trial, learned to sit at her Redeemer's feet. It was
+when in health Jesus was first resorted to and loved_.
+
+In prosperity may our homes and hearts be gladdened with His footstep;
+and when prosperity is withdrawn, and is succeeded by the dark and
+cloudy day, may we know, like Martha and Mary, where to rush in our
+seasons of bitter sorrow; listening from His glorified lips on the
+throne to those same exalted themes of consolation which, for eighteen
+hundred years, have to myriad, myriad mourners been like oil thrown on
+the troubled sea. Jesus is with us! The Master is come! His presence
+will extract sorrow from the bitterest cup, and make, as He did at
+Bethany, a very home of bereavement and a burial scene to be "hallowed
+ground!"
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+THE MESSENGER.
+
+
+Is the absent Saviour not to be sought? Martha and Mary knew the
+direction He had taken. The last time He had visited their home was at
+the Feast of Dedication, during the season of winter, when the
+palm-trees were bared of their leaves, and the voice of the turtle was
+silent. Jesus, on that occasion, had to escape the vengeance of the Jews
+in Jerusalem by a temporary retirement to the place where John first
+baptized, near Enon, on the wooded banks of the Jordan. It must have
+been to Him a spot and season of calm and grateful repose; a pleasing
+transition from the rude hatred and heartless formalism which met Him in
+the degenerate "City of Solemnities." The savour of the Baptist's name
+and spirit seemed to linger around this sequestered region. John had
+evidently prepared, by his faithful ministry, the way for a mightier
+Preacher, for we read, as the result of the Saviour's present sojourn,
+that "many believed on him there."
+
+If we visit with hallowed emotion the places where first we learned to
+love the Lord, to two at least of those who accompanied the Redeemer,
+the region He now traversed must have been full of fragrant memories;
+_there_ it was that Jesus had been first pointed out to them as the
+"Lamb of God;" _there_ they first "beheld His glory, the glory as of the
+only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth." (John i. 28.)
+
+On His way thither, on the present occasion, He most probably passed
+through Bethany, and apprised His friends of His temporary absence.
+Lazarus was then in his wonted vigour--no shadow of death had yet passed
+over his brow; he doubtless parted with the Lord he loved happy at the
+thought of ere long meeting again.
+
+But soon all is changed. The hand of sickness unexpectedly lays him low.
+At first there is no cause for anxiety. But soon the herald-symptoms of
+danger and death gather fast and thick around his pillow; "his beauty
+consumes away like a moth." The terrible possibility for the first time
+flashes across the minds of the sisters, of a desolate home, and of
+themselves being the desolate survivors of a loved brother. The joyous
+dream of restoration becomes fainter and fainter. Human remedies are
+hopeless. There was _One_, and _only_ ONE, in the wide world who could
+save from impending death. His word, they knew, could alone summon
+lustre to that eye, and bloom to that wan and fading cheek. Fifty long
+miles intervene between the great Physician and their cottage home. But
+they cannot hesitate. Some kind and compassionate neighbour is soon
+found ready to hasten along the Jericho road with the brief but urgent
+message, "_Lord! behold he whom thou lovest is sick._" If it only reach
+in time, they know that no more is needed. They even indulge the
+expectation that their messenger may be anticipated by the Lord Himself
+appearing. Others might doubt His omniscience, but they knew its
+reality. They had the blessed conviction, that while they were seated in
+burning tears by that couch of sickness, there was a sympathising Being
+far away marking every heart-throb of His suffering friend. Even when
+the stern human conviction of "no hope" was pressing upon them, "hoping
+against hope," they must have felt confident that He would not suffer
+His faithfulness now to fail. He had often proved Himself a Brother and
+Friend in the hour of _joy_. _Could_ He fail--_can_ He fail to prove
+Himself now a "Brother born for _adversity_?"
+
+Although, however, thus convinced that the tale of their sorrows was
+known to Jesus, _a messenger is sent_,--_the means are employed_! They
+act as though He knew it _not_; as if that omniscient Saviour had been
+all unconscious of these hours of prolonged and anxious agony!
+
+What a lesson is there here for _us_! God is acquainted with our every
+trouble; He knows (far better than we know ourselves) every pang we
+heave, every tear we weep, every perplexing path we tread; but the knee
+must be bent, the message must be taken, the prayer must ascend! It is
+His own appointed method,--His own consecrated medium for obtaining
+blessings. Jesus _may_ have gone, and probably _would_ have gone to
+restore His friend, even though no such messenger had reached Him: We
+dare not limit the grace and dealings of God: He is often (blessed be
+His name for it!) "found of them that sought Him not." But He loves such
+messages as this. He loves the confiding, childlike trust of His own
+people, who delight in the hour of their extremity to cast their burdens
+upon Him, and send the winged herald of prayer to the throne of grace on
+which He sits.
+
+Would that we valued, more than we do, this blessed link of
+communication between our souls and Heaven! More especially in our
+seasons of trouble, (when "vain is the help of man,") happy for us to be
+able implicitly to rest in the ability and willingness of a gracious
+Redeemer.
+
+Prayer brings the soul near to Jesus, and fetches Jesus near to the
+soul. He may linger, as He did now at the Jordan, ere the answer be
+vouchsafed, but it is for some wise reason; and even if the answer given
+be not in accordance with our pre-conceived wishes or anxious desires,
+yet how comforting to have put our case and all its perplexities in His
+hand, saying, "I am oppressed; undertake Thou for me! To Thee I
+unburden and unbosom my sorrows. I shall be satisfied whether my cup be
+filled or emptied. Do to me as seemeth good in Thy sight. He whom I love
+and whom THOU lovest is sick; the Lazarus of my earthly hopes and
+affections is hovering on the brink of death. That levelling blow, if
+consummated, will sweep down in a moment all my hopes of earthly
+happiness and joy. But it is my privilege to confide my trouble to Thee;
+to know that I have surrendered myself and all that concerns me into the
+hand of Him who 'considers my soul in adversity.' Yes; and should my
+schemes be crossed, and my fondest hopes baffled, I will feel, even in
+apparently _unanswered_ prayers, that the Judge of all the earth has
+done right!"
+
+"It is said," says Rutherford, speaking of the Saviour's delay in
+responding to the request of the Syrophenician woman; "It is said He
+_answered_ not a word, but it is not said He _heard_ not a word. These
+two differ much. Christ often heareth when He doth not answer. His not
+answering is an answer, and speaks thus: 'Pray on, go on and cry, for
+the Lord holdeth His door fast bolted not to keep you out, but that you
+may knock and knock.'"
+
+"God delays to answer prayer," says Archbishop Usher, "because he would
+have more of it. If the musicians come to play at our doors or our
+windows, if we delight not in their music, we throw them out money
+presently that they may be gone. But if the music please us, we forbear
+to give them money, because we would keep them longer to enjoy their
+music. So the Lord loves and delights in the sweet words of His
+children, and therefore puts them off and answers them not presently."
+
+Observe still further, in the case of these sorrowing sisters of
+Bethany, while in all haste and urgency they send their messenger, they
+do not ask Jesus to come--they dictate no procedure--they venture on no
+positive request--all is left to Himself. What a lesson also is there
+here to confide in His wisdom, to feel that His way and His will must be
+the best--that our befitting attitude is to lie passive at His feet--to
+wait His righteous disposal of us and ours--to make this the burden of
+our petition, "Lord, what wouldst _Thou_ have me to do?" "If it be
+possible let this cup pass from me, _nevertheless_, not as _I_ will, but
+as _Thou wilt_."
+
+Reader! invite to your gates this celestial messenger. Make prayer a
+holy habit--a cherished privilege. Seek to be ever maintaining
+intercommunion with Jesus; consecrating life's common duties with His
+favour and love. Day by day ere you take your flight into the world,
+night by night when you return from its soiling contacts, bathe your
+drooping plumes in this refreshing fountain. Let prayer sweeten
+prosperity and hallow adversity. Seek to know the unutterable
+blessedness of habitual filial nearness to your Father in heaven--in
+childlike confidence unbosoming to Him those heart-sorrows with which no
+earthly friend can sympathise, and with which a stranger cannot
+intermeddle. No trouble is too trifling to confide to His ear--no want
+too trivial to bear to His mercy-seat.
+
+    "Prayer is appointed to convey
+       The blessings He designs to give;
+     Long as they live should Christians pray,
+       For only while they pray, they live."
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+THE MESSAGE.
+
+
+The messenger has reached--what is his message? It is a brief, but a
+beautiful one. "_Lord, behold he whom Thou lovest is sick._"
+
+No laboured eulogium--no lengthened panegyric could have described more
+significantly the character of the dying villager of Bethany. Four
+mystic words invest his name with a sacred loveliness. By one stroke of
+his pen the Apostle unfolds a heart-history; so that we desiderate no
+more--more would almost spoil the touching simplicity--"_He whom Thou
+lovest!_"
+
+We might think at first the words are inverted. Can the messenger have
+mistaken them? Is it not more likely the message of the sisters was
+this:--"Go and tell Him, 'Lord, he whom _we_ love,' or else, 'he who
+loveth _Thee_ is sick?'"
+
+Nay, it is a loftier argument by which they would stir the infinite
+depths of the Fountain of love! They had "known and believed the love"
+which the Great Redeemer bore to their brother, and they further felt
+assured that "loving him at the beginning, He would love him even to the
+end." Their love to Lazarus (tender, unspeakably tender as it was one of
+the loveliest types of human affection)--was at best an _earthly
+love_--finite--imperfect--fitful--changing--perishable. But the love
+they invoked was undying and everlasting, superior to all
+vacillation--enduring as eternity.
+
+It is ours "to take encouragement in prayer from God only;"--to plead
+nothing of our own--our poor devotedness, or our unworthy services; they
+are rather arguments for our condemnation;--but _His_ promises are all
+"Yea, and amen." They never fail. His name is "a strong tower," running
+into which the righteous are safe. That tower is garrisoned and
+bulwarked by the attributes of His own everlasting nature. Among these
+attributes not the least glorious is His _Love_--_that_ unfathomable
+love which dwelt in His bosom from all eternity, and which is immutably
+pledged never to be taken from His people!
+
+Man's love to his God is like the changing sand--_His_ is like the solid
+rock. Man's love is like the passing meteor with its fitful gleam. _His_
+like the fixed stars, shining far above, clear and serene, from age to
+age, in their own changeless firmament.
+
+Do we know anything of the words of this message? Could it be written on
+our hearts in life? Were we to die, could it be inscribed on our tombs,
+"This is one whom _Jesus loved_?"
+
+Happy assurance! The pure spirits who bend before the throne know no
+happier. The archangels--the chieftains among principalities and powers,
+can claim no higher privilege, no loftier badge of glory!
+
+Love is the atmosphere they breathe. It is the grand moral law of
+gravitation in the heavenly economy. God, the central sun of light, and
+joy, and glory, keeping by this great motive principle every spiritual
+planet in its orbit, "for _God is love_."
+
+That love is not confined to heaven. It may be foretasted here. The sick
+man of Bethany knew of it, and exulted in it. Though in the moment of
+dissolution he had to mourn the personal absence of his Lord, yet
+"believing" in that love, he "rejoiced with joy unspeakable and full of
+glory." His sisters, as they stood in sorrowing emotion by his dying
+couch, and thought of that hallowed fraternal bond which was about so
+soon to be dissolved, could triumph in the thought of an affection
+nobler and better which knit him and them to the Brother of
+brothers--and which, unlike any earthly tie, was indissoluble.
+
+And what was experienced in that lowly Bethany home, may be experienced
+by us.
+
+That love in its wondrous manifestation is confined to no limits, no
+age, no peculiar circumstances. Many a Lazarus, pining in want, who can
+claim no heritage but poverty, no home but cottage walls, or who,
+stretched on a bed of protracted sickness, is heard saying in the
+morning, "Would God it were evening! and in the evening, Would God it
+were morning!" if he have that love reigning in his heart, he has a
+possession outweighing the wealth of worlds!
+
+What a message, too, of consolation is here to the _sick_! How often
+are those chained down year after year to some aching pillow, worn,
+weary, shattered in body, depressed in spirit,--how apt are they to
+indulge in the sorrowful thought, "Surely God cannot care for _me_!"
+What! Jesus think of this wasted frame--these throbbing temples--these
+powerless limbs--this decaying mind! I feel like a wreck on the desert
+shore--beyond the reach of His glance--beneath the notice of His pitying
+eye! Nay, thou poor desponding one, He _does_ cherish, He _does_
+remember thee!--"Lord, _he whom Thou lovest_ is sick." Let this
+motto-verse be inscribed on thy Bethany chamber. The Lord _loves_ His
+sick ones, and He often chastens them with sickness, just _because_ He
+loves them. If these pages be now traced by some dim eyes that have been
+for long most familiar with the sickly glow of the night-lamp--the weary
+vigils of pain and languor and disease--an exile from a busy world, or a
+still more unwilling alien from the holy services of the sanctuary--oh!
+think of Him who _loves_ thee, who loved thee _into_ this sickness, and
+will love thee _through_ it, till thou standest in that unsuffering,
+unsorrowing world, where sickness is unknown! Think of Lazarus in _his_
+chamber, and the plea of the sisters in behalf of their prostrate
+brother, "Lord, come to the sick one, _whom Thou lovest_."
+
+Believe it, the very continuance of this sickness is a pledge of His
+love. You may be often tempted to say with Gideon, "If the Lord be with
+me, why has _all_ this befallen me?" Surely if my Lord loved me, He
+would long ere this have hastened to my relief, rebuked this sore
+disease, and raised me up from this bed of languishing? Did you ever
+note, in the 6th verse of this Bethany chapter, the strangely beautiful
+connexion of the word THEREFORE? The Evangelist had, in the preceding
+verse, recorded the affection Jesus bore for that honoured family. "Now
+Jesus _loved_ Martha and her sister and Lazarus." "When He had heard
+THEREFORE that he was sick,"--what did He do? "Fled on wings of love to
+the succour of His loved friend; hurried in eager haste by the shortest
+route from Bethabara?" We expect to hear so, as the natural deduction
+from John's premises. How we might think could love give a more truthful
+exponent of its reality than hastening instantaneously to the relief of
+one so dear to Him? But not so! "When He had heard THEREFORE that he was
+sick, _He abode two days still in the same place where He was_!" Yes,
+there is _tarrying_ love as well as _succouring_ love. He _sent_ that
+sickness because He loves thee; He _continues_ it because He loves thee.
+He heaps fresh fuel on the furnace-fires till the gold is refined. He
+appoints, not one, but "many days where neither sun nor stars appear,
+and no small tempest lies on us," that the ship may be lightened, and
+faith exercised; our bark hastened by these rough blasts nearer shore,
+and the Lord glorified, who rules the raging of the sea. "We expect,"
+says Evans, "the blessing or relief in _our_ way; He chooses to bestow
+it in _His_."
+
+Reader! let this ever be your highest ambition, to love and to be loved
+of Jesus. If we are covetous to have the regard and esteem of the great
+and good on earth, what is it to share the fellowship and kindness of
+Him, in comparison with whose love the purest earthly affection is but a
+passing shadow!
+
+Ah! to be without that love, is to be a little world ungladdened by its
+central sun, wandering on in its devious pathway of darkness and gloom.
+Earthly things may do well enough when the world is all bright and
+shining--when prosperity sheds its bewitching gleam around you, and no
+symptoms of the cloudy and dark day are at hand; but the hour is coming
+(it may come soon, it _must_ come at some time) when your Bethany-home
+will be clouded with deepening death-shadows--when, like Lazarus, you
+will be laid on a dying couch, and what will avail you then? Oh,
+nothing, _nothing_! if bereft of that love whose smile is heaven. If you
+are left in the agony of desolation to utter importunate pleadings to an
+_Unknown Saviour_, a _Stranger God_--if the dark valley be entered
+uncheered by the thought of a loving Redeemer dispelling its gloom, and
+waiting on the Canaan side to shew you the path of life!
+
+Let the home of your hearts be often open, as was the home of Lazarus,
+to the visits of Jesus in the day of brightness; and _then_, when the
+hour of sorrow and trial unexpectedly arises, you will know where to
+find your Lord--where to send your prayer-message for Him to come to
+your relief.
+
+Yes! He _will_ come! It will be in His own way, but His joyous footfall
+_will_ be heard! He is not like Baal, "slumbering and sleeping, or
+taking a journey" when the voice of importunate prayer ascends from the
+depths of yearning hearts! If, instead of at once hastening back to
+Bethany, He "abides still for two days where He was"--if He linger among
+the mountain-glens of distant Gilead, instead of, as we would expect,
+hastening to the cry and succour of cherished friendship, and to ward
+off the dart of the inexorable foe--be assured there must be a reason
+for this strange procrastination--there must be an unrevealed cause
+which the future will in due time disclose and unravel. All the
+recollections of the past forbid one unrighteous surmise on His tried
+faithfulness. "_Now, Jesus loved Lazarus_," is a soft pillow on which to
+repose;--raising the sorrowing spirit above the unkind insinuation, "My
+Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me."
+
+If He linger, it is to try and test the faith of His people. If He let
+loose the storm, and suffer it to sweep with a vengeance apparently
+uncontrolled, it is that these living trees may strike their roots
+firmer and deeper in Himself--the Rock of eternal ages. Trust Him where
+you cannot trace Him. Not one promise of His can come to nought. The
+channel may have continued long dry--the streams of Lebanon may have
+failed--the cloud has been laden, but no shower descends--the barren
+waste is unwatered--the windows of heaven seem hopelessly closed. Nay,
+nay! Though "the vision tarry," yet if you "wait for it" the gracious
+assurance will be fulfilled in your experience--"The Lord is good to
+them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him." The fountain of
+love pent up in His heart will in due time gush forth--the apparently
+unacknowledged prayer will be crowned with a gracious answer. In His own
+good time sweet tones of celestial music will be wafted to your ear--"It
+is the voice of the Beloved!--lo, He cometh leaping upon the mountains,
+skipping upon the hills!" If you are indeed the child of God, as Lazarus
+was, remember this for your comfort in your dying hour, that whether the
+prayers of sorrowing friends for your recovery be answered or no, the
+Lord of love has at least _heard_ them--the messenger has not been
+mocked--the prayer-message has not been spurned or forgotten! I repeat
+it, He _will_ answer, but it will be _in His own way_! If the
+Bethany-home be ungladdened by Lazarus restored, it will exult through
+tears in the thought of Lazarus glorified. And the Marthas and Marys, as
+they go often unto the grave to weep there, will read, as they weep, in
+the holy memories of the departed, that which will turn tears into
+joy--"_Jesus loved him._"
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+THE SLEEPER.
+
+
+"_Our friend Lazarus sleepeth._"--The hopes and fears which alternately
+rose and fell in the bosoms of the sisters, like the surges of the
+ocean, are now at rest. Oft and again, we may well believe, had they
+gone, like the mother of Sisera, to the lattice to watch the return of
+the messenger, or, what was better, to hail their expected Lord. Gazing
+on the pale face at their side, and remembering that ere now the tidings
+of his illness must have reached Bethabara, they may have even expected
+to witness the power of a distant _word_;--to behold the hues of
+returning health displacing the ghastly symptoms of dissolution. But in
+vain! The curtain has fallen! Their season of aching anxiety is at an
+end. Their worst fears are realised.--"Lazarus sleepeth."
+
+How calm, how tranquil that departure! Never did sun sink so gently in
+its crimson couch--never did child, nestling in its mother's bosom,
+close its eyes more sweetly!
+
+    "His summon'd breath went forth as peacefully
+     As folds the spent rose when the day is done."
+
+Befitting close to a calm and noiseless existence! It would seem as if
+the guardian angels who had been hovering round his death-pillow had
+well-nigh reached the gates of glory ere the sorrowing survivors
+discovered that the clay tabernacle was all that was left of a "brother
+beloved!"
+
+From the abrupt manner in which, in the course of the narrative, our
+Lord makes the announcement to His disciples,[10] we are almost led to
+surmise that He did so at the very moment of the spirit's dismissal--the
+Redeemer speaks while the eyelids are just closing, and the emancipated
+soul is winging its arrowy flight up to the spirit-land!
+
+_Death_ a SLEEP!--How beautiful the image! Beautifully true, and _only_
+true regarding the Christian. It is here where the true and the
+false--Christianity and Paganism--meet together in impressive and
+significant contrast. The one comes to the dark river with her pale,
+sickly lamp. It refuses to burn--the damps of Lethe dim and quench it.
+Philosophy tries to discourse on death as a "stern necessity"--of the
+duty of passing heroically into this mysterious, oblivion-world--taking
+with bold heart "the leap in the dark," and confronting, as we best can,
+blended images of annihilation and terror.
+
+The Gospel takes us to the tomb, and shews us Death vanquished, and the
+Grave spoiled. Death truly is in itself an unwelcome messenger at our
+door. It is the dark event in this our earth,--the deepest of the many
+deep shadows of an otherwise fair creation--a cold, cheerless avalanche
+lying at the heart of humanity, freezing up the gushing fountains of
+joyous life. But the Gospel shines, and the cold iceberg melts. The Sun
+of Righteousness effects what philosophy, with all its boasted power,
+never could. Jesus is the abolisher of Death. He has taken all that is
+terrible from it. It is said of some venomous insects that when they
+once inflict a sting, they are deprived of any future power to hurt.
+Death left his envenomed sting in the body of the great victim of
+Calvary. It was thenceforward disarmed of its fearfulness! So complete,
+indeed, is the Redeemer's victory over this last enemy, that He Himself
+speaks of it as no longer a reality, but a shadow--a phantom-foe from
+which we have nothing to dread. "Whosoever believeth in Me shall _never
+die_." "If a man keep My sayings, he shall _never see death_." These are
+an echo of the sweet Psalmist's beautiful words, a transcript of his
+expressive figure when he pictures the Dark Valley to the believer as
+the Valley of a "_shadow_." The substance is removed! When the gaunt
+spirit meets him on the midnight waters, he may, like the disciples at
+first, be led to "cry out for fear." But a gentle voice of love and
+tenderness rebukes his dread, and calms his misgivings--"It is I! be not
+afraid!" Yes, here is the wondrous secret of a calm departure--the
+"sleep" of the believer in death. It is the name and presence of JESUS.
+There may be many accompaniments of weakness and prostration, pain and
+suffering, in that final conflict; the mind may be a wreck--memory may
+have abdicated her seat--the loving salutation of friends may be
+returned only with vacant looks, and the hand be unable to acknowledge
+the grasp of affection--but there is strength in that presence, and
+music in that name to dispel every disquieting, anxious thought. Clung
+to as a sheet-anchor in life, He will never leave the soul in the hour
+of dissolution to the mercy of the storm. Amid sinking nature, He is
+faithful that promised--"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of
+the world."--"Thou art with me," says Lady Powerscourt--"this is the
+rainbow of light thrown across the valley, for there is no need of sun
+or moon where covenant-love illumes."
+
+A Christian's death-bed! It is indeed "good to be there." The man who
+has not to seek a living Saviour at a dying hour, but who, long having
+known His preciousness, loved His Word, valued His ordinances, sought
+His presence by believing prayer, has now nothing to do but to die (to
+_sleep_), and wake up in glory everlasting! "Oh! that all my brethren,"
+were among Rutherford's last words, "may know what a Master I have
+served, and what peace I have this day. This night shall close the
+door, and put my anchor within the veil." "This must be the chariot,"
+said Helen Plumtre, making use of Elijah's translation as descriptive of
+the believer's death; "This must be the chariot; oh, how easy it is!"
+"Almost well," said Richard Baxter, when asked on his death-bed how he
+did.
+
+Yes! there is speechless eloquence in such a scene. The figure of a
+quiet slumber is no hyperbole, but a sober verity. As the gentle smile
+of a foretasted heaven is seen playing on the marble lips--the rays
+gilding the mountain tops after the golden sun has gone down--what more
+befitting reflection than this, "_So_ giveth He His beloved SLEEP!"
+
+    "Sweetly remembering that the parting sigh
+     Appoints His saints to slumber, not to die,
+     The starting tear we check--we kiss the rod,
+     And not to earth resign them, but to God."
+
+Or shall we leave the death-chamber and visit the grave? Still it is a
+place of _sleep_; a bed of rest--a couch of tranquil repose--a quiet
+dormitory "until the day break," and the night shadows of earth "flee
+away." The dust slumbering there is precious because redeemed; the
+angels of God have it in custody; they encamp round about it, waiting
+the mandate to "gather the elect from the four winds of heaven--from the
+one end of heaven to the other." Oh, wondrous day, when the long
+dishonoured casket shall be raised a "glorified, body" to receive once
+more the immortal jewel, polished and made meet for the Master's use!
+See how Paul clings, in speaking of this glorious resurrection period,
+to the expressive figure of his Lord before him--"Them also which SLEEP
+in Jesus will God bring with Him!" _Sleep in Jesus!_ His saints fall
+asleep on their death-couch in His arms of infinite love. There their
+spirits repose, until the body, "sown in corruption" shall be "raised in
+incorruption," and both reunited in the day of His appearing, become "a
+crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand
+of their God."
+
+Weeping mourner! Jesus dries thy tears with the encouraging assurance,
+"Thy dead shall live; together with My body they shall arise." Let thy
+Lazarus "sleep on now and take his rest;" the time will come when My
+voice shall be heard proclaiming, "Awake, and sing, ye that dwell in
+dust." "The winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers
+appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the
+voice of the turtle is heard in the land. Arise, my love, my fair one,
+and come away." "Weep not! he is not dead, but sleepeth. Soon shall the
+day-dawn of glory streak the horizon, and then I shall go that I may
+awake him out of sleep!"
+
+Beautifully has it been said, "Dense as the gloom is which hangs over
+the mouth of the sepulchre, it is the spot, above all others, where the
+Gospel, if it enters, shines and triumphs. In the busy sphere of life
+and health, it encounters an active antagonist--the world confronts it,
+aims to obscure its glories, to deny its claims, to drown its voice, to
+dispute its progress, to drive it from the ground it occupies. But from
+the mouth of the grave the world retires; it shrinks from the contest
+there; it leaves a clear and open space in which the Gospel can assert
+its claims and unveil its glories without opposition or fear. There the
+infidel and worldling look anxiously around--but the world has left them
+helpless, and fled. There the Christian looks around, and lo! the angel
+of mercy is standing close by his side. The Gospel kindles a torch which
+not only irradiates the valley of the shadow of death, but throws a
+radiance into the world beyond, and reveals it peopled with the sainted
+spirits of those who have died in Jesus."
+
+Reader! may this calm departure be yours and mine. "Blessed are the dead
+which die in the Lord. ... They REST." All life's turmoil and tossing is
+over; they are anchored in the quiet haven. _Rest_--but not the rest of
+annihilation--
+
+    "Grave! the guardian of our dust;
+       Grave! the treasury of the skies;
+     Every atom of thy trust
+       Rests in hope again to rise!"
+
+Let us seek to have the eye of faith fixed and centred on Jesus _now_.
+It is _that_ which alone can form a peaceful pillow in a dying hour, and
+enable us to rise superior to all its attendant terrors. Look at that
+scene in the Jehoshaphat valley! The proto-martyr Stephen has a pillow
+of thorns for his dying couch, showers of stones are hurled by
+infuriated murderers on his guiltless head, yet, nevertheless, he "fell
+asleep." What was the secret of that calmest of sunsets amid a
+blood-stained and storm-wreathed sky? The eye of faith (if not of sight)
+pierced through those clouds of darkness. Far above the courts of the
+material temple at whose base he lay, he beheld, in the midst of the
+general assembly and Church of the First-born of Heaven, "JESUS standing
+at the right hand of God." The vision of his Lord was like a celestial
+lullaby stealing from the inner sanctuary. With _Jesus_, his last sight
+on earth and his next in glory, he could "lay him down in peace and
+sleep," saying, in the words of the sweet singer of Israel, "What time I
+awake I am still with Thee."
+
+    "It matters little at what hour o' the day
+     The righteous falls asleep. Death cannot come
+     To him untimely who is fit to die.
+     The less of this cold world the more of heaven;
+     The briefer life, the earlier immortality."--MILMAN.
+
+"Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." This tells us that Christ forgets not the
+dead. The dead often bury their dead, and remember them no more. The
+name of their silent homes has passed into a proverb, "The land of
+forgetfulness." But they are not forgotten by Jesus. That which sunders
+and dislocates all other ties--wrenching brother from brother, sister
+from sister, friend from friend--cannot sunder us from the living,
+loving heart on the throne of heaven. His is a friendship and love
+stronger than death, and surviving death. While the language of earth is
+
+    "Friend after friend departs--
+     Who hath not lost a friend?"
+
+the emancipated spirit, as it wings its magnificent flight among the
+ministering seraphim, can utter the challenge, "Who shall separate me
+from the love of Christ?" The righteous are had with Him "in everlasting
+remembrance." Their names "written among the living in Jerusalem;" yea,
+"engraven on the palms of His hands."
+
+One other thought.--Jesus had at first kindly and considerately
+disguised from His disciples the stern truth of Lazarus' departure. "Our
+friend sleepeth." "They thought that He had spoken of taking of rest in
+sleep." They understood it as the indication of the crisis-hour in
+sickness when the disease has spent itself, and is succeeded by a balmy
+slumber--the presage of returning health; but now He says unto them
+plainly, "Lazarus is dead." How gently He thus breaks the sad
+intelligence! And it is His method of dealing still. He _prepares_ His
+people for their hours of trial. He does not lay upon them more than
+they are able to bear. He considers their case--He teaches by slow and
+gradual discipline, leading on step by step; staying His rough wind in
+the day of His east wind. As the Good Physician, He metes out drop by
+drop in the bitter cup--as the Good Shepherd, His is not rough driving,
+but gentle guiding from pasture to pasture. "He leadeth them out;" "He
+goeth before them." He is Himself their sheltering rock in the "dark and
+cloudy day." The sheep who are inured to the hardships of the mountain,
+He leaves at times to wrestle with the storm; but "the _lambs_" (the
+young, the faint, the weak, the weary) "He gathers in His arms and
+carries in His bosom." He speaks in gentle whispers. He uses the
+pleasing symbol of quiet slumber before He speaks plainly out the
+mournful reality, "Lazarus is dead." Truly "He knoweth our frame--He
+remembereth that we are dust." "Like as a father pitieth his children,
+so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him!"
+
+But let us resume our narrative, and follow the journey of the dead
+man's "Friend." It is a mighty task He has undertaken; to storm the
+strong enemy in his own citadel, and roll back the barred gates! In
+mingled majesty and tenderness He hastens to the bereft and desolate
+home on this mission of power and love. We left the sisters wondering at
+His mysterious delay. Again and again had they imagined that at last
+they heard His tardy step, or listened to His hand on the latch, or to
+the loving music of His longed-for voice. But they are mistaken; it was
+only the beating of the vine-tendrils on the lattice, or the footfall of
+the passer by. The Lord is still absent! Their earnest and importunate
+heart-breathings are expressed by the Psalmist--"O Lord our God, early
+do we seek Thee: our soul thirsteth for Thee, our flesh longeth for Thee
+in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see Thy power and Thy
+glory, as we _have_ seen Thee." Be still, afflicted ones! He is coming.
+He will, however, let the cup of anguish be first filled to the brim
+that He may manifest and magnify all the more the might of His
+omnipotence, and the marvels of His compassion. The thirsty land is
+about to become streams of water. The sky is at its darkest, when, lo!
+the rainbow of love is seen spanning the firmament, and a shower of
+blessings is about to fall on the "_Home of Bethany_!"
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+LIGHTS AND SHADOWS.
+
+
+The sounds of lamentation had now been heard for four days in the
+desolate household.
+
+In accordance with general wont, the friends and relatives of the
+deceased had assembled to pay their tribute of respect to the memory of
+a revered friend, and to solace the hearts of the disconsolate
+survivors. They needed all the sympathy they received. It was now the
+dull dead calm after the torture of the storm, the leaden sea strewn
+with wrecks, enabling them to realise more fully the extent of their
+loss. Amid the lulls of the tempest, while Lazarus yet lived, hope
+shrunk from entertaining gloomy apprehensions. But now that the storm
+has spent its fury, now that the worst has come, the future rises up
+before them crowded with ten thousand images of desolation and sorrow.
+The void in their household is daily more and more felt. All the past
+bright memories of Bethany seem to be buried in a yawning grave.
+
+We may picture the scene. The stronger and more resolute spirit of
+Martha striving to stem the tide of overmuch sorrow. The more sensitive
+heart of Mary, bowed under a grief too deep for utterance, able only to
+indicate by her silent tears the unknown depths of her sadness.
+
+Thus are they employed, when Martha, unseen to her sister, has been
+beckoned away. "_The Master has come._" But desirous of ascertaining the
+truth of the joyful tidings, ere intruding on the grief of Mary, the
+elder of the survivors rushes forth with trembling emotion to give full
+vent to her sorrow at the feet of the Great Friend of all the
+friendless![11]
+
+He has not yet entered the village. She cannot, however, wait His
+arrival. Leaving home and sepulchre behind, she hastens outside the
+groves of palm at its gate.
+
+It requires no small fortitude in the season of sore bereavement to
+face an altered world; and, doubtless, passing all alone now through the
+little town, meeting familiar faces wearing sunny smiles which could not
+be returned, must have been a painful effort to this child of sorrow.
+But what will the heart not do to meet such a Comforter? What will
+Martha be unprepared to encounter if the intelligence brought her be
+indeed confirmed? One glance is enough. "_It is the Lord!_" In a moment
+she is a suppliant at His feet. Doubt and faith and prayer mingle in the
+exclamation, "Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not
+died!"[12]
+
+That she had faith and assured confidence in the love and tenderness of
+Jesus we cannot question. But a momentary feeling of unbelief (shall we
+say, of reproach and upbraiding?) mingled with better emotions. "Why,
+Lord," seemed to be the expression of her inner thoughts, "wert Thou
+absent? It was unlike Thy kind heart. Thou hast often gladdened our home
+in our season of joy--why this forgetfulness in the night of our bitter
+agony? Death has torn from us a loved brother--the blow would have been
+spared--these hearts would have been unbroken--these burning tears
+unshed, if _Thou hadst_ been here!"
+
+Such was the bold--the _unkind_ reasoning of the mourner. It was the
+reasoning of a finite creature. Ah! if she could but have looked into
+the workings of that infinite Heart she was ungenerously upbraiding, how
+differently would she have broached her tearful suit!
+
+_Her_ exclamation is--"Why this _unkind_ absence?"
+
+_His_ comment on that _same_ absence to His disciples is _this_--"I was
+_glad_ for your sakes that I was _not_ there!"
+
+How often are _God_ and _man_ thus in strange antagonism, with regard to
+earthly dispensations! Man, as he arraigns the rectitude of the Divine
+procedure, exclaiming--"How unaccountable this dealing! How baffling
+this mystery! Where is now my God?" This sickness--why prolonged? This
+thorn in the flesh--why still buffeting? This family blank--why
+permitted? Why the most treasured and useful life taken--the blow aimed
+where it cut most severely and levelled lowest?
+
+Hush the secret atheism! This trial, whatever it be, has this grand
+motto written upon it in characters of living light;--we can read it on
+anguished pillows--aching hearts--ay, on the very portals of the
+tomb--"_This_ is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be
+glorified thereby!"
+
+At the very moment we are mourning what are called "_dark_
+providences"--"untoward calamities"--"strokes of
+misfortune"--"unmitigated evils"--Jesus has a different verdict;--"I am
+_glad_ for your sakes."
+
+The absence at Jordan--the still more unaccountable lingering for two
+days in the same place after the message had been sent, instead of
+hastening direct to Bethany, all was well and wisely ordered. And
+although Martha's upbraidings were now received in forbearing silence,
+her Saviour afterwards, in a calmer moment, read the rebuke--"Said I not
+unto thee, if thou wouldst _believe_, thou shouldst see the glory of
+God?"
+
+It is indeed a comforting assurance in all trials, that God has some
+holy and wise end to subserve. He never stirs a ripple on the waters,
+but for His own glory, or the good of others. The delay on the present
+occasion, though protracting for a time the sorrows of the bereaved, was
+intended for the benefit of the Church in every age, and for the more
+immediate benefit of the disciples.
+
+_They_ were destined in a few brief weeks also to be desolate
+survivors--to mourn a Brother dearer still! He who had been to them
+Friend--Father--Brother, all in one, was to be, like Lazarus, laid
+silent in a Jerusalem sepulchre. The Lord of Life was to be the victim
+of Death! His body was to be transfixed to a malefactor's cross, and
+consigned to a lonely grave! He knew the shock that awaited their faith.
+He knew, as this terrible hour drew on, how needful some overpowering
+visible demonstration would be of His mastery over the tomb.
+
+_Now_ a befitting opportunity occurred in the case of their friend
+Lazarus to read the needed lesson. "I was glad for your sakes, ... to
+the intent ye might believe."
+
+Would that we could feel as believers more than we do--that the dealings
+of our God are for the strengthening of our faith, and the enlivening
+and invigorating of our spiritual graces. Let us seek to accept more
+simply in dark dealings the Saviour's explanation, "It is for _your_
+sake!" He gives us a blank for our every trial, indorsing it with His
+own gracious word, "This, _this_ is for the glory of God, that the Son
+of God may be glorified thereby."
+
+The words of Martha, then, surely teach as their great lesson, never to
+be hasty in our surmises and conclusions regarding God's ways.
+
+"Lord! IF Thou _hadst_ been here?" Could she question for a moment that
+that loving eye of Omniscience had all the while been scanning that
+sick-chamber--marking every throb in that fevered brow--and every tear
+that fell unbidden from the eyes that watched his pillow?
+
+"Lord! _if_ Thou hadst been here?" Could she question His ability, had
+He so willed it, to prevent the bereavement altogether--to put an arrest
+on the hand of death ere the bow was strung?
+
+O faithless disciple, wherefore didst thou doubt? But thou art ere long
+to learn what each of us will learn out in eternity, that "_all_ things
+are for our sakes, that the abundant grace might, through the
+thanksgiving of many, redound _to the glory of God_."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But the momentary cloud has passed. Faith breaks through. The murmur of
+upbraiding has died away. He who listens makes allowance for an
+anguished heart. The glance of tender sympathy and gentleness which met
+Martha's eye, at once hushes all remains of unbelief. Words of exulting
+confidence immediately succeed. "But I know that even now whatsoever
+Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee."
+
+What is this, but that which every believer exults in to this hour, as
+the sheet-anchor of hope and peace and comfort, when tossed on a
+tempestuous sea--a gracious confidence in the ability and willingness of
+Christ to save. The Friend of Bethany is still the Friend in Heaven. To
+Him "all power has been committed;" "as a prince He has power with God,
+and must prevail."
+
+Yes, gracious antidote to the spirit in the moment of its trial; when
+bowed down with anticipated bereavement; the curtains of death about to
+fall over life's brightest joys. How blessed to lay hold on the
+_perfect_ conviction that "the Ever-living Intercessor in glory has all
+power to revoke the sentence if He sees meet"--that even _now_ (yes
+_now_, in a moment) the delegated angel may be sent speeding from his
+throne, to spare the tree marked to fall, and prolong the lease of
+existence!
+
+Let us rejoice in the power of this God-man Mediator, that He is as able
+as He is willing, and as willing as He is able. "Him the Father heareth
+always." "_Father, I will_," is His own divine _formula_ for every
+needed boon for His people.
+
+How it ought to make our sick-chambers and death-chambers consecrated to
+prayer! leading us to make our every trial and sorrow a fresh reason for
+going to God. Laying our burden, whatever it may be, on the mercy-seat,
+it will be _considered_ by Him, who is too wise to grant what is better
+to be withdrawn, and too kind to withhold what, without injury to us,
+may be granted.
+
+Let us imitate Martha's faith in our approaches to Him. Ah, in our dull
+and cold devotions, how little lively apprehension have we of the
+gracious _willingness_ of Christ to listen to our petitions! Standing as
+the great Angel of the Covenant with the golden censer, His hand never
+shortened--His ear never heavy--His uplifted arm of intercession never
+faint. No variety bewildering Him--no importunity wearying Him--"waiting
+to be gracious"--loving the music of the suppliant spirit.
+
+Would that we had ever before us as the superscription of faith written
+on our closet-devotions, and domestic altars, and public sanctuaries,
+_whenever_ and _wherever_ the knee is bent, and the Hearer of prayer is
+invoked--"I _know_ that even _now_ whatsoever _Thou_ wilt ask of God,
+God will give it Thee."
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+THE MOURNER'S COMFORT.
+
+
+Martha's tearful utterances are now met with an exalted solace.
+
+"_Thy brother shall rise again._" It is the first time her Lord has
+spoken. She now once more hears those well-remembered tones which were
+last listened to, when life was all bright, and her home all happy.
+
+It is the self-same consolation which steals still, like celestial
+music, to the smitten heart, when every chord of earthly gladness ceases
+to vibrate. And it is befitting too that _Jesus_ should utter it. He
+alone is qualified to do so. The words spoken to the bereaved one of
+Bethany are words purchased by His own atoning work. "Thy brother--thy
+sister--thy friend, shall rise again!"
+
+This brief oracle of comfort was addressed, in the first instance,
+specially to Martha. It had a primary reference, doubtless, to the vast
+miracle which was on the eve of performance. But there were more hearts
+to comfort and souls to cheer than one; that Almighty Saviour had at the
+moment troops of other bereaved ones in view; myriads on myriads of
+aching, bleeding spirits who could not, like the Bethany mourner, rush
+into His visible presence for consolation and peace. He expands,
+therefore, for their sakes the sublime and exalted solace which He
+ministers to _her_. And in words which have carried their echoes of hope
+and joy through all time, He exclaims--"I am the resurrection and the
+life; he that believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live;
+and whosoever liveth and believeth on Me shall never die!"
+
+If Bethany had bequeathed no other "memory" than _this_, how its name
+would have been embalmed in hallowed recollection! Truly these two brief
+verses are as apples of gold in pictures of silver. "_Jesus, the
+Resurrection and the Life._" Himself conquering death, He has conquered
+it for His people--opening the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
+
+The full grandeur of that Bethany utterance could not be appreciated by
+her to whom it was first spoken. His death and resurrection was still,
+even to His nearest disciples, a profound mystery. Little did that
+trembling spirit, who was now gazing on her living Lord with tearful
+eye, dream that in a few brief days the grave was to hold HIM, too, as
+its captive; and that guardian angels were to proclaim words which would
+now have been all enigma and strangeness, "The Lord is risen!" With us
+it is different. The mighty deed has been completed. "Christ has died;
+yea, rather has risen again!" The resurrection and revival of Lazarus
+was a marvellous act, but it was only the rekindling of a little star
+that had ceased to twinkle in the firmament. A week more--and Martha
+would witness the Great Sun of all Being undergoing an eclipse; in a
+mysterious moment veiled and shrouded in darkness and blood; and then
+all at once coming forth like a Bridegroom from his chamber to shine the
+living and luminous centre of ransomed millions!
+
+Christians! we can turn now aside and see this great sight--death
+closing the lips of the Lord of life--a borrowed grave containing the
+tenantless body of the Creator of all worlds! Is death to hold that
+prey? Is the grave to retain in gloomy custody that immaculate frame? Is
+the living temple to lie there an inglorious ruin, like other crumbling
+wrecks of mortality? The question of our eternal life or eternal death
+was suspended on the reply! If death succeeds in chaining down the
+illustrious Victim, our hopes of everlasting life are gone for ever. In
+vain can these dreary portals be ever again unbarred for the children of
+fallen humanity. He has gone there as their surety-Saviour. If his
+suretyship be accepted--if He meet and fulfil all the requirements of an
+outraged law, the gates of the dismal prison-house will and must be
+opened. If, on the other hand, there be any flaw or deficiency in His
+person or work as the Kinsman-Redeemer, then no power can snap the
+chains which bind Him; the tomb will refuse to surrender what it has in
+custody; the hopes of His people must perish along with Him! Golgotha
+must become the grave of a world's hopes!
+
+But the stone _has_ been rolled away. The grave-clothes are all that are
+left as trophies of the conqueror. Angels are seated in the vacant tomb
+to verify with their gladdening assurance His own Bethany oracle, "The
+Lord has risen." "He is indeed the resurrection and the life; he that
+liveth and believeth on Him shall never die!"
+
+Yes! however many be the comforting thoughts which cluster around the
+grave of Lazarus, grander still is it to gather, as Jesus Himself here
+bids us, around His own tomb, and to gaze on His own resurrection scene!
+It was the most eventful morning of all time. It will be the focus point
+of the Church's hope and triumph through all eternity.
+
+"The Lord is risen!" It proclaimed the atonement complete, sin pardoned,
+mediation accepted, the law satisfied, God glorified! "The Lord is
+risen!" It proclaimed resurrection and life for His people--life (the
+forfeited _gift_ of life) now repurchased. That mighty victor rose not
+for Himself, but as the representative and earnest of countless
+multitudes, who exult in His death as their life--in His resurrection as
+the pledge and guarantee of their everlasting safety;--"I am He that
+liveth," and "because I live ye shall live also."
+
+Anticipating His own glorious rising, He might well speak to Martha,
+standing before Him as the representative of weeping, sinful, woe-worn
+humanity, "He that liveth and believeth on Me shall never die." "_In
+Me_, death is no longer death; it is only a parenthesis in life--a
+transition to a loftier stage of being. _In Me_, the grave is the
+vestibule of heaven, the robing-room of immortality!"
+
+Reader, yours is the same strong consolation. "Believe," "Only believe"
+in that risen Lord. He has purchased all, paid all, procured all! Look
+into that vacant tomb; see sin cancelled, guilt blotted out, the law
+magnified, justice honoured, the sinner saved!
+
+Ay, and more than that, as you see the moral conqueror marching forth
+clothed with immortal victory, you see Him not alone! He is heading and
+heralding a multitude which no man can number. Himself the victorious
+precursor, he is shewing to these exulting thousands "the _path_ of
+life." He tells them to dread neither for themselves or others that
+lonesome tomb. The curse is extracted from it; the envenomed sting is
+plucked away. In passing through its lonesome chambers they may exult in
+the thought that a mightier than they has sanctified it by His own
+presence, and transmuted what was once a gloomy portico into a triumphal
+arch, bearing the inscription, "O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave,
+I will be thy destruction!"
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+THE MOURNER'S CREED.
+
+
+How stands our faith?
+
+These mighty thoughts and words of consolation--are they really
+believed, felt, trusted in, rejoiced over?
+
+Christian, "Believest _thou this_?"[13] Art thou really looking to this
+exalted life-giving Saviour? Hast thou in some feeble measure realised
+this resurrection-life as thine own? Hast thou the joyful consciousness
+of participating in this vital union with a living Lord? In vain do we
+listen to these sublime Bethany utterances unless we feel "_Jesus speaks
+to me_," and unless we be living from day to day under their
+invigorating power.
+
+He had unfolded to Martha in a single verse a whole Gospel; He had
+irradiated by a few words the darkness of the tomb; and now, turning to
+the poor dejected weeper at his side, He addresses the all-important
+question, "Believest thou _this_?"
+
+Her faith had been but a moment before staggering. Some guilty
+misgivings had been mingling with her anguished tears. She has now an
+opportunity afforded of rising above her doubts,--the ebbings and
+flowings of her fitful feelings,--and cleaving fast to the Living Rock.
+
+It elicits an unfaltering response--"Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art
+the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world."[14]
+
+Remarkable confession! We should not so much have wondered to hear it
+after the grave, hard by, had been rifled, and the silent lips of
+Lazarus had been unsealed; or had she stood like the other Mary at her
+Lord's own sepulchre in the garden, and after a few brief, but momentous
+days and hours, seen a whole flood of light thrown on the question of
+His Messiahship.
+
+But as yet there was much to damp such a bold confession, and lead to
+hesitancy in the avowal of such a creed. The poverty, the humiliations,
+the unworldly obscurity of that solitary _One_ who claimed no earthly
+birthright, and owned no earthly dwelling, were not all these,
+particularly to a Jew, at variance with every idea formed in connexion
+with the coming Shiloh?
+
+Was Martha's then a blind unmeaning faith? Far from it. It was nurtured,
+doubtless, in that quiet home of holy love, where, while Lazarus yet
+lived, this mysterious Being, in an earthly form and in pilgrim garb,
+came time after time discoursing to them often, as we are warranted to
+believe, on the dignity of His nature, the glories of His person, the
+completeness of His work. It was neither the evidence of miracle or
+prophecy which had revealed to that weeping disciple that Jesus of
+Nazareth was the Son of God. With the exception of Micah's statement
+regarding Bethlehem-Ephratah as His birthplace, we question if any other
+remarkable prediction concerning Him had yet been fulfilled; and so far
+as miracles were concerned, though she may and must have doubtless known
+of them by hearsay, we have no evidence that she had as yet so much as
+witnessed _one_. We never read till this time of their quiet village
+being the scene of any manifestations of His power. These had generally
+taken place either in Jerusalem or in the cities and coasts of Galilee.
+The probability, therefore, is that Martha, had never yet seen that arm
+of Omnipotence bared, or witnessed those prodigies with which elsewhere
+He authenticated His claims to Divinity.
+
+_Whence then her creed?_ May we not believe she had made her noble
+avowal mainly from the study of that beauteous, spotless character--from
+those looks, and words, and deeds--from that lofty teaching--so unlike
+every human system--so wondrously adapted to the wants and woes, the
+sins, the sorrows, and aching necessities of the human heart. All this
+had left on her own spirit, and on that of Lazarus and Mary, the
+irresistible impression and evidence that he was indeed the Lord of
+Glory--"the Hope of Israel, and the Saviour thereof."
+
+And is it not the same evidence we exult in still? Is this not the
+_reason_ of many a humble believer's creed and faith--who may be all
+unlettered and unlearned in the evidences of the schools--the external
+and internal bulwarks of our impregnable Christianity? Ask them why
+they believe? why their faith is so firm--their love so strong?
+
+They will tell you that that Saviour, in all the glories of His person,
+in all the completeness of His work, in all the beauties of His
+character, is the very Saviour they need!--that His Gospel is the very
+errand of mercy suited to their souls' necessities;--that His words of
+compassion, and tenderness, and hope, are in every way adapted to meet
+the yearnings of their longing spirits. They need to stand by the grave
+of no Lazarus to be certified as to His Messiahship. His looks and
+tones--His character and doctrine,--His cures and remedies for the wants
+and woes of their ruined natures, point Him out as the true Heavenly
+Physician.
+
+They can tell of the best of all evidences, and the strongest of
+all--the _experimental_ evidence! They are no theorists. Religion is no
+subject with them of barren speculation; it is a matter of inner and
+heartfelt experience. They have tried the cure--they have found it
+answer;--they have fled to the Physician--they have applied His
+balm--they have been healed and live! And you might as well try to
+convince the restored blind that the sunlight which has again burst on
+them is a wild dream of fancy, or the restored deaf that the world's
+joyous melodies which have again awoke on them are the mockeries of
+their own brain, as convince the spiritually enlightened and awakened
+that He who has proved to them light and life, and joy and peace--their
+comfort in prosperity--their refuge in adversity--is other than the _Son
+of God and Saviour of the world_!
+
+Reader, is this your experience? Have you tasted and seen that the Lord
+is gracious? Have you felt the preciousness of His gospel, the
+adaptation of His work to the necessities of your ruined condition?--the
+power of His grace, the prevalence of His intercession, the fulness and
+glory and truthfulness of His promises? Are you exulting in Him as the
+Resurrection and Life, who has raised you from the death of sin, and
+will at last raise you from the power of death, and invest you with that
+eternal life which His love has purchased?
+
+Precious as is this hope and confidence at all times, specially so is
+it, mourners in Zion! in your seasons of sorrow. When human refuges
+fail, and human friendships wither, and human props give way, how
+sustaining to have this "anchor of the soul sure and steadfast"--union
+with a living Lord on earth, and the joyful hope of endless and
+uninterrupted union and communion with Him in glory! Are you even now
+enjoying, through your tears, this blessed persuasion, and exulting in
+this blessed creed? Do you know the secret of that twofold solace, "the
+power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings?"--the
+"fellowship of His sufferings" telling of His sympathy with your sorrows
+below;--the "power of His resurrection" assuring you of the glorious
+gift of everlasting life in a world where sorrow dare not enter. Rest
+not satisfied with a mere outward creed and confession that "Jesus is
+the Saviour." Let yours be the nobler _formula_ of an appropriating
+faith--"He is my Saviour; He loved ME, and gave Himself for ME." Let it
+not be with you a salvation _possible_, but a salvation _found_; so
+that, with a tried apostle, you can rise above the surges of deepening
+tribulation as you glory in the conviction, "I _know_ in whom I _have_
+believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have
+committed unto Him."
+
+Sad, indeed, for those who, when "deep calleth unto deep," have no such
+"strong consolation" to enable them to ride out the storm; who, when
+sorrow and bereavement overtake them--the lowering shadows of the dark
+and cloudy day--have still to grope after an _unknown Christ_; and, amid
+the hollowness of earthly and counterfeit comforts, have to seek, for
+the first time, the _only_ true One.
+
+Oh! if our hour of trial has not yet come, let us be prepared for
+it--for come it will. Let us seek to have our vessels moored _now_ to
+the Rock of Ages, that when the tempest arises--when the floods beat,
+and the winds blow, and the wrecks of earthly joy are seen strewing the
+waters--we may triumphantly utter the challenge, "Who shall separate us
+from the love of Christ?"
+
+                          "Say, ye who tempt
+     The sea of life, by summer gales impell'd,
+     Have ye this anchor? Sure a time will come
+     For storms to try you, and strong blasts to rend
+     Your painted sails, and shred your gold like chaff
+     O'er the wild wave. And what a wreck is man,
+     If sorrow find him unsustain'd by God!"
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+THE MASTER.
+
+
+Martha can withhold no longer from her sister the joyful tidings which
+she has been the first to hear. With fleet foot she hastens back to the
+house with the announcement, "The Master is come, and calleth for thee."
+Mary hears, but makes no comment. Wrapt in the silence of her own
+meditative grief, "when she heard that, she arose quickly and came unto
+Him."
+
+    "To her all earth could render nothing back
+     Like that pale changeless brow. Calmly she stood
+     As marble statue.
+
+                       In that maiden's breast
+     Sorrow and loneliness sank darkly down,
+     Though the blanch'd lips breathed out no boisterous plaint
+     Of common grief."
+
+The formal sympathisers who gathered around her had observed her
+departure. They are led to form their conjectures as to the cause of
+this sudden break in her trance of anguish. She had up till that
+moment, with the instinctive aversion which mourners only know, and
+which we have formerly alluded to in the case of Martha, been shrinking
+from facing the gladsome light of heaven, caring not to look abroad on
+the blight of an altered world. But the few words her sister uttered,
+and which the other auditors manifestly had not comprehended, all at
+once rouse her from her seat of pensive sadness, and her shadow is seen
+hurrying by the darkened lattice. They can form but one surmise: that,
+in accordance with wont, she has betaken herself to the burial-ground to
+feed her morbid grief "She goeth unto the grave to weep there." Ah!
+little did they know how much nobler was her motive--how truer and
+grander the solace she sought and found.
+
+There is little that is really profitable or hallowed in visiting the
+grave of loved ones. Though fond affection will, from some false feeling
+of the tribute due to the memory of the departed, seek to surmount
+sadder thoughts, and linger at the spot where treasured ashes repose,
+yet--think and act as we may--there is nothing cheering, nothing
+elevating _there_. The associations of the burial-place are all with the
+humiliating triumphs of the King of Terrors. It is a view of death taken
+from the _earthly_ entrance of the valley, not the _heavenly_ view of it
+as that valley opens on the bright plains of immortality. The gay
+flowers and emerald sod which carpet the grave are poor mockeries to the
+bereft spirit, shrouding, as they do, nobler withered blossoms which the
+foot of the destroyer has trampled into dust, and which no earthly
+beauty can again clothe, or earthly spring reanimate. They are to be
+pitied who have no higher solace, no better remedy for their grief, than
+thus to water with unavailing tears the trophies of death; or to read
+the harrowing record which love has traced on its slab of cold marble,
+telling of the vanity of human hopes.
+
+Such, however, was not Mary's errand in leaving the chamber of
+bereavement. That drooping flower was not opening her leaves, only to be
+crushed afresh with new tear-floods of sorrow. She sought _One_ who
+would disengage her soiled and shattered tendrils from the chill
+comforts of earth, and bathe them in the genial influences of Heaven.
+The music of her Master's name alone could put gladness into her
+heart--tempt her to muffle other conflicting feelings and hasten to His
+feet. "_The Master is come!_" Nothing could have roused her from her
+profound grief but this. While her poor earthly comforters are imagining
+her prostrate at the sepulchre's mouth, giving vent to the wild delirium
+of her young grief, she is away, not to the victim of death, but to the
+Lord of Life, either to tell to Him the tale of her woe, or else to
+listen from His lips to words of comfort no other comforter had given.
+Is there not the same music in that name--the same solace and joy in
+that presence still? Earthly sympathy is not to be despised; nay, when
+death has entered a household, taken the dearest and the best and laid
+them in the tomb, nothing is more soothing to the wounded, crushed, and
+broken one, than to experience the genial sympathy of true Christian
+friendship. Those, it may be, little known before (comparative
+strangers), touched with the story of a neighbour's sorrow, come to
+offer their tribute of condolence, and to "weep with those that weep."
+Never is _true_ friendship so tested as then. Hollow attachments, which
+have nothing but the world or a time of prosperity to bind them,
+discover their worthlessness. "Summer friends" stand aloof--they have
+little patience for the sadness of sorrow's countenance and the funereal
+trappings of the death-chamber; while sympathy, based on lofty Christian
+principle, loves to minister as a subordinate healer of the
+broken-hearted, and to indulge in a hundred nameless ingenious offices
+of kindness and love.
+
+_But_ "thus far shalt thou go, and no farther." The purest and noblest
+and most disinterested of earthly friends can only go a certain way.
+Their minds and sympathies are limited. They cannot enter into the deep
+recesses of the smitten heart--the yawning crevices that bereavement has
+laid bare. _But_ JESUS _can_! Ah! there are capacities and sensibilities
+in that Mighty Heart that can probe the deepest wound and gauge the
+profoundest sorrow. While from the _best_ of earthly comforters the mind
+turns away unsatisfied; while the burial-ground and the grave only
+recall the deep humiliations of the body's wreck and ruin--with what
+fond emotion does the spirit, like Mary, turn to Him who possesses the
+majesty of Deity with all the tenderness of humanity. The Mighty Lord,
+and yet the Elder Brother!
+
+The sympathy of man is often selfish, formal, constrained, commonplace,
+coming more from the surface than from the depths of the heart. It is
+the finite sympathy of a finite creature. The Redeemer's sympathy is
+that of the perfect Man and the infinite God--able to enter into all the
+peculiarities of the case--all the tender features and shadings of
+sorrow which are hidden from the keenest and kindliest _human_ eye.
+
+Mary's procedure is a true type and picture of what the broken heart of
+the Christian feels. Not undervaluing human sympathy, yet, nevertheless,
+all the crowd of sympathising friends--Jewish citizens, Bethany
+villagers--are nothing to her when she hears _her Lord has come_!
+
+Happy for us if, while the world, like the condoling crowd of Jews, is
+forming its own cold speculations on the amount of our grief and the
+bitterness of our loss, we are found hastening to cast ourselves at our
+Saviour's feet; if our afflictions prove to us like angel messengers
+from the inner sanctuary--calling us from friends, home, comforts,
+blessings, all we most prize on earth--telling us that ONE is nigh who
+will more than compensate for the loss of all--"_The Master is come, and
+calleth for thee!_"
+
+It is the very end and design our gracious God has in all His dealings,
+to lead _us_, as he led Mary, to the feet of Jesus.
+
+Yes! thou poor weeping, disconsolate one, "The Master calleth for
+_thee_." _Thee_ individually, as if thou stoodest the alone sufferer in
+a vast world. He wishes to pour His oil and wine into thy wounded
+heart--to give thee some overwhelming proof and pledge of the love he
+bears thee in this thy sore trial. He has come to pour drops of comfort
+in the bitter cup--to ease thee of thy heavy burden, and to point thee
+to hopes full of immortality. Go and learn what a kind, and gentle, and
+gracious Master He is! Go forth, Mary, and meet thy Lord. "Weeping may
+endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning!"
+
+We may imagine her hastening along the foot-road, with the spirit of the
+Psalmist's words on her tongue--"As the hart panteth after the
+water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth
+for God--for the living God!"
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+SECOND CAUSES.
+
+
+With a bounding heart, Mary was in a moment at her Master's feet. She
+weeps! and is able only to articulate, in broken accents, "Lord, if thou
+hadst been here, my brother had not died." It is the repetition of
+Martha's same expression. Often at a season of sore bereavement some one
+poignant thought or reflection takes possession of the mind, and, for
+the time, overmasters every other. This echo of the other mourner's
+utterance leads us to conclude that it had been a familiar and
+oft-quoted phrase during these days of protracted agony. This
+independent quotation, indeed, on the part of each, gives a truthful
+beauty to the whole inspired narrative.
+
+The twin sisters--musing on the terrible past, gazing through their
+tears on the vacant seat at their home-hearth--had been every now and
+then breaking the gloomy silence of the deserted chamber by exclaiming,
+"If _He_ had been here, this never would have happened! This is the
+bitterest drop in our cup, that all might have been different! These hot
+tears might never have dimmed our eyes; our loved Lazarus might have
+been a living and loving brother still! Oh! that the Lord had delayed
+for a brief week that untoward journey, or anticipated by four days his
+longed-for return; or would that we had despatched our messenger earlier
+for Him. It is now too late. Though He _has_ at last come, His advent
+can be of little avail. The fell destroyer has been at our cottage door
+before Him. He may soothe our grief, but the blow cannot be averted.
+_His_ friend and _our_ brother is locked in sleep too deep to be
+disturbed."
+
+Ah! is it not the same unkind surmise which is still often heard in the
+hour of bereavement and in the home of death?--a guilty, unholy brooding
+over _second causes_. "If such and such had been done, my child had
+still lived. If that mean, or that remedy, or that judicious caution had
+been employed, this terrible overthrow of my earthly hopes would never
+have occurred; that loved one would have been still walking at my side;
+that chaplet of sorrows would not now have been girding my brows; the
+Bethany sepulchre would have been unopened--'This my brother had not
+died!'"
+
+Hush! hush! these guilty insinuations--that dethroning of God from the
+Providential Sovereignty of His own world--that hasty and inconsiderate
+verdict on His divine procedure.
+
+"IF _Thou_ hadst been here!" Can we, _dare_ we doubt it? Is the
+departure of the immortal soul to the spirit-world so trivial a matter
+that the life-giving God takes no cognisance of it? No! Mourning one, in
+the deep night of thy sorrow, thou must rise above "untoward
+coincidences"--thou must cancel the words "accident" and "fate" from thy
+vocabulary of trial. God, _thy_ God, was _there_! If there _be_
+perplexing accompaniments, be assured they were of _His_ permitting; all
+was planned--wisely, kindly planned. Question not the unerring rectitude
+of His dealings. Though _apparently_ absent, He was _really_ present.
+The apparent veiling of His countenance is only what Cowper calls "the
+severer aspect of His love." Kiss the rod that smites--adore the hand
+that lays low. Pillow thy head on that simple, yet grandest source of
+composure--"_The Lord reigneth!_" It is not for us to venture to dictate
+what the procedure of infinite love and wisdom should be. To our dim and
+distorted views of things, it might have been more for the glory of God
+and the Church's good, if the "beautiful bird of light" had still "sat
+with its folded wings" ere it sped to nestle in the eaves of Heaven. But
+if its earthly song has been early hushed; if those full of promise have
+been allowed rather to fall asleep in Jesus, "Even so, Father; for it
+seems good in Thy sight!" It was from no want of power or ability on
+God's part that they were not recalled from the gates of death. "We will
+be dumb--we will open not our mouths, because _Thou_ didst it."
+
+Afflicted one! if the brother or friend whom you now mourn be a brother
+in glory--if he be now among the white-robed multitude--his last tear
+wept--for ever beyond reach of a sinning and sorrowing world--can you
+upbraid your God for his early departure? Would you weep him back if
+you could from his early crown?
+
+Fond nature, as it stands in trembling agony watching the ebbing pulses
+of life, would willingly arrest the pale messenger--stay the
+chariot--and have the wilderness relighted with his smile.
+
+But when all is over, and you are able to contemplate, with calm
+emotion, the untold bliss into which the unfettered spirit has entered,
+do you not feel as if it were cruel selfishness alone that would denude
+that sainted pilgrim of his glory, and bring him once more back to
+earth's cares and tribulations?
+
+    "We sadly watch'd the close of all,
+       Life balanced in a breath;
+     We saw upon his features fall
+       The awful shade of death.
+     All dark and desolate we were;
+       And murmuring nature cried--
+     'Oh! surely, Lord! hadst _Thou_ been here
+       Our brother had not died!'
+
+    "But when its glance the memory cast
+       On all that grace had done;
+     And thought of life's long warfare pass'd,
+       And endless victory won.
+     Then faith prevailing, wiped the tear,
+       And looking upward, cried--
+     'O Lord! Thou surely _hast_ been here,
+       Our brother has _not_ died!'"
+
+We have already had occasion to note the impressive and significant
+silence of the Saviour to Mary. We may just again revert to it in a
+sentence here. Martha had, a few moments before, given vent to the same
+impassioned utterance respecting her departed brother. Jesus had replied
+to her; questioned her as to her faith; and opened up to her sublime
+sources of solace and consolation. With Mary it is different. He
+responds to her also--but it is only in silence and in tears!
+
+Why this distinction? Does it not unfold to us a lovely feature in the
+dealings of Jesus--how He adapts Himself to the peculiarities of
+individual character. With those of a bolder temperament He can argue
+and remonstrate--with those of a meek, sensitive, contemplative spirit,
+He can be silent and weep!
+
+The stout but manly heart of Peter needed at times a bold and cutting
+rebuke; a similar reproof would have crushed to the dust the tender soul
+of John. The character of the one is painted in his walking on the
+stormy water to meet his Lord; of the other, in his reclining on the
+bosom of the same Divine Master, drinking sacred draughts at the
+Fountain-head of love!
+
+So it was with Martha and Mary, "the Peter and John of Bethany;" and so
+it is with His people still.
+
+How beautifully and considerately Jesus _studies_ their case--adapting
+His dealings to what He sees and knows they can bear--fitting the yoke
+to the neck, and the neck to the yoke. To some He is "the Lion of the
+tribe of Judah, uttering His thunders"--pleading with Martha-spirits "by
+terrible things in righteousness;"--to others (the shrinking, sensitive
+Marys) whispering only accents of gentleness--giving expression to no
+needless word that would aggravate or embitter their sorrows.
+
+Ah, believer! how tenderly considerate is your dear Lord! Well may you
+make it your prayer, "Let me fall into the hands of God, for great are
+His mercies!" He may at times, like Joseph to His brethren, _appear_ to
+"speak roughly," but it is dissembled _kindness_. When a father inflicts
+on his wayward child the severest and harshest discipline, none but he
+can tell the bitter heart-pangs of yearning love that accompany every
+stroke of the rod. So it is with your Father in Heaven; with this
+difference, that the earthly parent _may_ act unwisely, arbitrarily,
+indiscreetly--he may misjudge the necessities of the case--he may do
+violence and wrong to the natural disposition of his offspring. Not so
+with an all-wise Heavenly Parent. He will inflict no redundant or
+unneeded chastisement. Man _may_ err, _has_ erred, and _is_ ever
+erring--but "as for God, His way is perfect!"
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+THE WEEPING SAVIOUR.
+
+
+The silent procession is moving on. We may suppose they have reached the
+gates of the burial-ground. But a new scene and incident here arrest our
+thoughts!
+
+It is not the humiliating memorials of mortality that lie scattered
+around,--the caves and grottoes and grassy heaps sacred to many a
+Bethany villager. It is not even the newly sealed stone which marks the
+spot where Lazarus "sleeps." Let us turn aside for a little, and see
+this great sight. It is the Creator of all worlds in tears!--the God-man
+Mediator dissolved in tenderest grief! Of all the memories of Bethany,
+this surely is the _most_ hallowed and the most wondrous. These tears
+form the most touching episode in sacred story; and if we are in sorrow,
+it may either dry our own tears, or give them the warrant to flow when
+we are told--_Jesus wept!_
+
+Whence those tears? This is what we shall now inquire. There is often a
+false interpretation put upon this brief and touching verse, as if it
+denoted the expression of the Saviour's sorrow for the loss of a loved
+friend. This, it is plain, it could not be. However mingled may have
+been the hopes and fears of the weeping mourners around him, _He_ at
+least knew that in a few brief moments Lazarus was to be restored. He
+could not surely weep so bitterly, possessing, as He then did, the
+confident assurance that death was about to give back its captive, and
+light up every tear-dimmed eye with an ecstasy of joy. Whence, then, we
+again ask, this strange and mysterious grief? Come and let us surround
+the grave of Bethany, and as we behold the chief mourner at that grave,
+let us inquire why it was that "_Jesus wept!_"
+
+
+(1.) JESUS WEPT _out of Sympathy for the Bereaved_.
+
+The hearts around Him were breaking with anguish. All unconscious
+of how soon and how wondrously their sorrow was to be turned into
+joy, the appalling thought was alone present to them in all its
+fearfulness--"Lazarus is dead!" When _He_, the God-man Mediator, with
+the refined sensibilities of His tender heart, beheld the poignancy of
+that grief, the pent-up torrent of His own human sympathies could be
+restrained no longer. His tears flowed too.
+
+But it would be a contracted view of the tears of Jesus to think that
+two solitary mourners in a Jewish graveyard engrossed and monopolised
+that sympathy. It had a far wider sweep.
+
+There were hearts, yes--myriads of desolate sufferers in ages then
+unborn, who He knew would be brought to stand as He was then doing by
+the grave of loved relatives--mourners who would have no visible
+comforter or restorer to rush to, as had Martha and Mary, to dry their
+tears, and give them back their dead; and when He thought of this,
+"_Jesus wept!_"
+
+What an interest it gives to that scene of weeping, to think that at
+that eventful moment, the Saviour had before Him the bereaved of _all
+time_--that His eye was roaming at that moment through deserted
+chambers, and vacant seats, and opened graves, down to the end of the
+world. The aged Jacobs and Rachels weeping for their children--the
+Ezekiels mourning in the dust and ashes of disconsolate widowhood, "the
+desire of their eyes taken away by a stroke"--the unsolaced Marys and
+Marthas brooding over a dark future, with the prop and support of
+existence swept down, the central sun and light of their being
+eclipsed in mysterious darkness! Think, (as you are now perusing
+these pages,) throughout the wide world, how many breaking hearts
+there are--how loud the wail of suffering humanity, could we but
+hear it!--those written childless and fatherless, and friendless and
+homeless!--Bethany-processions pacing with slow and measured step to
+deposit their earthly all in the cold custody of the tomb! Think of the
+Marys and Marthas who are now "going to some grave to weep there,"
+perhaps with no Saviour's smile to gladden them--or the desolate
+chambers that are now resounding to the plaintive dirge, "O Absalom,
+Absalom, would God I had died for thee; O Absalom, my son! my son!"
+Think of all these scenes at that moment vividly suggested and pictured
+to the Redeemer's eye--the long and loud _miserere_, echoing dismally
+from the remotest bounds of time, and there "entering into the ear of
+the God of Sabaoth," and can you wonder that--_Jesus wept!_
+
+Blessed and amazing picture of the Lord of glory! It combines the
+delineation alike of the tenderness of His humanity, and the majesty of
+His Godhead. His Humanity! It is revealed in those tear drops, falling
+from a human eye on a human grave. His _Godhead_! It is manifested in
+His ability to take in with a giant grasp all the prospective sufferings
+of His suffering people.
+
+Weeping believer! thine anguished heart was included in those Bethany
+tears! Be assured thy grief was visibly portrayed at that moment to that
+omniscient Saviour. He had all thy sorrows before Him--thy anxious
+moments during thy friend's tedious sickness--the trembling
+suspense--the nights of weary watching--the agonising revelation of "no
+hope"--the closing scene! Bethany's graveyard became to Him a
+picture-gallery of the world's aching hearts; and _thine_, yes! _thine_
+was _there_! and as He beheld it, "_Jesus wept!_"
+
+    "Jesus wept! These tears are over,
+     But His heart is still the same;
+     Kinsman, Friend, and Elder Brother,
+     Is His everlasting name.
+
+         Saviour, who can love like Thee,
+         _Gracious_ One of Bethany!
+
+    "When the pangs of trial seize us,
+     When the waves of sorrow roll,
+     I will lay my head on Jesus,
+     Pillow of the troubled soul.
+
+         Surely none can feel like Thee,
+         _Weeping_ One of Bethany!
+
+    "Jesus wept! And still in glory,
+     He can mark each mourner's tear;
+     Loving to retrace the story
+     Of the hearts he solaced here.
+
+         Lord! when I am call'd to die,
+         Let me think of Bethany!
+
+    "Jesus wept! That tear of sorrow
+     Is a legacy of love;
+     Yesterday, to-day, to-morrow,
+     He the same doth ever prove.
+
+         Thou art all in all to me,
+         _Living_ One of Bethany!"
+
+
+(2.) JESUS WEPT _when He thought of the triumphs of Death_!
+
+He was treading a burial ground--mouldering heaps were around
+Him--silent sepulchral caves, giving forth no echo of life!
+
+It is a solemn and impressive thing, even for _us_, to tread the
+graveyard; more especially if there are there nameless treasures of
+buried affection. The thought that those whose smile gladdened to us
+every step in the wilderness, who formed our solace in sorrow, and our
+joy in adversity--whose words, and society, and converse were
+intertwined with our very being--it is solemn and saddening, as we tread
+that land of oblivion, to find these words and looks and tears
+unanswered--a gloomy silence hovering over the spot where the wrecks of
+worth and loveliness are laid! He would have a bold, a stern heart
+indeed who could pace unmoved over such hallowed ground, and forbid a
+tear to flow over the gushing memories of the past!
+
+What, then, must it have been at that moment in Bethany with _Jesus_,
+when he saw one of those purchased by his own blood (dearest to him)
+chased by the unsparing destroyer to that gloomy prison-house?
+
+If we have supposed that the tears of Martha and Mary were suggestive
+of manifold other broken and sorrowing hearts in other ages, we may well
+believe that graveyard was suggestive of triumphs still in reserve for
+the tomb, numberless trophies which in every age were to be reaped in by
+the King of Terrors until the reaper's arm was paralyzed, and death
+swallowed up in victory. The few silent sepulchres around must have
+significantly called to the mind of the Divine spectator how sin had
+blasted and scathed His noblest workmanship; converting the fairest
+province of His creation into one vast _Necropolis_,--one dismal "city
+of the dead!" The body of man, "so fearfully and wonderfully made," and
+on which he had originally placed His own impress of "very good,"
+_ruined_, and resolved into a mass of humiliating dust! If the Architect
+mourns over the destruction of some favourite edifice which the storm
+has swept down, or the fire has wrapt in conflagration and reduced to
+ashes--if the Sculptor mourns to see his breathing marble with one rude
+stroke hurled to the ground, and its fragments scattered at his
+feet--what must have been the sensations of the mighty Architect of the
+human frame, at whose completion the morning stars and the sons of God
+chanted a loud anthem--what must have been His sensations as He thought
+of them, now a devastated wreck, mouldering in dissolution and decay,
+the King of Terrors sitting in regal state, holding his high holiday
+over a vassal world!
+
+In Bethany He beheld only a few of these broken and prostrate columns,
+but they were powerfully suggestive of millions on millions which were
+yet in coming ages to undergo the same doom of mortality.
+
+If even our less sensitive hearts may be wrung with emotion at the
+tidings of some mournful catastrophe that occupies, after all, but some
+passing hour in the world's history, but which has carried death and
+lamentation into many households--the sudden pestilence that has swept
+down its thousands--the gallant vessel that was a moment before
+spreading proudly its white wings to the gale, the joyous hearts on
+board dreaming of hearth and home, and the "many ports that would exult
+in the gleam of her mast"--the next! hurrying down to the depths of an
+ocean grave, with no survivor to tell the tale!--or the terrible
+records of War--the ranks of bold and brave laid low in the carnage of
+battle--youth and strength and beauty and rank and friendship blent in
+one red burial!--if these and such like mournful tales of death, and the
+power of death, affect at the moment even the most callous amongst us,
+causing the lip to grow pale, and demanding the tribute of more than a
+tear, oh! what must it have been to the omniscient eye and exquisitely
+sensitive spirit of Jesus, as, taking in all time at a glance, He beheld
+the Pale Horse with its ghastly rider trampling under foot the vast
+human family; converting the globe in which they dwelt into a mournful
+valley of vision, filled with the wrecks and skeletons of breathing men
+and animated frames!
+
+The triumphs of death are, in ordinary circumstances, to us scarcely
+perceptible. He moves with noiseless tread. The footprint is made on the
+sands of time; but like the tides of the ocean, the world's
+oblivion-power washes it away. The name of yonder churchyard is "the
+_land of forgetfulness_!" Not so with the Lord of Life, the great
+Antagonist of this usurper! The future, a ghastly future, rose in
+appalling vividness before Him.--Death (vulture-like) flapping his wings
+over the multitudes he claimed as his own,--vessels freighted with
+immortality lying wrecked and stranded on the shores of Time!
+
+Yes! we can only understand the full import of these tears of Jesus, as
+we imagine to ourselves His Godlike eye penetrating at that moment every
+churchyard and every grave: the mausoleums of the great--the grassy sods
+of the poor; the marble cenotaph of the noble and illustrious slumbering
+under fretted aisle and cathedral canopy--the myriads whose requiem is
+chanted by the bleak winds of the desert or the chimes of the ocean! The
+child carried away in the twinkling of an eye--the blossom just opening,
+and then frost-blighted; the aged sire, cut down like a shock of corn in
+its season, falling withered and seared like the leaves of autumn; the
+young exulting in the prime of manhood; the pious and benevolent, the
+great and good, succumbing indiscriminately to the same inexorable
+decree; the erring and thoughtless, reckless of all warning, hurried
+away in the midst of scorned mercy--Oh! as He beheld this ghastly
+funeral procession moving before Him, the whole world going to the same
+long home, and He Himself alone left the survivor, can we wonder that
+_Jesus wept_?
+
+
+(3.) Once more, JESUS WEPT _when He thought of the impenitence and
+obduracy of the human heart_.
+
+This may not be at first sight patent as a cause of the tears of Jesus,
+but we may well believe it entered largely as an element into this
+strange flood of sorrow.
+
+He was about to perform a great (His greatest) miracle; but while He
+knew that, in consequence of this manifestation of His mighty power,
+many of those who now stood around Lazarus' tomb would _believe_, He
+knew also that others would only "despise, and wonder, and perish;" that
+while some, as we shall afterwards find, acknowledged Him as the
+Messiah, others went straightway into Jerusalem to concert with the
+Pharisees in plotting His murder. When He observed the impenitence of
+these obdurate hearts at His side, He could not subdue His tenderest
+emotion. We read that, when He saw the sisters weeping, _and the Jews
+that were with them weeping_, Jesus wept. These Jews could weep for a
+fellow-mortal, but they could not weep for _themselves_, and therefore
+_for them, Jesus wept_!
+
+One soul was precious to Him. He who alone can estimate alike the worth
+and the loss of the soul, might have wept, even had there been but one
+then present found to resist His claims and forfeit His salvation. But
+these tears extended far beyond that lonely spot in a Jewish village,
+and the few impenitent hearts that were then flocking around. These
+obdurate Jews were types of the world's impenitency. There was at that
+moment summoned before Him a mournful picture of the hardened hearts in
+every age--those who would read His gospel, and hear of His miracles,
+and listen to the story of His love all unmoved--who would die as they
+had lived, uncheered by His grace and unmeet for His presence.
+
+Ah! surely no cause could more tenderly elicit a Redeemer's tears than
+_this_--the thought of His Redemption scorned, His blood trampled on,
+His work set at nought.
+
+If we have thought of Him shedding tears over the ruin of the _body_,
+what must have been the depth and intensity of those tears over the
+sadder, more fearful ruin of the soul? Immortal powers, that ought to
+have been ennobled and consecrated to His service, alienated, degraded,
+destroyed!--immortal beings spurning from them the day of grace and the
+hopes of heaven! Bitter as may have been the wail of mourning and
+sorrowing hearts that may then have reached His ear from future ages,
+more agonising and dismal far must have been the wailing cry which,
+beyond the limits of time, came floating up from a dark and dreary
+eternity; those who might have believed and lived, but who blasphemed or
+trifled, neglected and procrastinated, and finally perished!
+
+If we think of it, it is not the loss of health, or the loss of wealth,
+or the loss of friends, which forms the heaviest of trials, the deepest
+ground of soul sadness. _We_ put on the sable attire as emblems of
+mourning; but if we saw it as a weeping Jesus sees it, there is more
+real cause for sackcloth and ashes in the heart at enmity with God, and
+despising His salvation, trampling under foot His Son, and enacting
+over again the sad tragedy of Calvary.
+
+Reader! are you at this moment guilty of living on in a state of
+presumptuous impenitence--salvation unsought--Jesus a stranger--His name
+unhonoured--His Bible unread--His promises unappropriated--His wrath
+undreaded--defeating all His marvellous appliances of love, and
+remonstrance, and forbearance--meeting a prodigal expenditure of
+patience and long-suffering with cold and chilling indifference and
+neglect--casting away from you the hoarded riches of eternity which He
+has been holding out for your acceptance? In that sacred Bethany ground,
+as ye mark these falling tear-drops which dim His eye, there may have
+been a tear for _you_! Eighteen hundred years have since elapsed, but He
+to whom "a thousand years are as one day," marked even _then_ your
+present ungrateful apostacy or guilty alienation--there was a tear then
+which stole down that cheek on account of unrequited love?
+
+Is that tear to flow in vain? Are you to mock His tender sympathy still
+with cold formalism, or persisted-in impenitency? Are you to think of
+Bethany and its tear-drops and still go on in sin?
+
+Ah, never was sermon preached to an erring or impenitent sinner half so
+eloquent as _this_. Paul was not given to weeping, and it makes his
+fervid love of souls all the more striking when we find him confessing
+that he had wept like a child over those who were "enemies to the cross
+of Christ." We have often felt Paul's burning tears over hardened
+sinners to be touching and impressive. But what are they, after all, in
+comparison with those of Paul's Lord?
+
+He, the Great Sun of the World--the Sun of Righteousness, was to set in
+a few brief days behind the walls of ungrateful Jerusalem in darkness
+and blood--His last rays seem now lingering over the crest of
+Olivet--His tears seem to tell that He has clung till He can cling no
+more to the fond hope that an impenitent nation and guilty city will yet
+turn at His reproof, believe and live.
+
+And still does He linger among _us_. Though the night cometh, the beams
+of mercy are still tardily lingering, as if loth to leave the
+backsliding to their wanderings, or the impenitent to their own
+midnight of despair.
+
+O Reader! leave not _this_ subject--leave not the graveyard of Bethany
+till you think of Jesus as then weeping for _thee_. Yes! for _thee_--thy
+pitiable condition--thy perverse ingratitude--thy slighting of His
+warnings--thy grieving of His spirit--thy unkindness to _Him_--thine
+obstinate disregard of thine own everlasting interests. Let it be the
+most wondrous and heart-searching of all the memories of Bethany, that
+for thy soul--that traitor, truant, worthless soul--which like a stray
+planet He might have suffered to drift away from Himself into the
+blackness of eternal darkness--helpless, hopeless, ruined, lost!--Yes!
+that for _thee_, JESUS WEPT!
+
+    "And doth the Saviour weep
+       Over His people's sin,
+     Because we will not let Him keep
+       The souls He died to win?
+     Ye hearts that love the Lord,
+       If at this sight ye burn,
+     See that in thought, in deed, in word,
+       Ye hate what made Him mourn."
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+THE GRAVE STONE.
+
+
+They have now reached the grave. It was a rocky sepulchre. A flat stone
+(possibly with some Hebrew inscription) lay upon the mouth of it.
+
+In wondering amazement the sorrowing group follow the footsteps of the
+Saviour. "Behold how He loved him," whisper the Jews to one another as
+they witness His fast falling tears. Can His repairing thus to the tomb
+be anything more than to pay a mournful tribute to an honoured
+friendship, and behold the silent home of the loved dead? Nay; He is
+about, as the Lord of Life, to wrench away the swaddling-bands of
+corruption, to vindicate His name and prerogative as the "Abolisher of
+death"--to have the first-fruits of that vast triumph which, ages before
+the birth of time, He had anticipated with longing earnestness--"I will
+ransom them from the power of the grave, I will redeem them from death.
+O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction."
+
+Does He proceed forthwith to speak the word, and to accomplish the giant
+deed? He breaks silence. But we listen, in the first instance, not to
+the omnipotent summons, but to an address to the bystanders--"_Jesus
+said, Take ye away the stone!_"[15]
+
+What need of this parenthesis in His mighty work? Why this summoning in
+any feeble human agency when His own independent fiat could have
+effected the whole? Would it not have been a more startling
+manifestation of Omnipotence, by a mandate similar to that which chained
+the tempests of Tiberias, or the demoniac of Gadara, to have hurled the
+incumbent stone into fragments? Might not He who has "the keys of the
+grave and of death" have Himself unlocked the portals preparatory to the
+vaster prodigy that was to follow?
+
+Nay, there was a mighty lesson to be read in thus delegating human hands
+to remove the intervening barrier. The Church of the living God may, in
+every age, gather from it instruction!
+
+What, then, does the Saviour here figuratively, but significantly, teach
+His people? Is it not the important truth that, though dependent on Him
+for all they are, and all they have, they are not thereby released and
+exempted from the use of _means_? He alone can bring back Lazarus from
+his death-sleep. Martha and Mary may weep an ocean of tears, but they
+cannot weep him back. They may linger for days and nights in that lonely
+graveyard, making it resound with their bitter dirges, but their
+impassioned entreaties will be mocked with impressive silence. Too well
+do they know _that_ spirit is fled beyond their recall--the spark of
+life extinguished beyond any earthly rekindling!
+
+But though the word of Omnipotence can alone bring back the dead, human
+hands and human efforts can roll away the interjacent stone, and prepare
+for the performance of the miracle; and after the miracle _is_
+performed, human hands may again be called in to tear off the cerements
+of the tomb, to ungird the bandages from the restored captive, to
+"loose him and let him go!"
+
+This simple incident in the Bethany narrative admits of manifold
+practical applications. Let us look to it with reference to the mightier
+moral miracle of the Resurrection of the soul "dead in trespasses and
+sins." Jesus, and Jesus alone, can awake that soul from the deep slumber
+of its spiritual death, and invest it with the glories of a new
+resurrection-life. In vain can it awake of itself; no human skill can
+put animation into the moral skeleton. No power of human eloquence, no
+"excellency of man's wisdom," can open these rayless eyes, and pour
+life, and light, and hope into the dull caverns of the spiritual
+sepulchre. "Prophesy to the dry bones!"--We may prophesy for ever--we
+may wake the valley of vision by ceaseless invocations, but the dead
+will hear not. No bone of the spiritual skeleton will stir, for it is
+"not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts."
+
+But though it be a Divine work from first to last which effects the
+spiritual regeneration of man, are we from this presumptuously to
+disregard the use of means? Are prayer, and preaching, and human
+effort, and strenuous earnestness in the work of our high calling, are
+these all to be superseded, and pronounced unavailing and unnecessary?
+
+Nay, though man cannot wake to life his dormant spiritual
+energies--though these lie slumbering in the deep sleep of the sheeted
+dead, and nothing but Lazarus' Lord can break the moral trance--yet _he
+can use the appointed means_. He dare not be guilty of the monstrous
+inconsistency and crime of willingly allowing impediments to stand in
+the way of his spiritual revival which his own efforts may remove! He
+cannot expect his Lord to sound over his soul the gladdening accents of
+peace, and reconciliation, and joy, if some known sin be still lying,
+like the superincumbent grave-stone, which it is in his power to roll
+away, and at his peril if he suffer to remain!
+
+Christ is alone the "abolisher of death," and the "giver of life;" but
+notwithstanding this, "Roll ye away the stone!"--neglect not the means
+He has appointed and prescribed. If ye neglect prayer, and despise
+ordinances, and trifle with temptation, or venture on forbidden ground,
+ye are only making the intervening obstacle firmer and faster, and
+wilfully denuding yourselves of the gift of life. Naaman must plunge
+seven times in Jordan, else he cannot be made clean. To cleanse
+_himself_ of his leprosy he cannot, but to wash in Jordan _he can_. The
+Israelite must gaze on the brazen serpent; he cannot of himself heal one
+fevered wound, but to gaze on the appointed symbol of cure he can. In
+vain can the engines of war effect a breach on the walls of Jericho; but
+the hosts of Joshua can sound the appointed trumpet, and raise the
+prescribed shout, and the battlements in a moment are in the dust.
+Martha and Mary in vain can make their voices be heard in the "dull,
+cold ear of death," but at their Lord's bidding they can hurl back the
+outer portals where their dead is laid. They cannot unbind one fetter,
+but they can open with human hand the prison-door to admit the Divine
+Liberator.
+
+Let it not be supposed that in this we detract in any wise from the
+omnipotence of the Saviour's grace. God forbid! All is of grace, from
+first to last--free, sovereign grace. Man has no more merit in salvation
+than the beggar has merit in reaching forth his hand for alms, or in
+stooping down to drink of the wayside fountain. But neither must we
+ignore the great truth which God strives throughout His Word to impress
+upon us, that He works by _means_, and that for the neglect of these
+means we are ourselves responsible. Paul had the assurance given him by
+an angel from heaven, when tossed in the storm in Adria, that not one
+life in his vessel was to be lost; that though the ship was to be
+wrecked, all her crew were to come safe to land. But was there on this
+account any effort on his part relaxed to secure their safety? No! he
+toiled and laboured at the pumps and rigging and anchors as
+unremittingly as before; and when some of the sailors made the cowardly
+attempt, by lowering a small boat, to effect their own escape, the voice
+of the apostle was heard proclaiming, amid the storm, that unless they
+abode in the ship none could be saved!
+
+The true philosophy of the Gospel system is this, to feel as if much
+depended on ourselves; but at the same time entertaining the loftier
+conviction that _all_ depends upon God. Jesus, when He invites to the
+strait gate, does not inculcate remaining outside, in a state of
+passive and listless inaction, until the portals be seen to
+move by the Divine hand. His exhortation and command rather is,
+"Strive"--"knock"--_agonise_ to "enter in!" We are not to ascend to
+heaven, seated, like Elijah, in a chariot of fire, without toil or
+effort, but rather to "_fight_ the good fight of faith." The saying of
+the great Apostle is a vivid portraiture of what the Christian's
+feelings ought to be regarding personal holiness--"I laboured, ... yet
+not I, but the grace of God which was with me."
+
+As the Lord of Bethany gives the summons, "Roll ye away the stone," His
+words seem paraphrased in this other Scripture, "Work out your own
+salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you
+both to will and to do of his good pleasure." You may feel assured that
+He will not impose upon you one needless burden; He will not exact more
+than He knows your strength will bear; He will ask no Peter to come to
+Him on the water, unless He impart at the same time strength and support
+on the unstable wave; He will not demand of you the endurance of
+providences, and trials, and temptations you are unable to cope with;
+He will not ask you to draw water if the well is too deep, or withdraw
+the stone if too heavy. But neither, at the same time, will He admit as
+an impossibility that which, as a free and responsible agent, it is in
+your power to avert. He will not regard as your misfortune what is your
+crime. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me."
+
+Oh! let life be, more than it ever has been, one constant effort to roll
+away the stone from the moral sepulchre--carefully to remove every
+barrier between our souls and Jesus--looking forward to that glorious
+day when the voice of the Restorer shall be heard uttering the
+omnipotent "_Come forth!_" and to His angel assessors the mandate shall
+be given regarding the thronging myriads of risen dead, "_Loose them and
+let them go!_"
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+UNBELIEF.
+
+
+Man--short-sighted man--often raises impossibilities when God does not.
+It is hard for rebellious unbelief to lie submissive and still. In
+moments when the spirit might well be overawed into silence, it gives
+utterance to its querulous questionings and surmisings rather than
+remain obedient at the feet of Christ, reposing on the sublime aphorism,
+"All things are possible to him that believeth." In the mind of Martha,
+where faith had been so recently triumphant, doubt and unbelief have
+begun again to insinuate themselves. This "Peter of her sex" had
+ventured out boldly on the water to meet her Lord. She had owned Him as
+the giver of life, and triumphed in Him as her Saviour! But now she is
+beginning to sink. A natural difficulty presents itself to her mind
+about the removal of the incumbent grave-stone. She avers how needless
+its displacement would be, as by this time corruption must have begun
+its fatal work. Four brief days only had elapsed since the eye of
+Lazarus had beamed with fraternal affection. Now these lips must be
+"saying to corruption, Thou art my father; to the worm, Thou art my
+mother and my sister." Death, she felt, must now be stamping his
+impressive mockery on that cherished earthly friendship, and, attired in
+his most terrible insignia, putting the last fatal extinguisher on the
+glimmerings of her faith and hope. "What need is there, Lord," she seems
+to say, "for this redundant labour? My brother is far beyond the reach
+even of a voice like Thine. Why excite vain expectations in my breast
+which never can be realised? That grave has closed upon him for the 'for
+ever' of time. Nothing now can revoke the sentence, or reanimate the
+silent dust, save the trump of God on the final day."[16]
+
+Thus blindly did Martha reason. She can see no other object her Redeemer
+can have for the removal of the stone, save to gaze once more on a form
+and countenance He loved. Both for His sake, and the strangers
+assembled, she recoils from the thought of disclosing so humiliating a
+sight.
+
+Alas! how little are fitful frames and feelings to be trusted. Only a
+few brief moments before, she had made a noble protestation of her faith
+in the presence of her Lord. His own majestic utterances had soothed her
+griefs, dried her tears, and elicited the confession that He was truly
+the Son of God. But the sight of the tomb and its mournful
+accompaniments obliterate for a moment the recollection of better
+thoughts and a nobler avowal. She forgets that "things which are
+impossible with men are possible with God." She is guilty of "limiting
+the Holy One of Israel."
+
+How often is it so with us! How easy is it for us, like Martha, to be
+bold in our creed when there is nothing to cross our wishes, or dim and
+darken our faith. But when the hour of trial comes, how often does
+_sense_ threaten to displace and supplant the nobler antagonist
+principle! How often do we lose sight of the Saviour at the very moment
+when we most need to have Him continually in view! How often are our
+convictions of the efficacy of prayer most dulled and deadened just
+when the dark waves are cresting over our heads, and voices of unbelief
+are uttering the upbraiding in our ears, "Where is now thy God?" But
+will Jesus leave His people to their own guilty unbelieving doubts? Will
+Martha, by her unworthy insinuations, put an arrest on her Lord's arm;
+or will He, in righteous retribution for her faithlessness, leave the
+stone sealed, and the dead unraised?
+
+Nay! He loves His people too well to let their stupid unbelief and
+hardness of heart interfere with His own gracious purposes! How tenderly
+He rebukes the spirit of this doubter. "Why," as if He said, "Why
+distrust me? Why stultify thyself with these unbelieving surmises. Hast
+thou already forgotten my own gracious assurances, and thine own
+unqualified acceptance of them. My hand is never shortened that it
+cannot save; my ear is never heavy that it cannot hear. I can call the
+things which are not, and make them as though they were. Said I not unto
+thee, in that earnest conversation which I had a little ago outside the
+village, in which Gospel faith was the great theme, if thou wouldst
+believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God?"
+
+This Bethany utterance has still a voice,--a voice of rebuke and of
+comfort in our hours of trial. When, like aged Jacob, we are ready to
+say, "All these things are against me;" when we are about to lose the
+footsteps of a God of love, or _have_ perhaps lost them, there is a
+voice ready to hush into silence every unbelieving doubt and surmise.
+"Although thou sayest thou canst not see Him, yet judgment is before
+Him, therefore trust thou in Him." God often thus hides Himself from His
+people in order to try their faith, and elicit their confidence. He puts
+us in perplexing paths--"allures" and "brings into the wilderness,"
+only, however, that we may see more of Himself, and that He may "speak
+comfortably unto us." He lets our need attain its extremity, that His
+intervention may appear the more signal. He suffers apparently even His
+own promises to fail, that He may test the faith of His waiting
+people;--tutor them to "hope against hope," and to find, in _unanswered_
+prayers and baffled expectations, only a fresh reason for clinging to
+His all-powerful arm, and frequenting His mercy-seat. He dashes first
+to the ground our human confidences and refuges, shewing how utterly
+"vain is the help of man;" so that faith, with her own folded, dove-like
+wings, may repose in quiet confidence in His faithfulness, saying, "In
+the Lord put I my trust: why say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your
+mountain?"
+
+Reader! It would be well for you to hear this gentle chiding of Christ,
+too, in the moment of your _spiritual_ depression;--when complaining of
+your corruptions, the weakness of your graces, your low attainments in
+holiness, the strength of your temptations, and your inability to resist
+sin. "_Said I not unto thee_," interposes this voice of mingled reproof
+and love, "My grace is sufficient for thee?" "The bruised reed I will
+not break, the smoking flax I will not quench." "Look unto _Me_, and be
+ye saved, all the ends of the earth." We are too apt to look to
+_ourselves_, to turn our contemplation _inwards_, instead of keeping the
+eye of faith centered undeviatingly on a faithful covenant-keeping God,
+laying our finger on every promise of His Word, and making the challenge
+regarding each, "Hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he
+spoken, and shall he not bring it to pass?"
+
+Yes; there may be much to try and perplex. Sense and sight may stagger,
+and stumble, and fall; we may be able to see no break in the clouds;
+"deep may be calling to deep," and wave responding to wave, "yet the
+Lord will command his loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night
+his song shall be with me." If we only "_believe_" in spite of unbelief;
+hoping on, and praying on, and trusting on; like the great Father of the
+faithful, in the midst of adverse providences, "strong in faith, giving
+glory to God," He will yet cause the day-spring from on high to visit
+us. Even in _this_ world perplexing paths may be made plain, and
+slippery places smooth, and judgments "bright as the noonday;" but if
+not _here_, there _is_ at least a glorious day of disclosures at hand,
+when the reign of unbelieving doubt shall terminate for ever, when the
+archives of a chequered past will be ransacked of their every
+mystery;--all events mirrored and made plain in the light of eternity;
+and this saying of the weeping Saviour of Bethany obtain its true and
+everlasting fulfilment, "SAID I NOT UNTO THEE, IF THOU WOULDST BELIEVE,
+THOU SHOULDST SEE THE GLORY OF GOD?"
+
+
+
+
+XV.
+
+THE DIVINE PLEADER.
+
+
+The stone is rolled away, but there is a solemn pause just when the
+miracle is about to be performed.
+
+_Jesus prays!_ The God-Man Mediator--the Lord of Life--the Abolisher of
+Death--the Being of all Beings--who had the boundless treasures of
+eternity in His grasp--pauses by the grave of the dead, and lifts up His
+eyes to heaven in supplication! How often in the same incidents, during
+our Lord's incarnation, do we find His manhood and His Godhead standing
+together in stupendous contrast. At His birth, the mystic star and the
+lowly manger were together; at His death, the ignominious cross and the
+eclipsed sun were together. Here He weeps and prays at the very moment
+when He is baring the arm of Omnipotence. The "mighty God" appears in
+conjunction with "the man Christ Jesus." "His name is Immanuel, God with
+us."
+
+The body of Lazarus was now probably, by the rolling away of the stone,
+exposed to view. It was a humiliating sight. Earth--the grave--could
+afford no solace to the spectators. The Redeemer, by a significant act,
+shews them where alone, at such an hour, comfort can be found. He points
+the mourning spirit to its only true source of consolation and peace in
+God Himself, teaching it to rise above the mortal to the immortal--the
+corruptible to the incorruptible--from earth to heaven.
+
+Ah! there is nothing but humiliation and sadness in every view of the
+grave and corruption. Why dwell on the shattered casket, and not rather
+on the jewel which is sparkling brighter than ever in a better world?
+Why persist in gazing on the trophies of the last enemy, when we can
+joyfully realise the emancipated soul exulting in the plenitude of
+purchased bliss? Why fall with broken wing and wailing cry to the dust,
+when on eagle-pinion we can soar to the celestial gate, and learn the
+unkindness of wishing the sainted and crowned one back to the nether
+valley?
+
+It is _Prayer_, observe, which thus brings the eye and the heart near to
+heaven. It is _Prayer_ which opens the celestial portals, and gives to
+the soul a sight of the invisible.
+
+Yes; ye who may be now weeping in unavailing sorrow over the departed,
+remember, in conjunction with the _tears_, the _prayers_ of Jesus. Many
+a desolate mourner derives comfort from the thought--"Jesus wept."
+Forget not this other simple entry in our touching narrative, telling
+where the spirit should ever rest amid the shadows of death--"_Jesus
+lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard
+me. And I knew that Thou hearest me always._"[17]
+
+Let us gather for a little around this incident in the story of Bethany.
+It is one of the many golden sayings of priceless value.
+
+That utterance has at this moment lost none of its preciousness; that
+voice, silent on earth, is still eloquent in heaven. The Great
+Intercessor still is there, "walking in the midst of the seven golden
+candlesticks;" loving to note all the wants and weaknesses, the
+necessities and distresses, of every Church, and every member of His
+Church. What He said of old to Peter, He says to every trembling
+believer--"I _have_ prayed, and _am_ praying for _thee_, that thy faith
+fail not!" "For _thee_!" We must not merge the interest which Jesus has
+in each separate member of His family, in His intercession for the
+Church in general. While He lets down His censer, and receives into it,
+for presentation on the golden altar, the prayers of the vast aggregate;
+while, as the true High Priest, He enters the holiest of all with the
+names of His spiritual Israel on His breastplate--carrying the burden of
+their hourly needs to the foot of the mercy-seat;--yet still, He pleads,
+as if the case of _each_ stood separate and alone! He remembers _thee_,
+dejected Mourner, as if there were no other heart but thine to be
+healed, and no other tears but thine to be dried. His own words,
+speaking of believers, not collectively but individually, are these--"I
+will confess _his_ name before my Father and his angels."[18] "_Who_
+touched me?" was His interrogation once on earth, as His discriminating
+love was conscious of some special contact amid the press of the
+multitude,--"_Somebody_ hath touched me!" If we can say, in the language
+of Paul's appropriating faith, "He loved _me_, and gave Himself for
+_me_," we can add, He pleads for _me_, and bears _me_! He bears this
+very heart of _mine_, with all its weaknesses, and infirmities, and
+sins, before His Father's throne. He has engraven each stone of His Zion
+on the "palms of His hands," and "its walls are continually before Him!"
+
+How untiring, too, in His advocacy! What has the Christian so to
+complain of, as his own cold, unworthy prayers--mixed so with
+unbelief--soiled with worldliness--sometimes guiltily omitted or
+curtailed. Not the fervid ejaculations of those feelingly alive to their
+spiritual exigencies, but listless, unctionless, the hands hanging down,
+the knees feeble and trembling!
+
+But notwithstanding all, Jesus _pleads_! Still the Great Intercessor
+"waits to be gracious." He is at once Moses on the mountain, and Joshua
+on the battle-plain--fighting _with_ us in the one, praying _for_ us in
+the other. No Aarons or Hurs needed to sustain His sinking strength, for
+it is His sublime prerogative neither to "faint nor grow weary!" There
+is no loftier occupation for faith than to speed upwards to the throne
+and behold that wondrous Pleader, receiving at one moment, and at
+_every_ moment, the countless supplications and prayers which are coming
+up before Him from every corner of His Church. The Sinner just awoke
+from his moral slumber, and in the agonies of conviction, exclaiming,
+"What must I do to be saved?"--The Procrastinator sending up from the
+brink of despair the cry of importunate agony.--The Backslider wailing
+forth his bitter lamentation over guilty departures, and foul
+ingratitude, and injured love.--The Sick man feebly groaning forth, in
+undertones of suffering, his petition for succour.--The Dying, on the
+brink of eternity, invoking the presence and support of the alone arm
+which can be of any avail to them.--The Bereaved, in the fresh gush of
+their sorrow, calling upon Him who is the healer of the broken-hearted.
+But _all heard_! Every tear marked--every sigh registered--every
+suppliant succoured. Amalek may come threatening nothing but
+discomfiture; but that pleading Voice on the heavenly Hill is "greater
+far than all that can be against us!" He pleads for His elect in every
+phase of their spiritual history--He pleads for their inbringing into
+His fold--He pleads for their perseverance in grace--He pleads for their
+deliverance at once from the accusations and the power of Satan--He
+pleads for their growing sanctification;--and when the battle of life is
+over, He uplifts His last pleading voice for their complete
+glorification. The intercession of Jesus is the golden key which unlocks
+the gates of Paradise to the departing soul. At a saint's dying moments
+we are too often occupied with the lower _earthly_ scene to think of the
+_heavenly_. The tears of surrounding relatives cloud too often the more
+glorious revelations which faith discloses. But in the muffled stillness
+of that death-chamber, when each is holding his breath as the King of
+Terrors passes by--if we could listen to it, we should hear the "Prince
+who has power with God" thus uttering His final prayer, and on the
+rushing wings of ministering angels receiving an answer while He is yet
+speaking--"Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be
+with me where I am, that they may behold my glory!"
+
+Reader! exult more and more in this all-prevailing Advocate. See that ye
+approach the mercy-seat with no other trust but in His atoning work and
+meritorious righteousness. There was but _One_ solitary man of the whole
+human race who, of old, in the Jewish temple, was permitted to speak
+face to face with Jehovah. There is but ONE solitary Being in the vast
+universe of God who, in the heavenly sanctuary, can effectually plead in
+behalf of His Spiritual Israel. "Seeing, then, that we have a Great High
+Priest passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, ... let us come
+boldly to the throne of grace." If Jesus delights in asking, God
+delights in bestowing. Let us put our every want, and difficulty, and
+perplexity, in His hand, feeling the precious assurance, that all which
+is really good for us will be given, and all that is adverse will, in
+equal mercy, be withheld. There is no limitation set to our requests.
+The treasury of grace is flung wide open for every suppliant. "Verily,
+verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father _in my name_
+He will give it you." Surely we may cease to wonder that the Great
+Apostle should have clung with such intense interest to this elevating
+theme--the Saviour's _intercession_;--that in his brief, but most
+comprehensive and beautiful creed,[19] he should have so exalted, as he
+does, its relative importance, compared with other cognate truths. "It
+is Christ that died, _yea rather_, that is risen again, who is even at
+the right hand of God, _who also maketh intercession for us_." Climbing,
+step by step, in the upward ascent of Christian faith and hope, he seems
+only to "reach the height of his great argument" when he stands on "_the
+mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense_." _There_, gazing on the
+face of the great officiating Priest who fills all heaven with His
+fragrance, and feeling that against _that_ intercession the gates of
+hell can never prevail, he can utter the challenge to devils, and
+angels, and men, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"
+
+
+
+
+XVI.
+
+THE OMNIPOTENT SUMMONS.
+
+
+The moment has now come for the voice of Omnipotence to give the
+mandate. The group have gathered around the sepulchral grotto--the
+Redeemer stands in meek majesty in front--the teardrop still glistening
+in His eye, and that eye directed heavenward! Martha and Mary are gazing
+on His countenance in dumb emotion, while the eager bystanders bend over
+the removed stone to see if the dead be still there. Yes! _there_ the
+captive lies--in uninvaded silence--attired still in the same solemn
+drapery. The Lord gives the word. "_Lazarus come forth!_" peals through
+the silent vault. The dull, cold ear seems to listen. The pulseless
+heart begins to beat--the rigid limbs to move--_Lazarus lives_! He rises
+girt in the swaddling-bands of the tomb, once more to walk in the light
+of the living.
+
+Where Scripture is silent, it is vain for us to picture the emotions of
+that moment, when the weeping sisters found the gloomy hours of
+disconsolate sorrow all at once rolled away. The cry of mingled wonder
+and gratitude rings through that lonely graveyard,--"This our brother
+was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found!"
+
+O most wondrous power--Death vanquished in his own territory! The
+sleeper has awoke a moral Samson, snapping the withs with which the King
+of Terrors had bound him. The star of Bethlehem shines, and the Valley
+of Achor becomes a door of hope. The all-devouring destroyer has to
+relinquish his prey.
+
+Was the joy of that moment confined to these two bosoms? Nay! The Church
+of Christ in every age may well love to linger around the grave of
+Lazarus. In _his_ resurrection there is to His true people a sure pledge
+and earnest of their own. It was the first sheaf reaped by the mower's
+sickle anticipatory of the great Harvest-home of the Final day "when all
+that are in their graves" shall hear the same voice and shall "come
+forth."[20]
+
+Solemn, surely, is the thought that that same portentous miracle
+performed on Lazarus is one day to be performed on _ourselves_. Wherever
+we repose--whether, as _he_ did, in the quiet churchyard of our native
+village, or in the midst of the city's crowded cemetery, or far away
+amid the alien and stranger in some foreign shore, our dust shall be
+startled by that omnipotent summons. How shall we hear it? Would it
+sound in our ears like the sweet tones of the silver trumpet of Jubilee?
+Would it be to gaze like Lazarus on the face of our best friend--to see
+_Jesus_ bending over us in looks of tenderness--to hear the living tones
+of that same voice, whose accents were last heard in the dark valley,
+whispering hopes full of immortality? True, we have not to wait for a
+Saviour's love and presence till then. The hour of _death_ is to the
+Christian the birthday of endless life. Guardian angels are hovering
+around his dying pillow ready to waft his spirit into Abraham's bosom.
+"The souls of believers do _immediately_ pass into glory." But the full
+plenitude of their joy and bliss is reserved for the time when the
+precious but redeemed dust, which for a season is left to moulder in the
+tomb, shall become instinct with life--"the corruptible put on
+incorruption, and the mortal immortality." The spirits of the just enter
+at _death_ on "the inheritance of the saints in light;" but at the
+_Resurrection_ they shall rise as separate orbs from the darkness and
+night of the grave, each to "shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of
+their Father." However glorious the emancipation of the soul in the
+moment of dissolution, it is not until the plains and valleys of our
+globe shall stand thick with the living of buried generations--each
+glorified body the image of its Lord's--that the predicted anthem will
+be heard waking the echoes of the universe--"O death, where is thy
+sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" Then, with the organs of their
+resurrection-bodies ennobled, etherealised, purified from all the
+grossness of earth, they shall "behold the King in his beauty." "The
+King's daughter," all glorious without, "all glorious within"--"her
+clothing of wrought gold"--resplendent _without_ with the robes of
+righteousness--radiant _within_ with the beauties of holiness--shall be
+brought "with gladness and rejoicing," and "enter into the King's
+palace." This will form the full meridian of the saints' glory--the
+essence and climax of their new-born bliss--the full vision and fruition
+of a Saviour-God. "When He shall appear, ... we shall see Him as He is!"
+The first sight which will burst on the view of the Risen ones will be
+_Jesus_! _His_ hands will wreath the glorified brows, in presence of an
+assembled world, with the crown of life. From _His_ lips will proceed
+the gladdening welcome--"Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!"
+
+But this will not exhaust the elements of bliss in the case of the
+"perfected just" on the day of their final triumph. Though the presence
+of their adorable Redeemer would be enough, and more than enough, to
+fill their cup with happiness, there will be others also to welcome
+them, and to augment their joy. Lazarus' Lord was not _alone_ at the
+sepulchre's brink, at Bethany, ready to greet him back. Two loved
+sisters shared the joy of that gladsome hour. We are left to picture for
+ourselves the reunion, when, with hand linked in hand, they retraversed
+the road which had so recently echoed to the voice of mourning, and
+entered once more their home, radiant with a sunshine they had imagined
+to have passed away from it for ever!
+
+So will it be with the believer on the morning of the Resurrection.
+While his Lord will be _there_, waiting to welcome him, there will be
+others ready with their presence to enhance the bliss of that gladdening
+restoration. Those whose smiles were last seen in the death-chamber of
+earth, now standing--not as Martha and Mary, with the tear on their
+cheek and the furrow of deep sorrow on their brow, but robed and radiant
+in resurrection attire, glowing with the anticipations of an everlasting
+and indissoluble reunion!
+
+Can we anticipate, in the resurrection of Lazarus, our own happy
+history? Yes! _happier_ history, for it will not _then_ be to come forth
+once more, like _him_, into a weeping world, to renew our work and
+warfare, feeling that restoration to life is only but a brief reprieve,
+and that soon again the irrevocable sentence will and must overtake us!
+Not like _him_, going to a home still covered with the drapery of
+sorrow,--a few transient years and the mournful funeral tragedy to be
+repeated,--but to enter into the region of endless life--to pass from
+the dark chambers of corruption into the peace and glories of our
+Heavenly Father's joyous _Home_, and "so to be for ever with the Lord!"
+
+Sometimes it is with dying believers as with Lazarus. Their Lord, at the
+approach of death, _seems_ to be absent. He who gladdened their homes
+and their hearts in life, is, for some mysterious reason, away in the
+hour of dissolution; their spirits are depressed; their faith
+languishes; they are ready to say, "Where is now my God?" But as He
+returned to Bethany to awake His sleeping friend, so will it be with all
+his true people, on that great day when the arm of death shall be for
+ever broken. If _now_ united to Him by a living faith,--loved by Him as
+Lazarus was, and conscious, however imperfectly, of loving Him back in
+return,--we may go down to our graves, making Job's lofty creed and
+exclamation our own, "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall
+stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin worms
+destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."
+
+One remark more. We have listened to the Omnipotent fiat,--"Lazarus,
+come forth!" We have seen the ear of death starting at the summons, and
+the buried captive goes free! Shall we follow the family group within
+the hallowed precincts of the Bethany dwelling? Shall fancy pour her
+strange and mysterious queries into the ear of him who has just come
+back from that land "from whose bourne no traveller returns?" He had
+been, in a far truer sense than Paul in an after year, in "_Paradise_."
+He must have heard unspeakable and unutterable words, "which it is not
+possible for a man to utter." He had looked upon the Sapphire Throne. He
+had ranged himself with the adoring ranks. He had strung his harp to the
+Eternal Anthem. When, lo! an angel--a "ministering one"--whispers in his
+ear to hush his song, and speed him back again for a little season to
+the valley below.
+
+Startling mandate! Can we suppose a remonstrance to so strange a
+summons? What! to be uncrowned and unglorified!--Just after a few sips
+of the heavenly fountain, to be hurried away back again to the valley of
+Baca!--to gather up once more the soiled earthly garments and the
+pilgrim staff, and from the pilgrim rest and the victor's palm to
+encounter the din and dust and scars of battle! What!--just after having
+wept his final tear, and fought the last and the most terrible foe, to
+have his eye again dimmed with sorrow, and to have the thought before
+him of breasting a second time the swellings of Jordan!
+
+"The Lord hath need of thee," is all the reply, It is enough! He asks no
+more! That glorious Redeemer had left a far brighter throne and heritage
+for _him_. Lazarus, come forth! sounds in his old world-home, whence his
+spirit had soared, and in his beloved Master's words, on a mightier
+embassy, he can say,--"Lo, I come! I delight to do thy will, O my God."
+
+Or do other questions involuntarily arise? What was the nature of his
+happiness while "absent from the body?" What the scenery of that bright
+abode? Had he mingled in the goodly fellowship of prophets? Had he
+conversed with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob? Was his spirit
+stationary--hovering with a brotherhood of spirits within some holy
+limit--or, was he permitted to travel far and near in errands of love
+and mercy? Had Bethany been revisited during that mysterious interval?
+Had he been the unseen witness of the tears and groans of his anguished
+sisters?
+
+But hush, too, these vain inquiries. We dare not give rein to
+imagination where Inspiration is silent. There is a designed mystery
+about the circumstantials of a future state. Its scenery and locality we
+know nothing of. It is revealed to us only in its _character_. We are
+permitted to approach its gates, and to read the surmounting
+inscription,--"Without _holiness_ no man shall see the Lord." Further we
+cannot go. Be it ours, like Lazarus, to attain a meetness for heaven, by
+becoming more and more like Lazarus' Redeemer! "_We shall be_ LIKE HIM,"
+is the brief but comprehensive Bible description of that glorious world.
+Saviour-like _here_, we shall have heaven begun on earth, and lying down
+like Lazarus in the sweet sleep of death, when our Lord comes, on the
+great day-dawn of immortality, we shall be satisfied when we awake in
+_His likeness_!
+
+    "He that was dead rose up and spoke--He spoke!
+       Was it of that majestic world unknown?
+     Those words which first the bier's dread silence broke--
+       Came they with revelation in each tone?
+     Were the far cities of the nations gone,
+       The solemn halls of consciousness or sleep,
+     For man uncurtain'd by that spirit lone,
+       Back from the portal summon'd o'er the deep?
+     Be hush'd, my soul! the veil of darkness lay
+       Still drawn; therefore thy Lord called back the voice departed,
+       To spread His truth, to comfort the weak-hearted;
+     Not to reveal the mysteries of its way.
+       Oh! I take that lesson home in silent faith;
+       Put on submissive strength to _meet_, not _question_ DEATH."
+
+
+
+
+XVII.
+
+THE BOX OF OINTMENT.
+
+
+Once more we visit in thought a peaceful and happy home-scene in the
+same Bethany household. The severed links in that broken chain are again
+united.
+
+How often in a time of severe bereavement, when some "light of the
+dwelling" has suddenly been extinguished, does the imagination fondly
+dwell on the possibility of the wild dream of separation passing away;
+of the vacant seat being refilled by its owner the "loved and lost one"
+again restored. Alas! in all such cases, it is but a feverish vision,
+destined to know no fulfilment. Here, however, it was indeed a happy
+reality. "Lazarus is dead!" was the bitter dirge a few brief weeks ago;
+but now, "Lazarus lives." His silent voice is heard again--his dull eye
+is lighted again--the temporary pang of separation is only remembered
+to enhance the joy of so gladsome a reunion.
+
+It was on a Sabbath evening, the last Sabbath but one of the waning
+Jewish dispensation, when Spring's loveliness was carpeting the Mount of
+Olives and clothing with fresh verdure the groves around Bethany, that
+our blessed Redeemer was seen approaching the haunt of former
+friendship. He had for two months taken shelter from the malice of the
+Sanhedrim in the little town of Ephraim and the mountainous region of
+Perea, on the other side of the Jordan. But the Passover solemnity being
+at hand, and his own hour having come, he had "set His face steadfastly
+to go to Jerusalem." It is more than probable that for several days He
+had been travelling in the company of other pilgrims coming from Galilee
+on their way to the feast. He seems, however, to have left the festival
+caravan at Jericho, lingering behind with his own disciples in order to
+secure a private approach to the city of solemnities. They were
+completing their journey on the Sabbath referred to just as the sun was
+sinking behind the brow of Olivet, and, turning aside from the highway,
+they spent the night in their old Bethany retreat. Befitting tranquil
+scene for His closing Sabbath--a happy preparation for a season of trial
+and conflict! It is well worthy of observation, how, as His saddest
+hours were drawing near--the shadow of His cross projected on His
+path--Bethany becomes more and more endeared to Him. Night after night,
+during this memorable week, we shall find Him resorting to its cherished
+seclusion. As the storm is fast gathering, the vessel seeks for shelter
+in its best loved haven.[21]
+
+Imagine the joy with which the announcement would be received by the
+inmates--"Our Lord and Redeemer is once more approaching." Imagine how
+the great Conqueror of death would be welcomed into the home consecrated
+alike by His love and power. Now every tear dried! The weeping that
+endured for the long night of bereavement all forgotten. Ah! if Jesus
+were loved before in that happy home, how, we may well imagine, would
+He be adored and reverenced now. What a new claim had He established on
+their deepest affection and regard. Feelingly alive to all they owed
+Him, the restored brother and rejoicing sisters with hearts overflowing
+with gratitude could say, in the words of their Psalmist King--"Thou
+hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness, to the end that
+my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I
+will give thanks unto thee for ever!"
+
+But does the love and affection of that household find expression in
+nothing but words? Supper is being made ready. While Martha, with her
+wonted activity, is busied preparing the evening meal--doing her best to
+provide for the refreshment of the travellers--the gentle spirit of Mary
+(even if her name had not been given, we should have known it was she)
+prompts her to a more significant proof of the depth of her gratitude.
+Some fragrant ointment of spikenard--contained, as we gather from the
+other Evangelists, in a box of Alabaster--had been procured by her at
+great cost;[22] either obtained for this anticipated meeting with her
+Lord, or it may in some way have fallen into her possession, and been
+sacredly kept among her treasured gifts till some befitting occasion
+occurred for its employment. Has not that occasion occurred now? On whom
+can her grateful heart more joyously bestow this garnered treasure than
+on her beloved Lord. With her own hands she pours it on His feet.
+Stooping down, she wipes them, in further token of her devotion, with
+her loosened tresses, till the whole apartment was filled with the sweet
+perfume.
+
+And what was it that constituted the value of this tribute--the beauty
+and expressiveness of the action? _She gave her Lord the best thing she
+had!_ She felt that to Him, in addition to what He had done for her own
+soul, she owed the most valued life in the world.
+
+    "Her eyes are homes of silent prayer,
+       Nor other thought her mind admits;
+       But, he was dead, and there he sits,
+     And He that brought him back is there.
+
+    "Then one deep love doth supersede
+       All other, when her ardent gaze
+       Roves from the living brother's face
+     And rests upon the Life indeed.
+
+    "All subtle thought, all curious fears,
+       Borne down by gladness so complete;
+       She bows, she bathes the Saviour's feet
+     With costly spikenard and with tears."[23]
+
+What a lesson for us! Are we willing to give our Lord the best of what
+we have--to consecrate time, talents, strength, life, to His service?
+Not as many, to give Him the mere dregs and sweepings of existence--the
+wrecks of a "worn and withered love"--but, like Mary, anxious to take
+every opportunity and occasion of testifying the depth of obligation
+under which we are laid to Him? Let us not say--"My sphere is lowly, my
+means are limited, my best offerings would be inadequate." Such,
+doubtless, were the very feelings of that humble, diffident, yet loving
+one, as she crept noiselessly to where her pilgrim-Lord reclined, and
+lavished on His weary limbs the costliest treasure she possessed.
+Hundreds of more imposing deeds--more princely and munificent
+offerings--may have been left unrecorded by the Evangelists; but
+"wherever this Gospel shall be preached, in the whole world, there shall
+also this that this woman hath done be told for a memorial of her."[24]
+
+Would that love to "that same Jesus" were with all of us more paramount
+than it is! "Lovest thou Me _more than these_" is His own searching test
+and requirement. Is it so?--Do we love Him more than self or sin--more
+than friends or home--more than any earthly object or earthly good; and
+are we willing, if need be, to make a sacrifice for His glory and for
+the honour of His cause? Happy for us if it be so. There will be a joy
+in the very consciousness of making the effort, feeble and unworthy as
+it may be, for His sake, and in acknowledgment of the great love
+wherewith He hath loved us.
+
+    "Thrice blest, whose lives are faithful prayers,
+       Whose loves in higher Love endure;
+       Whose souls possess themselves so pure,
+     Or is there blessedness like theirs?"
+
+Let it be our privilege and delight to give Him our pound of spikenard,
+whatever that may be; and if we can give no other, let us offer the
+fragrant perfume of holy hearts and holy lives. _That_ religion is
+always best which reveals itself by its effects--by kindness,
+gentleness, amiability, unselfishness, flowing from a principle of
+grateful love to Him who, though unseen, has been to us as to the family
+of Bethany--Friend, and Help, and Guide, and Portion. Mary's honour was
+great to anoint her Lord, but the lowliest and humblest of His people
+may do the same. We may have no aromatic offering, neither "gold, nor
+frankincense, nor myrrh;" but My son, My daughter, "give Me thine
+heart." "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a
+contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."
+
+Nor ought we to forget our blessed Lord's reply, when Judas objected to
+the waste of the ointment--"Let her alone; ... the poor ye have always
+with you, _but Me ye have not always_." Let us seek to make the most of
+our Lord's visits while we have Him. The visits of Jesus to Bethany were
+soon to be over;--so also with us. He will not always linger on our
+thresholds, if our souls refuse to receive Him, or yield Him nothing but
+coldness and ingratitude in return for His love. "Me ye have not
+always." Soon may sickness incapacitate for active service! Soon may
+opportunities for doing good be gone, and gone for ever! Soon may death
+overtake us, and the alabaster box be left behind, unused and
+unemployed; the dying regret on our lips--"Oh that I had done more while
+I lived for this most precious Saviour! but opportunities of testifying
+my gratitude to Him are now gone beyond recall." Good deeds performed on
+Gospel motives, though unknown and unvalued by the world, will not go
+unrecompensed or unowned by Him who values the cup of cold water given
+in His name. "God is not unmindful to forget our work of faith and our
+labour of love." The Lamb's Book of Life registers every such deed of
+lowly piety; and on the Great Day of account "it shall be produced to
+our eternal honour, and rewarded with a reward of grace; though not of
+debt."
+
+Let us bear in mind, also, that every holy service of unostentatious
+love exercises a hallowed influence on those around us. We may not be
+conscious of such. But, if Christians indeed, the sphere in which we
+move will, like the Bethany home, be redolent with the ointment perfume.
+A holy life is a silent witness for Jesus--an incense-cloud from the
+heart-altar, breathing odours and sweet spices, of which the world
+cannot fail to take knowledge. Yes! were we to seek for a beautiful
+allegorical representation of pure and undefiled Religion, we would find
+it in this loveliest of inspired pictures. Mary--all silent and
+submissive at the feet of her Lord--only permitting her love to be
+disclosed by the holy perfume which, unknown to herself, revealed to
+others the reality and intensity of her love. True religion is quiet,
+unobtrusive, seeking the shade--its ever-befitting attitude at the feet
+of Jesus, looking to Him as all in all. Yet, though retiring, it _must_
+and _will_ manifest its living and influential power. The heart broken
+at the cross, like Mary's broken box, begins from that hour to give
+forth the hallowed perfume of faith, and love, and obedience, and every
+kindred grace. Not a fitful and vacillating love and service, but _ever_
+emitting the fragrance of holiness, till the little world of home
+influence around us is filled with the odour of the ointment.
+
+    "I ask Thee for the daily strength,
+       To none that ask denied;
+     And a mind to blend with outward life,
+       While keeping by Thy side;
+     Content to fill a little space
+       If Thou be glorified.
+
+    "And if some things I do not ask
+       In my cup of blessings be,
+     I would have my spirit fill'd the more
+       With grateful love to Thee--
+     More careful not to serve Thee _much_,
+       But to please Thee perfectly."
+
+Such is a brief sketch of this beautiful domestic scene, and its main
+practical lessons,--a green spot on which the eye will ever love to
+repose, among the "Memories of Bethany." It is unnecessary to advert to
+the controverted question, as to whether the description of the
+anointing, which took place in the house of Simon the leper (as recorded
+in Matt. xxvi. 6-14, and Mark xiv. 3), and where the alabaster box is
+spoken of, be identical with this passage, or whether they refer to two
+distinct occasions. The question is of no great importance in
+itself--the former view (that they are descriptions of one and the same
+event) seems the more probable. It surely gives a deep intensity to the
+interest of the narrative to imagine the Leper and the raised dead man,
+seated at the same table together with their common Deliverer,
+glorifying their Saviour-God, with bodies and spirits they felt now to
+be doubly _His_! Simon, it is evident, must have been cured of his
+disease, else, by the Jewish law, he dared not have been associating
+with his friends at a common meal. How was he cured? How else may we
+suppose was that inveterate malady subdued but by the omnipotent word of
+_Him_, who had only to say,--"I will, be thou made whole!" May we not
+regard him as a standing miracle of Jesus' power over the diseased body,
+as Lazarus was the living trophy of His power over death and the grave.
+The one could testify,--"This poor man cried, and the Lord saved him,
+and delivered him out of all his troubles." The other,--"Unless the Lord
+had been my help, my soul must now have dwelt in silence!"
+
+In order to explain the circumstance of this family meeting being in the
+house of _Simon_, there have not been wanting advocates for the
+supposition, that the restored leper may have been none other than the
+_parent_ of the household.[25] It is not for us to hazard conjectures,
+where Scripture has thrown no light. Even when sanctioned by venerated
+names, the most plausible hypothesis should be received with that
+caution requisite in dealing with what is supported exclusively by
+traditional authority. Were, however, such a view as we have indicated
+correct (which is just possible, and there is nothing in the face of the
+narrative to render it _improbable_), it certainly would impart a new
+and fresh beauty to the picture of this Feast of gratitude. Well might
+the _parent's_ heart swell within him with more than ordinary emotions!
+_Himself_ plucked a victim from the most loathsome of diseases! He
+would think, with tearful eye, of the dark dungeon of his
+banishment--the lazar-house, where he had been gloomily excluded from
+all fellowship with human sympathies and loving hearts. His own children
+condemned by a severe but righteous necessity to shun his presence--or
+when within sound of human footfall or human voice, compelled to make
+known his presence with the doleful utterance,--"Unclean! Unclean!" He
+would think of that wondrous moment in his history, when, shunned by
+_man_, the GOD-MAN drew near to him, and with one glance of His love,
+and one utterance of His power, He bade the foul disease for ever away!
+
+Nor was this all that Simon (if he _were_, indeed, the father of the
+family) must have felt. What must have been those emotions, too deep for
+utterance, as he gazed on the son of his affections, seated once more by
+his side! A short time ago, Lazarus had been laid silent in the
+adjoining sepulchre--Death had laid his cold hand upon him--the pride of
+his home had been swept down. But the same Almighty friend who had
+caused his own leprosy to depart, had given him back his lost one. They
+were rejoicing together in the presence of Him to whom they owed life
+and all its blessings. Oh, well might "the voice of rejoicing and
+salvation be heard in the tabernacles of these righteous!" Well might
+the head of the household dictate to Mary to "bring forth their best"
+and bestow it on their Deliverer--the costliest gift which the dwelling
+contained--the prized and valued box of alabaster, and pour its contents
+on His feet! We can imagine the burden, if not the words, of their joint
+anthem of praise,--"Bless the Lord, O our souls, and forget not all his
+benefits, who forgiveth all our iniquities, who healeth all our
+diseases, who redeemeth our lives from destruction, and crowneth us with
+loving-kindness and with tender mercy."
+
+But be all this as it may, that same great Physician of Souls still
+waits to be gracious. He healeth ALL our diseases. Young and old, rich
+and poor, every type of spiritual malady has in Him and His salvation
+its corresponding cure. The same Lord is rich to all that call upon Him.
+The ardent Martha, the contemplative Mary, the aged Simon, Lazarus the
+loving and beloved--He has proved friend, and help, and Saviour to
+_all_; and in their several ways they seek to give expression to the
+depth of their gratitude. Happy home! may there be many such amongst us!
+Fathers, brothers, sisters, "loving one another with a pure heart
+fervently," and loving Jesus more than all--and themselves in Jesus!
+Seeking to have _Him_ as the ever-welcomed guest of their
+dwelling--feeling that all they _have_, and all they _are_, for time or
+for eternity, they owe to _Him_ who has "brought them out of the
+horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set their feet upon a rock,
+and established their goings, and put a new song in their mouth, even
+praise unto our God!"
+
+Yes! having the Lord, we have what is better and more enduring than the
+best of earthly ties and earthly homes. This must have been impressed
+with peculiar force on aged John, as in distant Ephesus he penned the
+memories of this evening feast. Where were _then_ all its guests?--the
+recovered leper, the risen Lazarus, the devout sisters, the ardent
+disciples--all _gone_!--none but himself remained to tell the touching
+story. _Nay_, _not_ all!--ONE remained amid this wreck of buried
+friendship--the adorable Being who had given to that Bethany feast all
+its imperishable interest was still within him and about him. The rocky
+shores of Patmos, and the groves around Ephesus, echoed to the
+well-remembered tones of the same voice of love. His _best Friend_ was
+still left to take loneliness from his solitude. He writes as if he were
+still reclining on that sacred bosom--"Truly our fellowship is with the
+Father and with his Son Jesus Christ!"
+
+Reader! take "that same Jesus" now as your Friend--receive Him as the
+guest of your soul; and when other guests and other friendships are
+vanished and gone, and you may be left like John, as the alone survivor
+of a buried generation;--"alone! you will yet be _not_ alone!"--lifting
+your furrowed brow and tearful eye to Heaven, you may exclaim, "Who
+shall separate me from the love of Christ?"
+
+
+
+
+XVIII.
+
+PALM BRANCHES.
+
+
+We have just been contemplating a beautiful episode in the Bethany
+Memories--a gleam amid gathering clouds. _Martha_, _Mary_, and
+_Lazarus_! With what happy hearts did they hail the presence of their
+Lord on the evening of that Jewish Sabbath! Little did they anticipate
+the events impending. Little did they dream that their Almighty
+Deliverer and Friend would that day week be sleeping in His own grave!
+
+These were indeed eventful hours on which they had now entered. The stir
+through Palestine of the thousands congregating in the earthly Jerusalem
+to the great Paschal Feast, was but a feeble type of the profound
+interest with which myriad angel-worshippers in the Jerusalem above were
+gathering to witness the offering of the True Paschal Sacrifice, "the
+Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
+
+On the morning after the supper at Bethany (probably that of our
+Sabbath), the Saviour rose from His couch of needed rest to approach
+Jerusalem. The reserve hitherto maintained as to His kingly power is now
+to be set aside. "The hour is come in which the Son of man is to be
+glorified." BETHANY is one of the few places associated with
+recollections of the Redeemer's royalty. The "despised and rejected" is,
+for once, the honoured and exalted. It is a glimpse of the crown before
+He ascends the cross; a foreshadowing of that blessed period when He
+shall be hailed by the loud acclaim of earth's nations--the Gentile
+hosannah mingling with the Hebrew hallelujah in welcoming Him to the
+throne of universal empire.
+
+Multitudes of the assembled pilgrims in the city, who had heard of His
+arrival, crowded out to Bethany to witness the mysterious Being, whose
+deeds of mercy and miracle had now become the universal theme of
+converse. His mightiest prodigy of power in the resurrection of Lazarus
+had invested His name and person with surpassing interest. We need not
+wonder, therefore, that "the town of Mary and her sister Martha" should
+attract many worshippers from Jerusalem, to behold with their own eyes
+at once the restored villager and his Divine Deliverer! In fulfilment of
+Zechariah's prophecy, the meek and lowly Nazarene, seated on no
+caparisoned war-horse, but on an unbroken colt, and surrounded with the
+multitude, sets forth on His journey.[26] "The village and the desert
+were then all alive (as they still are once every year at the Greek
+Easter) with the crowd of Paschal pilgrims moving to and fro between
+Bethany and Jerusalem. ... Three pathways lead, and probably always led,
+from Bethany; ... one a long circuit over the northern shoulder of Mount
+Olivet, down the valley which parts it from Scopus; another, a steep
+footpath over the summit; the third, the natural continuation of the
+road by which mounted travellers always approach the city from Jericho,
+over the southern shoulder between the summit which contains the Tombs
+of the Prophets, and that called the 'Mount of Offence.' There can be no
+doubt that this last is the road of the entry of Christ, not only
+because, as just stated, it is, and must always have been, the usual
+approach for horsemen and for large caravans such as then were
+concerned, but also because this is the only one of the three approaches
+which meets the requirements of the narrative which follows. ... This is
+the only one approach which is really grand. It is the approach by which
+the army of Pompey advanced, the first European army that ever
+confronted it. Probably the first impression of every one coming from
+the north-west and the south may be summed up in the simple expression
+used by one of the modern travellers--'I am strangely affected, but
+greatly disappointed!' But no human being could be disappointed who
+first saw Jerusalem from the east. The beauty consists in this, that you
+then burst at once on the two great ravines which cut the city off from
+the surrounding table-land.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Two vast streams of people met on that day. The one poured out from the
+city, and as they came through the gardens whose clusters of palms rose
+on the south-eastern corner of Olivet, they cut down the long branches,
+as was their wont at the Feast of Tabernacles, and moved upwards towards
+Bethany with loud shouts of welcome. From Bethany streamed forth the
+crowds who had assembled there on the previous night, and who came
+testifying to the great event at the sepulchre of Lazarus. The road soon
+loses sight of Bethany. It is now a rough, but still broad and
+well-defined mountain track, winding over rock and loose stones,--a
+steep declivity below on the left; the sloping shoulder of Olivet above
+on the right. Along this road the multitudes threw down the branches
+which they cut as they went along, or spread out a rude matting formed
+of the palm branches they had already cut as they came out. The larger
+portion (those perhaps who escorted Him from Bethany) unwrapped their
+loose cloaks from their shoulders, and stretched them along the rough
+path, to form a momentary carpet as he approached. The two streams met
+midway. Half of the vast mass, turning round, preceded; the other half
+followed. Gradually the long procession swept up and over the ridge,
+where first begins the 'descent of the Mount of Olives,' towards
+Jerusalem. At this point the first view is caught of the south-eastern
+corner of the city. The Temple and the more northern portions are hid by
+the slope of Olivet on the right; what is seen is only Mount Zion,
+covered with houses to its base, surmounted by the castle of Herod on
+the supposed site of the palace of David, from which that portion of
+Jerusalem, emphatically 'The City of David,' derived its name. It was at
+this precise point, as he drew near, at the descent of the Mount of
+Olives, (may it not have been from the sight thus opening upon them?)
+that the shout of triumph burst forth from the multitude--'Hosannah to
+the Son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!
+Blessed is the kingdom that cometh of our father David.
+Hosannah--Peace--Glory in the highest!' There was a pause as the shout
+rang through the long defile; and as the Pharisees who stood by in the
+crowd complained, He pointed to the 'stones,' which, strewn beneath
+their feet, would immediately 'cry out' if 'these were to hold their
+peace.' Again the procession advanced. The road descends a slight
+declivity, and the glimpse of the city is again withdrawn behind the
+intervening ridge of Olivet. A few moments, and the path mounts again,
+it climbs a rugged ascent, it reaches a ledge of smooth rock, and in an
+instant the whole city bursts into view. As now the dome of the Mosque
+El Aksa rises like a ghost from the earth before the traveller stands on
+the ledge, so then must have risen the Temple Tower; as now the vast
+enclosure of the Mussulman Sanctuary, so then must have spread the
+Temple Courts; as now the gray town on its broken hills, so then the
+magnificent city with its background (long since vanished away) of
+gardens and suburbs on the western plateau behind. Immediately below was
+the valley of the Kedron, here seen in its greatest depth, as it joins
+the valley of Hinnom; and thus giving full effect to the great
+peculiarity of Jerusalem, seen only on its eastern side--its situation
+as of a city rising out of a deep abyss. It is hardly possible to doubt
+that this rise and turn of the road (this rocky ledge) was the exact
+point where the multitude paused again, and 'He, when He beheld the
+city, wept over it.' ... Here the Lord stayed His onward march, and here
+His eyes beheld what is still the most impressive view which the
+neighbourhood of Jerusalem furnishes--and the tears rushed forth at the
+sight."[27]
+
+Without dwelling longer on this splendid ovation, we may only further
+remark, that had the Redeemer's mission been on (the infidel theory) a
+successful imposture, what an opportunity now to have availed Himself of
+that outburst of popular fervour, and to have marched straight to take
+possession of the hereditary throne of David. The populace were
+evidently more than ready to second any such attempt; the Sanhedrim and
+Jewish authorities must have trembled for the result. The hosannas,
+borne on the breeze from the slope of Olivet, could not fail to sound
+ominous of coming disaster. So incontrovertible indeed had been the
+proof of Lazarus' resurrection, that only the most blinded bigotry could
+refuse to own in that marvellous act the divinity of Jesus. In addition,
+too, to this last crowning demonstration of omnipotence, there were
+hundreds, we may well believe, in that procession, who, in different
+parts of Palestine, had listened to His gracious words, and witnessed
+His gracious deeds. What _other_, what _better_ Messiah could they wish
+than this--combining the might of Godhead with the kindness and
+tenderness of a human philanthropist and friend? Is He to accept of the
+crown? Nay, by a lofty abnegation of self, and all selfish
+considerations, He illustrates the announcement made by Him, a few hours
+later, in Pilate's judgment-hall, as to the leading characteristic of
+that empire He is to set up in the hearts of men--"My kingdom is not of
+this world." He was, indeed, one day to be hailed alike King of Zion and
+King of Nations, but a bitter baptism of blood and suffering had
+meanwhile to be undergone. No glitter of earthly honour--no carnal
+dreams of earthly glory--would divert Him from His divine and gracious
+undertaking. He would save _others_--Himself He _would_ not save.
+
+Let us pause for a moment, and ponder that significant chorus of praise
+which on Olivet arose to the Lord of Glory. How interesting to think of
+the vast and varied multitude gathered around the Conqueror! Many,
+doubtless, assembled from curiosity, who had never seen Him before, and
+had only heard of His fame in their distant homes; others, from feelings
+of personal love and gratitude, were blending their voices in the shout
+of welcome. Think, it may be, of Bartimeus, now gazing with his unsealed
+eyes on his Divine Deliverer. Think of Mary Magdalene, her heart gushing
+at the remembrance of her own sin and shame, and her adorable Redeemer's
+pardoning and forgiving mercy! Nicodemus, perhaps, no longer seeking to
+repair by stealth, under the shadow of night, to hold a confidential
+meeting; but in the full blaze of day, and before assembled Israel,
+boldly recognising in "the Teacher sent from God" the promised Messiah,
+the Prince of Peace, the Redeemer of Mankind. Shall we think of Lazarus
+too, fearless of his own personal safety, venturing to follow his guest
+with tearful eye, the multitude gazing with wonder on this living trophy
+of death? We may think of the very children, as He entered the temple,
+uplifting their infant voices in the general welcome--pledges of the
+myriad little ones who, in future ages, were to have an interest in "the
+kingdom of God."
+
+    "Meanwhile He paces through th' adoring crowd,
+     Calm as the march of some majestic cloud
+     That o'er wild scenes of ocean war
+     Holds its still course in Heaven afar.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    "Yet in the throng of selfish hearts untrue,
+     His sad eye rests upon His faithful few;
+     Children and child-like souls are there,
+     Blind Bartimeus' humble prayer;
+     And Lazarus, waken'd from his four days' sleep,
+     Enduring life again that Passover to keep."[28]
+
+May not Olivet be regarded on this occasion as a type of the Church
+triumphant in Heaven--Jesus enthroned in the affections of a mighty
+multitude which no man can number--old and young, great and small, rich
+and poor--casting their palms of victory at His feet, and ascribing to
+Him all the glory of their great salvation?
+
+Let _us_ ask, have _we_ received Jesus as _our_ King?--have _our_ palm
+branches been cast at His feet? Feeling that He is alike willing and
+mighty to save, have we joined in the rapture of praise--"Blessed is He
+that cometh in the name of the Lord to save us?" Have our hearts become
+living temples thrown open for His reception? Is this the motto and
+superscription on their portals--"This is the gate of the Lord, into
+which THE RIGHTEOUS ONE shall enter!" Jesus refused and disowned none of
+these gratulations--He spurned no voice in all that motley Jerusalem
+throng. There were endless diversities and phases, doubtless, of human
+character and history there. The once proud formalist, the once greedy
+extortioner, the hated tax-gatherer, the rich nobleman, the child of
+penury, the Roman officer, the peasant or fisherman of Galilee, the
+humbled publican, the woman from the city, the reclaimed victim of
+misery and guilt! All were there as types and samples of that
+diversified multitude who, in every age, were to own Him as King, and
+receive His gracious benediction.
+
+We have spoken of this incident as a glimpse of glory before His
+sufferings. Alas! it _was_ but a glimpse. What a picture of the
+fickleness and treachery of the heart!--That excited populace who are
+now shouting their hosannahs, are ere long to be raising the cry,
+"Crucify Him, crucify Him!" Four days hence we shall find the palm
+branches lying withered on the Bethany road, and the blazing torches of
+an assassin-band nigh the very spot where He is now passing with an
+applauding retinue! "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his
+nostrils."
+
+It does not belong to our narrative to record the remaining transactions
+of this day in Jerusalem. The shades of evening find the Saviour once
+more repairing to Bethany. The evangelist _Mark_, in the course of his
+narrative, simply but touchingly says:--"And Jesus entered into
+Jerusalem, and into the temple, and when He had looked round about upon
+all things" (the mitred priests, the bleeding victims, the costly
+buildings), "and now the eventide was come, he went out unto BETHANY
+with the twelve." (Mark xi. 11.) As He returned to the sweet calm of
+that quiet home, if He could not fail to think of the hours of darkness
+and agony before Him, could He reap no joy or consolation in the
+thought, that that very day week the redemption of His people was to be
+consummated--the glory that surrounded the grave and resurrection of
+Lazarus was to be eclipsed by the marvels of His own!
+
+
+
+
+XIX.
+
+THE FIG-TREE.
+
+
+The hosannahs of yesterday had died away--the memorials of its triumph
+were strewed on the road across Olivet--as, early on the Monday morning,
+while the sun was just appearing above the Mountains of Moab, the Divine
+Redeemer left His Bethany retreat, and was seen retraversing the
+well-worn path to Jerusalem. Here and there, in the "olive-bordered
+way," were Fig plantations. The adjoining village of Bethphage derived
+its name from the Green Fig.[29] Indeed, "fig-trees may still be seen
+overhanging the ordinary road from Jerusalem to Bethany, growing out of
+the rocks of the solid mountain, which, by the prayer of faith, might
+'be removed and cast into the (distant Mediterranean) Sea.'"[30] An
+incident connected with one of these is too intimately identified with
+the Redeemer's last journeys to and from the home of His friend to admit
+of exclusion from our "Bethany Memories." These memories have hitherto,
+for the most part, in connexion at least with our blessed Lord, been
+soothing, hallowed, encouraging. Here the "still small voice" is for
+once broken with sterner accents. In contrast with the bright background
+of other sunny pictures, we have, standing out in bold relief, a
+withered, sapless stem, impressively proclaiming, in unwonted utterances
+of wrath and rebuke, that the same hand is "strong to smite," which we
+have witnessed so lately in the case of Lazarus was "strong to save."
+
+The eye of Jesus, as he traversed the rocky path with His disciples,
+rested on a _Fig-tree_. (Mark xi. 12, 13.) It seems not to have been
+growing alone, but formed part of a group or plantation on one of the
+slopes or ravines of Olivet. Its appearance could not fail to challenge
+attention. It was now only the Passover season (the month of April);
+summer--the time for ripe figs--was yet distant; and as it is one of
+the peculiarities of the tree that the fruit appears _before_ the
+leaves, a considerable period, in the ordinary course of nature, ought
+to have elapsed before the foliage was matured. Jesus Himself, it will
+be remembered, on another occasion, spake of the putting forth of the
+fig-tree leaves as an indication that "_summer_ was nigh." It must have
+been, therefore, a strange and unusual sight which met the eye of the
+travellers as they gazed, in early spring, on one of these trees with
+its full complement of leaves--clad in full summer luxuriance. While the
+others in the plantation, true to the order of development, were yet
+bare and leafless, or else the buds of spring only flushing them with
+verdure, the broad leaves of this precocious (and we may think at first
+_favoured_) plant--the pioneer of surrounding vegetation--rustled in the
+morning breeze, and invited the passers-by to turn aside, examine the
+marvel, and pluck the fruit.
+
+We may confidently infer that Jesus, as the Omniscient Lord of the
+inanimate creation, knew well that fruit there was none under that
+pretentious foliage. We dare not suppose that He went expecting to find
+Figs; far less, that in a moment of disappointed hope, He ventured on a
+capricious exercise of His power, uttered a hasty malediction, and
+condemned the insensate boughs to barrenness and decay. The first
+cursory reading of the narrative may suggest some such unworthy
+impression. But we dismiss it at once, as strangely at variance with the
+Saviour's character, and strangely unlike His wonted actings. We feel
+assured that He literally, as well as figuratively, would not "break the
+bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax." He came, in all respects,
+"not to destroy, but to save." Some deep inner meaning, not apparent on
+the surface of the inspired story, must have led Him for the moment to
+regard a tree in the light of a responsible agent, and to address it in
+words of unusual severity.
+
+What, then, is the explanation? Our Lord on this occasion revives the
+old typical or picture-teaching with which the Hebrews were to that hour
+so familiar. He, as the greatest of prophets, adopts the significant and
+impressive method, not unfrequently employed by the Seers of Israel,
+who, in uttering startling and solemn truths, did so by means of
+_symbolic actions_. As Jeremiah of old dashed the potter's vessel down
+the Valley of Hinnom, to indicate the judgments that were about to
+befall Jerusalem; or, at another time, wore around his own neck a wooden
+yoke, to intimate their approaching bondage under the King of Babylon;
+or, as Isaiah "walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and
+wonder upon Egypt and Ethiopia," so did our Lord now invest a tree in
+dumb nature with a prophet's warning voice, and make its stripped and
+blighted boughs eloquent of a nation's doom!
+
+On the height of their own Olivet, looking down, as it were, on
+Jerusalem, that fig-tree becomes a stern messenger of woe and vengeance
+to the whole house of Judah. Often before had he warned by His _words_
+and _tears_; now He is to make an insignificant object in the outer
+world take up His prophecy, and testify to the degenerate people at once
+the cause, the suddenness, and the certainty of their destruction! Let
+us join, then, the Master and His disciples, as they stand on the crest
+above Bethany, and, gazing on that fruitless leaf-bearer, "hear this
+parable of the fig-tree."[31]
+
+Jesus, on approaching it (it seemed to be at a little distance from
+their path), and finding abundance of leaves, but no fruit thereon,
+condemns it to perpetual sterility and barrenness.
+
+A difficulty here occurs on the threshold of the narrative. If, as we
+have noted, and as St Mark tells us, "the time of figs was _not
+yet_"--why this seeming impatience--why this harsh sentence for not
+having what, _if found_, would have been unseasonable, untimely,
+abnormal?
+
+In this apparent difficulty lies the main truth and zest of the parable.
+The doom of sterility, be it carefully noted, was uttered by Jesus, not
+so much because of the _absence of fruit_, but because the tree, by its
+premature display of leaves, challenged expectations which a closer
+inspection did not realise. "It was punished," says an able writer, "not
+for being without fruit, but for proclaiming, by the voice of those
+leaves, that it had such. Not for being barren, but for being
+false."[32]
+
+Graphic picture of boastful and vaunting Israel! This conspicuous tree,
+nigh one of the frequented paths of Olivet, was no inappropriate type,
+surely, of that nation which stood illustrious amid the world's
+kingdoms--exalted to heaven with unexampled privileges which it
+abused--proudly claiming a righteousness which, when weighed in the
+balances, was found utterly wanting. It mattered not that the heathen
+nations were as guilty, vile, and corrupt as the chosen people.
+Fig-trees were they, too--naked stems, fruitless and leafless; but then
+they made no boastful pretensions. The Jews had, in the face of the
+world, been glorying in a righteousness which, in reality, was only like
+the foliage of that tree by which the Lord and His disciples now
+stood--mocking the expectations of its owner by mere outward semblance
+and an utter absence of fruit.
+
+The very day preceding, these mournful deficiencies had brought tears to
+the Saviour's eyes--stirred the depths of His yearning heart in the very
+hour of His triumph. He had looked down from the height of the mountain
+on the gilded splendours of the Temple Courts beneath; but, alas! He saw
+that sanctimonious hypocrisy and self-righteous formalism had sheltered
+themselves behind clouds of incense. Mammon, covetousness, oppression,
+fraud, were rising like strange fire from these defiled altars!
+
+He turns the tears of yesterday into an expressive and enduring parable
+to-day! He approaches a luxuriant Fig-tree, boasting great things among
+its fellows, and thus through _it_ He addresses a doomed city and
+devoted land,--"O House of Israel," He seems to say, "I have come up for
+the last time to your highest and most ancient festival. You stand forth
+in the midst of the nations of the earth clothed in rich verdure. You
+retain intact the splendour of your ancestral ritual. You boast of your
+rigid adherence to its outward ceremonial, the punctilious observance of
+your fasts and feasts. But I have found that it is but 'a name to live.'
+You sinfully ignore 'the weightier matters of the law, judgment,
+justice, and mercy!' You call out as you tread that gorgeous fane--'The
+Temple of the Lord! The Temple of the Lord! The Temple of the Lord are
+we!' You forget that your hearts are the Temple I prize! Holiness, the
+most acceptable incense--love to God, and love to man, the most pleasing
+sacrifice. All that dead and torpid formalism--that mockery of outward
+foliage--is to me nothing. 'Your new moons and Sabbaths--the calling of
+assemblies--I cannot away with; it is iniquity even the solemn meeting.'
+These are only as the whitewash of your sepulchres to hide the
+loathsomeness within--'the rottenness and dead men's bones!' If you had
+made no impious pretensions, I would not, peradventure, have dealt so
+sternly with you. If like the other trees you had confessed your
+nakedness, and stood with your leafless stems, waiting for summer suns,
+and dews, and rains, to fructify you, and to bring your fruit to
+perfection--all well; but you have sought to mock and deceive me by your
+falsity, and thus precipitated the doom of the cumberer. 'Henceforth,
+let no man eat fruit of thee for ever!'"
+
+The unconscious Tree listened! One night only passed, and the morrow
+found it with drooping leaf and blighted stem! On yonder mountain crest
+it stood, as a sign between heaven and earth of impending judgment.
+Eighteen hundred years have taken up its parable--fearfully
+authenticated the averments of the August Speaker! Israel, a bared,
+leafless, sapless trunk, testifies to this hour, before the nations,
+that "heaven and earth may pass away, but God's words will not pass
+away!"[33]
+
+But does the parable stop here? Was there no voice but for the ear of
+Judah and Jerusalem? Have _we_ no part in these solemn monitions?
+
+Ah! be assured, as Jesus dealt with nations so will He deal with
+individuals. This parable-miracle solemnly speaks to all who have only a
+name to live--the foliage of outward profession--but who are destitute
+of the "fruits of righteousness." It is not neglecters or despisers--the
+careless--the infidel--the scorner--our Lord here addresses. He deals
+with such elsewhere. It is rather vaunting hypocrites--wearing the garb
+of religion--the trappings and dress of outward devotion to conceal
+their inward pollution; like the ivy, screening from view by garlands of
+fantastic beauty--wreaths of loveliest green--the mouldering trunk or
+loathsome ruin! We may well believe none are more obnoxious to a holy
+Saviour than _such_. He (Incarnate TRUTH) would rather have the naked
+stem than the counterfeit blossom. He would rather have no gold than be
+mocked with tinsel and base alloy! "I _would_," says He, speaking to one
+of His Churches at a later time, "I would thou wert cold or hot." He
+would rather a man openly avowed his enmity than that he should come in
+disguise, with a traitor-heart, among the ranks of His people. Oh that
+all such ungodly boasters and pretenders would bear in mind, that not
+only do they inflict harm on themselves, but they do infinite damage to
+the Church of God. They lower the standard of godliness. Like that
+worthless Fig-tree, they help to hide out from others the glorious
+sunlight. They intercept from others the refreshing dews of heaven. They
+absorb in their leaves the rains as they fall. Many a tuft of tiny moss,
+many a lowly plant at their feet, is pining and withering, which, _but_
+for _them_, would be bathing its tints in sunshine, and filling the air
+with balmy fragrance!
+
+Solemn, then, ought to be the question with every one of us--every
+Fig-tree in the Lord's plantation--How does it stand with _me_? am I
+_now_ bringing forth fruit to God? for remember what we are NOW, will
+fix what we _shall_ be when our Lord shall come on the Great Day of
+Scrutiny! We are forming _now_ for Eternity; settling down and
+consolidating in the great mould which ultimately will determine our
+everlasting state; fruitless _now_, we shall be fruitless _then_. The
+_principle_ in the future retribution is thus laid down--"He that is
+unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be
+filthy still." The demand and scrutiny of Jesus will on that day be, not
+what is the number of your leaves, the height of your stem, the extent
+of your branches? not whether you have grown on the wayside or in the
+forest, been nurtured in solitude or in a crowd, on the mountain-height
+or in the lowly valley: all will resolve itself into the _one
+question_--Where is your _fruit_? What evidence is there that you have
+profited by My admonitions, listened to My voice, and accepted My
+salvation? Where are your proofs of love to Myself, delight in My
+service, obedience to My will? Where are the sins you have crucified,
+the sacrifices you have made, the new principles you have nurtured, the
+amiability and love and kindness and generosity and unselfishness which
+have supplanted and superseded baser affections? See that the leaves of
+outward profession be not a snare to you. You may be lulling yourselves
+to sleep with delusive opiates. You may be making these false coverings
+an apology for resisting the "putting on of the armour of light." One
+has no difficulty in persuading the tenant of a wretched hovel to
+consent to have his mud-hut taken down; but the man who has the walls of
+his dwelling hung with gaudy drapery, it is hard to persuade him that
+his house is worthless and his foundation insecure. Think not that
+privileges or creeds, or church-sect or church-membership, or the
+Shibboleth of party will save you. It is to the _heart_ that God looks.
+If the inner spirit be right, the outer conduct will be fruitful in
+righteousness. Make it not your worthless ambition to APPEAR to be holy,
+but _be_ holy! Live not a "dying life"--that blank existence which
+brings neither glory to God nor good to men. Seek that _while_ you live,
+the world may be the better for you, and when you die the world may miss
+you. Unlike the pretentious tree in our parable-text, be it yours rather
+to have the nobler character and recompense, so beautifully delineated
+under a similar figure three thousand years ago--"He shall be like a
+tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in
+his season. His leaf, also, shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth
+shall prosper."[34]
+
+Let us further learn, from this solemn and impressive miracle, how true
+Christ is to His word. We think of Him as true to His _promises_, do we
+think of Him, also, as _true to His threatenings_? Judgment, indeed, is
+His strange work. Amid a multitude of other prodigies already performed
+by Him, this "cursing" of the fig-tree formed the alone exception to His
+miracles of _mercy_.[35] All the others were proofs and illustrations of
+beneficence, compassion, love. But He seems to interpose _this_ ONE, in
+case we should forget, in the affluence of benignity and kindness, that
+the same God, whose name and memorial is "merciful and gracious," has
+solemnly added that "He can by no means clear the guilty." He would have
+us to remember that there is a point beyond which even _His_ love cannot
+go, when the voice of ineffable _Goodness_ must melt and merge into
+tones of stern wrath and vengeance. The guilty may, for the brief
+earthly hour of their impenitence, affect to despise His divine
+warnings, laugh to scorn His solemn expostulations. Sentence may not be
+executed speedily; amazing patience may ward off the descending blow.
+They may, from the very _forbearance_ of Jesus, take impious
+encouragement to defy His threats, and rush swifter to their own
+destruction. But come He _will_ and _must_ to assert His claims as "He
+that is HOLY, He that is TRUE." The disciples, on the present occasion,
+heard the voice of their Master. They gazed on the doomed Fig-tree, but
+there seemed at the moment to be no visible change on its leaves. As
+they took their final glance ere passing on their way, no blight seemed
+to descend, no worm to prey on its roots. The fowls of Heaven may have
+appeared soaring in the sky, eager to nestle as before on its branches,
+and to bathe their plumage on the dew-drops that drenched its foliage.
+But was the word of Jesus in vain? Did that fig-tree take up a
+responsive parable, and say, "Who made Thee a ruler and a judge over
+me?"
+
+The Lord and His apostles passed the place a few hours afterwards on
+their return to Bethany.[36] But though the Passover moon was shining on
+their path, the darkness, and perhaps the distance from the highway,
+veiled from their view the too truthful doom to be revealed in morning
+light. As the dawn of day (Tuesday) finds them once more on their road
+to Jerusalem, the eyes of the disciples wander towards the spot to see
+whether the words of yesterday have proved to be indeed solemn verities.
+One glance is enough! _There_ it stands in impressive memorial. One
+night had done the work. No desert simoom, if it had passed over it,
+could have effected it more thoroughly. Its leaves were shrivelled, its
+sap dried, its glory gone. Ever and anon afterwards, as the disciples
+crossed the mountain, and as they gazed on this silent "preacher," they
+would be reminded that Jehovah-Jesus, their loving Master, was not "a
+man that He should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent."
+
+Ah! Reader, learn from all this, that the wrathful utterances of the
+Saviour are no idle threats. He _means_ what He _says_! He is "the
+Faithful and True witness;" and though "mercy and truth go continually
+before His face," "justice and judgment are the habitation of His
+throne." You may be scorning His message--lulling yourself into a dream
+of guilty indifference. You may see in His daily dealings no sign or
+symbol of coming retribution; you may be echoing the old challenge of
+the presumptuous scoffer--"Where is the promise of His coming?" The fig
+leaves may have lost none of their verdure--the sky may be unfretted by
+one vengeful cloud--nature, around you, may be hushed and still. You can
+hear no footsteps of wrath; you may be even tempted at times to think
+that all is a dream--that credulity has suffered itself to be duped by a
+counterfeit tale of superstitious terror! Or if, in better moments, you
+awake to a consciousness of the Bible averments being stern realities,
+your next subterfuge is to trust to that rope of sand to which thousands
+have clung, to the wreck of their eternities--an indefinite dreamy hope
+in the final _mercy_ of God! that on the Great Day the threatenings of
+Jesus will undergo some modification; that He will not carry out to the
+very letter the full weight of His denunciations; that the arm which
+love nailed to the cross of Calvary will sheathe the sword of avenging
+retribution, and proclaim a universal amnesty to the thronging myriads
+at His tribunal!
+
+"Nay! O man, who art thou that repliest against God?" Come to the
+fig-tree "over against" Bethany, and let it be a dumb attesting witness
+to the Saviour's unswerving and immutable truthfulness! Or, passing from
+the sign to the thing symbolised, behold that nation which God has for
+eighteen centuries set up in the world as a monument of His undeviating
+adherence to His Word. See how, in their case, to the letter He has
+fulfilled His threatenings. Is not this fulfillment intended as an awful
+foreshadowing of eternal verities: if He has "spared not the natural
+branches," thinkest thou He will spare _thee_? "If these things were
+done in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?"
+
+Mourners! You for whose comfort these pages are specially designed, is
+there no lesson of consolation to be drawn from this solemn "memory?"
+Jesus smote down that _fig-tree_--blasted and blighted it. Never again
+did He come to seek fruit on it. Ten thousand other buds in the
+Fig-forest around were opening their fragrant lips to drink in the
+refreshing dews of spring; but the curse of perpetual sterility rested
+on this!
+
+He has smitten _you_ also, but it is only to _heal_! He has bared your
+branches--stripped you of your verdure--broken "your staff and your
+beautiful rod;" but the pruning hook has been used to promote the Vigour
+of the tree; to lop off the redundant branches, and open the stems to
+the gladsome sunlight. Murmur not! Remember, _but for_ these loppings of
+affliction you might have effloresced into the rank luxuriant growth of
+mere external profession. You might have rested satisfied with the
+outward display of _Religiousness_, without the fruits of true
+_Religion_. You might have lived and died unproductive _cumberers_,
+deceiving others and deceiving yourselves. But He would not suffer you
+to linger in this state of worthless barrenness. Oh! better far, surely,
+these severest cuttings and incisions of the pruning knife, than to
+listen to the stern words--"Ephraim is joined to his idols, let him
+alone!" It is the most terrible of all judgments when God leaves a
+sinner undisturbed in his sinfulness--abandons him to "the fruit of his
+own ways, and to be filled with his own devices;" until, like a tree
+impervious to moistening dews and fructifying heat, he dwarfs and
+dwindles into the last hopeless stage of spiritual decay and death!
+
+"If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what
+son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?"
+
+"He purgeth it (_pruneth it_), that it may bring forth MORE FRUIT."
+
+
+
+
+XX.
+
+CLOSING HOURS.
+
+
+The evenings of the two succeeding days seem to have closed around our
+adorable Lord at BETHANY. We may still follow Him in imagination, in the
+mellow twilight, as He and His disciples crossed the bridle-path of the
+holy mountain from Jerusalem to the house and village of His friend.
+
+Much has changed since then; but the great features of unvarying nature
+retain their imperishable outlines, so that what still arrests the view
+of the modern traveller, in crossing the Mount of Olives, we know must
+have formed the identical landscape spread out before the eyes of the
+Incarnate Redeemer. It is more than allowable, therefore, to appropriate
+the words of the same trustworthy recent spectator, from whose pages we
+have already quoted, as presenting a truthful and veritable picture of
+what the Saviour _then_ saw.
+
+From almost every point in the journey, there would be visible "the
+long purple wall of the Moab mountains, rising out of its unfathomable
+depths; these mountains would then have almost the effect of a distant
+view of the sea, the hues constantly changing; this or that precipitous
+rock coming out clear in the evening shade--_there_ the form of what may
+possibly be Pisgah, dimly shadowed out by surrounding valleys--_here_
+the point of Kerak, the capital of Moab, and future fortress of the
+Crusaders--and then, at times all wrapt in deep haze, the mountains
+overhanging the valley of the shadow of death, all the more striking
+from their contrast with the gray or green colours of the hills through
+which a glimpse was caught of them."[37]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We have no recorded incidents in connexion with these two nights at
+Bethany. We are left only to realise in thought the refreshment alike
+for body and spirit our Lord enjoyed. Exhausted with the fatigues of
+each day, and the advancing storm-cloud ready to burst on His devoted
+head, we may well imagine how grateful repose would be in the old
+homestead of congenial friendship.
+
+The last evening He spent at the "Palm-clad Village" must in many ways
+have been full of sorrowing thoughts. He had, in the afternoon, on His
+return from Jerusalem, when seated with his disciples "over against the
+Temple," gazing on its doomed magnificence, been discoursing on the
+appalling desolation which awaited that loved and time-honoured
+sanctuary. This had led Him to the more sublime and terrific theme of a
+Day of Judgment. Not only did He foresee the grievous obduracy of His
+own infatuated countrymen, but His Omniscient eye, travelling down to
+the consummation of all things, wept over the fate of myriads, who, in
+spite of atoning love and mercy, were to despise and perish.
+
+He left the threshold, consecrated so oft by His Pilgrim steps, on the
+Thursday of that week, not to return again till death had numbered Him
+among its victims. On that same morning He had sent His disciples into
+the city to make preparation for the keeping of the Passover Supper. He
+Himself followed, probably towards the afternoon, and joined them in
+"the Upper room," where, after celebrating for the last time the old
+Jewish rite, he instituted the New Testament memorial of His own dying
+love. Supper being ended, the disciples, probably, contemplated nothing
+but a return, as on preceding evenings, by their old route to Bethany.
+Singing their paschal hymn, they descended the Jehoshaphat ravine, by
+the side of the Temple. The brook Kedron was crossed, and they are once
+more on the Bethany path. They have reached Gethsemane; their Master
+retires into the depths of the olive grove, as was often His wont, to
+hold secret communion with His Father. But the crisis-hour has at last
+arrived! The Shepherd is about to be smitten, and the sheep to be
+scattered! Rude hands arrest Him on His way. In vain shall Lazarus and
+his sisters wait for their expected Lord! For _Him_ that night there is
+no voice of earthly comforter--no couch of needed rest;--when the
+shadows of darkness have gathered around Bethany, and the pale passover
+moon is lighting up its palm-trees, the Lord of glory is standing
+buffetted and insulted in the hall of Annas.
+
+The Remembrances of Bethany are here absorbed and overshadowed for a
+time by the darker memories of Gethsemane and Calvary. Jesus may,
+indeed, afterwards revisit the loved haunt of former friendship; but
+meanwhile He is first to accomplish that glorious Decease, _but for
+which_ the world could never have had on its surface one Bethany-home of
+love, or been cheered by one ray of happiness or hope.
+
+In vain do we try to picture, as we revert to the peaceful Village, the
+feelings of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary on that day of ignominious
+crucifixion! _where_ they were--_how_ they were employed! Can we imagine
+that they could linger behind, unconcerned, in their dwelling, when
+their Best Friend was in the hands of His murderers? We cannot think so.
+We may rather well believe that among the tearful eyes of the weeping
+women that followed the innocent Victim along the "Dolorous way," not
+the least anguished were the two Bethany mourners; and that as He hung
+upon the cross, and His languid eye saw here and there a faithful friend
+lingering around him while disciples had fled, Lazarus would be among
+the few who soothed and smoothed that awful death-pillow! Perhaps even
+when death had sealed His eyes, and faithless apostles gave vent to
+their feelings of hopeless despondency, "We trusted it had been He who
+should have redeemed Israel," the family of Bethany would recollect how
+oft He had spoken of this very hour of darkness and bereavement which
+had now come; Mary would, in trembling emotion, (in connexion with the
+humble token of her own gratitude and affection,) remember the words of
+the Lord Jesus, how He said, "Let her alone, against the day of my
+_burying_ hath she done this."
+
+We need not pursue these thoughts. We may well believe, however, that
+when the first day of the week had come--and the glad announcement
+spread from disciple to disciple, "_The Lord is risen indeed_,"--on no
+home in Judea would the tidings fall more welcome than on that of
+Lazarus of Bethany. Martha and Mary had, a few weeks before, experienced
+the happiness of a restored _Brother_. Now it was that of a restored
+_Saviour_! Whether He revisited these, His former friends, the days
+immediately after His resurrection, we cannot tell. It is more than
+probable He would. May not some hallowed _unrecorded_ "Memories of
+Bethany" be included in the closing words of John's gospel--"There are
+also many OTHER things which Jesus did?" On the way to Emmaus He joined
+Himself to two disciples, and "caused their hearts to burn within them
+as He talked by the way." So may He not have joined Himself to the
+friends with whom He had so oft held sacred intercourse during the days
+of His humiliation--breathing on them His benediction, and discoursing
+of those covenant blessings which He had died to purchase, and which He
+was about to bestow, "set as king on His holy hill of Zion." With what a
+new and glorious meaning to Martha must her Saviour's words have now
+been invested, "_I am the Resurrection and the Life_--he that believeth
+on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."
+
+As the God-man, He had power over her brother's life--He had now
+demonstrated that He had "power over His own;"--"power" not only to "lay
+it down," but "power to take it up again." Her Lord had "spoken _once_,
+yea _twice_ had she heard this, that _power_ belongeth unto God."
+
+The Grave of Bethany was thus in her eyes inseparably connected with the
+grave at Golgotha. But for the rolling away of the stone from a more
+august sepulchre, her brother must still have been slumbering in the
+embrace of death. "But now had Christ risen from the dead, and become
+the first-fruits of them that slept."
+
+The Almighty Reaper had risen Himself from the tomb, with the sharp
+sickle in His hand. In the person of His dearest earthly friend He
+presented an earnest-sheaf of the great Resurrection-reaping-time--when
+the mandate was to be carried to the four winds of heaven, "Put ye in
+the sickle, for the harvest is ripe;--Multitudes--multitudes in the
+Valley of Decision."
+
+Can we participate in the joy of the family of BETHANY? Have we, like
+them, followed Christ to His cross and His tomb, and listened to the
+angelic announcement, "He is not here, He is risen?" Have we seen in His
+death the secret of our life? Have we beheld Him as the Great Precursor
+emerging from Hades, and shewing to ransomed millions the purchased path
+of life--the luminous highway to glory? Let our hearts be as Bethany
+dwellings, to welcome in a dying risen Jesus. Let us not expel Him from
+our souls by our sins--crucifying the Lord afresh, and putting Him to
+an open shame. Let not God's restoring mercies be, as, alas! often they
+are to us, _unsanctified_;--receiving back our Lazarus from the brink of
+the tomb, but refusing, on the return of health and prosperity, to share
+in bearing our Lord's cross--to "go forth with Him without the
+camp--bearing His reproach." If He has delivered our souls from death,
+and our eyes from tears, be it ours to follow Him through good and
+through bad report. Not alone amid the hosannahs of His people, or amid
+the world's bright sunshine, but, if need be, to confront suffering, and
+trial, and death for His sake. Like the Bethany family, let us mourn His
+absence, and long for His return. It is but for "a little while" we
+"shall _not_ see Him"--"again a little while and we _shall_ see Him."
+Oh, blessed day! when the words of the old prophet will start once more
+into fulfilment, and a voice from Heaven will thus address a waiting
+Church--"Rejoice, O daughter of Zion, behold thy King cometh!" He
+cometh!--but it is now with no badges of humiliation--with no
+anticipations of sorrow and woe to mar that hour of glory. "His head
+shall be crowned with many crowns"--all His saints with Him to share
+His triumph and enter into His joy. May we be enabled to look forward to
+that blessed season when, arrayed in white robes, with golden crowns on
+our heads, and palms of victory in our hands, these shall be cast at His
+feet, and the feeble Hosannahs of time shall be lost and merged in the
+rapturous Hallelujahs of eternity!
+
+
+
+
+XXI.
+
+THE LAST VISIT.
+
+
+What saddening thoughts are associated with our final interview with a
+Beloved Friend! He was in health when we last met; we little dreamt, in
+parting, we were to meet no more. Every circumstance of that interview
+is stored up in the most hallowed chambers of the soul. His last
+words--his last _look_--his last smile--they live there in undying
+memorial! Such was now the case with the disciples. They had their last
+walk together with their beloved Master. Ere another sun goes down over
+the western hills of Jerusalem He will have returned from His
+consummated Work to the bosom of His Father!
+
+And what is the spot which he selects as the place of Ascension?--What
+the favoured height or valley that is to listen to His farewell words?
+Still it is BETHANY--the loved home of cherished friendship, where, so
+lately, hours of anticipated anguish had been mitigated and soothed. The
+spot which, above all others, had been witness to His tears and His
+Omnipotence, is selected as that _from_ which, or _near_ to which, He is
+to bid adieu to his sorrowing Church on earth. Although there seem to be
+no special reasons for this selection, we cannot think it was altogether
+undesigned or insignificant. Our Lord was still MAN--participating in
+every tender feeling of our common nature; and just as many are known in
+life to express a partiality for the place of their departure, where
+they would desire their last hours to be spent, or for the sepulchre or
+churchyard where they would prefer their ashes to be laid;--so may we
+not imagine the Saviour, reverting in these, His last hours, to the
+hallowed memories of that hallowed village, wishful that He might ascend
+to heaven within view, at least, of the spot He loved so well?
+
+Whether this be the true explanation or no, we are called now to follow
+Him, in thought, from His concluding visit in Jerusalem to the scene of
+Ascension. We may imagine it, in all likelihood, the early dawn of day.
+The grey mists of morning were still hovering over the Jehoshaphat
+valley, as for the last time he descended the well-known path. He must
+have crossed the brook KEDRON--that brook which had so oft before
+murmured in His ear during night-seasons of deep sorrow--He must have
+passed by GETHSEMANE--the thick Olives pendant with dew, the shadows of
+early day still brooding over them. Their gloomy vistas must have
+recalled terrible hours, when the sod underneath was moistened with
+"great drops of blood." Can we dare to imagine His sensations and
+feelings when passing _now_? Would they not be the same as that of every
+Christian still, while passing through memories of trial, "It was good
+for me to be here?" Had He dashed untasted to the ground, the cup which
+in the depths of that awful solitude He had grasped six weeks before,
+His work would have been undone--a world yet unsaved! But He shrunk not
+from that baptism of blood and suffering. Gethsemane can now be gazed
+upon as a place of triumph. His Omniscient eye, as He now skirts its
+precincts, connects its awful struggles with the Redemption and joy of
+ransomed myriads through all eternity. He has the first realising
+earnest of the prophet's words,--Seeing of the fruit of "the travail of
+His soul," He is "satisfied."
+
+But vain is it to conjecture feelings and emotions unrecorded. It would,
+doubtless, not be on Himself the Great Redeemer would, in these waning
+hours of earthly communion, chiefly dwell. They would rather be occupied
+in preparing the hearts of the sorrowful band around Him for His
+approaching departure. He would unfold to them the glorious conquests
+which, in His name, they were on earth to achieve, as His
+standard-bearers and apostles, and the ineffable bliss awaiting
+them in that Heaven whither He was about to ascend as their
+Forerunner and Precursor. It must indeed have been to them a season
+of severe and bitter trial! They had in their hearts a full and tender
+impression--a gushing recollection of three years' unvarying
+kindness and affection--sorrows soothed--burdens eased--ingratitude
+overlooked--treachery forgiven. Many others they could only think of in
+connexion with altered tones and changed affection. _He_ was _ever the
+same_! But the sad day _has_ really come when they are to be parted for
+_time_! No more tender counsels in difficulty,--no more gentle rebukes
+in waywardness,--no more joyous surprises, as on the shores of Tiberias,
+or the road to Emmaus, when, with joyful lips, they would exclaim,--"It
+is the Lord!" This dream of blissful intercourse, like a meteor-flash,
+was about to be quenched in darkness. Their Lord was to depart, and
+long, long centuries were to elapse ere His gracious face was to be seen
+again!
+
+Whether, in this ever-memorable walk to the place of Ascension, the
+Adorable Redeemer visited the village of Bethany, we cannot tell. It is
+possible--it is _more_ than possible--He may have honoured the home of
+Lazarus with a farewell benediction; but this we can only conjecture.
+All the notice we have regarding it is: that "He led them out as far as
+to Bethany;" that He there lifted up His hands and blessed them; and was
+from thence taken up to Heaven.[38] Honoured hamlet! thus to be alone
+mentioned in connexion with the closing scene in this mighty drama! He
+selected not _Bethlehem_, where angel hosts had chanted His praise; nor
+_Tabor_, where celestial beings had hovered around Him in homage; nor
+_Calvary_, where riven rocks and bursting grave-stones had proclaimed
+His deity; nor the _Temple-court_, in all its sumptuous glory, where for
+ages His own Shekinah had blazed in mystic splendour; but He hallows
+afresh the name of a lowly _Village_; He consecrates a Home of love.
+BETHANY is the last spot which lingers on His view, as the cloud comes
+down and receives Him out of sight.
+
+Let us gather for a little in imagination on this sacred ground. Let us
+note a few of the interesting thoughts which cluster around it, and
+listen to the Saviour's farewell themes of converse there with His
+beloved disciples.
+
+(1.) He cheers their hearts with the promised baptism of the Holy
+Ghost.--"John," He had said, a few hours before, at His last meeting
+with them in Jerusalem, "truly baptized with water; but ye shall be
+baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."[39] He, moreover,
+enjoined them to linger in the Holy City, and wait this "promise of the
+Father" which "they had heard of Him;" and now, once more, when on the
+eve of Ascension, He speaks of the coming of the same Holy Ghost to
+qualify them for their future work.[40]
+
+This, we know, was the great topic of consolation with which He had
+often before soothed their hearts at the thought of parting. _He_ was to
+leave them;--but an Almighty _Paraclete_ or _Comforter_ was to take His
+place, whose gracious presence would more than compensate for the
+withdrawal of His own. For when, on the intimation of His coming
+departure, He observed that sorrow was filling their hearts--"It is
+expedient," said He, "for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the
+Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto
+you."[41]
+
+Now that the anticipated hour is come, He reverts to the same omnipotent
+ground of comfort;--that this Divine Enlightener, Cheerer, Sanctifier,
+would fill up the gap His own withdrawal would make. They were about to
+enter on a new dispensation--the dispensation of the SPIRIT--and the
+approaching Pentecost was to give them a pledge and earnest of His
+mighty agency in the conversion of souls.
+
+Jesus, our adorable Lord, has ascended to "His Father and our Father--to
+His God and our God!" We, like the disciples, have to mourn the denial
+of His personal presence. His Church is left widowed and lonely by
+reason of His departure. But have we known, in our experience, the
+value of the great compensating boon here spoken of? Have we known, in
+the midst of our weakness and wants, our griefs and sorrows, the power
+and grace of the promised Paraclete? It is to be feared we do not
+realise or value His blessed agency as we ought. To what is much of the
+deadness, and dullness, and languor of our frames to be traced--the
+poverty of our faith, the lukewarmness of our love, the coldness of our
+Sabbath services, the little hold and influence of divine things upon
+us? Is it not to the feeble realisation of the quickening, life-giving
+power of this Divine Agent? "It is the Spirit that quickeneth." Church
+of the living God! if you would awake from your slumber and apathy; if
+you would exhibit among your members more faithfulness, more zeal, more
+love, more unselfishness, more union--if you would buckle on your armour
+for fresh conquests in the outlying wastes of heathenism, it will be by
+a fresh baptism of the Holy Ghost! Another Pentecost will usher in the
+Millennial morning. The showers of His benign influences will form the
+prelude to the world's great Spiritual Harvest. "Pray ye, then, the Lord
+of the Harvest," that His Spirit may "come down like rain upon the mown
+grass, and as showers that water the earth," and that the promise
+regarding the latter-day glory may be fulfilled--"I will pour down My
+Spirit upon all flesh." Or would you have Jesus made more precious to
+your _own_ soul? Would you see more of His matchless excellences,--the
+glories of His person and work,--His suitableness and adaptation to all
+the wants and weaknesses, the sorrows and temptations, of your tried and
+tempted natures. Pray for this gracious Unfolder of the Saviour's
+character. This is one of His most precious offices--as the _Revealer_
+of Jesus. "He shall glorify _Me_; for He shall receive of _Mine_, and
+shall shew it unto you!"[42]
+
+(2.) Another theme of Christ's converse, when within sight of Bethany,
+was _the nature of His Kingdom_--"Lord, wilt thou at this time restore
+again the kingdom of Israel?" was the inquiry of the disciples. "And he
+said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which
+the Father hath put in His own power."[43]
+
+The thoughts of His followers were clinging to the last to the dream of
+earthly sovereignty. How difficult it is to get even the renewed and
+regenerated mind to understand and realise Heavenly things, and to wean
+it from what is of the earth earthy! He checks their presumption--He
+tells them these are questions which they may not pry into. There is to
+be no present fulfilment of these visions of millennial glory. That day
+and that hour are to be wrapt in unrevealed and impenetrable secrecy.
+The Church may not attempt rashly and inquisitively to lift the veil.
+She is not to know the _time_ of the Saviour's appearing, that she may
+live every day in the frame she would wish to be found in when the cry
+shall be heard, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh." The apostolic band are,
+in the first instance, to be cross-bearers, as He their Master
+was,--witnesses to His sufferings, earthen vessels, defamed, persecuted,
+reviled,--before they become partakers of His purchased happiness and
+bliss!
+
+Nevertheless, it was a grand and glorious mission He sketched out for
+them. How worthy of HIMSELF--of his loving, forgiving, unselfish
+Spirit--was the opening clause in that wondrous Missionary Charter He
+then put into their hands. Even at the moment when all the memory of
+Jewish ingratitude was fresh on His heart, He inserts a wondrous
+provision of mercy and grace. They were to proclaim His name through the
+wide world; but was JERUSALEM (the scene of His ignominy) to form an
+exception? Nay, rather they were to _begin there_! The Gospel-Trumpet
+was to be sounded in its streets. The assassins of Gethsemane, the
+murderers of Calvary were to listen to the first offers of pardon and
+reconciliation--"And He said unto them ... that repentance and remission
+of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, _beginning_ at
+_Jerusalem_!" Precious warrant, surely, are these words to "the chief of
+sinners" to repair to this gracious Saviour. If even for "_the Jerusalem
+sinner_" there is mercy, can there be ground for one human being to
+despair?
+
+But "_beginning_" at Jerusalem, the Gospel Commission did not _end_
+there? It was to embrace, first, "Judea," then "Samaria," then "the
+uttermost parts of the earth."[44] The ascending Redeemer's expansive
+heart took in with a vast sweep the wide circle of humanity. From the
+elevated ridge of Olivet, on which He now stood with the arrested group
+around Him, He might tell them to gaze, in thought at least, far north
+beyond the Cedar Heights of Lebanon and Hermon;--Southward to the desert
+and the Isles of the Ocean;--Westward to the fair lands washed by the
+Great Sea;--Eastward across the palm-trees of Bethany and the chain of
+Moabite mountains on unexplored continents, where heathenism still
+revelled in its rites and orgies of impurity and blood. With Palestine
+as their centre and starting-point, the vast World was to be their
+circumference. The Gospel was to be preached "as a witness to all
+nations." The Great Mission-Angel was to "fly through the midst of
+Heaven," having its everlasting truths to "preach to every nation, and
+kindred, and tongue, and people."
+
+Are _we_ faithfully fulfilling our Lord's farewell Apostolic Commission?
+As members of the Church of God, component parts of the Royal
+Priesthood, are we doing what lies in our power, that His name, and
+doctrine, and salvation, be proclaimed to the uttermost parts of the
+earth? Or is it so, that we are looking coldly, suspiciously,
+indifferently on the Church's efforts in the cause of Missions,
+suffering her funds to fail, and her schemes to languish, and her
+devoted servants to sink in discouragement? Or rather, are we prepared
+to incur the responsibility of heathen souls, through our neglect,
+passing hour by hour into eternity, with a Saviour's name unheard of,
+and a Saviour's love unknown? Go to the Rocky ridge above BETHANY, and
+listen to the parting injunction of our Great Master. His last words,
+ere the cloud received Him to glory, were _Missionary_ words, a
+_Missionary_ appeal, a pleading for the Gospel being sent to heathen
+shores. Ah! _our own Britain_ was then among the number! If the
+Apostolic Company had in these days, like many among ourselves, refused,
+on the ground of the _home-heathen_ in Judea, to send any of their band
+abroad, where would _we_ have been at this hour? With our Druids'
+altars, our bloody sacrifices, our cruel rites! But their best and
+noblest were commissioned to speed from port to port in the
+Mediterranean and the Isles of the Gentiles, with the Gospel errand on
+their lips, and the blessing of God on their labours! All honour to
+these leal-hearted men, who, in spite of national and hereditary
+prejudices, implicitly followed the will of their Lord and Master, who
+had given to them, as He has given to us, a great Missionary motto--"THE
+FIELD IS THE WORLD!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And now His themes of instruction and comfort are over--He is about to
+Ascend! The symbolic cloud--(invariable emblem of Deity)--comes down to
+conduct Him to His throne. What a moment was that! Glory in view--the
+hallelujahs of angels floating in His ear--the air thronged with
+celestial hosts waiting as His retinue to bear Him upwards;--all heaven
+in eager expectancy for her returning Lord. And yet--how is He employed?
+Is the world, that had so disowned Him, disowned now in return? Are the
+disciples, who have so oft deserted Him, now deserted in return?--their
+name forgotten in the thought of the loftier spirits who are to gather
+around Him in the skies? Nay, His every thought is centered on the
+weeping band of earth. "He lifted up his hands and blessed them!"[45]
+His last words are those of mercy--His last act is outstretching His
+arms to bless! It was an act replete with meaning to the Church of God
+in every age. Jesus, when He was last seen on earth, wore no terror on
+His lips--but He left our world pouring a benediction on His redeemed
+people.
+
+There is something, moreover, significant in the recorded fact that
+"WHILE He blessed them, He was parted from them!" The Benediction was
+unfinished when the cloud bore Him away! As they gazed upwards and
+upwards till that glorious form was diminishing in the blue sky above,
+still His hands were extended;--the last dim vision which lingered on
+their memories was the True High Priest blessing the representative
+Israel of God! It would seem as if He wished to indicate that the act
+begun on earth was to be carried on and perpetuated in heaven--that
+though parted from them, His outstretched arms would still plead for
+them on the Throne. His _voice_ could no longer be heard--but His
+blessing still would continue to descend till He came again!
+
+Wondrous close to a wondrous life! We have traversed in thought many
+other memorials of Bethany. We have stood by the gate where Martha met
+her Lord--the silent sepulchre which listened to the voice of
+Omnipotence--the holy home where friendship was realised such as earth
+never before or since beheld. But surely not less sacred or hallowed
+than any of these is the scene presented on the green ridge rising to
+the west of the village, overlooking its groves of palm. Before
+superstition ventured to raise its cumbrous monument on the heights of
+Olivet, may we not think of the scene of the Ascension, rather in
+connexion with three _living_ Temples? May we not think of it as oft and
+again visited by Martha, and Mary, and Lazarus? May we not well imagine
+it would form a hallowed retirement for solemn meditation! Amid more
+sorrowful thoughts, connected with their Lord's absence from them, would
+they not there often muse in holy joy over the now fulfilled prophetic
+strains of their minstrel King?--"Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast
+led captivity captive: Thou hast received gifts for men; yea, _for_ the
+rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among _them_."[46]
+
+Do _we_ love also to linger in spirit on that spot, and listen to that
+benediction?--"Blessed," we read, "are they that know the joyful sound."
+In these words there is a beautiful allusion to the sound of the pendant
+bells on the vestment of the High Priest in the Jewish temple of old.
+When the assembled multitudes in the outer court heard their music
+within the holiest of all, it conveyed the assurance that the High
+Priest was there, actively engaged in his official duties--sprinkling
+the Mercy Seat with blood, and pleading for the nation. They felt
+"blessedness" in hearing and _knowing_ "that joyful sound." Beautiful
+type of JESUS the Great High Priest within the veil! We seem, as we
+behold Him standing on the crest of Olivet, to listen to the first note
+of these gladsome chimes. He leaves His Church proclaiming nothing but
+blessings. As He rises upwards, and the diminishing cloud recedes from
+sight, still the music of benediction seems to float on the calm
+morning air. The Golden Bells are sounding--and though the celestial
+notes cease, it is only distance which renders them inaudible. They are
+still pendant at His Royal Priestly robes, telling us that still He
+intercedes! Oh, let us now hear His benediction! Let the comforting
+thought follow us wherever we go--"_Jesus is pleading for me within the
+Veil._" He left this world _blessing_--He is engaged in _blessing_
+still. "HE EVER LIVETH TO MAKE INTERCESSION FOR US."
+
+
+
+
+XXII.
+
+ANGELIC COMFORTERS.
+
+
+The Lord has ascended. The disciples are left alone in wondering
+amazement. The bright cloud which formed His chariot had swept
+majestically upwards--till (dimming on their view) the gates of heaven
+closed on Him, who, a moment before, had been breathing upon them
+farewell benedictions of peace and love. Are they to be left alone?
+Terrible must have been the feeling of solitude on that lone
+mountain-ridge, as the voice of mingled Omnipotence and Love was hushed
+for all time. "Alone, but yet _not_ alone!" While their eyes are still
+directed up to the spot where they got the last glimpse of the vanishing
+cloud--transfixed there in speechless Sorrow, lo! "two men stood by them
+in shining vestures!" The Saviour has departed; the sunshine of His own
+loving presence is gone--but He leaves them not unsolaced. The vision
+of the patriarch is again realised. When, like that weary pilgrim,
+dejected, disconsolate, and sad--a ladder of comfort is stretched down
+from the heaven on which they gaze, and "the Angels of God are ascending
+and descending on it!"
+
+Ah! whenever the Lord removes one comfort, He is ready to supply
+another. He Himself leaves His disciples--but no sooner _does_ He leave,
+than Angels come and minister to them; and this is immediately followed
+by a mightier than Angelic Comforter--even the fulfilled promise of the
+Holy Spirit. "If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you,
+but if I depart, I will send Him unto you." How graciously does Jesus
+thus adapt Himself to the character and trials of His people! What
+compensations He gives when they are suffering tribulation! One blessing
+is taken away--it is only that they may be brought more fully to value
+others which remain. A beloved friend is removed by death--the household
+is saddened at the stroke--its aching hearts are smitten and withered
+like the grass--but new spiritual consolations are imparted, unknown
+before--brighter manifestations of the Saviour's grace and mercy are
+vouchsafed--the Promises of God, like the ministering angels on Mount
+Olivet, are sent to hover around these stricken spirits. They are made
+to sing of "mercy" in the midst of "judgment!"
+
+Is Hagar in the desert? There is a fountain (though at first unseen) at
+her side! Is Elijah trembling in the dark cave of Horeb? There is a
+"still small voice" amid the long-drawn breath of the tempest, and
+earthquake, and storm;--"The Lord is _there_!" Be assured He will never
+leave nor forsake any that truly seek Him. To all desolate ones, who,
+like the Olivet disciples, lift the steadfast eye of faith heavenwards,
+bending like them in the silent attitude of resignation and faith--God
+will send comfort. He will have his angels ready to wipe weeping eyes
+and soothe sorrowful hearts.
+
+We cannot grapple with this doctrine. We who are creatures of sense, who
+are cognisant through a corporeal organism only of what is tangible and
+material, cannot grasp what relates to the immaterial, invisible,
+spiritual. We strive in vain to realise the truth of Angelic Beings
+compassing our earthly path, joying with us in our joys--aiding us in
+our perplexities, and mingling their accents of comfort with us in our
+seasons of sorrow. But though mysteriously invisible, we believe there
+are hosts of these blessed messengers thronging around, profoundly
+interested in all that concerns us--"bearing us up in all our
+ways"--following us, as Jacob saw them, step by step up the ladder of
+salvation, till we reach our thrones and our crowns! Angelic agency is
+no mere gorgeous dream of inspired poetry--no mere symbolic way of
+stating the doctrine of Divine Providence, and the peculiar care which
+God takes of His Church and people. The Bible gives us too many positive
+statements on the subject to permit a figurative interpretation. These
+bright and holy Beings are there represented as having witnessed all
+along with profound interest the gradual unfolding of the plan of
+salvation--from the hour when, at creation's birth, the morning stars
+sang together, and all the Sons of God shouted for joy--onwards to the
+eventful night when they met over the plains of Bethlehem and chanted a
+responsive anthem at the advent of the Prince of Peace! Now that
+Redemption is completed--they have gathered once more on Olivet to form
+a royal retinue to conduct their Lord to His crown--to summon the gates
+of Heaven to "lift up their heads" that "the King of Glory may enter
+in." If God, in bringing in His first-begotten into the world, said,
+"Let all the angels of God worship Him;" much more, when His work is
+done, and the moral Conqueror, laden with the spoils of victory, is
+about to return to His throne, may we expect that "the chariots of God"
+("twenty thousand, even thousands of angels") are waiting to grace His
+triumph.
+
+Nor were they merely employed on earth as His servants and attendants
+during the period of His incarnation--leaving our world, when _He_ left
+it, to "serve him day and night in His heavenly temple." A portion of
+this glorious bodyguard we find now, at the hour of Ascension, left
+behind to certify to the disciples and the Church in every age, that
+Angels were still to continue their loving watchfulness and interest
+over the Pilgrims in a Pilgrim world--still to be sent forth on errands
+of mercy to "minister to them who are heirs of salvation!"
+
+Is it the House of God--the gates of Zion--the Holy place of
+Solemnities? The scene now before us on Mount Olivet forms a miniature
+picture of what takes place Sabbath after Sabbath in every meeting of
+Christian disciples. As we are assembled like the apostles in our
+Sanctuary--looking upwards to Heaven, there are glorious Spirits, we may
+well believe, clustering around us--hovering in silence over our
+assembly--engaged, it may be, in unseen conflict with the emissaries of
+evil--assisting us in our prayers--joining with us in our
+praises--waiting to waft these upwards, and get them perfumed with the
+incense of the Saviour's merits.
+
+Nor is it the Sanctuary alone they overshadow with their wings of light.
+The lowliest homestead of the believer is oftentimes made a MAHANAIM ("a
+Host"). The dwellers in the world's thousand Bethany-homes of simple
+faith and lowly love are "entertaining angels unawares." In the hour of
+sickness they are there unseen to smooth our pillow. In the hour of
+danger they are at hand to "shut the lions' mouths." In the hour of
+bereavement they are employed bringing messages of solace from the
+Intercessor within the veil, and enabling us to "glorify God in the
+fires." In the hour of death they are waiting to lend their wings to the
+Immortal tenant as it bursts its earthly coil. Oh, if the _return_ of
+the Repentant Sinner be to them an hour of joyous jubilee;--if their
+songs of triumph greet the Believer _justified_;--what must it be to
+exult over the gladsome consummation--the Believer _glorified_; to be
+engaged on the Great Day as Reapers at the ingathering of the sheaves
+into the heavenly garner--throwing open, at the bidding of their Great
+Lord, the Golden Portals that the ransomed millions may enter in!
+
+    "Oh never, till the clouds of time
+       Have vanish'd from the ken of man,
+     And he from yonder heaven sublime
+       Look back where mystic life began,
+     Will gather'd saints in glory know
+     What blessings men to angels owe.
+
+    "This earth is but a thorny wild,
+       A tangled maze where griefs abound,
+     By sorrow vex'd, by sin defiled,
+       Where foes and friends our walk surround;
+     But does not God in mercy say,
+     Angelic guardians line the way?
+
+    "Sickness and woe perchance may have
+       Ethereal hosts whom none perceive,
+     Whose golden wings around us wave
+       When all alone men seem to grieve;
+     But while we sigh or shed the tear,
+     Their sympathies may linger near.
+
+    "When gracious beams of holy light
+       From heaven's half-open'd portals play,
+     And from our scene of suffering night
+       Melts nigh its haunted gloom away;
+     Each doubt perchance some angel sees,
+     And hovers o'er our bended knees!
+
+    "And when at length this wearied life
+       Of toil and danger breathes its last,
+     Or ere the flesh, with parting strife,
+       Is down to clay and coldness cast;
+     The struggling soul can learn the story,
+     How angels waft the blest to glory."[47]
+
+But, after all, can Angels really impart comfort? They cannot. They are
+but servants and delegates of a Mightier than they. Like all ministers
+and messengers, if they can dry a human tear and soothe a human sorrow,
+it is by pointing, not to themselves, but to their glorious and
+glorified Lord. What was their message now? Was it, "We are come to
+supply the place of your Ascended Redeemer--we are henceforth to be your
+appointed helpers--the objects of your faith, and hope, and confidence,
+in the house of your pilgrimage?" No! The eyes of the disciples are
+gazing upwards and heavenwards. The Angels tell them not in anywise to
+alter the direction of their thoughts and affections. They are musing
+(as in vain they still wistfully look for any relic of the
+chariot-cloud) on "_Jesus only_." They are to think of "_Him only_"
+still! The Celestial Visitants seem to say, "Ye men of Galilee, _we_
+cannot comfort you;--_we_ would prove but poor solaces and compensations
+for the Adorable Saviour who has left you. _We_ come not to take His
+place--but to speak to you still regarding Him. He has left you! but it
+is only for a season; and better than this, although He has left you, He
+loves you as much as ever. Even in that distant glory to which He has
+sped His way, His heart is unchanged and unchangeable--His name is
+'Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.'"
+
+Here then was their first theme of comfort. It was the NAME of _Jesus_.
+That "name of their Lord" was still to be their "strong tower!" Oh,
+there is something touchingly beautiful about this angelic address. What
+a simple but sublime antidote for these stricken Spirits, "THAT SAME
+JESUS." "That _same_ Jesus,"--He who laid His infant head on the manger
+at Bethlehem--He who walked on the Sea of Tiberias, and hushed its angry
+waves--He who spoke comfort to a stricken spirit at the well of Sychar,
+and at the gate of Nain--He who, in yonder palm-clad village sleeping in
+quiet loveliness at their feet, soothed the pangs of deeply afflicted
+hearts, and made death itself yield its prey--He who had first
+shed His tears and then His blood over the city He loved--He who
+so freely forgave, so meekly suffered, so willingly died! "THAT
+SAME JESUS" was still on High! The Brother's form was still there! The
+Kinsman-Redeemer's sympathy was still there! Though all heaven was then
+doing Him homage--though He had exchanged the chilling ingratitude of
+earth for the glories of an unsullied world of purity and love--yet
+nothing could blot out from His heart the names of those whom He had
+still left for a little season behind, to be bearers of His cross before
+they became sharers of His crown!
+
+What a comfort, amid all earth's vicissitudes and changes, this
+motto-verse! _Earth may_ change. Since the Lord ascended, earth _has_
+changed! There are "Written rocks"--manifold more than those of
+Sinai--that bear engraven on their furrowed brows, "The world passeth
+away." Ocean's old shores have transgressed their boundaries--kingdoms
+have risen and fallen--thronging cities have sprung up amid desert
+wastes--and proud capitals have been levelled with the dust. _Friends_
+may change; our very lot and circumstances, in spite of ourselves, may
+change. Our fondly planned schemes and cherished hopes may vanish into
+thin air, and the _place_ that now knows us know us no more! But there
+is ONE that changeth not--a Rock which stands immutable amid all the
+ceaseless heavings and commotions of this mortal life--and that Rock is
+Christ!
+
+Has he ever failed us? Ask the _tried_ Christian. Ask the _aged_
+Christian. That gray-haired believer may be like a solitary oak in the
+forest--all his compeers cut down--tempest after tempest has sighed and
+swept amid the branches--tree by tree has succumbed to the blast--there
+may be nothing but wreck and ruin and devastation all around. Friend
+after friend has departed; some have _altered_ towards him; kindness may
+have given way to alien looks and estranged affection; others are
+removed by _distance_--old familiar faces and scenes have given place to
+new ones;--others have been called away to the silent grave--sleeping
+quiet and still in "the narrow house appointed for all living." That
+aged lonely Christian can clasp his withered hands, and exclaim, through
+his tears, "_But_ THOU art the same, and _Thy_ years shall have no end."
+"Heart and flesh do faint and fail, but God is the strength of my heart,
+and my portion for ever."
+
+    "My God, I thank thee, Thou dost care for me;
+     I am content rejoicing to go on,
+     Even when my home seems very far away;
+     And over grief, and aching emptiness,
+     And fading hopes a higher joy ariseth.
+     In nightliest hours one lonely spot is bright,
+     High over head, through folds and folds of space;
+     It is the earnest star of all my heavens,
+     And tremulous in the deep-well of my being,
+     Its image answers. * * * * I WILL THINK OF JESUS."[48]
+
+But, in addition to the name and nature of Jesus--the Angels added a
+promise of comfort regarding Him. "He shall _so come_ in like manner as
+ye have seen Him go into heaven."[49] _Jesus shall come again!_
+
+When a beloved brother or friend whom we love is taken from us by death,
+how cheered we are by the thought of rejoining him in a brighter and
+better world. Even in earthly separations, how cheering the prospect of
+those severed by oceans and continents meeting once more in the
+flesh--the associations of youth renewed and perpetuated--and the
+long-severed links of friendship welded and cemented again! What must
+be, to the bereft and lonely Christian, the thought of being restored,
+and that _for ever_, to his long-absent Saviour? _Jesus shall come
+again_!--it is the Church's "blessed hope"--the day when her weeds and
+robes of ashen sorrow shall be laid for ever aside, and she shall "enter
+into the joy of her Lord?" It is His return, too, in a glorified
+manhood. That _same Jesus shall SO come_! Yes! "_so_ come," in the very
+body with which He bade the sorrowing eleven that sad, farewell! He left
+them with His hands extended, and with blessings on His lips. He will
+return in the same attitude to greet His expectant Church, with the
+words, "Come, _ye blessed_ of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
+for you from the foundation of the world."
+
+And if it be a comforting thought, "Jesus _still_ the _same_, now seated
+on the Mediatorial throne,"--equally comforting surely is the prospect
+that it will be in all the unchanging and undying sympathies of His
+exalted humanity, that He will come again as Judge. "God hath appointed
+a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by _that_ MAN
+whom he hath ordained." He shall come, not arrayed in the stern
+magnificence of Godhead! As we behold Him, we need not crouch in terror
+at His approach. _Humanity_ will soften the awe which Deity would
+inspire. We can rejoice with Job not only that our Kinsman Redeemer
+"_liveth_," but that, _as_ our Kinsman Redeemer, "He shall stand at the
+latter day upon the earth!"
+
+_Would_ that we more constantly lived under the realising power of this
+elevating thought--"Soon my Lord will come!" "Of the times and the
+seasons ye need not that I write unto you." It is not for us to
+dogmatize on the unrevealed period of the "glorious appearing." The
+millennial trumpet may in all probability sound over our slumbering
+dust--the millennial sun shine on the turf which may for centuries have
+covered our graves!--But _who_, on the other hand, dare venture to
+question the _possibility_ of the nearer alternative?--that the Judge
+may be "standing before the door"--the shadow of the Advent Throne even
+now projected on an unthinking and unbelieving world! "He that _shall_
+come _will_ come, and will not tarry!"--Although it be true that
+eighteen hundred years have elapsed since that utterance was made, and
+still no gleam of the coming morning streaks the horizon--although the
+calculations and longing expectations of the Church have hitherto only
+issued in successive disappointments, yet the hour _is_ nearing! As
+grain by grain drops in Time's sand-glass, it gives new significance and
+truthfulness to the Divine monition--"Behold, I come quickly!"
+
+Ah! if He _may_ come _soon_--if He MUST come at some time, how shall I
+meet Him? Will it be with joy? Am I shaping my course in life--my
+plans--my schemes--my wishes with what I feel would be in accordance
+with His will? Am I conscious of doing nothing that would lead me to be
+ashamed before Him at His coming? It would save many a perplexity--it
+would soothe many a heart-ache, and dry many a tear--if we were to make
+this great culminating event in the world's history, with all its
+elevating motives, more our guide and regulator than we do;--living each
+day, and _all_ our days, as if _possibly_ the very next hour might
+disclose "the sign of the Son of Man in the midst of the Heavens!" Not
+building our nests too fondly here--not too anxious to nestle in
+creature comforts, but occupying faithfully the talents to be traded on
+which He has committed to our stewardship; straining the eye of faith,
+like the mother of Sisera, for His approaching chariot; and amid our
+griefs, and separations, and sorrows, listening to the sublime inspired
+antidote--"Stablish your hearts, FOR _the coming of the Lord draweth
+nigh_."
+
+Blessed--glorious--happy day! And as His _first_ coming was terminated
+by His Ascension, so will there be a second Ascension at His _second_
+Advent, with this important difference, however, that, as in the former,
+He left His Church behind Him, orphaned and forlorn, to battle in a
+world of sorrow and sin; in the other, not one unit among the rejoicing
+myriads, bought with His blood, will He debar from sharing in the
+splendour of His final entrance within the celestial gates. "The Lord
+Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout--with the voice of the
+archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise
+first. Then they who are alive and remain, shall be caught up together
+with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we
+ever be with the Lord."
+
+    "We must not stand to gaze too long,
+       Though on unfolding heaven our gaze we bend;
+     When lost behind the bright angelic throng,
+       We see Christ's entering triumph slow ascend.
+
+    "No fear but we shall soon behold,
+       Faster than now it fades, that gleam revive,
+     When issuing from his cloud of fiery gold,
+       Our wasted frames feel the true Sun and live.
+
+    "Then shall we see Thee as Thou art,
+       For ever fix'd in no unfruitful gaze,
+     But such as lifts the new created heart
+       Age after age in worthier love and praise."
+
+
+
+
+XXIII.
+
+THE DISCIPLES' RETURN.
+
+
+The time has come when the disciples must leave the crest of Olivet and
+bend their steps once more to Jerusalem. Ah! most sorrowful
+thought--most sorrowful pilgrimage! Often, often had it been trodden
+before with their Lord's voice of love and power sounding in their ears.
+Often had it proved an Emmaus journey, when their hearts "burned within
+them as He talked to them by the way and opened unto them the
+Scriptures." But He is gone!--that voice is now hushed--the well-loved
+path, worn by His blessed footsteps, and consecrated by His midnight
+prayers, must be trodden by them alone! Willingly, perhaps, like Peter,
+on Tabor, would they have tarried on the spot where they last saw His
+human form, and listened to the music of His voice, just as we still
+love to revisit some haunt of hallowed friendship and associate it with
+the name and words and features of the departed. But they dare not
+linger. As the disciples of this great and good Master, they dare not
+remain to indulge in mere sentimental grief, or in vain hopes and
+expectations of a speedy return. Life is too short--their Apostolic work
+too solemn and momentous, to suffer them to consume their hours in
+unavailing sorrow. We may imagine them taking their last look upwards to
+heaven, and then bending a tearful eye down upon Bethany--its hallowed
+remembrances all the _more_ hallowed, that the vision is now about to
+pass away for ever! The Angels, too, have sped away, and the eleven
+pilgrims begin their solitary return back to the city and temple from
+which the _true_ Glory had indeed departed!
+
+_And how did they return?_ What were their feelings as they rose to
+pursue their way? Had we not been told far otherwise, we should have
+imagined them to have been those of deep dejection. We should have
+pictured to ourselves a weary, weeping, troubled band; their
+countenances shaded with a sorrow too profound for words;--the joyous
+melodies of that morning hour, all in sad contrast with those hearts
+which were bowed down with a bereavement unparalleled in its nature
+since a weeping world was bedewed with tears! They were going too, as
+"lambs in the midst of wolves," to the very city where, a few weeks
+before, their Lord had been crucified,--the disciples of a hated Master,
+"not knowing the things that might befall _them_ there." Could we
+wonder, if for the moment these aching spirits should have surrendered
+themselves to mingled feelings of disconsolate grief and terror. But
+_how different_! Sorrow indeed they _must_ have had; but if so, it was
+counterbalanced and overborne by far other emotions; for of the
+_sorrow_, the Evangelist says _nothing_; the simple record of this
+mournful journey is in these words, "They returned to Jerusalem WITH
+GREAT JOY." Most wonderful, and yet most true! Never did mourner return
+from a funeral scene--(from laying in the grave his nearest and
+dearest)--with a heavier sense of an overwhelming loss than did that
+widowed orphaned band. And yet, lo! they are _joyful_! A sunshine is
+lighting up their faces. The "Sun of their souls" has set behind the
+world's horizon. But though vanished from the eye of sense, His glory
+and radiance seem still to linger on their spirits, just as the orb of
+day gilds the lofty mountain-peaks long after his descent. They tread
+the old footway with elastic step! As Gethsemane, and Kedron, and the
+Temple-path, are in succession skirted, while "_sorrowful_, they are
+alway REJOICING." Why is this? It was God Himself fulfilling in their
+experience His own promise, "_As thy day is, so shall thy strength be._"
+He metes out strength IN the day of trial, and FOR the day of trial.
+When _we_ expect nothing but fainting and trembling, sadness and
+despondency, He whispers His own promise, and makes it good, "My grace
+is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness."
+
+Who so faint as these disciples? Think of them in their by-past history,
+tossed on Gennesaret, cowering with dread in their vessel! Think of them
+in the Judgment-Hall of Pilate; think of them at the cross! Nothing
+there but pusillanimity and cowardice. Nay, when our Lord had spoken to
+them on a former occasion of this same departure, we read that "_sorrow
+had filled their hearts_." They could not bear the thought of so cruel
+a severance from all they held dear: But see them now--when the sad hour
+has come--lonely--unbefriended--their Lord hopelessly removed from the
+_eye of sense_; though but a few days before, they were traitors to
+their trust--unfaithful in their allegiance--bending, like bruised
+reeds, before the storm--behold them now, retraversing their way to
+Jerusalem, not with sorrow, as we might expect, but _with joy_. The
+Evangelist even notes the extent and measure of the emotion. It was not
+a mere effort to overbear their sorrow--an outward semblance of
+reconciliation to their hard fate--but it was a deep fountain of real
+gladness, welling up from their riven spirits. They returned, he tells
+us, with "GREAT JOY!"
+
+Oh! the wonders of the _grace of God_. What grace _has_ done--what grace
+_can_ do! We speak not of it now under its manifold other and
+diversified phases,--_converting_ grace, and _restraining_ grace, and
+_sanctifying_ grace, and _dying_ grace. Here we have to do only with
+_sustaining_ and _supporting_ grace. But how many Christian disciples,
+in their Olivets of sorrow, have been able to tell the same experience?
+How often, when a believer is stricken down with sore affliction--when
+the hand of death enters his family--when the treasured life of the
+dwelling is taken, and he feels in the anticipation of such a blow as if
+it would smite _him_, too, to the dust, and it were impossible to
+survive the prostration of all that links him to life--when the
+tremendous blow _comes_, lo! sustaining grace he never could have
+_dreamed_ of comes along with it. He rises _above_ his trial. Underneath
+him are the Everlasting arms. "The joy of the Lord is his strength!" He
+treads along life's lonely way _sorrowful_, yet with a "song in the
+night." Amid earth's separations and sadness, he hears the voice of
+Jesus, saying, "Lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
+world."
+
+Oh, trust that Grace still! It is the secret of your spiritual strength.
+"Not I, not I, but the grace of God that is with me!" You may have to
+confront "a great fight of afflictions;" but that grace sustaining you,
+you will be made "more than conquerors." "All men forsook me," said the
+great Apostle, "_nevertheless_, the LORD stood with me, and strengthened
+me, and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion." "And God is able
+to make _all_ grace abound toward YOU; that ye, always having
+_all-sufficiency_ in _all things_, may abound to every good work." You
+have found Him faithful in the past;--trust Him in the future. Cast all
+your cares, and each care, as it arises, on Him, saying, in childlike
+faith, "Undertake Thou for me!" Then, then, in your very night-seasons,
+"His song will be with you." The Mount of your trial--the mournful,
+desolate, solitary, rugged path you tread, will be carpeted with love,
+fringed with mercy, and earth's darkest future will grow bright as you
+listen to a voice stealing from the upper sanctuary, "I will come again
+and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
+
+In this scene of the disciples returning to Jerusalem, we are presented
+with the last picture of the Home of BETHANY. Here the earthly vision is
+sealed, and we are only left to imagine Martha, and Mary, and Lazarus,
+when the joyous footfall that had cheered their dwelling could be heard
+no more, living together in sacred harmony, exulting in "the blessed
+hope, even the glorious appearing of the Great God their Saviour."[50]
+
+Did they live to survive the destruction of Jerusalem? Did they live to
+hear the tramp of the Roman legions resounding through their quiet
+hamlet, and "the abomination of desolation," the imperial eagles
+desecrating the hallowed ridges of Olivet? Did they often repair to the
+meetings of the infant Church in Jerusalem, and delight to mingle with
+the _under_ shepherds, when the "_Chief_ Shepherd" had gone? Or did the
+venerable company of Apostles love to resort, as their Lord before them,
+to the old village of palm-trees, whose every memory was fragrant with
+their Master's name? All these, and similar questions, we cannot answer.
+This we know and feel assured of--they are now gathered a holy and happy
+family in the true Bethany above--_there_ never more to listen to the
+voice of weeping, or hear the tread of the funeral crowd, or the wail of
+the Mourner!
+
+And soon, too, shall many of us (let us trust) be _there_, to meet them!
+BETHANY, we have seen, had alike its tears and its joys; so will it be
+with every spot and every scene in this mingled world. But where the
+Family of Bethany _now_ are, the motto is--"NEVER _sorrowful_, ALWAY
+_rejoicing_!" And, better than all, while they never can be severed
+from one another, they never can be separated from their Lord. He is no
+longer now, as formerly at their earthly home, like "a wayfaring man
+that turneth aside to tarry for a night." No Olivet now to remind of
+farewells. They are "_with Him_," "seeing Him as He is," and that "for
+ever and ever!"
+
+And if, meanwhile, regarding ourselves, the journey of life has for a
+little still to be traversed, and the battle of life still to be fought;
+blessed be God, "we go not a warfare on our own charges." The same grace
+vouchsafed to the disciples is promised to _us_. _That grace_ will
+enable us to rise superior to all the vicissitudes and changes of the
+journey. Let us rise from our Olivet-ridge and be going; and though
+traversing different footpaths to the same Home--be it ours, like the
+disciples, to reach at last--a holy and happy company--the true Heavenly
+Jerusalem--"WITH GREAT JOY."
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES
+
+[1] _Bethany_ signifies literally "_The house of dates_."
+
+[2] "The _figs_ of Bethany" are mentioned specially by the Rabbins as
+being subject to tithing.
+
+[3] Stanley's "Sinai and Palestine."
+
+[4] Anderson.
+
+[5] Bartlett's "Walks about Jerusalem."
+
+[6] Neander's "Life of Christ."
+
+[7] "What Mary fell short in words she made up in tears. She said less
+than Martha, but wept more; and tears of devout affection have a voice,
+a loud prevailing voice--no rhetoric like that."--MATTHEW HENRY.
+
+[8] _Note_.--See p. 173.
+
+[9] "Within and Without."
+
+[10] John xi. 11.
+
+[11] John xi. 20.
+
+[12] John xi. 21.
+
+[13] John xi. 26.
+
+[14] John xi. 27.
+
+[15] John xi. 39.
+
+[16] John xi. 39.
+
+[17] John xi. 41.
+
+[18] Rev. iii. 5.
+
+[19] Rom. viii. 34.
+
+[20] John v. 29.
+
+[21] As the Jewish sabbath began at six o'clock on Friday evening, and
+lasted till six on Saturday evening, we may infer it was after the close
+of its sacred hours (at "eventide") He reached Bethany.
+
+[22] It is supposed to have been equivalent to £10 of our money.
+
+[23] Tennyson.
+
+[24] An excellent Christian poet has thus amplified this thought:--
+
+    "Thou hast thy record in the monarch's hall,
+       And on the waters of the far mid sea;
+     And where the mighty mountain shadows fall,
+       The Alpine hamlet keeps a thought of thee.
+     Where'er, beneath some Oriental tree,
+       The Christian traveller rests--where'er the child
+     Looks upward from the English mother's knee,
+       With earnest eyes, in wond'ring reverence mild,
+     There art thou known. Where'er the Book of Light
+       Bears hope and healing, there, beyond all blight,
+     Is borne thy memory--and all praise above.
+       Oh! say what deed so lifted thy sweet name,
+     Mary! to that pure, silent place of fame?--
+       One lowly offering of exceeding love."
+
+[25] This was a common opinion among the Fathers of the Church.
+
+[26] Mark xi. 1-12.
+
+[27] Stanley's "Sinai and Palestine," p. 188-191. A work of rare
+interest, which condenses in one volume the literature of the Holy Land.
+
+[28] "Christian Year."
+
+[29] Bethphage, _lit._ "the house of figs."
+
+[30] Stanley, p. 418.
+
+[31] "If the miracles generally have a symbolical import, we have in
+this case one that is _entirely_ symbolical."--NEANDER.
+
+[32] "Trench on the Miracles," p. 444. See a full exposition of the
+design and import of this miracle in this exhaustive and admirable
+dissertation.
+
+[33] "The fig-tree, rich in foliage, but destitute of fruit, represents
+the Jewish people, so abundant in outward shows of piety, but destitute
+of its reality. Their vital sap was squandered upon leaves. And as the
+fruitless tree, failing to realise the aim of its being, was destroyed,
+so the theocratic nation, for the same reason, was to be overtaken,
+after long forbearance, by the judgments of God, and shut out from His
+kingdom."--NEANDER.
+
+[34] Psalm i. 3.
+
+[35] "In that of the devils in the swine there was no punishment, but
+only a permitting of the thing."--See "Stier's Words of the Lord Jesus,"
+vol. iii. p. 100.
+
+[36] Mark xi. 19.
+
+[37] "Sinai and Palestine," p. 165.
+
+[38] "On the wild uplands," says Mr Stanley, "which immediately
+overhangs the village, He finally withdrew from the eyes of His
+disciples, in a seclusion which, perhaps, could nowhere else be found so
+near the stir of a mighty city, the long ridge of Olivet screening those
+hills, and those hills the village beneath them, from all sight or sound
+of the city behind; the view opening only on the wide waste of desert
+rocks, and ever-descending valleys, into the depths of the distant
+Jordan and its mysterious lake. At this point the last interview took
+place. He led them out as far as to Bethany. The appropriateness of the
+whole scene presents a singular contrast to the inappropriateness of
+that fixed by a later fancy, 'Seeking for a sign' on the broad top of
+the mountain, out of sight of Bethany, and in full sight of Jerusalem,
+and thus an equal contradiction to the letter and the spirit of the
+Gospel narrative."--P. 192.
+
+The same writer, in another place (p. 450), says, "Even if the
+evangelist had been less explicit in stating that He led them out 'as
+far as to Bethany,' the secluded hills (that especially to which Tobler
+assigns the name of Djebel Sajach) which overhang that village on the
+eastern slope of Olivet, are evidently as appropriate to the whole tenor
+of the narrative, as the startling, the almost offensive publicity of
+the traditional spot, in the full view of the whole city of Jerusalem,
+is wholly inappropriate, and (in the absence, as it now appears, of even
+traditional support) wholly untenable."
+
+[39] Acts i. 5.
+
+[40] Acts i. 8.
+
+[41] John xvi. 7.
+
+[42] John xvi. 14.
+
+[43] Acts i. 6, 7.
+
+[44] Acts i. 8.
+
+[45] Luke xxiv. 50.
+
+[46] Ps. lxviii. 18.
+
+[47] Montgomery.
+
+[48] "Within and Without."
+
+[49] Acts i. 11.
+
+[50] Is it lawful to think of Bethany in connexion with the Church of
+the Future? Are there no foreshadowed glories found in the pages of Holy
+Writ, which include this lowly village--gilding it with the beams of a
+Millennial Sun? Is it destined to remain as it now is--a wreck of
+vanished loveliness? and is the crested ridge above it, which was the
+scene of the great terminating event of the Incarnation, to be
+associated with no other august displays of the Redeemer's power and
+majesty? The following remarkable prediction occurs in the prophet
+Zechariah:--"_And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of
+Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives
+shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west,
+and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall
+remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south._" Zech. xiv.
+4. Were we of the number of those--(perhaps some who read these
+pages)--who look with firm and joyful confidence to the Personal Reign
+of the Redeemer on earth, and who in their code of interpretation
+regarding unfulfilled prophecy, espouse the literal in preference to the
+spiritual meaning, we might here have an inviting picture presented to
+us of the BETHANY of the future. The Mount of Olives, by some great
+physical, or rather supernatural agency, is represented as heaving from
+its foundations, and parting in twain. The middle summit disappears. The
+remaining two form the steep sides of a new Valley, which, as it is
+spoken of as opening at Jerusalem (from Gethsemane), eastwards, the
+Vista must necessarily terminate with BETHANY; thus connecting the two
+most memorable spots associated with our Lord's humiliation. "His feet
+shall stand in that day on the _Mount of Olives_."--The once lowly
+Saviour again "stands" in power and great glory on the very spot over
+Bethany from which He formerly ascended. A new highway from the "Village
+of Palms" is made for His triumphal entrance to the Holy City, while the
+air resounds with the old welcome--"Rejoice, O daughter of Zion, behold
+thy King cometh!" If further we turn with the literalists to the
+majestic Temple-Visions of Ezekiel, we find the front of the
+newly-erected structure _facing up_ this valley; a new stream--(indeed a
+mighty river)--gushes down from the temple-colonnade, flowing through
+the same gorge, and discharging its purifying waters into the Dead Sea.
+(Verse 8, and Ezekiel xlvii. 1-12; Joel iii. 18. The reader is referred
+to these passages in full.) From the geographical position, this river
+must needs, in the course assigned to it, flow nigh to the restored
+palm-groves of _Bethany_--thus murmuring by scenes consecrated for
+centuries by the footsteps and tears of a weeping Saviour.
+
+But if we cannot participate in these gorgeous literal picturings, we
+are abundantly warranted to take the words of the Prophet as delineating
+the glorious results of the future _restoration_ of the Jews to their
+own Jerusalem. We can think of the City of the Great King raised from
+her desolation, "her walls salvation, and her gates praise." The
+Messiah, once rejected, now owned and welcomed--"the children of Zion
+joyful in their King." We can think of the valley which is to divide the
+Mount of _Olives_--(the mountain bedewed with the memory of the
+Saviour's _prayers_)--we can think of _that_ valley, and the stream
+which flows through it, as emblematic of spiritual blessings. "Ask of
+Me," says God, addressing His adorable Son, "and I will give Thee the
+heathen for thine inheritance." Is not the symbolic answer here given?
+The Mountain where the Saviour so "oft resorted" to "ask of His Father,"
+is rent in sunder--every barrier to the progress of the truth is now
+swept away--the living stream of Gospel mercy issues from Zion (or
+rather, from Him who is the True Temple), that it may flow to the
+remotest nations of the earth! As it enters the bituminous waters of the
+Asphaltite Lake, it is represented as curing them of their bitterness
+(Ezek. xlvii. 8, 9); descriptive of the power of the Gospel, whose
+living streams, like the symbolic "leaves of the tree of life," are for
+"the healing of the nations." Then shall the words of Isaiah be
+fulfilled, "Every valley shall be exalted, and _every mountain and hill
+shall be made low_, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the
+rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all
+flesh shall see it together." (Isa. xl. 4.) In the prophecy of
+Zechariah, to which we have just referred, we are told that in that same
+happy millennial period, the representatives of the world's nations will
+go up "year by year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep
+_the feast of Tabernacles_." (Zech. xiv. 16.) Who can tell but this may
+be a literal revival of the old Hebrew festival, only invested with a
+new Gospel and Christian meaning. "This feast," says a gifted expositor,
+"is the only unfulfilled one of the great feasts of Israel. _Passover_
+was fulfilled at Christ's death, and _Pentecost_ at the outpouring of
+the Spirit. But this feast represents the LORD _tabernacling with men_,
+and is only fulfilled when '_The Lord my God shall come, and all the
+saints with Thee_.' On the Transfiguration-Hill, Peter, almost
+unwittingly, set forth this truth. He seemed to mean to say, 'Is not
+this the true joy of the Feast of Tabernacles? Is not the Lord here?'" If
+this be so, we can think of the palm-groves of Bethany again bared of
+their branches;--these waved in triumph as a new and nobler "Hosannah"
+awakes the ancient echoes of Olivet--"Blessed is He that cometh in the
+name of the Lord!" As the regenerated children of Abraham build up the
+waste places in and around Zion, which for ages have been "without
+inhabitant," and whose names are still dear to them--think we, amid
+other scenes of hallowed interest, they will not love oftentimes to take
+the old "Sabbath-day's journey" to the site of "the Home of Mary and her
+sister Martha." While seated nigh the reputed burial-place, with the
+Gospel in their hands, reading, through their tears, the story of their
+fathers' impenitency, and of their Saviour's compassion and sympathy at
+the grave of His friend, will not a new and impressive truthfulness
+invest one of the old Bethany utterances, "THEN said the Jews, Behold
+how He loved him!"
+
+But these, after all, are merely speculative thoughts, on which we can
+build nothing. We have in these "Memories" to deal with the Bethany of
+the _past_, not with the imagined Bethany of the _future_. However
+pleasing, in connexion with the Honoured Village, these thoughts of a
+Millennial day may be, "nevertheless WE, according to His promise,
+rather look for _new_ Heavens and a _new_ Earth, wherein dwelleth
+righteousness."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
+
+
+Page numbers refer to the original text.
+Footnote numbers refer to this transcribed version.
+
+Title page: Added missing quotation mark.
+
+p6: Retained spelling of "Perea" in text, and "Peræan" in quotation.
+
+p58: Hyphen added to "death-bed" for consistency.
+
+p119: Replaced "he" (referring to Jesus) with "He" twice.
+
+p188: Hyphen retained in "child-like" in quoted poem.
+
+p220: Inconsistent capitalisation of "Hosannahs" retained.
+
+p248: Used single quotes to clarify quotation within speech.
+
+Footnote 8 (referenced on p24): Missing full stop added.
+
+For consistency, various ellipses have been rendered as "..."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Memories of Bethany, by John Ross Macduff
+
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+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Memories Of Bethany,
+      by the Rev. John R. Macduff, D.D.
+    </title>
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Memories of Bethany, by John Ross Macduff
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Memories of Bethany
+
+Author: John Ross Macduff
+
+Release Date: October 3, 2008 [EBook #26760]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMORIES OF BETHANY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Heiko Evermann, Nigel Blower and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+book was produced from scanned images of public domain
+material from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="tnotes">
+<p><b>Transcriber&#8217;s Notes:</b></p>
+
+<p>All footnotes have been moved to the end of the text and numbered
+sequentially.</p>
+
+<p>A link to the Footnotes section has been added to the
+Table of Contents.</p>
+
+<p>For consistency, the various ellipses have been rendered as &ldquo;...&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Pop-up transcriber&#8217;s notes at specific points can be seen by
+hovering the mouse over text underlined in red,
+<span class="tn" title="transcriber&#8217;s note">like this</span>.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum hidden"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a></span></p>
+
+<h1 style="margin-bottom: 48pt;">MEMORIES OF BETHANY.</h1>
+
+<h5 class="smallmargin">BY THE</h5>
+
+<h3 class="smallmargin">REV. JOHN R. MACDUFF, D.D.</h3>
+
+<h5 class="spaced" style="margin-top: 24pt; margin-bottom: 48pt;">
+AUTHOR OF<br />
+&ldquo;MORNING AND NIGHT WATCHES,&rdquo; &ldquo;WORDS OF JESUS,&rdquo;
+&ldquo;MIND OF JESUS,<span class="tn" title="quotation mark omitted in text">&rdquo;</span><br />
+&ldquo;FOOTSTEPS OF ST. PAUL,&rdquo; &ldquo;FAMILY PRAYERS,&rdquo;<br />
+&ldquo;MEMORIES OF GENNESARET,&rdquo; &ldquo;STORY OF BETHLEHEM,&rdquo; ETC.</h5>
+
+<h3 class="smallmargin">NEW YORK:</h3>
+
+<h4 class="smallmargin">ROBERT CARTER &amp; BROTHERS,</h4>
+
+<h5 class="smallmargin">No. 530 BROADWAY.</h5>
+
+<h4 class="smallmargin">1861.</h4>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum hidden"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</a></span>
+<span class="pagenum hidden"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 50%;">
+<img class="imgheading" style="width: 100%;" src="images/piii.png" alt="Dedication" title="Dedication" />
+
+<h4 style="margin-top:3em">To Mourners in Zion, with whom Bethany
+has ever been a name consecrated to sorrow,
+these Memories are inscribed.</h4>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum hidden"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>PASSAGES REFERRING TO BETHANY IN THE SACRED NARRATIVE.</h2>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+
+<h3>I.</h3>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" style="width: 42%;" src="images/pva.png" alt="Earliest" title="Earliest" />
+</div>
+
+<h3>Earliest Notice of Bethany.</h3>
+
+<p class="passage"><span class="smcap">Luke X.</span> 38-42.&mdash;&ldquo;And He entered into a certain village: and a certain
+woman named Martha received Him into her house. And she had a sister
+called Mary, which also sat at Jesus&#8217; feet, and heard His word. But
+Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, Lord,
+dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her
+therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her,
+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.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+
+<h3>II.</h3>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" style="width: 76%;" src="images/pvb.png" alt="Sickness" title="Sickness" />
+</div>
+
+<h3>Bethany in connexion with the Sickness, Death, and Resurrection of Lazarus.</h3>
+
+<p class="passage"><span class="smcap">John XI.</span> 1.&mdash;&ldquo;Now a certain <i>man</i> was sick, <i>named</i> Lazarus, of <span class="smcap">Bethany</span>,
+the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was <i>that</i>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span>
+Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose
+brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto Him, saying,
+Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard <i>that</i>, He
+said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that
+the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha, and
+her sister, and Lazarus. When He had heard therefore that he was sick,
+He abode two days still in the same place where He was.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="mid dotted" />
+
+<p class="passage indented">
+&ldquo;And after that He saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I
+go, that I may awake him out of sleep. 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. 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.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="mid dotted" />
+
+<p class="passage indented">
+&ldquo;Then, when Jesus came, He found that he had <i>lain</i> in the grave four
+days already. (Now <span class="smcap">Bethany</span> was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen
+furlongs off.) And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort
+them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that
+Jesus was coming, went and met Him: but Mary sat <i>still</i> in the house.
+Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother
+had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of
+God, God will give <i>it</i> Thee. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall
+rise again. Martha saith unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in
+the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the
+resurrection, and the life: He that believeth in Me, though he were
+dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth, and believeth in Me,
+shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto Him, Yea, Lord: I
+believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into
+the world. 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.
+As soon as she heard <i>that</i>, she arose quickly, and came unto Him. Now
+Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha
+met Him. The Jews then which
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span>
+were with her in the house, and comforted
+her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed
+her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was
+come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying
+unto Him, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. When
+Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came
+with her, He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, and said, Where
+have ye laid him? They say unto Him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept.
+Then said the Jews, Behold how He loved him! And some of them said,
+Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that
+even this man should not have died! Jesus therefore again groaning in
+Himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
+Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was
+dead, saith unto Him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been
+<i>dead</i> four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if
+thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they
+took away the stone <i>from the place</i> where the dead was laid. And Jesus
+lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, 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 <i>it</i>, that they may believe that Thou hast sent
+Me. And when He thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus,
+come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with
+grave-clothes; and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith
+unto them, Loose him, and let him go.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+
+<h3>III.</h3>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" style="width: 85%;" src="images/pvii.png" alt="Raising" title="Raising" />
+</div>
+
+<h3>Notices of Bethany subsequent to the Raising of Lazarus.</h3>
+
+<p class="passage"><span class="smcap">John XII.</span> 1-8.&mdash;&ldquo;Then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to
+<span class="smcap">Bethany</span>, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the
+dead. There they made Him a supper; and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span>
+Martha served: but Lazarus was
+one of them that sat at the table with Him. Then took Mary a pound of
+ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and
+wiped His feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of
+the ointment. Then saith one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon&#8217;s
+<i>son</i>, which should betray Him, Why was not this ointment sold for three
+hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared
+for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what
+was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of My
+burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but Me
+ye have not always.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="passage"><span class="smcap">Matthew XXVI.</span> 12-13.&mdash;&ldquo;For in that she hath poured this ointment on my
+body, she did <i>it</i> for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever
+this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, <i>there</i> shall also
+this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="passage"><span class="smcap">John XII.</span> 9.&mdash;&ldquo;Much people of the Jews therefore knew that He was there:
+and they came not for Jesus&#8217; sake only, but that they might see Lazarus
+also, whom he had raised from the dead.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+
+<p class="passage"><span class="smcap">John XII.</span> 12-15.&mdash;&ldquo;On the next day much people that were come to the
+feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches
+of palm trees, and went forth to meet Him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed
+is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus,
+when He had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, Fear not,
+daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass&#8217;s colt.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="passage"><span class="smcap">Matthew XXI.</span> 10-12.&mdash;&ldquo;And when He was come into Jerusalem, all the city
+was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus
+the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of
+God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and
+overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that
+sold doves.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="passage"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span>
+<span class="smcap">Mark XI.</span> 11-15.&mdash;&ldquo;And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple:
+and when He had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide
+was come, he went out unto <span class="smcap">Bethany</span>, with the twelve. And on the morrow,
+when they were come from Bethany, He was hungry: And seeing a fig-tree
+afar off having leaves, He came, if haply he might find any thing
+thereon: and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves; for the
+time of figs was not <i>yet</i>. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man
+eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And His disciples heard <i>it</i>. And
+they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to
+cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the
+tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="passage">Verse 19-20.&mdash;&ldquo;And when even was come, He went out of the city. And in
+the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig-tree dried up from the
+roots.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+
+<p class="passage"><span class="smcap">Luke XXIV.</span> 50-52&mdash;&ldquo;And He led them out as far as to <span class="smcap">Bethany</span>; and He
+lifted up His hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He
+blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into Heaven. And
+they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="passage"><span class="smcap">Acts I.</span> 9-12.&mdash;&ldquo;And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld,
+He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And, while
+they looked stedfastly toward Heaven as He went up, behold, two men
+stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why
+stand ye gazing up into Heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from
+you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go
+into Heaven. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the Mount called
+Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath-day&#8217;s journey.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+
+<p class="passage"><span class="smcap">Zechariah XIV.</span> 4.&mdash;&ldquo;And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount
+of Olives, which <i>is</i> before Jerusalem on the east, and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span>
+the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the
+west, <i>and there shall be</i> a very great valley; and half of the mountain
+shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="mid dotted" />
+
+<p>&ldquo;And it shall be in that day, <i>that</i> living waters shall go out from
+Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward
+the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the Lord shall
+be King over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his
+name one.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="mid dotted" />
+
+<p>&ldquo;And it shall come to pass, <i>that</i> every one that is left of all the
+nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year
+to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of
+Tabernacles.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+
+<table style="width: 75%;" cellspacing="8" summary="Contents">
+<tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_I">I.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_I">OPENING THOUGHTS</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_I">1</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_II">II.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_II">THE HOME SCENE</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_II">11</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_III">III.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_III">LESSONS</a></td
+><td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_III">24</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_IV">IV.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_IV">THE MESSENGER</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_IV">34</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_V">V.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_V">THE MESSAGE</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_V">42</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_VI">VI.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_VI">THE SLEEPER</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_VI">53</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_VII">VII.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_VII">LIGHTS AND SHADOWS</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_VII">67</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_VIII">VIII.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_VIII">THE MOURNER&#8217;S COMFORT</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_VIII">77</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_IX">IX.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_IX">THE MOURNER&#8217;S CREED</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_IX">84</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_X">X.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_X">THE MASTER</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_X">92</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_XI">XI.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_XI">SECOND CAUSES</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_XI">100</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_XII">XII.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_XII">THE WEEPING SAVIOUR</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_XII">108</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_XIII">XIII.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_XIII">THE GRAVE-STONE</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_XIII">125</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_XIV">XIV.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_XIV">UNBELIEF</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_XIV">134</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span>
+<a href="#Chap_XV">XV.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_XV">THE DIVINE PLEADER</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_XV">141</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_XVI">XVI.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_XVI">THE OMNIPOTENT SUMMONS</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_XVI">150</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_XVII">XVII.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_XVII">THE BOX OF OINTMENT</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_XVII">161</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_XVIII">XVIII.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_XVIII">PALM BRANCHES</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_XVIII">178</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_XIX">XIX.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_XIX">THE FIG-TREE</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_XIX">191</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_XX">XX.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_XX">CLOSING HOURS</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_XX">211</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_XXI">XXI.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_XXI">THE LAST VISIT</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_XXI">221</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_XXII">XXII.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_XXII">ANGELIC COMFORTERS</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_XXII">240</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt"><a href="#Chap_XXIII">XXIII.</a></td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#Chap_XXIII">THE DISCIPLES&#8217; RETURN</a></td>
+<td class="rb"><a href="#Chap_XXIII">257</a></td>
+</tr><tr>
+<td class="rt">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="lt"><a href="#FOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES</a></td>
+<td class="rb">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+
+<h1>MEMORIES OF BETHANY</h1>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_I" id="Chap_I"></a>I.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p001.png" alt="Opening Thoughts." title="Opening Thoughts." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>Opening Thoughts.</h3>
+
+<p>Places associated with great minds are always interesting. What a halo
+of moral grandeur must ever be thrown around that spot which was
+hallowed above all others by the Lord of glory as the scene of His most
+cherished earthly friendship! However holy be the memories which
+encircle other localities trodden by Him in the days of His
+flesh,&mdash;Bethlehem, with its manger cradle, its mystic star, and adoring
+cherubim&mdash;Nazareth, the nurturing home of His youthful
+affections&mdash;Tiberias, whose shores so often echoed to His
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>
+footfall, or whose waters in stillness or in storm bore Him on their bosom&mdash;the
+crested heights where He uttered His beatitudes&mdash;the midnight mountains
+where He prayed&mdash;the garden where He suffered&mdash;the hill where He
+died,&mdash;there is no one single resort in His divine pilgrimage on which
+sanctified thought loves so fondly to dwell as on the home and village
+of <span class="smcap">Bethany</span>.</p>
+
+<p>Its hours of sacred converse have long ago fled. Its honoured family
+have slumbered for ages in their tomb. Bethany&#8217;s Lord has been for
+centuries enthroned amid the glories of a brighter home. But though its
+Memories are all that remain, the place is still fragrant with His
+presence. The echoes of His voice&mdash;words of unearthly sweetness&mdash;still
+linger around it; and have for eighteen hundred years served to cheer
+and encourage many a fainting pilgrim in his upward ascent to the true
+Bethany above!</p>
+
+<p>There, the Redeemer of the world proclaimed a brief but impressive
+Gospel. Heaven and earth seemed then to touch one another. We have the
+tender tones of a <i>Man</i> blended with the ineffable majesty of <i>God</i>.
+Hopes &ldquo;full of immortality&rdquo;
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>
+shine with their celestial rainbow-hues
+amid a shower of holy tears. The cancelling from our Bibles of the 11th
+chapter of St John would be like the blotting out of the brightest
+planet from the spiritual firmament. Each of its magnificent utterances
+has proved like a ministering-angel&mdash;a seraph-messenger bearing its
+live-coal of comfort to the broken, bleeding heart from the holiest
+altar which <span class="smcap">Sympathy</span> (divine and human) ever upreared in a trial-world!
+Many has been the weary footstep and tearful eye that has hastened in
+thought to <span class="smcap">Bethany</span>&mdash;&ldquo;gone to the grave of Lazarus, to weep there.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The town of Mary and her sister Martha,&rdquo; then, furnishes us alike with
+a garnered treasury of Christian solaces, and one of the very loveliest
+of the Bible&#8217;s domestic portraitures. If the story of Joseph and his
+brethren is in the Old Testament invested with surpassing interest, here
+is a Gospel home-scene in the New, of still deeper and tenderer
+pathos&mdash;a picture in which the true Joseph appears as the central
+figure, without any estrangements to mar its beauty. Often at other
+times a drapery of woe hangs over the pathway
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>
+of the Man of Sorrows. But <i>Bethany</i> is bathed in sunshine;&mdash;a sweet
+<i>oasis</i> in his toil-worn pilgrimage. At this quiet abode of congenial spirits
+he seems to have had his main &ldquo;sips at the fountain of human joy,&rdquo; and to have obtained
+a temporary respite from unwearied labour and unmerited enmity. The &ldquo;Lily
+among thorns&rdquo; raised His drooping head in this Eden home! Thither we can
+follow Him from the courts of the Temple&mdash;the busy crowd&mdash;the lengthened
+journey&mdash;the miracles of mercy&mdash;the hours of vain and ineffectual
+pleading with obdurate hearts. We can picture Him as the inmate of a
+peaceful family, spirit blending with spirit in sanctified communion. We
+can mark the tenderness of His holy humanity. We can see how He loved,
+and sympathised, and wept, and rejoiced!</p>
+
+<p>As the tremendous events which signalised the close of His pilgrimage
+drew on, still it is <i>Bethany</i> with which they are mainly associated. It
+was at <i>Bethany</i> the fearful visions of His cross and passion cast their
+shadow on his path! From its quiet palm-trees<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>
+He issued forth on His last
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>
+day&#8217;s journey across Mount Olivet. It was with <i>Bethany</i> in view
+He ascended to heaven. Its soil was the last He trod&mdash;its homes were the
+last on which his eye rested when the cloud received Him up into glory.
+The beams of the Sun of Righteousness seemed as if they loved to linger
+on this consecrated height.</p>
+
+<p>We cannot doubt that many incidents regarding His oft sojournings there
+are left unrecorded. We have more than once, indeed, merely the simple
+announcement in the inspired narrative that He retired from Jerusalem
+all night to the village where His friend Lazarus resided. We dare not
+withdraw more of the veil than the Word of God permits. Let us be
+grateful for what we have of the gracious unfoldings here vouchsafed of
+His inner life&mdash;the comprehensive intermingling of doctrine,
+consolation, comfort, and instruction in righteousness. His Bethany
+sayings are for all time&mdash;they have &ldquo;gone through all the earth&rdquo;&mdash;His
+Bethany words &ldquo;to the end of the world!&rdquo; Like its own alabaster box of
+precious ointment, &ldquo;wheresoever the Gospel is preached,&rdquo; there will
+these be held in grateful memorial.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>
+The traveller in Palestine is to this day shewn, in a sort of secluded
+ravine on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives (about fifteen
+furlongs or two miles from Jerusalem), a cluster of poor cottages,
+numbering little more than twenty families, with groups of palm-trees
+surrounding them, interspersed here and there with the olive, the
+almond, the pomegranate, and the fig.<a name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
+
+<p>This ruined village bears the Arab name of El-Azirezeh&mdash;the Arabic form
+of the name Lazarus&mdash;and at once identifies it with a spot so sacred and
+interesting in Gospel story. It is described by the most recent and
+discerning of Eastern writers as &ldquo;a wild mountain hamlet, screened by an
+intervening ridge from the view of the top of Olivet&mdash;perched on its
+open plateau of rock&mdash;the last collection of human habitations before
+the desert hills that reach to Jericho. ... High in the distance are the
+<span class="tn" title="spelling &lsquo;Perea&rsquo; used elsewhere">Per&aelig;an</span> mountains; the foreground is the deep descent of the mountain
+valley.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_3" id="FNanchor_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>
+&ldquo;The fields around,&rdquo; says another traveller, &ldquo;lie uncultivated, and
+covered with rank grass and wild flowers; but it is easy to imagine the
+deep and still beauty of this spot when it was the home of Lazarus and
+his sisters, Martha and Mary. Defended on the north and west by the
+Mount of Olives, it enjoys a delightful exposure to the southern sun.
+The grounds around are obviously of great fertility, though quite
+neglected; and the prospect to the south-east commands a magnificent
+view of the Dead Sea and the plains of Jordan.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_4" id="FNanchor_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6">&ldquo;On the horizon&#8217;s verge,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The last faint tracing on the blue expanse,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rise Moab&#8217;s summits; and above the rest<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One pinnacle, where, placed by Hand Divine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Israel&#8217;s great leader stood, allow&#8217;d to view,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And but to view, that long-expected land<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He may not now enjoy. Below, dim gleams<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The sea, untenanted by ought that lives,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And Jordan&#8217;s waters thread the plain unseen.<br /></span>
+<hr class="dotted short poem" />
+<span class="i0">Here, hid among her trees, a village clings&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Roof above roof uprising. White the walls,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And whiter still by contrast; and those roofs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Broad sunny platforms, strew&#8217;d with ripening grain.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Some wandering olive or unsocial fig<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">Amid the broken rooks which bound the path<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Snatches scant nurture from the creviced stone.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_5" id="FNanchor_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Before closing these prefatory remarks, the question cannot fail to have
+occurred to the most unobservant reader, why the history of the Family
+of Bethany and the Resurrection of Lazarus, in themselves so replete
+with interest and instruction&mdash;the latter, moreover, forming, as it did,
+so notable a crisis in the Saviour&#8217;s life&mdash;should have been recorded
+only by the Evangelist John. Strange that the other inspired penmen
+should have left altogether unchronicled this touching episode in sacred
+writ. One or other of two reasons&mdash;or both combined&mdash;we may accept as
+the most satisfactory explanation regarding what, after all, must remain
+a difficulty. John alone of the Gospel writers narrates the transactions
+which took place in <i>Judea</i> in connexion with the Saviour&#8217;s public
+ministry,&mdash;the others restricted themselves mainly to the incidents and
+events of His <i>Galilean</i> life and journeys; at all events, till they
+come to the closing scene of all.<a name="FNanchor_6" id="FNanchor_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a>
+There is another reason
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>
+equally probable:&mdash;A wise Christian prudence, and delicate consideration for
+the feelings of the living, may have prevented the other Evangelists giving
+publicity to facts connected with their Lord&#8217;s greatest miracle; a
+premature disclosure of which might have exposed Lazarus and his sisters
+to the violence of the unscrupulous persecutors of the day. They would,
+moreover, (as human feelings are the same in every age,) naturally
+shrink from violating the peculiar sacredness of domestic grief by
+publishing circumstantially its details while the mourners and the
+mourned still lingered at their Bethany home. Well did they know that
+that Holy Spirit at whose dictation they wrote, would not suffer &ldquo;the
+Church of the future&rdquo; to be deprived of so precious a record of divine
+love and power. Hence the sacred task of being the Biographer of Lazarus
+was consigned to their aged survivor.</p>
+
+<p>When the Apostle of Patmos wrote his Gospel, as is supposed in distant
+Ephesus, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were, in all likelihood, reposing in
+their graves. Happily so, too, for ere this the Roman armies were
+encamped almost within
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>
+sight of their old dwelling, and the inhabitants
+of Jerusalem undergoing their unparalleled sufferings.</p>
+
+<p>Add to this, John, of all the Evangelists, was best qualified to do
+justice to this matchless picture. Baptized himself with the spirit of
+love, his inspired pencil could best portray the lights and shadows in
+this lovely and loving household. Pre-eminently like his Lord, he could
+best delineate the scene of all others where the tenderness of that
+tender Saviour shone most conspicuous. He was the disciple who had leant
+on His bosom&mdash;who had been admitted by Him to nearest and most confiding
+fellowship. He would have the Church, to the latest period of time, to
+enjoy the same. He interrupts, therefore, the course of his narrative
+that he may lift the veil which enshrouds the private life of Jesus, and
+exhibit Him in all ages in the endearing attitude and relation of a
+<i>Human Friend</i>. Immanuel is transfigured on this Mount of Love before
+His suffering and glory! The Bethany scene, with its tints of soft and
+mellowed sunlight, forms a pleasing background to the sadder and more
+awful events which crowd the Gospel&#8217;s closing chapters.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_II" id="Chap_II"></a>II.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p011.png" alt="The Home Scene." title="The Home Scene." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>The Home Scene.</h3>
+
+<p>The curtain rises on a quiet Judean village, the sanctuary of three holy
+hearts. Each of the inmates have some strongly-marked traits of
+individual character. These have been so often delicately and truthfully
+drawn that it is the less necessary to dwell minutely upon them here.
+There is abundant material in the narrative to discover to us, in the
+sisters, two characters&mdash;both interesting in themselves, both beloved by
+Jesus, both needful in the Church of God, but at the same time widely
+different, preparing by a diverse education for heaven&mdash;requiring, as we
+shall find, from Him who best knew their diversity, a separate and
+peculiar treatment.</p>
+
+<p>Martha, the elder (probably the eldest of the family), has been
+accurately represented as the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>
+type of activity; bustling, energetic,
+impulsive, well qualified to be the head of the household, and to
+grapple with the stern realities and routine of actual life; quick in
+apprehension, strong and vigorous in intellect, anxious to give a reason
+for all she did, and requiring a reason for the conduct of others; a
+useful if not a noble character, combining diligence in business with
+fervency in spirit.</p>
+
+<p>Mary, again, was the type of reflection; calm, meek, devotional,
+contemplative, sensitive in feeling, ill suited to battle with the cares
+and sorrows, the strifes and griefs of an engrossing and encumbering
+world; one of those gentle flowers that pine and bend under the rough
+blasts of life, easily battered down by hail and storm, but as ready to
+raise its drooping leaves under heavenly influences. Her position was at
+her Lord&#8217;s feet, drinking in those living waters which came welling up
+fresh from the great Fountain of life; asking no questions, declining
+all arguments, gentle and submissive, a beautiful impersonation of the
+childlike faith which &ldquo;beareth all things, hopeth all things, believeth
+all things.&rdquo; While her sister can so
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>
+command her feelings as to be able
+to rush forth to meet her Lord outside the village, calm and
+self-possessed, to unbosom to Him all her hopes and fears, and even to
+interrogate Him about death and the resurrection, Mary can only meet Him
+buried in her all-absorbing grief. The crushed leaves of that flower of
+paradise are bathed and saturated with dewy tears. She has not a word of
+remonstrance. Jesus speaks to Martha&mdash;chides her&mdash;reasons with her; with
+Mary, He knew that the heart was too full, the wound too deep, to bear
+the probing of word or argument; He speaks, therefore, in the touching
+pathos of her own silent grief. Her melting emotion has its response in
+His own. In one word, Martha was one of those meteor spirits rushing to
+and fro amid the ceaseless activities of life, softened and saddened,
+but not prostrated and crushed by the sudden inroads of sorrow. Mary,
+again, we think of as one of those angel forms which now and then seem
+to walk the earth from the spirit-land; a quiet evening star, shedding
+its mellowed radiance among deepening twilight shadows, as if her home
+was in a brighter sphere, and her choice, as we know it was, &ldquo;a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>
+better part, that never could be taken from her.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_7" id="FNanchor_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>
+Beautifully and delicately has a Christian poet thus drawn her loving
+character:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Oh, blest beyond all daughters of the East!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">What were the Orient thrones to that low seat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where thy hush&#8217;d spirit drew celestial birth!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Mary! meek listener at the Saviour&#8217;s feet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">No feverish cares to that divine retreat<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thy woman&#8217;s heart of silent worship brought,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But a fresh childhood, heavenly truth to meet<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With love and wonder and submissive thought.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Oh! for the holy quiet of thy breast,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Midst the world&#8217;s eager tones and footsteps flying,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thou whose calm soul was like a well-spring, lying<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">So deep and still in its transparent rest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That e&#8217;en when noontide burns upon the hills,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Some one bright solemn star all its lone mirror fills.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Of Lazarus, around whom the main interest of the narrative gathers, we
+have fewer incidental touches to guide us in giving individuality to his
+character. This, however, we may infer, from the poignant sorrow of the
+twin hearts that were so unexpectedly broken, that he was a loved and
+lamented only brother, a sacred prop around which their tenderest
+affections were entwined. Included
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>
+too, as he was, in the love which
+the Divine Saviour bore to the household (for &ldquo;Jesus loved Lazarus&rdquo;), is
+it presumptuous to imagine that his spirit had been cast into much the
+same human mould as that of his beloved Lord, and that the friendship of
+Jesus for him had been formed on the same principles on which
+friendships are formed still&mdash;a similarity of disposition, some mental
+and moral resemblances and idiosyncrasies? They were like-minded, so far
+as a fallible nature and the nature of a stainless humanity <i>could</i> be
+assimilated. We can think of him as gentle, retiring, amiable,
+forgiving, heavenly-minded; an imperfect and shadowy, it may be, but
+still a faithful reflection and transcript of incarnate loveliness. May
+we not venture to use regarding him his Lord&#8217;s eulogy on another,
+&ldquo;Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Nor must we forget, in this rapid sketch, what a precious unfolding we
+have in this home portraiture of the humanity of the Saviour! &ldquo;<i>The Man</i>
+Christ Jesus&rdquo; stands in softened majesty and tenderness before our view.
+He who had a heart capacious enough to take in all mankind, had yet
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>
+His likings (sinless partialities) for individuals and minds which were more
+than others congenial and kindred with His own. As there are some heart
+sanctuaries where we can more readily rush to bury the tale of our
+sorrows or unburden our perplexities, so had He. &ldquo;Jesus wept!&rdquo;&mdash;this
+speaks of Him as the human Sympathiser. &ldquo;Jesus loved Lazarus&rdquo;&mdash;this
+speaks of Him as the human Friend! He had an ardent affection for all
+His disciples, but even among <i>them</i> there was an inner circle of holier
+attachments&mdash;a Peter, and James, and John; and out of this sacred <i>trio</i>
+again there was one pre-eminently &ldquo;Beloved.&rdquo; So, amid the hallowed
+haunts of Palestine, the homes of Judea, the cities of Galilee, there
+was but <i>one</i> Bethany. It is delightful thus to think of the heart of
+Jesus in all but sin as purely <i>human</i>, identical and identified with
+our own. He was no hermit-spirit dwelling in mysterious solitariness
+apart from His fellows, but open to the charities of life;&mdash;in all His
+refined and hallowed sensibilities &ldquo;made like unto His brethren.&rdquo;
+Friendship is itself a holy thing. The bright intelligences in the upper
+sanctuary know it and experience it. They &ldquo;cry
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>
+one to another.&rdquo; Theirs is no solitary strain&mdash;no isolated existence. Unlike
+the planets in the material firmament, shining distant and apart, they are rather
+clustering constellations, whose gravitation-law is unity and love, this
+binding them to one another, and all to God. Nay&mdash;with reverence we say
+it&mdash;may not the archetype of all friendship be found shadowed forth in
+what is higher still, those mystic and ineffable communings subsisting
+between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a past eternity? We can thus
+regard the friendship of Jesus on earth&mdash;like all ennobled, purified
+affections&mdash;as an emanation from the Divine; a sacred and holy rill,
+flowing direct from the Fountain of infinite love. How our adorable Lord
+in the days of His flesh fondly clung even to hearts that grew faithless
+when fidelity was most needed! What was it but a noble and touching
+tribute to the longings and susceptibilities of His holy soul for human
+friendship, when, on entering the precincts of Gethsemane, He thus
+sought to mitigate the untold sorrows of that awful hour&mdash;&ldquo;Tarry <i>ye</i>
+here and <i>watch</i> with <i>Me</i>!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>
+But to return. Such was the home around which the memories of its
+inmates and our own love to linger.</p>
+
+<p>Mary, Martha, and Lazarus&mdash;all three partakers of the same grace,
+fellow-pilgrims Zionward, and that journey sanctified and hallowed by a
+sacred fellowship with the Lord of pilgrims. The Saviour&#8217;s own precious
+promise seems under that roof of lowly unobtrusive love to receive a
+living fulfilment: &ldquo;Where two or three are gathered together in my name,
+there am I in the midst of them.&rdquo; Though many a gorgeous palace was at
+that era adorning the earth, where was the spot, what the dwelling, half
+so consecrated as this? Solomon had a thousand years before, two miles
+distant, in presence of assembled Israel, uttered the exclamation, &ldquo;But
+will God in very deed dwell with men upon earth?&rdquo; He was now verily
+dwelling! Nor was it under any gorgeous canopy or august temple. He had
+selected Three Human Souls as the shrines He most loved. He had sought
+their holy, heavenly converse as the sweetest incense and costliest
+sacrifice. How or where they first saw Jesus we cannot tell.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>
+They had probably been among the number of those pious Jews who had prayerfully
+waited for the &ldquo;consolation of Israel,&rdquo; and who had lived to see their
+fondest wishes and hopes realised. The Evangelist gives no information
+regarding their previous history. The narrative all at once, with an
+abruptness of surpassing beauty, leaves us in no doubt that the Divine
+Redeemer had been for long a well-known guest in that sunlit home, and
+that, when the calls and duties of His public ministry were suspended,
+many an hour was spent in the enjoyment of its peaceful seclusion.</p>
+
+<p>We can fancy, and no more, these oft happy meetings, when the Pilgrim
+Saviour, weary and worn, was seen descending the rocky footpath of
+Olivet,&mdash;Lazarus or his sisters, from the flat roof of their dwelling,
+or under the spreading fig-tree, eager to catch the first glimpse of His
+approach.</p>
+
+<p>When seated in the house, we may picture their converse: Themes of
+sublime and heavenly import, unchronicled by the inspired penmen, which
+sunk deep into those listening spirits, and nerved two of them for an
+after-hour of unexpected sorrow. If there be bliss in the interchange of communion
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>
+between Christian and Christian, what must it have been to
+have had the presence and fellowship of the Lord Himself! Not seeing
+Him, as <i>we</i> see Him, &ldquo;behind the lattice,&rdquo; but seated underneath His
+shadow, drinking in the living tones of His living voice. These
+&ldquo;children of Zion&rdquo; must, indeed, have been &ldquo;joyful in their King.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>One of these hallowed seasons is that referred to in the 10th of St
+Luke, where Martha the ministering spirit, and Mary the lowly disciple,
+are first introduced to our notice. That visit is conjectured to have
+occurred when Jesus was returning to the country from the Feast of
+Tabernacles. The Bethany circle dreamt not then of their impending
+trial. But, foreseen as it was by Him who knows the end from the
+beginning, may we not well believe one reason (the main reason) for His
+going thither was to soothe them in the prospect of a saddened home? So
+that, when the stroke <i>did</i> descend, they might be cheered and consoled
+with the remembrances of His visit, and of the gracious words which
+proceeded out of His mouth.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>
+And is not this still the way Jesus deals with His people? He visits
+them often by some precious love-tokens&mdash;some special manifestations of
+His grace and presence before the hour of trial. So that, when that hour
+does come, they may not be altogether prostrated or overwhelmed with it.
+Like Elijah of old, they have their miraculous food provided before they
+encounter the sterile desert. When they come to speak of their crushed
+hearts, they have solaces to tell of too. Their language is, &ldquo;I will
+sing of <i>mercy</i> and <i>judgment</i>!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="break">We may be led to inquire why a character so lovely as that of Lazarus
+was not enlisted along with the other disciples in the active service of
+the Apostleship. Why should Peter and Andrew, John and James, be
+summoned from their boats and nets on Gennesaret to follow Jesus, and
+this other, imbued with the same spirit and honoured with the same
+regard, be left alone and undisturbed in his village home?</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;To every man there is a work.&rdquo; Some are more peculiarly called to
+active duty, and better fitted for it; others for passive obedience and suffering.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>
+Some are selected as bold standard-bearers of the cross,
+others to give their testimony in the quiet seclusion of domestic life.
+Some are specially gifted, as Paul, to appear in the halls of Nero or on
+the heights of Mars&#8217; Hill, and, confronting face to face the world&#8217;s
+boasted wisdom, maintain intact the honour of their Lord. Others are
+required to glorify Him on beds of sickness, or in homes of sorrow, or
+in the holy consistent tenor of their everyday walk. Some are called as
+Levites to temple service; others to give the uncostly cup of cold
+water, or the widow&#8217;s mite; others to manifest the meek, gentle,
+unselfish, resigned, forgiving heart, when there is no cup or mite to
+offer!</p>
+
+<p>Believer! rejoice that your path is marked out for you. Your lot in
+life, with all its &ldquo;accidents,&rdquo; is your Lord&#8217;s appointing. Dream not, in
+your own short-sighted wisdom, that, had you occupied some other or more
+prominent position&mdash;had your talents been greater, or your worldly
+influence more extensive&mdash;you might have glorified your God in a way
+which is at present denied to you. He can be served in the lowliest as
+well as in the most exalted stations. As the tiniest leaf or
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>
+smallest star in the world of nature reflects His glory as well as the giant
+mountain or blazing sun, so does He graciously own and recognise the
+humblest effort of lowly love no less than the most lavish gifts which
+splendid munificence and costly devotion can cast into His treasury. Let
+it be your great aim and ambition to honour Him just in the position He
+has seen meet to assign you. &ldquo;Let every man,&rdquo; says the Apostle, &ldquo;wherein
+he is called, therein abide with God.&rdquo; However limited your sphere, you
+may become a centre of holy influences to the little world around you.
+Your heart may be an incense-altar of love and affection, kindness and
+gentleness to man&mdash;your life a perpetual hymn of praise to your Father
+in Heaven; glorifying Him, like Martha, by active service; like Mary, by
+sitting at His feet; or, like Lazarus, by holy living and happy dying,
+and leaving behind you &ldquo;the Memory of the Just&rdquo; which is &ldquo;blessed.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_III" id="Chap_III"></a>III.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p024.png" alt="Lessons." title="Lessons." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>Lessons.</h3>
+
+<p>As yet the home of Bethany is all happiness. The burial-ground has been
+untraversed since, probably years before the dust of one, or perhaps
+both parents had been committed to the sepulchre.<a name="FNanchor_8" id="FNanchor_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> Death had long left
+the inmates an unbroken circle. Can it be that the unwelcome intruder is
+so nigh at hand?&mdash;that their now joyous dwelling is so soon to echo to
+the wail of lamentation? We imagine it but lately visited by Jesus. In a
+little while the arrow hath sped; the sacredness of a divine friendship
+is no guarantee against the incursion of the sleepless foe of human
+happiness. Bethany is a mourning household. The sisters are bowed in the
+agony of their worst bereavement&mdash;the prop of their existence is laid
+low&mdash;&ldquo;<i>Lazarus is dead!</i>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>
+At the very threshold of this touching story, are we not called on to
+pause, and read <i>the uncertainty of earth&#8217;s best joys and purest
+happiness</i>; that the brightest sunshine is often the precursor of a dark
+cloud. When the gourd is all flourishing, a worm may unseen be preying
+at its root! When the vessel is gliding joyously on the calm sea, the
+treacherous rock may be at hand, and, in one brief hour, it has become a
+shattered wreck!</p>
+
+<p>It is the touching record of the inspired historian in narrating
+Abraham&#8217;s heaviest trial&mdash;&ldquo;After <i>these things</i>, God did tempt Abraham.&rdquo;
+After <i>what</i> things? After a season of rich blessings, gilding a future
+with bright hopes!</p>
+
+<p>Would that, amidst our happy homes, and sunshine hours, and seasons of
+holy and joyous intercourse between friend and friend, we would more
+habitually bear in mind &ldquo;This is not to last!&rdquo; In one brief and
+unsuspected moment Lazarus may be taken. The messenger may now be on the
+wing to lay low some treasured object of earthly solicitude and love.
+God would teach us&mdash;while we are glad of our gourds&mdash;not to be
+&ldquo;exceeding glad;&rdquo; not to nestle here as if we
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>
+were to &ldquo;live alway,&rdquo; but rather, as we are perched on our summer boughs,
+to be ready at His bidding to soar away, and leave behind us what most
+we prize.</p>
+
+<p>It tells us, too, <i>the utter mysteriousness of many of the divine
+dispensations</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Lazarus is dead!</span>&rdquo; What! He, the head, and support, and stay of two
+helpless females? The joy and solace of a common orphanhood,&mdash;a brother
+evidently made and born for their adversities? What! Lazarus, whom Jesus
+tenderly loved? How much, even to his Lord, will be buried in that early
+grave! We may well expect, if there be one homestead in all Palestine
+guarded by the overshadowing wings of angels to debar the entrance of
+death, whose inmates may pillow their heads night after night in the
+confident assurance of immunity from trial, it must surely be that loved
+resort&mdash;that &ldquo;Arbour in His Hill Difficulty,&rdquo; where the God-man
+delighted oft to pause and refresh His wearied body and aching mind.
+Will Omnipotence not have set its mark, as of old, on the door-posts and
+lintels of that consecrated dwelling, so that the destroyer, in going his rounds
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>
+elsewhere, may pass by it unscathed? How, too, can the
+infant Church spare him? The aged Simeon or Anna we dare not wish to
+detain. Burdened with years and infirmities, after having got a glimpse
+of their Lord and Saviour, let them depart in peace, and receive their
+crowns. These decayed trees in the forest&mdash;those to whom old age on
+earth is a burden&mdash;let them bow to the axe, and be transplanted to a
+nobler clime. But one in the vigour of life&mdash;one so beautifully
+combining natural amiability with Christian love&mdash;one who was
+pre-eminently the <i>friend</i> of Jesus, and that <i>word</i> profoundly
+suggestive of all that was lovely in a disciple&#8217;s character. Death may
+visit other homes in that sequestered village, and spread desolation in
+other hearts, but surely the Church&#8217;s Lord will not suffer one of its
+pillars so prematurely to fall!</p>
+
+<p>And yet it is even so! The mysterious summons has come!&mdash;the most
+honoured home on earth has been rudely rifled!&mdash;the most loving of
+hearts have been cruelly torn; and inscrutable is the dealing, for
+&ldquo;<i>Lazarus is dead</i>!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;He, the young and strong, who cherish&#8217;d<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Noble longings for the strife,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By the roadside fell, and perish&#8217;d<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">On the threshold march of life.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>And worse, too, than all, &ldquo;the Lord is absent.&rdquo; Why is Omniscience
+tarrying elsewhere, when His presence and power are above all needed at
+the house of His friend?</p>
+
+<p>The disconsolate sisters, in wondering amazement, repeat over and over
+again the exclamation, &ldquo;If Jesus had been here, this our brother had not
+died!&rdquo; &ldquo;Hath He forgotten to be gracious?&rdquo; &ldquo;Surely our way is hid from
+the Lord, our judgment is passed over from our God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Ah! the experience of His people is often still the same. What are many
+of God&#8217;s dispensations?&mdash;a baffling enigma&mdash;all strangeness&mdash;all mystery
+to the eye of sense. <i>Useless</i> lives prolonged, <i>useful</i> ones taken! The
+honoured minister of God struck down, the unfaithful watchman spared!
+The philanthropic and benevolent have an arrest put on their manifold
+deeds of kindness and generosity; the grasping, the avaricious, the
+mean-souled&mdash;those who neither fear God nor do good to man, are suffered
+to live on from day
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>
+to day! What is it but the picture here presented eighteen hundred years
+ago&mdash;<i>Judas</i> spared to be a <i>traitor to his Lord</i>,
+while&mdash;<i>Lazarus is dead</i>!</p>
+
+<p>But let us be still! The Saviour, indeed, does not now lead us forth,
+amid the scene of our trial, as He did the bereft sisters, to unravel
+the mysteries of His providence, and to shew glory to God, redounding
+from the darkest of His dispensations. To <i>us</i> the grand sequel is
+reserved for eternity. The grand development of the divine plan will not
+be fully accomplished till <i>then</i>; faith must meanwhile rest satisfied
+with what is baffling to sight and sense. This whole narrative is
+designed to teach the lesson that there is an undeveloped future in all
+God&#8217;s dealings. There is an unseen &ldquo;why and wherefore&rdquo; which cannot be
+answered here. Our befitting attitude and language <i>now</i> is that of
+simple confidingness&mdash;&ldquo;Shall not the Judge of all the earth do
+right?&rdquo;&mdash;Listening to one of these Bethany sayings (we shall by and by
+consider), whose meaning will be interpreted in a brighter world by Him who
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>
+uttered it in the days of His flesh&mdash;&ldquo;Said I not unto thee, that if
+thou wouldest <i>believe</i> thou shouldest <i>see</i> the glory of God?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;O thou who mournest on thy way,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With longings for the close of day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He walks with thee, that Angel kind,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And gently whispers&mdash;&lsquo;Be resign&#8217;d;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Bear up&mdash;bear on&mdash;the end shall tell,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The dear Lord ordereth all things well.&rsquo;&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Our duty, meanwhile, is that of children, simply to trust the
+faithfulness of a God whose footsteps of love we often fail to trace.
+All will be seen at last to have been not only <i>for</i> the best, but
+really <i>the best</i>. Dark clouds will be fringed with mercy. What we call
+now &ldquo;baffling dispensations,&rdquo; will be seen to be wondrous parts of a
+great connected whole,&mdash;the wheel within wheel of that complex
+machinery, by which &ldquo;all things&rdquo; (yes, <span class="smcap">all</span> things) are now working
+together for good.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Lazarus is dead!&rdquo; The choicest tree in the earthly Eden has succumbed
+to the blast. The choicest cup has been dashed to the ground. Some great
+lights in the moral firmament have been extinguished. But God can do without human
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>
+agency. His Church can be preserved, though no Moses be
+spared to conduct Israel over Jordan, and no Lazarus to tell the story
+of his Saviour&#8217;s grace and love, when other disciples have forsaken Him
+and fled.</p>
+
+<p>We may be calling, in our blind unbelief, as we point to some ruined
+fabric of earthly bliss&mdash;some tomb which has become the grave of our
+fondest affections and dearest hopes&mdash;&ldquo;Shall the dust praise thee, shall
+<i>it</i> declare thy truth?&rdquo; <i>Believe! believe!</i> God will not give us back
+our dead as He did to the Bethany sisters; but He will not deprive us of
+aught we have, or suffer one garnered treasure to be removed, except for
+His own glory and our good. <i>Now</i> it is our province to <i>believe</i> it&mdash;in
+<i>Heaven</i> we shall <i>see</i> it. Before the sapphire throne we shall <i>see</i>
+that not one redundant thorn has been suffered to pierce our feet, or
+one needless sorrow to visit our dwelling, or tear to dim our eye. Then
+our acknowledgment will be, &ldquo;We have <i>known</i> and <i>believed</i> the love
+which God hath to us.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Oh, weep not though the beautiful decay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thy heart must have its autumn&mdash;its pale skies<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">Leading mayhap to winter&#8217;s cold dismay.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Yet doubt not. Beauty doth not pass away;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His form departs not, though his body dies.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Secure beneath the earth the snowdrop lies,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Waiting the spring&#8217;s young resurrection-day.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_9" id="FNanchor_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Be it ours to have Jesus <i>with</i> us, and Jesus <i>for</i> us, in all our
+afflictions. If we wish to insure these mighty solaces, we must not
+suffer the hour of sorrow and bereavement to overtake us with a Saviour
+till <i>then</i> a stranger and unknown. St Luke tells us the secret of
+Mary&#8217;s faith and composure at her loved one&#8217;s grave:&mdash;<i>She had, long
+before her day of trial, learned to sit at her Redeemer&#8217;s feet. It was
+when in health Jesus was first resorted to and loved</i>.</p>
+
+<p>In prosperity may our homes and hearts be gladdened with His footstep;
+and when prosperity is withdrawn, and is succeeded by the dark and
+cloudy day, may we know, like Martha and Mary, where to rush in our
+seasons of bitter sorrow; listening from His glorified lips on the
+throne to those same exalted themes of consolation which, for eighteen
+hundred years, have to myriad, myriad mourners been like oil thrown on the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>
+troubled sea. Jesus is with us! The Master is come! His presence
+will extract sorrow from the bitterest cup, and make, as He did at
+Bethany, a very home of bereavement and a burial scene to be &ldquo;hallowed
+ground!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_IV" id="Chap_IV"></a>IV.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p034.png" alt="The Messenger." title="The Messenger." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>The Messenger.</h3>
+
+<p>Is the absent Saviour not to be sought? Martha and Mary knew the
+direction He had taken. The last time He had visited their home was at
+the Feast of Dedication, during the season of winter, when the
+palm-trees were bared of their leaves, and the voice of the turtle was
+silent. Jesus, on that occasion, had to escape the vengeance of the Jews
+in Jerusalem by a temporary retirement to the place where John first
+baptized, near Enon, on the wooded banks of the Jordan. It must have
+been to Him a spot and season of calm and grateful repose; a pleasing
+transition from the rude hatred and heartless formalism which met Him in
+the degenerate &ldquo;City of Solemnities.&rdquo; The savour of the Baptist&#8217;s name
+and spirit seemed to linger around this sequestered region.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>
+John had evidently prepared, by his faithful ministry, the way for a
+mightier Preacher, for we read, as the result of the Saviour&#8217;s present
+sojourn, that &ldquo;many believed on him there.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>If we visit with hallowed emotion the places where first we learned to
+love the Lord, to two at least of those who accompanied the Redeemer,
+the region He now traversed must have been full of fragrant memories;
+<i>there</i> it was that Jesus had been first pointed out to them as the
+&ldquo;Lamb of God;&rdquo; <i>there</i> they first &ldquo;beheld His glory, the glory as of the
+only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth.&rdquo; (John i. 28.)</p>
+
+<p>On His way thither, on the present occasion, He most probably passed
+through Bethany, and apprised His friends of His temporary absence.
+Lazarus was then in his wonted vigour&mdash;no shadow of death had yet passed
+over his brow; he doubtless parted with the Lord he loved happy at the
+thought of ere long meeting again.</p>
+
+<p>But soon all is changed. The hand of sickness unexpectedly lays him low.
+At first there is no cause for anxiety. But soon the herald-symptoms of
+danger and death gather fast and thick around
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>
+his pillow; &ldquo;his beauty consumes away like a moth.&rdquo; The terrible possibility
+for the first time flashes across the minds of the sisters, of a desolate
+home, and of themselves being the desolate survivors of a loved brother.
+The joyous dream of restoration becomes fainter and fainter. Human remedies
+are hopeless. There was <i>One</i>, and <i>only</i>
+<span class="smcap">One</span>, in the wide world who could
+save from impending death. His word, they knew, could alone summon
+lustre to that eye, and bloom to that wan and fading cheek. Fifty long
+miles intervene between the great Physician and their cottage home. But
+they cannot hesitate. Some kind and compassionate neighbour is soon
+found ready to hasten along the Jericho road with the brief but urgent
+message, &ldquo;<i>Lord! behold he whom thou lovest is sick.</i>&rdquo; If it only reach
+in time, they know that no more is needed. They even indulge the
+expectation that their messenger may be anticipated by the Lord Himself
+appearing. Others might doubt His omniscience, but they knew its
+reality. They had the blessed conviction, that while they were seated in
+burning tears by that couch of sickness, there was a sympathising Being
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>
+far away marking every heart-throb of His suffering friend. Even when
+the stern human conviction of &ldquo;no hope&rdquo; was pressing upon them, &ldquo;hoping
+against hope,&rdquo; they must have felt confident that He would not suffer
+His faithfulness now to fail. He had often proved Himself a Brother and
+Friend in the hour of <i>joy</i>. <i>Could</i> He fail&mdash;<i>can</i> He fail to prove
+Himself now a &ldquo;Brother born for <i>adversity</i>?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Although, however, thus convinced that the tale of their sorrows was
+known to Jesus, <i>a messenger is sent</i>,&mdash;<i>the means are employed</i>! They
+act as though He knew it <i>not</i>; as if that omniscient Saviour had been
+all unconscious of these hours of prolonged and anxious agony!</p>
+
+<p>What a lesson is there here for <i>us</i>! God is acquainted with our every
+trouble; He knows (far better than we know ourselves) every pang we
+heave, every tear we weep, every perplexing path we tread; but the knee
+must be bent, the message must be taken, the prayer must ascend! It is
+His own appointed method,&mdash;His own consecrated medium for obtaining
+blessings. Jesus <i>may</i> have gone, and probably <i>would</i> have gone to
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>
+restore His friend, even though no such messenger had reached Him: We
+dare not limit the grace and dealings of God: He is often (blessed be
+His name for it!) &ldquo;found of them that sought Him not.&rdquo; But He loves such
+messages as this. He loves the confiding, childlike trust of His own
+people, who delight in the hour of their extremity to cast their burdens
+upon Him, and send the winged herald of prayer to the throne of grace on
+which He sits.</p>
+
+<p>Would that we valued, more than we do, this blessed link of
+communication between our souls and Heaven! More especially in our
+seasons of trouble, (when &ldquo;vain is the help of man,&rdquo;) happy for us to be
+able implicitly to rest in the ability and willingness of a gracious
+Redeemer.</p>
+
+<p>Prayer brings the soul near to Jesus, and fetches Jesus near to the
+soul. He may linger, as He did now at the Jordan, ere the answer be
+vouchsafed, but it is for some wise reason; and even if the answer given
+be not in accordance with our pre-conceived wishes or anxious desires,
+yet how comforting to have put our case and all its perplexities in His
+hand, saying, &ldquo;I am oppressed;
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>
+undertake Thou for me! To Thee I unburden and unbosom my sorrows. I shall
+be satisfied whether my cup be filled or emptied. Do to me as seemeth
+good in Thy sight. He whom I love and whom <span class="smcap">Thou</span>
+lovest is sick; the Lazarus of my earthly hopes and
+affections is hovering on the brink of death. That levelling blow, if
+consummated, will sweep down in a moment all my hopes of earthly
+happiness and joy. But it is my privilege to confide my trouble to Thee;
+to know that I have surrendered myself and all that concerns me into the
+hand of Him who &lsquo;considers my soul in adversity.&rsquo; Yes; and should my
+schemes be crossed, and my fondest hopes baffled, I will feel, even in
+apparently <i>unanswered</i> prayers, that the Judge of all the earth has
+done right!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It is said,&rdquo; says Rutherford, speaking of the Saviour&#8217;s delay in
+responding to the request of the Syrophenician woman; &ldquo;It is said He
+<i>answered</i> not a word, but it is not said He <i>heard</i> not a word. These
+two differ much. Christ often heareth when He doth not answer. His not
+answering is an answer, and speaks thus:
+&lsquo;Pray on, go on and cry, for the Lord holdeth His door fast
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>
+bolted not to keep you out, but that you may knock and knock.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;God delays to answer prayer,&rdquo; says Archbishop Usher, &ldquo;because he would
+have more of it. If the musicians come to play at our doors or our
+windows, if we delight not in their music, we throw them out money
+presently that they may be gone. But if the music please us, we forbear
+to give them money, because we would keep them longer to enjoy their
+music. So the Lord loves and delights in the sweet words of His
+children, and therefore puts them off and answers them not presently.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Observe still further, in the case of these sorrowing sisters of
+Bethany, while in all haste and urgency they send their messenger, they
+do not ask Jesus to come&mdash;they dictate no procedure&mdash;they venture on no
+positive request&mdash;all is left to Himself. What a lesson also is there
+here to confide in His wisdom, to feel that His way and His will must be
+the best&mdash;that our befitting attitude is to lie passive at His feet&mdash;to
+wait His righteous disposal of us and ours&mdash;to make this the burden of
+our petition, &ldquo;Lord, what wouldst <i>Thou</i> have
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>
+me to do?&rdquo; &ldquo;If it be possible let this cup pass from me, <i>nevertheless</i>,
+not as <i>I</i> will, but as <i>Thou wilt</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Reader! invite to your gates this celestial messenger. Make prayer a
+holy habit&mdash;a cherished privilege. Seek to be ever maintaining
+intercommunion with Jesus; consecrating life&#8217;s common duties with His
+favour and love. Day by day ere you take your flight into the world,
+night by night when you return from its soiling contacts, bathe your
+drooping plumes in this refreshing fountain. Let prayer sweeten
+prosperity and hallow adversity. Seek to know the unutterable
+blessedness of habitual filial nearness to your Father in heaven&mdash;in
+childlike confidence unbosoming to Him those heart-sorrows with which no
+earthly friend can sympathise, and with which a stranger cannot
+intermeddle. No trouble is too trifling to confide to His ear&mdash;no want
+too trivial to bear to His mercy-seat.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Prayer is appointed to convey<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The blessings He designs to give;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Long as they live should Christians pray,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For only while they pray, they live.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_V" id="Chap_V"></a>V.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p042.png" alt="The Message." title="The Message." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>The Message.</h3>
+
+<p>The messenger has reached&mdash;what is his message? It is a brief, but a
+beautiful one. &ldquo;<i>Lord, behold he whom Thou lovest is sick.</i>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>No laboured eulogium&mdash;no lengthened panegyric could have described more
+significantly the character of the dying villager of Bethany. Four
+mystic words invest his name with a sacred loveliness. By one stroke of
+his pen the Apostle unfolds a heart-history; so that we desiderate no
+more&mdash;more would almost spoil the touching simplicity&mdash;&ldquo;<i>He whom Thou
+lovest!</i>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>We might think at first the words are inverted. Can the messenger have
+mistaken them? Is it not more likely the message of the sisters was
+this:&mdash;&ldquo;Go and tell Him, &lsquo;Lord, he whom <i>we</i> love,&rsquo; or else, &lsquo;he who
+loveth <i>Thee</i> is sick?&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>
+Nay, it is a loftier argument by which they would stir the infinite
+depths of the Fountain of love! They had &ldquo;known and believed the love&rdquo;
+which the Great Redeemer bore to their brother, and they further felt
+assured that &ldquo;loving him at the beginning, He would love him even to the
+end.&rdquo; Their love to Lazarus (tender, unspeakably tender as it was one of
+the loveliest types of human affection)&mdash;was at best an <i>earthly
+love</i>&mdash;finite&mdash;imperfect&mdash;fitful&mdash;changing&mdash;perishable. But the love
+they invoked was undying and everlasting, superior to all
+vacillation&mdash;enduring as eternity.</p>
+
+<p>It is ours &ldquo;to take encouragement in prayer from God only;&rdquo;&mdash;to plead
+nothing of our own&mdash;our poor devotedness, or our unworthy services; they
+are rather arguments for our condemnation;&mdash;but <i>His</i> promises are all
+&ldquo;Yea, and amen.&rdquo; They never fail. His name is &ldquo;a strong tower,&rdquo; running
+into which the righteous are safe. That tower is garrisoned and
+bulwarked by the attributes of His own everlasting nature. Among these
+attributes not the least glorious is His <i>Love</i>&mdash;<i>that</i> unfathomable
+love which dwelt in His bosom from all
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>
+eternity, and which is immutably pledged never to be taken from His people!</p>
+
+<p>Man&#8217;s love to his God is like the changing sand&mdash;<i>His</i> is like the solid
+rock. Man&#8217;s love is like the passing meteor with its fitful gleam. <i>His</i>
+like the fixed stars, shining far above, clear and serene, from age to
+age, in their own changeless firmament.</p>
+
+<p>Do we know anything of the words of this message? Could it be written on
+our hearts in life? Were we to die, could it be inscribed on our tombs,
+&ldquo;This is one whom <i>Jesus loved</i>?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Happy assurance! The pure spirits who bend before the throne know no
+happier. The archangels&mdash;the chieftains among principalities and powers,
+can claim no higher privilege, no loftier badge of glory!</p>
+
+<p>Love is the atmosphere they breathe. It is the grand moral law of
+gravitation in the heavenly economy. God, the central sun of light, and
+joy, and glory, keeping by this great motive principle every spiritual
+planet in its orbit, &ldquo;for <i>God is love</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>That love is not confined to heaven. It may be foretasted here. The sick
+man of Bethany
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>
+knew of it, and exulted in it. Though in the moment of
+dissolution he had to mourn the personal absence of his Lord, yet
+&ldquo;believing&rdquo; in that love, he &ldquo;rejoiced with joy unspeakable and full of
+glory.&rdquo; His sisters, as they stood in sorrowing emotion by his dying
+couch, and thought of that hallowed fraternal bond which was about so
+soon to be dissolved, could triumph in the thought of an affection
+nobler and better which knit him and them to the Brother of
+brothers&mdash;and which, unlike any earthly tie, was indissoluble.</p>
+
+<p>And what was experienced in that lowly Bethany home, may be experienced
+by us.</p>
+
+<p>That love in its wondrous manifestation is confined to no limits, no
+age, no peculiar circumstances. Many a Lazarus, pining in want, who can
+claim no heritage but poverty, no home but cottage walls, or who,
+stretched on a bed of protracted sickness, is heard saying in the
+morning, &ldquo;Would God it were evening! and in the evening, Would God it
+were morning!&rdquo; if he have that love reigning in his heart, he has a
+possession outweighing the wealth of worlds!</p>
+
+<p>What a message, too, of consolation is here to
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>
+the <i>sick</i>! How often
+are those chained down year after year to some aching pillow, worn,
+weary, shattered in body, depressed in spirit,&mdash;how apt are they to
+indulge in the sorrowful thought, &ldquo;Surely God cannot care for <i>me</i>!&rdquo;
+What! Jesus think of this wasted frame&mdash;these throbbing temples&mdash;these
+powerless limbs&mdash;this decaying mind! I feel like a wreck on the desert
+shore&mdash;beyond the reach of His glance&mdash;beneath the notice of His pitying
+eye! Nay, thou poor desponding one, He <i>does</i> cherish, He <i>does</i>
+remember thee!&mdash;&ldquo;Lord, <i>he whom Thou lovest</i> is sick.&rdquo; Let this
+motto-verse be inscribed on thy Bethany chamber. The Lord <i>loves</i> His
+sick ones, and He often chastens them with sickness, just <i>because</i> He
+loves them. If these pages be now traced by some dim eyes that have been
+for long most familiar with the sickly glow of the night-lamp&mdash;the weary
+vigils of pain and languor and disease&mdash;an exile from a busy world, or a
+still more unwilling alien from the holy services of the sanctuary&mdash;oh!
+think of Him who <i>loves</i> thee, who loved thee <i>into</i> this sickness, and
+will love thee <i>through</i> it, till thou standest in that unsuffering,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>
+unsorrowing world, where sickness is unknown! Think of Lazarus in <i>his</i>
+chamber, and the plea of the sisters in behalf of their prostrate
+brother, &ldquo;Lord, come to the sick one, <i>whom Thou lovest</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Believe it, the very continuance of this sickness is a pledge of His
+love. You may be often tempted to say with Gideon, &ldquo;If the Lord be with
+me, why has <i>all</i> this befallen me?&rdquo; Surely if my Lord loved me, He
+would long ere this have hastened to my relief, rebuked this sore
+disease, and raised me up from this bed of languishing? Did you ever
+note, in the 6th verse of this Bethany chapter, the strangely beautiful
+connexion of the word <span class="smcap">therefore</span>? The Evangelist had, in the preceding
+verse, recorded the affection Jesus bore for that honoured family. &ldquo;Now
+Jesus <i>loved</i> Martha and her sister and Lazarus.&rdquo; &ldquo;When He had heard
+<span class="smcap">therefore</span> that he was sick,&rdquo;&mdash;what did He do? &ldquo;Fled on wings of love to
+the succour of His loved friend; hurried in eager haste by the shortest
+route from Bethabara?&rdquo; We expect to hear so, as the natural deduction
+from John&#8217;s premises. How we might think could love give a more truthful
+exponent of its reality than
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>
+hastening instantaneously to the relief of
+one so dear to Him? But not so! &ldquo;When He had heard <span class="smcap">therefore</span> that he was
+sick, <i>He abode two days still in the same place where He was</i>!&rdquo; Yes,
+there is <i>tarrying</i> love as well as <i>succouring</i> love. He <i>sent</i> that
+sickness because He loves thee; He <i>continues</i> it because He loves thee.
+He heaps fresh fuel on the furnace-fires till the gold is refined. He
+appoints, not one, but &ldquo;many days where neither sun nor stars appear,
+and no small tempest lies on us,&rdquo; that the ship may be lightened, and
+faith exercised; our bark hastened by these rough blasts nearer shore,
+and the Lord glorified, who rules the raging of the sea. &ldquo;We expect,&rdquo;
+says Evans, &ldquo;the blessing or relief in <i>our</i> way; He chooses to bestow
+it in <i>His</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Reader! let this ever be your highest ambition, to love and to be loved
+of Jesus. If we are covetous to have the regard and esteem of the great
+and good on earth, what is it to share the fellowship and kindness of
+Him, in comparison with whose love the purest earthly affection is but a
+passing shadow!</p>
+
+<p>Ah! to be without that love, is to be a little
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>
+world ungladdened by its
+central sun, wandering on in its devious pathway of darkness and gloom.
+Earthly things may do well enough when the world is all bright and
+shining&mdash;when prosperity sheds its bewitching gleam around you, and no
+symptoms of the cloudy and dark day are at hand; but the hour is coming
+(it may come soon, it <i>must</i> come at some time) when your Bethany-home
+will be clouded with deepening death-shadows&mdash;when, like Lazarus, you
+will be laid on a dying couch, and what will avail you then? Oh,
+nothing, <i>nothing</i>! if bereft of that love whose smile is heaven. If you
+are left in the agony of desolation to utter importunate pleadings to an
+<i>Unknown Saviour</i>, a <i>Stranger God</i>&mdash;if the dark valley be entered
+uncheered by the thought of a loving Redeemer dispelling its gloom, and
+waiting on the Canaan side to shew you the path of life!</p>
+
+<p>Let the home of your hearts be often open, as was the home of Lazarus,
+to the visits of Jesus in the day of brightness; and <i>then</i>, when the
+hour of sorrow and trial unexpectedly arises, you will know where to
+find your Lord&mdash;where to send your prayer-message for Him to come to
+your relief.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>
+Yes! He <i>will</i> come! It will be in His own way, but His joyous footfall
+<i>will</i> be heard! He is not like Baal, &ldquo;slumbering and sleeping, or
+taking a journey&rdquo; when the voice of importunate prayer ascends from the
+depths of yearning hearts! If, instead of at once hastening back to
+Bethany, He &ldquo;abides still for two days where He was&rdquo;&mdash;if He linger among
+the mountain-glens of distant Gilead, instead of, as we would expect,
+hastening to the cry and succour of cherished friendship, and to ward
+off the dart of the inexorable foe&mdash;be assured there must be a reason
+for this strange procrastination&mdash;there must be an unrevealed cause
+which the future will in due time disclose and unravel. All the
+recollections of the past forbid one unrighteous surmise on His tried
+faithfulness. &ldquo;<i>Now, Jesus loved Lazarus</i>,&rdquo; is a soft pillow on which to
+repose;&mdash;raising the sorrowing spirit above the unkind insinuation, &ldquo;My
+Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>If He linger, it is to try and test the faith of His people. If He let
+loose the storm, and suffer it to sweep with a vengeance apparently
+uncontrolled, it is that these living trees may strike
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>
+their roots firmer and deeper in Himself&mdash;the Rock of eternal ages. Trust
+Him where you cannot trace Him. Not one promise of His can come to nought. The
+channel may have continued long dry&mdash;the streams of Lebanon may have
+failed&mdash;the cloud has been laden, but no shower descends&mdash;the barren
+waste is unwatered&mdash;the windows of heaven seem hopelessly closed. Nay,
+nay! Though &ldquo;the vision tarry,&rdquo; yet if you &ldquo;wait for it&rdquo; the gracious
+assurance will be fulfilled in your experience&mdash;&ldquo;The Lord is good to
+them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him.&rdquo; The fountain of
+love pent up in His heart will in due time gush forth&mdash;the apparently
+unacknowledged prayer will be crowned with a gracious answer. In His own
+good time sweet tones of celestial music will be wafted to your ear&mdash;&ldquo;It
+is the voice of the Beloved!&mdash;lo, He cometh leaping upon the mountains,
+skipping upon the hills!&rdquo; If you are indeed the child of God, as Lazarus
+was, remember this for your comfort in your dying hour, that whether the
+prayers of sorrowing friends for your recovery be answered or no, the
+Lord of love has at least <i>heard</i> them&mdash;the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>
+messenger has not been
+mocked&mdash;the prayer-message has not been spurned or forgotten! I repeat
+it, He <i>will</i> answer, but it will be <i>in His own way</i>! If the
+Bethany-home be ungladdened by Lazarus restored, it will exult through
+tears in the thought of Lazarus glorified. And the Marthas and Marys, as
+they go often unto the grave to weep there, will read, as they weep, in
+the holy memories of the departed, that which will turn tears into
+joy&mdash;&ldquo;<i>Jesus loved him.</i>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_VI" id="Chap_VI"></a>VI.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p053.png" alt="The Sleeper." title="The Sleeper." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>The Sleeper.</h3>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<i>Our friend Lazarus sleepeth.</i>&rdquo;&mdash;The hopes and fears which alternately
+rose and fell in the bosoms of the sisters, like the surges of the
+ocean, are now at rest. Oft and again, we may well believe, had they
+gone, like the mother of Sisera, to the lattice to watch the return of
+the messenger, or, what was better, to hail their expected Lord. Gazing
+on the pale face at their side, and remembering that ere now the tidings
+of his illness must have reached Bethabara, they may have even expected
+to witness the power of a distant <i>word</i>;&mdash;to behold the hues of
+returning health displacing the ghastly symptoms of dissolution. But in
+vain! The curtain has fallen! Their season of aching anxiety is at an
+end. Their worst fears are realised.&mdash;&ldquo;Lazarus sleepeth.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>
+How calm, how tranquil that departure! Never did sun sink so gently in
+its crimson couch&mdash;never did child, nestling in its mother&#8217;s bosom,
+close its eyes more sweetly!</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;His summon&#8217;d breath went forth as peacefully<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As folds the spent rose when the day is done.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Befitting close to a calm and noiseless existence! It would seem as if
+the guardian angels who had been hovering round his death-pillow had
+well-nigh reached the gates of glory ere the sorrowing survivors
+discovered that the clay tabernacle was all that was left of a &ldquo;brother
+beloved!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>From the abrupt manner in which, in the course of the narrative, our
+Lord makes the announcement to His disciples,<a name="FNanchor_10" id="FNanchor_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> we are almost led to
+surmise that He did so at the very moment of the spirit&#8217;s dismissal&mdash;the
+Redeemer speaks while the eyelids are just closing, and the emancipated
+soul is winging its arrowy flight up to the spirit-land!</p>
+
+<p><i>Death</i> a <span class="smcap">Sleep</span>!&mdash;How beautiful the image! Beautifully true, and <i>only</i>
+true regarding the Christian. It is here where the true and the false&mdash;Christianity
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>
+and Paganism&mdash;meet together in impressive and
+significant contrast. The one comes to the dark river with her pale,
+sickly lamp. It refuses to burn&mdash;the damps of Lethe dim and quench it.
+Philosophy tries to discourse on death as a &ldquo;stern necessity&rdquo;&mdash;of the
+duty of passing heroically into this mysterious, oblivion-world&mdash;taking
+with bold heart &ldquo;the leap in the dark,&rdquo; and confronting, as we best can,
+blended images of annihilation and terror.</p>
+
+<p>The Gospel takes us to the tomb, and shews us Death vanquished, and the
+Grave spoiled. Death truly is in itself an unwelcome messenger at our
+door. It is the dark event in this our earth,&mdash;the deepest of the many
+deep shadows of an otherwise fair creation&mdash;a cold, cheerless avalanche
+lying at the heart of humanity, freezing up the gushing fountains of
+joyous life. But the Gospel shines, and the cold iceberg melts. The Sun
+of Righteousness effects what philosophy, with all its boasted power,
+never could. Jesus is the abolisher of Death. He has taken all that is
+terrible from it. It is said of some venomous insects that when they
+once inflict a sting, they
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>
+are deprived of any future power to hurt.
+Death left his envenomed sting in the body of the great victim of
+Calvary. It was thenceforward disarmed of its fearfulness! So complete,
+indeed, is the Redeemer&#8217;s victory over this last enemy, that He Himself
+speaks of it as no longer a reality, but a shadow&mdash;a phantom-foe from
+which we have nothing to dread. &ldquo;Whosoever believeth in Me shall <i>never
+die</i>.&rdquo; &ldquo;If a man keep My sayings, he shall <i>never see death</i>.&rdquo; These are
+an echo of the sweet Psalmist&#8217;s beautiful words, a transcript of his
+expressive figure when he pictures the Dark Valley to the believer as
+the Valley of a &ldquo;<i>shadow</i>.&rdquo; The substance is removed! When the gaunt
+spirit meets him on the midnight waters, he may, like the disciples at
+first, be led to &ldquo;cry out for fear.&rdquo; But a gentle voice of love and
+tenderness rebukes his dread, and calms his misgivings&mdash;&ldquo;It is I! be not
+afraid!&rdquo; Yes, here is the wondrous secret of a calm departure&mdash;the
+&ldquo;sleep&rdquo; of the believer in death. It is the name and presence of <span class="smcap">Jesus</span>.
+There may be many accompaniments of weakness and prostration, pain and
+suffering, in that final conflict; the mind may be a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>
+wreck&mdash;memory may
+have abdicated her seat&mdash;the loving salutation of friends may be
+returned only with vacant looks, and the hand be unable to acknowledge
+the grasp of affection&mdash;but there is strength in that presence, and
+music in that name to dispel every disquieting, anxious thought. Clung
+to as a sheet-anchor in life, He will never leave the soul in the hour
+of dissolution to the mercy of the storm. Amid sinking nature, He is
+faithful that promised&mdash;&ldquo;Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of
+the world.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Thou art with me,&rdquo; says Lady Powerscourt&mdash;&ldquo;this is the
+rainbow of light thrown across the valley, for there is no need of sun
+or moon where covenant-love illumes.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>A Christian&#8217;s death-bed! It is indeed &ldquo;good to be there.&rdquo; The man who
+has not to seek a living Saviour at a dying hour, but who, long having
+known His preciousness, loved His Word, valued His ordinances, sought
+His presence by believing prayer, has now nothing to do but to die (to
+<i>sleep</i>), and wake up in glory everlasting! &ldquo;Oh! that all my brethren,&rdquo;
+were among Rutherford&#8217;s last words, &ldquo;may know what a Master I have served,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>
+and what peace I have this day. This night shall close the
+door, and put my anchor within the veil.&rdquo; &ldquo;This must be the chariot,&rdquo;
+said Helen Plumtre, making use of Elijah&#8217;s translation as descriptive of
+the believer&#8217;s death; &ldquo;This must be the chariot; oh, how easy it is!&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Almost well,&rdquo; said Richard Baxter, when asked on his
+<span class="tn" title="hyphen added for consistency">death-bed</span>
+how he did.</p>
+
+<p>Yes! there is speechless eloquence in such a scene. The figure of a
+quiet slumber is no hyperbole, but a sober verity. As the gentle smile
+of a foretasted heaven is seen playing on the marble lips&mdash;the rays
+gilding the mountain tops after the golden sun has gone down&mdash;what more
+befitting reflection than this, &ldquo;<i>So</i> giveth He His beloved <span class="smcap">sleep</span>!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Sweetly remembering that the parting sigh<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Appoints His saints to slumber, not to die,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The starting tear we check&mdash;we kiss the rod,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And not to earth resign them, but to God.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Or shall we leave the death-chamber and visit the grave? Still it is a
+place of <i>sleep</i>; a bed of rest&mdash;a couch of tranquil repose&mdash;a quiet
+dormitory &ldquo;until the day break,&rdquo; and the night shadows of earth &ldquo;flee
+away.&rdquo; The dust slumbering there
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>
+is precious because redeemed; the
+angels of God have it in custody; they encamp round about it, waiting
+the mandate to &ldquo;gather the elect from the four winds of heaven&mdash;from the
+one end of heaven to the other.&rdquo; Oh, wondrous day, when the long
+dishonoured casket shall be raised a &ldquo;glorified, body&rdquo; to receive once
+more the immortal jewel, polished and made meet for the Master&#8217;s use!
+See how Paul clings, in speaking of this glorious resurrection period,
+to the expressive figure of his Lord before him&mdash;&ldquo;Them also which <span class="smcap">sleep</span>
+in Jesus will God bring with Him!&rdquo; <i>Sleep in Jesus!</i> His saints fall
+asleep on their death-couch in His arms of infinite love. There their
+spirits repose, until the body, &ldquo;sown in corruption&rdquo; shall be &ldquo;raised in
+incorruption,&rdquo; and both reunited in the day of His appearing, become &ldquo;a
+crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand
+of their God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Weeping mourner! Jesus dries thy tears with the encouraging assurance,
+&ldquo;Thy dead shall live; together with My body they shall arise.&rdquo; Let thy
+Lazarus &ldquo;sleep on now and take his rest;&rdquo; the time will come when My
+voice shall be heard proclaiming,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>
+&ldquo;Awake, and sing, ye that dwell in
+dust.&rdquo; &ldquo;The winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers
+appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the
+voice of the turtle is heard in the land. Arise, my love, my fair one,
+and come away.&rdquo; &ldquo;Weep not! he is not dead, but sleepeth. Soon shall the
+day-dawn of glory streak the horizon, and then I shall go that I may
+awake him out of sleep!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Beautifully has it been said, &ldquo;Dense as the gloom is which hangs over
+the mouth of the sepulchre, it is the spot, above all others, where the
+Gospel, if it enters, shines and triumphs. In the busy sphere of life
+and health, it encounters an active antagonist&mdash;the world confronts it,
+aims to obscure its glories, to deny its claims, to drown its voice, to
+dispute its progress, to drive it from the ground it occupies. But from
+the mouth of the grave the world retires; it shrinks from the contest
+there; it leaves a clear and open space in which the Gospel can assert
+its claims and unveil its glories without opposition or fear. There the
+infidel and worldling look anxiously around&mdash;but the world has left them
+helpless, and fled. There
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>
+the Christian looks around, and lo! the angel
+of mercy is standing close by his side. The Gospel kindles a torch which
+not only irradiates the valley of the shadow of death, but throws a
+radiance into the world beyond, and reveals it peopled with the sainted
+spirits of those who have died in Jesus.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Reader! may this calm departure be yours and mine. &ldquo;Blessed are the dead
+which die in the Lord. ... They <span class="smcap">rest</span>.&rdquo; All life&#8217;s turmoil and tossing is
+over; they are anchored in the quiet haven. <i>Rest</i>&mdash;but not the rest of
+annihilation&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Grave! the guardian of our dust;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Grave! the treasury of the skies;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Every atom of thy trust<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Rests in hope again to rise!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Let us seek to have the eye of faith fixed and centred on Jesus <i>now</i>.
+It is <i>that</i> which alone can form a peaceful pillow in a dying hour, and
+enable us to rise superior to all its attendant terrors. Look at that
+scene in the Jehoshaphat valley! The proto-martyr Stephen has a pillow
+of thorns for his dying couch, showers of stones are hurled by
+infuriated murderers on his guiltless head, yet, nevertheless, he &ldquo;fell
+asleep.&rdquo; What
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>
+was the secret of that calmest of sunsets amid a
+blood-stained and storm-wreathed sky? The eye of faith (if not of sight)
+pierced through those clouds of darkness. Far above the courts of the
+material temple at whose base he lay, he beheld, in the midst of the
+general assembly and Church of the First-born of Heaven, &ldquo;<span class="smcap">Jesus</span> standing
+at the right hand of God.&rdquo; The vision of his Lord was like a celestial
+lullaby stealing from the inner sanctuary. With <i>Jesus</i>, his last sight
+on earth and his next in glory, he could &ldquo;lay him down in peace and
+sleep,&rdquo; saying, in the words of the sweet singer of Israel, &ldquo;What time I
+awake I am still with Thee.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;It matters little at what hour o&#8217; the day<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The righteous falls asleep. Death cannot come<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To him untimely who is fit to die.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The less of this cold world the more of heaven;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The briefer life, the earlier immortality.&rdquo;&mdash;<span class="smcap">Milman</span>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Our friend Lazarus sleepeth.&rdquo; This tells us that Christ forgets not the
+dead. The dead often bury their dead, and remember them no more. The
+name of their silent homes has passed into a proverb, &ldquo;The land of
+forgetfulness.&rdquo; But
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>
+they are not forgotten by Jesus. That which sunders
+and dislocates all other ties&mdash;wrenching brother from brother, sister
+from sister, friend from friend&mdash;cannot sunder us from the living,
+loving heart on the throne of heaven. His is a friendship and love
+stronger than death, and surviving death. While the language of earth is</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Friend after friend departs&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who hath not lost a friend?&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>the emancipated spirit, as it wings its magnificent flight among the
+ministering seraphim, can utter the challenge, &ldquo;Who shall separate me
+from the love of Christ?&rdquo; The righteous are had with Him &ldquo;in everlasting
+remembrance.&rdquo; Their names &ldquo;written among the living in Jerusalem;&rdquo; yea,
+&ldquo;engraven on the palms of His hands.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>One other thought.&mdash;Jesus had at first kindly and considerately
+disguised from His disciples the stern truth of Lazarus&#8217; departure. &ldquo;Our
+friend sleepeth.&rdquo; &ldquo;They thought that He had spoken of taking of rest in
+sleep.&rdquo; They understood it as the indication of the crisis-hour in
+sickness when the disease has spent itself, and is succeeded by a balmy
+slumber&mdash;the presage of returning health;
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>
+but now He says unto them
+plainly, &ldquo;Lazarus is dead.&rdquo; How gently He thus breaks the sad
+intelligence! And it is His method of dealing still. He <i>prepares</i> His
+people for their hours of trial. He does not lay upon them more than
+they are able to bear. He considers their case&mdash;He teaches by slow and
+gradual discipline, leading on step by step; staying His rough wind in
+the day of His east wind. As the Good Physician, He metes out drop by
+drop in the bitter cup&mdash;as the Good Shepherd, His is not rough driving,
+but gentle guiding from pasture to pasture. &ldquo;He leadeth them out;&rdquo; &ldquo;He
+goeth before them.&rdquo; He is Himself their sheltering rock in the &ldquo;dark and
+cloudy day.&rdquo; The sheep who are inured to the hardships of the mountain,
+He leaves at times to wrestle with the storm; but &ldquo;the <i>lambs</i>&rdquo; (the
+young, the faint, the weak, the weary) &ldquo;He gathers in His arms and
+carries in His bosom.&rdquo; He speaks in gentle whispers. He uses the
+pleasing symbol of quiet slumber before He speaks plainly out the
+mournful reality, &ldquo;Lazarus is dead.&rdquo; Truly &ldquo;He knoweth our frame&mdash;He
+remembereth that we are dust.&rdquo; &ldquo;Like as a father pitieth his
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>
+children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But let us resume our narrative, and follow the journey of the dead
+man&#8217;s &ldquo;Friend.&rdquo; It is a mighty task He has undertaken; to storm the
+strong enemy in his own citadel, and roll back the barred gates! In
+mingled majesty and tenderness He hastens to the bereft and desolate
+home on this mission of power and love. We left the sisters wondering at
+His mysterious delay. Again and again had they imagined that at last
+they heard His tardy step, or listened to His hand on the latch, or to
+the loving music of His longed-for voice. But they are mistaken; it was
+only the beating of the vine-tendrils on the lattice, or the footfall of
+the passer by. The Lord is still absent! Their earnest and importunate
+heart-breathings are expressed by the Psalmist&mdash;&ldquo;O Lord our God, early
+do we seek Thee: our soul thirsteth for Thee, our flesh longeth for Thee
+in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see Thy power and Thy
+glory, as we <i>have</i> seen Thee.&rdquo; Be still, afflicted ones! He is coming.
+He will, however, let the cup of anguish be first filled to
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>
+the brim that He may manifest and magnify all the more the might of His
+omnipotence, and the marvels of His compassion. The thirsty land is
+about to become streams of water. The sky is at its darkest, when, lo!
+the rainbow of love is seen spanning the firmament, and a shower of
+blessings is about to fall on the &ldquo;<i>Home of Bethany</i>!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_VII" id="Chap_VII"></a>VII.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p067.png" alt="Lights and Shadows." title="Lights and Shadows." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>Lights and Shadows.</h3>
+
+<p>The sounds of lamentation had now been heard for four days in the
+desolate household.</p>
+
+<p>In accordance with general wont, the friends and relatives of the
+deceased had assembled to pay their tribute of respect to the memory of
+a revered friend, and to solace the hearts of the disconsolate
+survivors. They needed all the sympathy they received. It was now the
+dull dead calm after the torture of the storm, the leaden sea strewn
+with wrecks, enabling them to realise more fully the extent of their
+loss. Amid the lulls of the tempest, while Lazarus yet lived, hope
+shrunk from entertaining gloomy apprehensions. But now that the storm
+has spent its fury, now that the worst has come, the future rises up
+before them crowded with ten thousand images
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>
+of desolation and sorrow.
+The void in their household is daily more and more felt. All the past
+bright memories of Bethany seem to be buried in a yawning grave.</p>
+
+<p>We may picture the scene. The stronger and more resolute spirit of
+Martha striving to stem the tide of overmuch sorrow. The more sensitive
+heart of Mary, bowed under a grief too deep for utterance, able only to
+indicate by her silent tears the unknown depths of her sadness.</p>
+
+<p>Thus are they employed, when Martha, unseen to her sister, has been
+beckoned away. &ldquo;<i>The Master has come.</i>&rdquo; But desirous of ascertaining the
+truth of the joyful tidings, ere intruding on the grief of Mary, the
+elder of the survivors rushes forth with trembling emotion to give full
+vent to her sorrow at the feet of the Great Friend of all the
+friendless!<a name="FNanchor_11" id="FNanchor_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p>
+
+<p>He has not yet entered the village. She cannot, however, wait His
+arrival. Leaving home and sepulchre behind, she hastens outside the
+groves of palm at its gate.</p>
+
+<p>It requires no small fortitude in the season of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>
+sore bereavement to
+face an altered world; and, doubtless, passing all alone now through the
+little town, meeting familiar faces wearing sunny smiles which could not
+be returned, must have been a painful effort to this child of sorrow.
+But what will the heart not do to meet such a Comforter? What will
+Martha be unprepared to encounter if the intelligence brought her be
+indeed confirmed? One glance is enough. &ldquo;<i>It is the Lord!</i>&rdquo; In a moment
+she is a suppliant at His feet. Doubt and faith and prayer mingle in the
+exclamation, &ldquo;Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not
+died!&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_12" id="FNanchor_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p>
+
+<p>That she had faith and assured confidence in the love and tenderness of
+Jesus we cannot question. But a momentary feeling of unbelief (shall we
+say, of reproach and upbraiding?) mingled with better emotions. &ldquo;Why,
+Lord,&rdquo; seemed to be the expression of her inner thoughts, &ldquo;wert Thou
+absent? It was unlike Thy kind heart. Thou hast often gladdened our home
+in our season of joy&mdash;why this forgetfulness in the night of our bitter
+agony? Death has torn from us a loved
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>
+brother&mdash;the blow would have been
+spared&mdash;these hearts would have been unbroken&mdash;these burning tears
+unshed, if <i>Thou hadst</i> been here!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Such was the bold&mdash;the <i>unkind</i> reasoning of the mourner. It was the
+reasoning of a finite creature. Ah! if she could but have looked into
+the workings of that infinite Heart she was ungenerously upbraiding, how
+differently would she have broached her tearful suit!</p>
+
+<p><i>Her</i> exclamation is&mdash;&ldquo;Why this <i>unkind</i> absence?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><i>His</i> comment on that <i>same</i> absence to His disciples is <i>this</i>&mdash;&ldquo;I was
+<i>glad</i> for your sakes that I was <i>not</i> there!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>How often are <i>God</i> and <i>man</i> thus in strange antagonism, with regard to
+earthly dispensations! Man, as he arraigns the rectitude of the Divine
+procedure, exclaiming&mdash;&ldquo;How unaccountable this dealing! How baffling
+this mystery! Where is now my God?&rdquo; This sickness&mdash;why prolonged? This
+thorn in the flesh&mdash;why still buffeting? This family blank&mdash;why
+permitted? Why the most treasured and useful life taken&mdash;the blow aimed
+where it cut most severely and levelled lowest?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>
+Hush the secret atheism! This trial, whatever it be, has this grand
+motto written upon it in characters of living light;&mdash;we can read it on
+anguished pillows&mdash;aching hearts&mdash;ay, on the very portals of the
+tomb&mdash;&ldquo;<i>This</i> is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be
+glorified thereby!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>At the very moment we are mourning what are called &ldquo;<i>dark</i>
+providences&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;untoward calamities&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;strokes of
+misfortune&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;unmitigated evils&rdquo;&mdash;Jesus has a different verdict;&mdash;&ldquo;I am
+<i>glad</i> for your sakes.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The absence at Jordan&mdash;the still more unaccountable lingering for two
+days in the same place after the message had been sent, instead of
+hastening direct to Bethany, all was well and wisely ordered. And
+although Martha&#8217;s upbraidings were now received in forbearing silence,
+her Saviour afterwards, in a calmer moment, read the rebuke&mdash;&ldquo;Said I not
+unto thee, if thou wouldst <i>believe</i>, thou shouldst see the glory of
+God?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It is indeed a comforting assurance in all trials, that God has some
+holy and wise end to subserve. He never stirs a ripple on the waters,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>
+but for His own glory, or the good of others. The delay on the present
+occasion, though protracting for a time the sorrows of the bereaved, was
+intended for the benefit of the Church in every age, and for the more
+immediate benefit of the disciples.</p>
+
+<p><i>They</i> were destined in a few brief weeks also to be desolate
+survivors&mdash;to mourn a Brother dearer still! He who had been to them
+Friend&mdash;Father&mdash;Brother, all in one, was to be, like Lazarus, laid
+silent in a Jerusalem sepulchre. The Lord of Life was to be the victim
+of Death! His body was to be transfixed to a malefactor&#8217;s cross, and
+consigned to a lonely grave! He knew the shock that awaited their faith.
+He knew, as this terrible hour drew on, how needful some overpowering
+visible demonstration would be of His mastery over the tomb.</p>
+
+<p><i>Now</i> a befitting opportunity occurred in the case of their friend
+Lazarus to read the needed lesson. &ldquo;I was glad for your sakes, ... to
+the intent ye might believe.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Would that we could feel as believers more than we do&mdash;that the dealings
+of our God are
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>
+for the strengthening of our faith, and the enlivening
+and invigorating of our spiritual graces. Let us seek to accept more
+simply in dark dealings the Saviour&#8217;s explanation, &ldquo;It is for <i>your</i>
+sake!&rdquo; He gives us a blank for our every trial, indorsing it with His
+own gracious word, &ldquo;This, <i>this</i> is for the glory of God, that the Son
+of God may be glorified thereby.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The words of Martha, then, surely teach as their great lesson, never to
+be hasty in our surmises and conclusions regarding God&#8217;s ways.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Lord! <span class="smcap">if</span> Thou <i>hadst</i> been here?&rdquo; Could she question for a moment that
+that loving eye of Omniscience had all the while been scanning that
+sick-chamber&mdash;marking every throb in that fevered brow&mdash;and every tear
+that fell unbidden from the eyes that watched his pillow?</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Lord! <i>if</i> Thou hadst been here?&rdquo; Could she question His ability, had
+He so willed it, to prevent the bereavement altogether&mdash;to put an arrest
+on the hand of death ere the bow was strung?</p>
+
+<p>O faithless disciple, wherefore didst thou doubt? But thou art ere long
+to learn what each of us
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>
+will learn out in eternity, that &ldquo;<i>all</i> things
+are for our sakes, that the abundant grace might, through the
+thanksgiving of many, redound <i>to the glory of God</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="break">But the momentary cloud has passed. Faith breaks through. The murmur of
+upbraiding has died away. He who listens makes allowance for an
+anguished heart. The glance of tender sympathy and gentleness which met
+Martha&#8217;s eye, at once hushes all remains of unbelief. Words of exulting
+confidence immediately succeed. &ldquo;But I know that even now whatsoever
+Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>What is this, but that which every believer exults in to this hour, as
+the sheet-anchor of hope and peace and comfort, when tossed on a
+tempestuous sea&mdash;a gracious confidence in the ability and willingness of
+Christ to save. The Friend of Bethany is still the Friend in Heaven. To
+Him &ldquo;all power has been committed;&rdquo; &ldquo;as a prince He has power with God,
+and must prevail.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Yes, gracious antidote to the spirit in the moment of its trial; when
+bowed down with
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>
+anticipated bereavement; the curtains of death about to
+fall over life&#8217;s brightest joys. How blessed to lay hold on the
+<i>perfect</i> conviction that &ldquo;the Ever-living Intercessor in glory has all
+power to revoke the sentence if He sees meet&rdquo;&mdash;that even <i>now</i> (yes
+<i>now</i>, in a moment) the delegated angel may be sent speeding from his
+throne, to spare the tree marked to fall, and prolong the lease of
+existence!</p>
+
+<p>Let us rejoice in the power of this God-man Mediator, that He is as able
+as He is willing, and as willing as He is able. &ldquo;Him the Father heareth
+always.&rdquo; &ldquo;<i>Father, I will</i>,&rdquo; is His own divine <i>formula</i> for every
+needed boon for His people.</p>
+
+<p>How it ought to make our sick-chambers and death-chambers consecrated to
+prayer! leading us to make our every trial and sorrow a fresh reason for
+going to God. Laying our burden, whatever it may be, on the mercy-seat,
+it will be <i>considered</i> by Him, who is too wise to grant what is better
+to be withdrawn, and too kind to withhold what, without injury to us,
+may be granted.</p>
+
+<p>Let us imitate Martha&#8217;s faith in our approaches
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>
+to Him. Ah, in our dull
+and cold devotions, how little lively apprehension have we of the
+gracious <i>willingness</i> of Christ to listen to our petitions! Standing as
+the great Angel of the Covenant with the golden censer, His hand never
+shortened&mdash;His ear never heavy&mdash;His uplifted arm of intercession never
+faint. No variety bewildering Him&mdash;no importunity wearying Him&mdash;&ldquo;waiting
+to be gracious&rdquo;&mdash;loving the music of the suppliant spirit.</p>
+
+<p>Would that we had ever before us as the superscription of faith written
+on our closet-devotions, and domestic altars, and public sanctuaries,
+<i>whenever</i> and <i>wherever</i> the knee is bent, and the Hearer of prayer is
+invoked&mdash;&ldquo;I <i>know</i> that even <i>now</i> whatsoever <i>Thou</i> wilt ask of God,
+God will give it Thee.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_VIII" id="Chap_VIII"></a>VIII.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p077.png" alt="The Mourner&#8217;s Comfort." title="The Mourner&#8217;s Comfort." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>The Mourner&#8217;s Comfort.</h3>
+
+<p>Martha&#8217;s tearful utterances are now met with an exalted solace.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<i>Thy brother shall rise again.</i>&rdquo; It is the first time her Lord has
+spoken. She now once more hears those well-remembered tones which were
+last listened to, when life was all bright, and her home all happy.</p>
+
+<p>It is the self-same consolation which steals still, like celestial
+music, to the smitten heart, when every chord of earthly gladness ceases
+to vibrate. And it is befitting too that <i>Jesus</i> should utter it. He
+alone is qualified to do so. The words spoken to the bereaved one of
+Bethany are words purchased by His own atoning work. &ldquo;Thy brother&mdash;thy
+sister&mdash;thy friend, shall rise again!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This brief oracle of comfort was addressed, in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>
+the first instance,
+specially to Martha. It had a primary reference, doubtless, to the vast
+miracle which was on the eve of performance. But there were more hearts
+to comfort and souls to cheer than one; that Almighty Saviour had at the
+moment troops of other bereaved ones in view; myriads on myriads of
+aching, bleeding spirits who could not, like the Bethany mourner, rush
+into His visible presence for consolation and peace. He expands,
+therefore, for their sakes the sublime and exalted solace which He
+ministers to <i>her</i>. And in words which have carried their echoes of hope
+and joy through all time, He exclaims&mdash;&ldquo;I am the resurrection and the
+life; he that believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live;
+and whosoever liveth and believeth on Me shall never die!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>If Bethany had bequeathed no other &ldquo;memory&rdquo; than <i>this</i>, how its name
+would have been embalmed in hallowed recollection! Truly these two brief
+verses are as apples of gold in pictures of silver. &ldquo;<i>Jesus, the
+Resurrection and the Life.</i>&rdquo; Himself conquering death, He has conquered
+it for His people&mdash;opening the kingdom of heaven to all believers.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>
+The full grandeur of that Bethany utterance could not be appreciated by
+her to whom it was first spoken. His death and resurrection was still,
+even to His nearest disciples, a profound mystery. Little did that
+trembling spirit, who was now gazing on her living Lord with tearful
+eye, dream that in a few brief days the grave was to hold <span class="smcap">Him</span>, too, as
+its captive; and that guardian angels were to proclaim words which would
+now have been all enigma and strangeness, &ldquo;The Lord is risen!&rdquo; With us
+it is different. The mighty deed has been completed. &ldquo;Christ has died;
+yea, rather has risen again!&rdquo; The resurrection and revival of Lazarus
+was a marvellous act, but it was only the rekindling of a little star
+that had ceased to twinkle in the firmament. A week more&mdash;and Martha
+would witness the Great Sun of all Being undergoing an eclipse; in a
+mysterious moment veiled and shrouded in darkness and blood; and then
+all at once coming forth like a Bridegroom from his chamber to shine the
+living and luminous centre of ransomed millions!</p>
+
+<p>Christians! we can turn now aside and see this
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>
+great sight&mdash;death
+closing the lips of the Lord of life&mdash;a borrowed grave containing the
+tenantless body of the Creator of all worlds! Is death to hold that
+prey? Is the grave to retain in gloomy custody that immaculate frame? Is
+the living temple to lie there an inglorious ruin, like other crumbling
+wrecks of mortality? The question of our eternal life or eternal death
+was suspended on the reply! If death succeeds in chaining down the
+illustrious Victim, our hopes of everlasting life are gone for ever. In
+vain can these dreary portals be ever again unbarred for the children of
+fallen humanity. He has gone there as their surety-Saviour. If his
+suretyship be accepted&mdash;if He meet and fulfil all the requirements of an
+outraged law, the gates of the dismal prison-house will and must be
+opened. If, on the other hand, there be any flaw or deficiency in His
+person or work as the Kinsman-Redeemer, then no power can snap the
+chains which bind Him; the tomb will refuse to surrender what it has in
+custody; the hopes of His people must perish along with Him! Golgotha
+must become the grave of a world&#8217;s hopes!</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>
+But the stone <i>has</i> been rolled away. The grave-clothes are all that are
+left as trophies of the conqueror. Angels are seated in the vacant tomb
+to verify with their gladdening assurance His own Bethany oracle, &ldquo;The
+Lord has risen.&rdquo; &ldquo;He is indeed the resurrection and the life; he that
+liveth and believeth on Him shall never die!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Yes! however many be the comforting thoughts which cluster around the
+grave of Lazarus, grander still is it to gather, as Jesus Himself here
+bids us, around His own tomb, and to gaze on His own resurrection scene!
+It was the most eventful morning of all time. It will be the focus point
+of the Church&#8217;s hope and triumph through all eternity.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The Lord is risen!&rdquo; It proclaimed the atonement complete, sin pardoned,
+mediation accepted, the law satisfied, God glorified! &ldquo;The Lord is
+risen!&rdquo; It proclaimed resurrection and life for His people&mdash;life (the
+forfeited <i>gift</i> of life) now repurchased. That mighty victor rose not
+for Himself, but as the representative and earnest of countless
+multitudes, who exult in His death as their life&mdash;in His resurrection as
+the pledge and guarantee of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>
+their everlasting safety;&mdash;&ldquo;I am He that
+liveth,&rdquo; and &ldquo;because I live ye shall live also.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Anticipating His own glorious rising, He might well speak to Martha,
+standing before Him as the representative of weeping, sinful, woe-worn
+humanity, &ldquo;He that liveth and believeth on Me shall never die.&rdquo; &ldquo;<i>In
+Me</i>, death is no longer death; it is only a parenthesis in life&mdash;a
+transition to a loftier stage of being. <i>In Me</i>, the grave is the
+vestibule of heaven, the robing-room of immortality!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Reader, yours is the same strong consolation. &ldquo;Believe,&rdquo; &ldquo;Only believe&rdquo;
+in that risen Lord. He has purchased all, paid all, procured all! Look
+into that vacant tomb; see sin cancelled, guilt blotted out, the law
+magnified, justice honoured, the sinner saved!</p>
+
+<p>Ay, and more than that, as you see the moral conqueror marching forth
+clothed with immortal victory, you see Him not alone! He is heading and
+heralding a multitude which no man can number. Himself the victorious
+precursor, he is shewing to these exulting thousands &ldquo;the <i>path</i> of
+life.&rdquo; He tells them to dread neither for themselves
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>
+or others that lonesome tomb. The curse is extracted from it; the envenomed
+sting is plucked away. In passing through its lonesome chambers they may
+exult in the thought that a mightier than they has sanctified it by His own
+presence, and transmuted what was once a gloomy portico into a triumphal
+arch, bearing the inscription, &ldquo;O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave,
+I will be thy destruction!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_IX" id="Chap_IX"></a>IX.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p084.png" alt="The Mourner&#8217;s Creed." title="The Mourner&#8217;s Creed." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>The Mourner&#8217;s Creed.</h3>
+
+<p>How stands our faith?</p>
+
+<p>These mighty thoughts and words of consolation&mdash;are they really
+believed, felt, trusted in, rejoiced over?</p>
+
+<p>Christian, &ldquo;Believest <i>thou this</i>?&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_13" id="FNanchor_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> Art thou really looking to this
+exalted life-giving Saviour? Hast thou in some feeble measure realised
+this resurrection-life as thine own? Hast thou the joyful consciousness
+of participating in this vital union with a living Lord? In vain do we
+listen to these sublime Bethany utterances unless we feel &ldquo;<i>Jesus speaks
+to me</i>,&rdquo; and unless we be living from day to day under their
+invigorating power.</p>
+
+<p>He had unfolded to Martha in a single verse a whole Gospel; He had
+irradiated by a few words
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>
+the darkness of the tomb; and now, turning to
+the poor dejected weeper at his side, He addresses the all-important
+question, &ldquo;Believest thou <i>this</i>?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Her faith had been but a moment before staggering. Some guilty
+misgivings had been mingling with her anguished tears. She has now an
+opportunity afforded of rising above her doubts,&mdash;the ebbings and
+flowings of her fitful feelings,&mdash;and cleaving fast to the Living Rock.</p>
+
+<p>It elicits an unfaltering response&mdash;&ldquo;Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art
+the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_14" id="FNanchor_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p>
+
+<p>Remarkable confession! We should not so much have wondered to hear it
+after the grave, hard by, had been rifled, and the silent lips of
+Lazarus had been unsealed; or had she stood like the other Mary at her
+Lord&#8217;s own sepulchre in the garden, and after a few brief, but momentous
+days and hours, seen a whole flood of light thrown on the question of
+His Messiahship.</p>
+
+<p>But as yet there was much to damp such a bold confession, and lead to
+hesitancy in the avowal of such a creed. The poverty, the humiliations,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>
+the unworldly obscurity of that solitary <i>One</i> who claimed no earthly
+birthright, and owned no earthly dwelling, were not all these,
+particularly to a Jew, at variance with every idea formed in connexion
+with the coming Shiloh?</p>
+
+<p>Was Martha&#8217;s then a blind unmeaning faith? Far from it. It was nurtured,
+doubtless, in that quiet home of holy love, where, while Lazarus yet
+lived, this mysterious Being, in an earthly form and in pilgrim garb,
+came time after time discoursing to them often, as we are warranted to
+believe, on the dignity of His nature, the glories of His person, the
+completeness of His work. It was neither the evidence of miracle or
+prophecy which had revealed to that weeping disciple that Jesus of
+Nazareth was the Son of God. With the exception of Micah&#8217;s statement
+regarding Bethlehem-Ephratah as His birthplace, we question if any other
+remarkable prediction concerning Him had yet been fulfilled; and so far
+as miracles were concerned, though she may and must have doubtless known
+of them by hearsay, we have no evidence that she had as yet so much as
+witnessed <i>one</i>. We never read till this time of their quiet village
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>
+being the scene of any manifestations of His power. These had generally
+taken place either in Jerusalem or in the cities and coasts of Galilee.
+The probability, therefore, is that Martha, had never yet seen that arm
+of Omnipotence bared, or witnessed those prodigies with which elsewhere
+He authenticated His claims to Divinity.</p>
+
+<p><i>Whence then her creed?</i> May we not believe she had made her noble
+avowal mainly from the study of that beauteous, spotless character&mdash;from
+those looks, and words, and deeds&mdash;from that lofty teaching&mdash;so unlike
+every human system&mdash;so wondrously adapted to the wants and woes, the
+sins, the sorrows, and aching necessities of the human heart. All this
+had left on her own spirit, and on that of Lazarus and Mary, the
+irresistible impression and evidence that he was indeed the Lord of
+Glory&mdash;&ldquo;the Hope of Israel, and the Saviour thereof.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And is it not the same evidence we exult in still? Is this not the
+<i>reason</i> of many a humble believer&#8217;s creed and faith&mdash;who may be all
+unlettered and unlearned in the evidences of the schools&mdash;the external
+and internal bulwarks of our
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>
+impregnable Christianity? Ask them why
+they believe? why their faith is so firm&mdash;their love so strong?</p>
+
+<p>They will tell you that that Saviour, in all the glories of His person,
+in all the completeness of His work, in all the beauties of His
+character, is the very Saviour they need!&mdash;that His Gospel is the very
+errand of mercy suited to their souls&#8217; necessities;&mdash;that His words of
+compassion, and tenderness, and hope, are in every way adapted to meet
+the yearnings of their longing spirits. They need to stand by the grave
+of no Lazarus to be certified as to His Messiahship. His looks and
+tones&mdash;His character and doctrine,&mdash;His cures and remedies for the wants
+and woes of their ruined natures, point Him out as the true Heavenly
+Physician.</p>
+
+<p>They can tell of the best of all evidences, and the strongest of
+all&mdash;the <i>experimental</i> evidence! They are no theorists. Religion is no
+subject with them of barren speculation; it is a matter of inner and
+heartfelt experience. They have tried the cure&mdash;they have found it
+answer;&mdash;they have fled to the Physician&mdash;they have applied His
+balm&mdash;they
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>
+have been healed and live! And you might as well try to
+convince the restored blind that the sunlight which has again burst on
+them is a wild dream of fancy, or the restored deaf that the world&#8217;s
+joyous melodies which have again awoke on them are the mockeries of
+their own brain, as convince the spiritually enlightened and awakened
+that He who has proved to them light and life, and joy and peace&mdash;their
+comfort in prosperity&mdash;their refuge in adversity&mdash;is other than the <i>Son
+of God and Saviour of the world</i>!</p>
+
+<p>Reader, is this your experience? Have you tasted and seen that the Lord
+is gracious? Have you felt the preciousness of His gospel, the
+adaptation of His work to the necessities of your ruined condition?&mdash;the
+power of His grace, the prevalence of His intercession, the fulness and
+glory and truthfulness of His promises? Are you exulting in Him as the
+Resurrection and Life, who has raised you from the death of sin, and
+will at last raise you from the power of death, and invest you with that
+eternal life which His love has purchased?</p>
+
+<p>Precious as is this hope and confidence at all times, specially so is
+it, mourners in Zion! in your
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>
+seasons of sorrow. When human refuges
+fail, and human friendships wither, and human props give way, how
+sustaining to have this &ldquo;anchor of the soul sure and steadfast&rdquo;&mdash;union
+with a living Lord on earth, and the joyful hope of endless and
+uninterrupted union and communion with Him in glory! Are you even now
+enjoying, through your tears, this blessed persuasion, and exulting in
+this blessed creed? Do you know the secret of that twofold solace, &ldquo;the
+power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings?&rdquo;&mdash;the
+&ldquo;fellowship of His sufferings&rdquo; telling of His sympathy with your sorrows
+below;&mdash;the &ldquo;power of His resurrection&rdquo; assuring you of the glorious
+gift of everlasting life in a world where sorrow dare not enter. Rest
+not satisfied with a mere outward creed and confession that &ldquo;Jesus is
+the Saviour.&rdquo; Let yours be the nobler <i>formula</i> of an appropriating
+faith&mdash;&ldquo;He is my Saviour; He loved <span class="smcap">me</span>, and gave Himself for <span class="smcap">me</span>.&rdquo; Let it
+not be with you a salvation <i>possible</i>, but a salvation <i>found</i>; so
+that, with a tried apostle, you can rise above the surges of deepening
+tribulation as you glory in the conviction, &ldquo;I <i>know</i> in whom I
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>
+<i>have</i> believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which
+I have committed unto Him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Sad, indeed, for those who, when &ldquo;deep calleth unto deep,&rdquo; have no such
+&ldquo;strong consolation&rdquo; to enable them to ride out the storm; who, when
+sorrow and bereavement overtake them&mdash;the lowering shadows of the dark
+and cloudy day&mdash;have still to grope after an <i>unknown Christ</i>; and, amid
+the hollowness of earthly and counterfeit comforts, have to seek, for
+the first time, the <i>only</i> true One.</p>
+
+<p>Oh! if our hour of trial has not yet come, let us be prepared for
+it&mdash;for come it will. Let us seek to have our vessels moored <i>now</i> to
+the Rock of Ages, that when the tempest arises&mdash;when the floods beat,
+and the winds blow, and the wrecks of earthly joy are seen strewing the
+waters&mdash;we may triumphantly utter the challenge, &ldquo;Who shall separate us
+from the love of Christ?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6">&ldquo;Say, ye who tempt<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The sea of life, by summer gales impell&#8217;d,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Have ye this anchor? Sure a time will come<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For storms to try you, and strong blasts to rend<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Your painted sails, and shred your gold like chaff<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O&#8217;er the wild wave. And what a wreck is man,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If sorrow find him unsustain&#8217;d by God!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_X" id="Chap_X"></a>X.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p092.png" alt="The Master." title="The Master." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>The Master.</h3>
+
+<p>Martha can withhold no longer from her sister the joyful tidings which
+she has been the first to hear. With fleet foot she hastens back to the
+house with the announcement, &ldquo;The Master is come, and calleth for thee.&rdquo;
+Mary hears, but makes no comment. Wrapt in the silence of her own
+meditative grief, &ldquo;when she heard that, she arose quickly and came unto
+Him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;To her all earth could render nothing back<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like that pale changeless brow. Calmly she stood<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As marble statue.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6">In that maiden&#8217;s breast<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sorrow and loneliness sank darkly down,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Though the blanch&#8217;d lips breathed out no boisterous plaint<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of common grief.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The formal sympathisers who gathered around her had observed her
+departure. They are led to form their conjectures as to the cause of
+this sudden
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>
+break in her trance of anguish. She had up till that
+moment, with the instinctive aversion which mourners only know, and
+which we have formerly alluded to in the case of Martha, been shrinking
+from facing the gladsome light of heaven, caring not to look abroad on
+the blight of an altered world. But the few words her sister uttered,
+and which the other auditors manifestly had not comprehended, all at
+once rouse her from her seat of pensive sadness, and her shadow is seen
+hurrying by the darkened lattice. They can form but one surmise: that,
+in accordance with wont, she has betaken herself to the burial-ground to
+feed her morbid grief &ldquo;She goeth unto the grave to weep there.&rdquo; Ah!
+little did they know how much nobler was her motive&mdash;how truer and
+grander the solace she sought and found.</p>
+
+<p>There is little that is really profitable or hallowed in visiting the
+grave of loved ones. Though fond affection will, from some false feeling
+of the tribute due to the memory of the departed, seek to surmount
+sadder thoughts, and linger at the spot where treasured ashes repose,
+yet&mdash;think and act as we may&mdash;there is nothing cheering, nothing
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>
+elevating <i>there</i>. The associations of the burial-place are all with the
+humiliating triumphs of the King of Terrors. It is a view of death taken
+from the <i>earthly</i> entrance of the valley, not the <i>heavenly</i> view of it
+as that valley opens on the bright plains of immortality. The gay
+flowers and emerald sod which carpet the grave are poor mockeries to the
+bereft spirit, shrouding, as they do, nobler withered blossoms which the
+foot of the destroyer has trampled into dust, and which no earthly
+beauty can again clothe, or earthly spring reanimate. They are to be
+pitied who have no higher solace, no better remedy for their grief, than
+thus to water with unavailing tears the trophies of death; or to read
+the harrowing record which love has traced on its slab of cold marble,
+telling of the vanity of human hopes.</p>
+
+<p>Such, however, was not Mary&#8217;s errand in leaving the chamber of
+bereavement. That drooping flower was not opening her leaves, only to be
+crushed afresh with new tear-floods of sorrow. She sought <i>One</i> who
+would disengage her soiled and shattered tendrils from the chill
+comforts of earth, and bathe them in the genial influences of Heaven. The
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>
+music of her Master&#8217;s name alone could put gladness into her
+heart&mdash;tempt her to muffle other conflicting feelings and hasten to His
+feet. &ldquo;<i>The Master is come!</i>&rdquo; Nothing could have roused her from her
+profound grief but this. While her poor earthly comforters are imagining
+her prostrate at the sepulchre&#8217;s mouth, giving vent to the wild delirium
+of her young grief, she is away, not to the victim of death, but to the
+Lord of Life, either to tell to Him the tale of her woe, or else to
+listen from His lips to words of comfort no other comforter had given.
+Is there not the same music in that name&mdash;the same solace and joy in
+that presence still? Earthly sympathy is not to be despised; nay, when
+death has entered a household, taken the dearest and the best and laid
+them in the tomb, nothing is more soothing to the wounded, crushed, and
+broken one, than to experience the genial sympathy of true Christian
+friendship. Those, it may be, little known before (comparative
+strangers), touched with the story of a neighbour&#8217;s sorrow, come to
+offer their tribute of condolence, and to &ldquo;weep with those that weep.&rdquo;
+Never is <i>true</i> friendship so tested as then. Hollow
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>
+attachments, which have nothing but the world or a time of prosperity to
+bind them, discover their worthlessness. &ldquo;Summer friends&rdquo; stand aloof&mdash;they
+have little patience for the sadness of sorrow&#8217;s countenance and the funereal
+trappings of the death-chamber; while sympathy, based on lofty Christian
+principle, loves to minister as a subordinate healer of the
+broken-hearted, and to indulge in a hundred nameless ingenious offices
+of kindness and love.</p>
+
+<p><i>But</i> &ldquo;thus far shalt thou go, and no farther.&rdquo; The purest and noblest
+and most disinterested of earthly friends can only go a certain way.
+Their minds and sympathies are limited. They cannot enter into the deep
+recesses of the smitten heart&mdash;the yawning crevices that bereavement has
+laid bare. <i>But</i> <span class="smcap">Jesus</span> <i>can</i>! Ah! there are capacities and sensibilities
+in that Mighty Heart that can probe the deepest wound and gauge the
+profoundest sorrow. While from the <i>best</i> of earthly comforters the mind
+turns away unsatisfied; while the burial-ground and the grave only
+recall the deep humiliations of the body&#8217;s wreck and ruin&mdash;with what
+fond emotion does the spirit, like Mary,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>
+turn to Him who possesses the majesty of Deity with all the tenderness of
+humanity. The Mighty Lord, and yet the Elder Brother!</p>
+
+<p>The sympathy of man is often selfish, formal, constrained, commonplace,
+coming more from the surface than from the depths of the heart. It is
+the finite sympathy of a finite creature. The Redeemer&#8217;s sympathy is
+that of the perfect Man and the infinite God&mdash;able to enter into all the
+peculiarities of the case&mdash;all the tender features and shadings of
+sorrow which are hidden from the keenest and kindliest <i>human</i> eye.</p>
+
+<p>Mary&#8217;s procedure is a true type and picture of what the broken heart of
+the Christian feels. Not undervaluing human sympathy, yet, nevertheless,
+all the crowd of sympathising friends&mdash;Jewish citizens, Bethany
+villagers&mdash;are nothing to her when she hears <i>her Lord has come</i>!</p>
+
+<p>Happy for us if, while the world, like the condoling crowd of Jews, is
+forming its own cold speculations on the amount of our grief and the
+bitterness of our loss, we are found hastening to cast
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>
+ourselves at our
+Saviour&#8217;s feet; if our afflictions prove to us like angel messengers
+from the inner sanctuary&mdash;calling us from friends, home, comforts,
+blessings, all we most prize on earth&mdash;telling us that <span class="smcap">One</span> is nigh who
+will more than compensate for the loss of all&mdash;&ldquo;<i>The Master is come, and
+calleth for thee!</i>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It is the very end and design our gracious God has in all His dealings,
+to lead <i>us</i>, as he led Mary, to the feet of Jesus.</p>
+
+<p>Yes! thou poor weeping, disconsolate one, &ldquo;The Master calleth for
+<i>thee</i>.&rdquo; <i>Thee</i> individually, as if thou stoodest the alone sufferer in
+a vast world. He wishes to pour His oil and wine into thy wounded
+heart&mdash;to give thee some overwhelming proof and pledge of the love he
+bears thee in this thy sore trial. He has come to pour drops of comfort
+in the bitter cup&mdash;to ease thee of thy heavy burden, and to point thee
+to hopes full of immortality. Go and learn what a kind, and gentle, and
+gracious Master He is! Go forth, Mary, and meet thy Lord. &ldquo;Weeping may
+endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>
+We may imagine her hastening along the foot-road, with the spirit of the
+Psalmist&#8217;s words on her tongue&mdash;&ldquo;As the hart panteth after the
+water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth
+for God&mdash;for the living God!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_XI" id="Chap_XI"></a>XI.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p100.png" alt="Second Causes." title="Second Causes." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>Second Causes.</h3>
+
+<p>With a bounding heart, Mary was in a moment at her Master&#8217;s feet. She
+weeps! and is able only to articulate, in broken accents, &ldquo;Lord, if thou
+hadst been here, my brother had not died.&rdquo; It is the repetition of
+Martha&#8217;s same expression. Often at a season of sore bereavement some one
+poignant thought or reflection takes possession of the mind, and, for
+the time, overmasters every other. This echo of the other mourner&#8217;s
+utterance leads us to conclude that it had been a familiar and
+oft-quoted phrase during these days of protracted agony. This
+independent quotation, indeed, on the part of each, gives a truthful
+beauty to the whole inspired narrative.</p>
+
+<p>The twin sisters&mdash;musing on the terrible past, gazing through their
+tears on the vacant seat at
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>
+their home-hearth&mdash;had been every now and
+then breaking the gloomy silence of the deserted chamber by exclaiming,
+&ldquo;If <i>He</i> had been here, this never would have happened! This is the
+bitterest drop in our cup, that all might have been different! These hot
+tears might never have dimmed our eyes; our loved Lazarus might have
+been a living and loving brother still! Oh! that the Lord had delayed
+for a brief week that untoward journey, or anticipated by four days his
+longed-for return; or would that we had despatched our messenger earlier
+for Him. It is now too late. Though He <i>has</i> at last come, His advent
+can be of little avail. The fell destroyer has been at our cottage door
+before Him. He may soothe our grief, but the blow cannot be averted.
+<i>His</i> friend and <i>our</i> brother is locked in sleep too deep to be
+disturbed.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Ah! is it not the same unkind surmise which is still often heard in the
+hour of bereavement and in the home of death?&mdash;a guilty, unholy brooding
+over <i>second causes</i>. &ldquo;If such and such had been done, my child had
+still lived. If that mean, or that remedy, or that judicious caution had been
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>
+employed, this terrible overthrow of my earthly hopes would never
+have occurred; that loved one would have been still walking at my side;
+that chaplet of sorrows would not now have been girding my brows; the
+Bethany sepulchre would have been unopened&mdash;&lsquo;This my brother had not
+died!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Hush! hush! these guilty insinuations&mdash;that dethroning of God from the
+Providential Sovereignty of His own world&mdash;that hasty and inconsiderate
+verdict on His divine procedure.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="smcap">If</span> <i>Thou</i> hadst been here!&rdquo; Can we, <i>dare</i> we doubt it? Is the
+departure of the immortal soul to the spirit-world so trivial a matter
+that the life-giving God takes no cognisance of it? No! Mourning one, in
+the deep night of thy sorrow, thou must rise above &ldquo;untoward
+coincidences&rdquo;&mdash;thou must cancel the words &ldquo;accident&rdquo; and &ldquo;fate&rdquo; from thy
+vocabulary of trial. God, <i>thy</i> God, was <i>there</i>! If there <i>be</i>
+perplexing accompaniments, be assured they were of <i>His</i> permitting; all
+was planned&mdash;wisely, kindly planned. Question not the unerring rectitude
+of His dealings. Though <i>apparently</i> absent, He was <i>really</i>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>
+present. The apparent veiling of His countenance is only what Cowper calls &ldquo;the
+severer aspect of His love.&rdquo; Kiss the rod that smites&mdash;adore the hand
+that lays low. Pillow thy head on that simple, yet grandest source of
+composure&mdash;&ldquo;<i>The Lord reigneth!</i>&rdquo; It is not for us to venture to dictate
+what the procedure of infinite love and wisdom should be. To our dim and
+distorted views of things, it might have been more for the glory of God
+and the Church&#8217;s good, if the &ldquo;beautiful bird of light&rdquo; had still &ldquo;sat
+with its folded wings&rdquo; ere it sped to nestle in the eaves of Heaven. But
+if its earthly song has been early hushed; if those full of promise have
+been allowed rather to fall asleep in Jesus, &ldquo;Even so, Father; for it
+seems good in Thy sight!&rdquo; It was from no want of power or ability on
+God&#8217;s part that they were not recalled from the gates of death. &ldquo;We will
+be dumb&mdash;we will open not our mouths, because <i>Thou</i> didst it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Afflicted one! if the brother or friend whom you now mourn be a brother
+in glory&mdash;if he be now among the white-robed multitude&mdash;his last tear
+wept&mdash;for ever beyond reach of a sinning and sorrowing world&mdash;can you
+upbraid your God for
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>
+his early departure? Would you weep him back if you could from his early crown?</p>
+
+<p>Fond nature, as it stands in trembling agony watching the ebbing pulses
+of life, would willingly arrest the pale messenger&mdash;stay the
+chariot&mdash;and have the wilderness relighted with his smile.</p>
+
+<p>But when all is over, and you are able to contemplate, with calm
+emotion, the untold bliss into which the unfettered spirit has entered,
+do you not feel as if it were cruel selfishness alone that would denude
+that sainted pilgrim of his glory, and bring him once more back to
+earth&#8217;s cares and tribulations?</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;We sadly watch&#8217;d the close of all,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Life balanced in a breath;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We saw upon his features fall<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The awful shade of death.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All dark and desolate we were;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And murmuring nature cried&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&lsquo;Oh! surely, Lord! hadst <i>Thou</i> been here<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Our brother had not died!&rsquo;<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;But when its glance the memory cast<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">On all that grace had done;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And thought of life&#8217;s long warfare pass&#8217;d,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And endless victory won.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then faith prevailing, wiped the tear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And looking upward, cried&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">&lsquo;O Lord! Thou surely <i>hast</i> been here,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Our brother has <i>not</i> died!&rsquo;&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>
+We have already had occasion to note the impressive and significant
+silence of the Saviour to Mary. We may just again revert to it in a
+sentence here. Martha had, a few moments before, given vent to the same
+impassioned utterance respecting her departed brother. Jesus had replied
+to her; questioned her as to her faith; and opened up to her sublime
+sources of solace and consolation. With Mary it is different. He
+responds to her also&mdash;but it is only in silence and in tears!</p>
+
+<p>Why this distinction? Does it not unfold to us a lovely feature in the
+dealings of Jesus&mdash;how He adapts Himself to the peculiarities of
+individual character. With those of a bolder temperament He can argue
+and remonstrate&mdash;with those of a meek, sensitive, contemplative spirit,
+He can be silent and weep!</p>
+
+<p>The stout but manly heart of Peter needed at times a bold and cutting
+rebuke; a similar reproof would have crushed to the dust the tender soul
+of John. The character of the one is painted in his walking on the stormy
+water to meet his Lord; of the other, in his reclining on the bosom of the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>
+same Divine Master, drinking sacred draughts at the Fountain-head of love!</p>
+
+<p>So it was with Martha and Mary, &ldquo;the Peter and John of Bethany;&rdquo; and so
+it is with His people still.</p>
+
+<p>How beautifully and considerately Jesus <i>studies</i> their case&mdash;adapting
+His dealings to what He sees and knows they can bear&mdash;fitting the yoke
+to the neck, and the neck to the yoke. To some He is &ldquo;the Lion of the
+tribe of Judah, uttering His thunders&rdquo;&mdash;pleading with Martha-spirits &ldquo;by
+terrible things in righteousness;&rdquo;&mdash;to others (the shrinking, sensitive
+Marys) whispering only accents of gentleness&mdash;giving expression to no
+needless word that would aggravate or embitter their sorrows.</p>
+
+<p>Ah, believer! how tenderly considerate is your dear Lord! Well may you
+make it your prayer, &ldquo;Let me fall into the hands of God, for great are
+His mercies!&rdquo; He may at times, like Joseph to His brethren, <i>appear</i> to
+&ldquo;speak roughly,&rdquo; but it is dissembled <i>kindness</i>. When a father inflicts
+on his wayward child the severest and harshest discipline, none but he
+can tell the bitter heart-pangs
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>
+of yearning love that accompany every
+stroke of the rod. So it is with your Father in Heaven; with this
+difference, that the earthly parent <i>may</i> act unwisely, arbitrarily,
+indiscreetly&mdash;he may misjudge the necessities of the case&mdash;he may do
+violence and wrong to the natural disposition of his offspring. Not so
+with an all-wise Heavenly Parent. He will inflict no redundant or
+unneeded chastisement. Man <i>may</i> err, <i>has</i> erred, and <i>is</i> ever
+erring&mdash;but &ldquo;as for God, His way is perfect!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_XII" id="Chap_XII"></a>XII.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p108.png" alt="The Weeping Saviour." title="The Weeping Saviour." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>The Weeping Saviour.</h3>
+
+<p>The silent procession is moving on. We may suppose they have reached the
+gates of the burial-ground. But a new scene and incident here arrest our
+thoughts!</p>
+
+<p>It is not the humiliating memorials of mortality that lie scattered
+around,&mdash;the caves and grottoes and grassy heaps sacred to many a
+Bethany villager. It is not even the newly sealed stone which marks the
+spot where Lazarus &ldquo;sleeps.&rdquo; Let us turn aside for a little, and see
+this great sight. It is the Creator of all worlds in tears!&mdash;the God-man
+Mediator dissolved in tenderest grief! Of all the memories of Bethany,
+this surely is the <i>most</i> hallowed and the most wondrous. These tears
+form the most touching episode in sacred story; and if we are in sorrow,
+it may either dry
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>
+our own tears, or give them the warrant to flow when
+we are told&mdash;<i>Jesus wept!</i></p>
+
+<p>Whence those tears? This is what we shall now inquire. There is often a
+false interpretation put upon this brief and touching verse, as if it
+denoted the expression of the Saviour&#8217;s sorrow for the loss of a loved
+friend. This, it is plain, it could not be. However mingled may have
+been the hopes and fears of the weeping mourners around him, <i>He</i> at
+least knew that in a few brief moments Lazarus was to be restored. He
+could not surely weep so bitterly, possessing, as He then did, the
+confident assurance that death was about to give back its captive, and
+light up every tear-dimmed eye with an ecstasy of joy. Whence, then, we
+again ask, this strange and mysterious grief? Come and let us surround
+the grave of Bethany, and as we behold the chief mourner at that grave,
+let us inquire why it was that &ldquo;<i>Jesus wept!</i>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="break">(1.) <span class="smcap">Jesus wept</span> <i>out of Sympathy for the Bereaved</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The hearts around Him were breaking with anguish. All unconscious of how
+soon and how wondrously their sorrow was to be turned into
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>
+joy, the appalling thought was alone present to them in all its
+fearfulness&mdash;&ldquo;Lazarus is dead!&rdquo; When <i>He</i>, the God-man Mediator, with
+the refined sensibilities of His tender heart, beheld the poignancy of
+that grief, the pent-up torrent of His own human sympathies could be
+restrained no longer. His tears flowed too.</p>
+
+<p>But it would be a contracted view of the tears of Jesus to think that
+two solitary mourners in a Jewish graveyard engrossed and monopolised
+that sympathy. It had a far wider sweep.</p>
+
+<p>There were hearts, yes&mdash;myriads of desolate sufferers in ages then
+unborn, who He knew would be brought to stand as He was then doing by
+the grave of loved relatives&mdash;mourners who would have no visible
+comforter or restorer to rush to, as had Martha and Mary, to dry their
+tears, and give them back their dead; and when He thought of this,
+&ldquo;<i>Jesus wept!</i>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>What an interest it gives to that scene of weeping, to think that at
+that eventful moment, the Saviour had before Him the bereaved of <i>all
+time</i>&mdash;that His eye was roaming at that moment through deserted
+chambers, and vacant seats, and opened
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>
+graves, down to the end of the
+world. The aged Jacobs and Rachels weeping for their children&mdash;the
+Ezekiels mourning in the dust and ashes of disconsolate widowhood, &ldquo;the
+desire of their eyes taken away by a stroke&rdquo;&mdash;the unsolaced Marys and
+Marthas brooding over a dark future, with the prop and support of
+existence swept down, the central sun and light of their being eclipsed
+in mysterious darkness! Think, (as you are now perusing these pages,)
+throughout the wide world, how many breaking hearts there are&mdash;how loud
+the wail of suffering humanity, could we but hear it!&mdash;those written
+childless and fatherless, and friendless and
+homeless!&mdash;Bethany-processions pacing with slow and measured step to
+deposit their earthly all in the cold custody of the tomb! Think of the
+Marys and Marthas who are now &ldquo;going to some grave to weep there,&rdquo;
+perhaps with no Saviour&#8217;s smile to gladden them&mdash;or the desolate
+chambers that are now resounding to the plaintive dirge, &ldquo;O Absalom,
+Absalom, would God I had died for thee; O Absalom, my son! my son!&rdquo;
+Think of all these scenes at that moment vividly suggested and pictured to the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>
+Redeemer&#8217;s eye&mdash;the long and loud <i>miserere</i>, echoing dismally
+from the remotest bounds of time, and there &ldquo;entering into the ear of
+the God of Sabaoth,&rdquo; and can you wonder that&mdash;<i>Jesus wept!</i></p>
+
+<p>Blessed and amazing picture of the Lord of glory! It combines the
+delineation alike of the tenderness of His humanity, and the majesty of
+His Godhead. His Humanity! It is revealed in those tear drops, falling
+from a human eye on a human grave. His <i>Godhead</i>! It is manifested in
+His ability to take in with a giant grasp all the prospective sufferings
+of His suffering people.</p>
+
+<p>Weeping believer! thine anguished heart was included in those Bethany
+tears! Be assured thy grief was visibly portrayed at that moment to that
+omniscient Saviour. He had all thy sorrows before Him&mdash;thy anxious
+moments during thy friend&#8217;s tedious sickness&mdash;the trembling
+suspense&mdash;the nights of weary watching&mdash;the agonising revelation of &ldquo;no
+hope&rdquo;&mdash;the closing scene! Bethany&#8217;s graveyard became to Him a
+picture-gallery of the world&#8217;s aching hearts; and <i>thine</i>, yes!
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>
+<i>thine</i> was <i>there</i>! and as He beheld it, &ldquo;<i>Jesus wept!</i>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Jesus wept! These tears are over,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But His heart is still the same;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Kinsman, Friend, and Elder Brother,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Is His everlasting name.<br /></span>
+<span class="i3 break">Saviour, who can love like Thee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3"><i>Gracious</i> One of Bethany!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;When the pangs of trial seize us,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When the waves of sorrow roll,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I will lay my head on Jesus,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pillow of the troubled soul.<br /></span>
+<span class="i3 break">Surely none can feel like Thee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3"><i>Weeping</i> One of Bethany!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Jesus wept! And still in glory,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He can mark each mourner&#8217;s tear;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Loving to retrace the story<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of the hearts he solaced here.<br /></span>
+<span class="i3 break">Lord! when I am call&#8217;d to die,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Let me think of Bethany!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Jesus wept! That tear of sorrow<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Is a legacy of love;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Yesterday, to-day, to-morrow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He the same doth ever prove.<br /></span>
+<span class="i3 break">Thou art all in all to me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3"><i>Living</i> One of Bethany!&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p class="break">(2.) <span class="smcap">Jesus wept</span> <i>when He thought of the triumphs of Death</i>!</p>
+
+<p>He was treading a burial ground&mdash;mouldering
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>
+heaps were around Him&mdash;silent sepulchral caves, giving forth no
+echo of life!</p>
+
+<p>It is a solemn and impressive thing, even for <i>us</i>, to tread the
+graveyard; more especially if there are there nameless treasures of
+buried affection. The thought that those whose smile gladdened to us
+every step in the wilderness, who formed our solace in sorrow, and our
+joy in adversity&mdash;whose words, and society, and converse were
+intertwined with our very being&mdash;it is solemn and saddening, as we tread
+that land of oblivion, to find these words and looks and tears
+unanswered&mdash;a gloomy silence hovering over the spot where the wrecks of
+worth and loveliness are laid! He would have a bold, a stern heart
+indeed who could pace unmoved over such hallowed ground, and forbid a
+tear to flow over the gushing memories of the past!</p>
+
+<p>What, then, must it have been at that moment in Bethany with <i>Jesus</i>,
+when he saw one of those purchased by his own blood (dearest to him)
+chased by the unsparing destroyer to that gloomy prison-house?</p>
+
+<p>If we have supposed that the tears of Martha
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>
+and Mary were suggestive
+of manifold other broken and sorrowing hearts in other ages, we may well
+believe that graveyard was suggestive of triumphs still in reserve for
+the tomb, numberless trophies which in every age were to be reaped in by
+the King of Terrors until the reaper&#8217;s arm was paralyzed, and death
+swallowed up in victory. The few silent sepulchres around must have
+significantly called to the mind of the Divine spectator how sin had
+blasted and scathed His noblest workmanship; converting the fairest
+province of His creation into one vast <i>Necropolis</i>,&mdash;one dismal &ldquo;city
+of the dead!&rdquo; The body of man, &ldquo;so fearfully and wonderfully made,&rdquo; and
+on which he had originally placed His own impress of &ldquo;very good,&rdquo;
+<i>ruined</i>, and resolved into a mass of humiliating dust! If the Architect
+mourns over the destruction of some favourite edifice which the storm
+has swept down, or the fire has wrapt in conflagration and reduced to
+ashes&mdash;if the Sculptor mourns to see his breathing marble with one rude
+stroke hurled to the ground, and its fragments scattered at his feet&mdash;what
+must have been the sensations of the mighty Architect of the human
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>
+frame, at whose completion the morning stars and the sons of God
+chanted a loud anthem&mdash;what must have been His sensations as He thought
+of them, now a devastated wreck, mouldering in dissolution and decay,
+the King of Terrors sitting in regal state, holding his high holiday
+over a vassal world!</p>
+
+<p>In Bethany He beheld only a few of these broken and prostrate columns,
+but they were powerfully suggestive of millions on millions which were
+yet in coming ages to undergo the same doom of mortality.</p>
+
+<p>If even our less sensitive hearts may be wrung with emotion at the
+tidings of some mournful catastrophe that occupies, after all, but some
+passing hour in the world&#8217;s history, but which has carried death and
+lamentation into many households&mdash;the sudden pestilence that has swept
+down its thousands&mdash;the gallant vessel that was a moment before
+spreading proudly its white wings to the gale, the joyous hearts on board
+dreaming of hearth and home, and the &ldquo;many ports that would exult in the
+gleam of her mast&rdquo;&mdash;the next! hurrying down to the depths of an ocean grave,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>
+with no survivor to tell the tale!&mdash;or the terrible
+records of War&mdash;the ranks of bold and brave laid low in the carnage of
+battle&mdash;youth and strength and beauty and rank and friendship blent in
+one red burial!&mdash;if these and such like mournful tales of death, and the
+power of death, affect at the moment even the most callous amongst us,
+causing the lip to grow pale, and demanding the tribute of more than a
+tear, oh! what must it have been to the omniscient eye and exquisitely
+sensitive spirit of Jesus, as, taking in all time at a glance, He beheld
+the Pale Horse with its ghastly rider trampling under foot the vast
+human family; converting the globe in which they dwelt into a mournful
+valley of vision, filled with the wrecks and skeletons of breathing men
+and animated frames!</p>
+
+<p>The triumphs of death are, in ordinary circumstances, to us scarcely
+perceptible. He moves with noiseless tread. The footprint is made on the
+sands of time; but like the tides of the ocean, the world&#8217;s
+oblivion-power washes it away. The name of yonder churchyard is &ldquo;the
+<i>land of forgetfulness</i>!&rdquo; Not so with the Lord of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>
+Life, the great Antagonist of this usurper! The future, a ghastly future, rose in
+appalling vividness before Him.&mdash;Death (vulture-like) flapping his wings
+over the multitudes he claimed as his own,&mdash;vessels freighted with
+immortality lying wrecked and stranded on the shores of Time!</p>
+
+<p>Yes! we can only understand the full import of these tears of Jesus, as
+we imagine to ourselves His Godlike eye penetrating at that moment every
+churchyard and every grave: the mausoleums of the great&mdash;the grassy sods
+of the poor; the marble cenotaph of the noble and illustrious slumbering
+under fretted aisle and cathedral canopy&mdash;the myriads whose requiem is
+chanted by the bleak winds of the desert or the chimes of the ocean! The
+child carried away in the twinkling of an eye&mdash;the blossom just opening,
+and then frost-blighted; the aged sire, cut down like a shock of corn in
+its season, falling withered and seared like the leaves of autumn; the
+young exulting in the prime of manhood; the pious and benevolent, the
+great and good, succumbing indiscriminately to the same inexorable
+decree; the erring and thoughtless, reckless of all warning, hurried
+away in the midst
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>
+of scorned mercy&mdash;Oh! as He beheld this ghastly
+funeral procession moving before Him, the whole world going to the same
+long home, and He Himself alone left the survivor, can we wonder that
+<i>Jesus wept</i>?</p>
+
+<p class="break">(3.) Once more, <span class="smcap">Jesus wept</span>
+<i>when He thought of the impenitence and obduracy of the human heart</i>.</p>
+
+<p>This may not be at first sight patent as a cause of the tears of Jesus,
+but we may well believe it entered largely as an element into this
+strange flood of sorrow.</p>
+
+<p>He was about to perform a great (His greatest) miracle; but while
+<span class="tn" title="not capitalised in text">He</span>
+knew that, in consequence of this manifestation of His mighty power,
+many of those who now stood around Lazarus&#8217; tomb would <i>believe</i>,
+<span class="tn" title="not capitalised in text">He</span>
+knew also that others would only &ldquo;despise, and wonder, and perish;&rdquo; that
+while some, as we shall afterwards find, acknowledged Him as the Messiah,
+others went straightway into Jerusalem to concert with the Pharisees in
+plotting His murder. When He observed the impenitence of these obdurate
+hearts at His side, He could not subdue His tenderest emotion. We
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>
+read that, when He saw the sisters weeping, <i>and the Jews
+that were with them weeping</i>, Jesus wept. These Jews could weep for a
+fellow-mortal, but they could not weep for <i>themselves</i>, and therefore
+<i>for them, Jesus wept</i>!</p>
+
+<p>One soul was precious to Him. He who alone can estimate alike the worth
+and the loss of the soul, might have wept, even had there been but one
+then present found to resist His claims and forfeit His salvation. But
+these tears extended far beyond that lonely spot in a Jewish village,
+and the few impenitent hearts that were then flocking around. These
+obdurate Jews were types of the world&#8217;s impenitency. There was at that
+moment summoned before Him a mournful picture of the hardened hearts in
+every age&mdash;those who would read His gospel, and hear of His miracles,
+and listen to the story of His love all unmoved&mdash;who would die as they
+had lived, uncheered by His grace and unmeet for His presence.</p>
+
+<p>Ah! surely no cause could more tenderly elicit a Redeemer&#8217;s tears than
+<i>this</i>&mdash;the thought of His Redemption scorned, His blood trampled on,
+His work set at nought.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>
+If we have thought of Him shedding tears over the ruin of the <i>body</i>,
+what must have been the depth and intensity of those tears over the
+sadder, more fearful ruin of the soul? Immortal powers, that ought to
+have been ennobled and consecrated to His service, alienated, degraded,
+destroyed!&mdash;immortal beings spurning from them the day of grace and the
+hopes of heaven! Bitter as may have been the wail of mourning and
+sorrowing hearts that may then have reached His ear from future ages,
+more agonising and dismal far must have been the wailing cry which,
+beyond the limits of time, came floating up from a dark and dreary
+eternity; those who might have believed and lived, but who blasphemed or
+trifled, neglected and procrastinated, and finally perished!</p>
+
+<p>If we think of it, it is not the loss of health, or the loss of wealth,
+or the loss of friends, which forms the heaviest of trials, the deepest
+ground of soul sadness. <i>We</i> put on the sable attire as emblems of
+mourning; but if we saw it as a weeping Jesus sees it, there is more
+real cause for sackcloth and ashes in the heart at enmity with God, and
+despising His salvation, trampling under foot His
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>
+Son, and enacting over again the sad tragedy of Calvary.</p>
+
+<p>Reader! are you at this moment guilty of living on in a state of
+presumptuous impenitence&mdash;salvation unsought&mdash;Jesus a stranger&mdash;His name
+unhonoured&mdash;His Bible unread&mdash;His promises unappropriated&mdash;His wrath
+undreaded&mdash;defeating all His marvellous appliances of love, and
+remonstrance, and forbearance&mdash;meeting a prodigal expenditure of
+patience and long-suffering with cold and chilling indifference and
+neglect&mdash;casting away from you the hoarded riches of eternity which He
+has been holding out for your acceptance? In that sacred Bethany ground,
+as ye mark these falling tear-drops which dim His eye, there may have
+been a tear for <i>you</i>! Eighteen hundred years have since elapsed, but He
+to whom &ldquo;a thousand years are as one day,&rdquo; marked even <i>then</i> your
+present ungrateful apostacy or guilty alienation&mdash;there was a tear then
+which stole down that cheek on account of unrequited love?</p>
+
+<p>Is that tear to flow in vain? Are you to mock His tender sympathy still
+with cold formalism, or persisted-in impenitency? Are you to think
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>
+of Bethany and its tear-drops and still go on in sin?</p>
+
+<p>Ah, never was sermon preached to an erring or impenitent sinner half so
+eloquent as <i>this</i>. Paul was not given to weeping, and it makes his
+fervid love of souls all the more striking when we find him confessing
+that he had wept like a child over those who were &ldquo;enemies to the cross
+of Christ.&rdquo; We have often felt Paul&#8217;s burning tears over hardened
+sinners to be touching and impressive. But what are they, after all, in
+comparison with those of Paul&#8217;s Lord?</p>
+
+<p>He, the Great Sun of the World&mdash;the Sun of Righteousness, was to set in
+a few brief days behind the walls of ungrateful Jerusalem in darkness
+and blood&mdash;His last rays seem now lingering over the crest of
+Olivet&mdash;His tears seem to tell that He has clung till He can cling no
+more to the fond hope that an impenitent nation and guilty city will yet
+turn at His reproof, believe and live.</p>
+
+<p>And still does He linger among <i>us</i>. Though the night cometh, the beams
+of mercy are still tardily lingering, as if loth to leave the backsliding
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>
+to their wanderings, or the impenitent to their own midnight of despair.</p>
+
+<p>O Reader! leave not <i>this</i> subject&mdash;leave not the graveyard of Bethany
+till you think of Jesus as then weeping for <i>thee</i>. Yes! for <i>thee</i>&mdash;thy
+pitiable condition&mdash;thy perverse ingratitude&mdash;thy slighting of His
+warnings&mdash;thy grieving of His spirit&mdash;thy unkindness to <i>Him</i>&mdash;thine
+obstinate disregard of thine own everlasting interests. Let it be the
+most wondrous and heart-searching of all the memories of Bethany, that
+for thy soul&mdash;that traitor, truant, worthless soul&mdash;which like a stray
+planet He might have suffered to drift away from Himself into the
+blackness of eternal darkness&mdash;helpless, hopeless, ruined, lost!&mdash;Yes!
+that for <i>thee</i>, <span class="smcap">Jesus wept</span>!</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;And doth the Saviour weep<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Over His people&#8217;s sin,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Because we will not let Him keep<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The souls He died to win?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ye hearts that love the Lord,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">If at this sight ye burn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">See that in thought, in deed, in word,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Ye hate what made Him mourn.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_XIII" id="Chap_XIII"></a>XIII.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p125.png" alt="The Grave Stone." title="The Grave Stone." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>The Grave Stone.</h3>
+
+<p>They have now reached the grave. It was a rocky sepulchre. A flat stone
+(possibly with some Hebrew inscription) lay upon the mouth of it.</p>
+
+<p>In wondering amazement the sorrowing group follow the footsteps of the
+Saviour. &ldquo;Behold how He loved him,&rdquo; whisper the Jews to one another as
+they witness His fast falling tears. Can His repairing thus to the tomb
+be anything more than to pay a mournful tribute to an honoured
+friendship, and behold the silent home of the loved dead? Nay; He is
+about, as the Lord of Life, to wrench away the swaddling-bands of
+corruption, to vindicate His name and prerogative as the &ldquo;Abolisher of
+death&rdquo;&mdash;to have the first-fruits of that vast triumph which, ages before
+the birth of time, He had anticipated with longing earnestness&mdash;&ldquo;I will
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>
+ransom them from the power of the grave, I will redeem them from death.
+O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Does He proceed forthwith to speak the word, and to accomplish the giant
+deed? He breaks silence. But we listen, in the first instance, not to
+the omnipotent summons, but to an address to the bystanders&mdash;&ldquo;<i>Jesus
+said, Take ye away the stone!</i>&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_15" id="FNanchor_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p>
+
+<p>What need of this parenthesis in His mighty work? Why this summoning in
+any feeble human agency when His own independent fiat could have
+effected the whole? Would it not have been a more startling
+manifestation of Omnipotence, by a mandate similar to that which chained
+the tempests of Tiberias, or the demoniac of Gadara, to have hurled the
+incumbent stone into fragments? Might not He who has &ldquo;the keys of the
+grave and of death&rdquo; have Himself unlocked the portals preparatory to the
+vaster prodigy that was to follow?</p>
+
+<p>Nay, there was a mighty lesson to be read in thus delegating human hands
+to remove the intervening
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>
+barrier. The Church of the living God may, in every age, gather from it
+instruction!</p>
+
+<p>What, then, does the Saviour here figuratively, but significantly, teach
+His people? Is it not the important truth that, though dependent on Him
+for all they are, and all they have, they are not thereby released and
+exempted from the use of <i>means</i>? He alone can bring back Lazarus from
+his death-sleep. Martha and Mary may weep an ocean of tears, but they
+cannot weep him back. They may linger for days and nights in that lonely
+graveyard, making it resound with their bitter dirges, but their
+impassioned entreaties will be mocked with impressive silence. Too well
+do they know <i>that</i> spirit is fled beyond their recall&mdash;the spark of
+life extinguished beyond any earthly rekindling!</p>
+
+<p>But though the word of Omnipotence can alone bring back the dead, human
+hands and human efforts can roll away the interjacent stone, and prepare
+for the performance of the miracle; and after the miracle <i>is</i>
+performed, human hands may again be called in to tear off the cerements
+of the tomb,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>
+to ungird the bandages from the restored captive, to &ldquo;loose him and
+let him go!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This simple incident in the Bethany narrative admits of manifold
+practical applications. Let us look to it with reference to the mightier
+moral miracle of the Resurrection of the soul &ldquo;dead in trespasses and
+sins.&rdquo; Jesus, and Jesus alone, can awake that soul from the deep slumber
+of its spiritual death, and invest it with the glories of a new
+resurrection-life. In vain can it awake of itself; no human skill can
+put animation into the moral skeleton. No power of human eloquence, no
+&ldquo;excellency of man&#8217;s wisdom,&rdquo; can open these rayless eyes, and pour
+life, and light, and hope into the dull caverns of the spiritual
+sepulchre. &ldquo;Prophesy to the dry bones!&rdquo;&mdash;We may prophesy for ever&mdash;we
+may wake the valley of vision by ceaseless invocations, but the dead
+will hear not. No bone of the spiritual skeleton will stir, for it is
+&ldquo;not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But though it be a Divine work from first to last which effects the
+spiritual regeneration of man, are we from this presumptuously to
+disregard the use
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>
+of means? Are prayer, and preaching, and human
+effort, and strenuous earnestness in the work of our high calling, are
+these all to be superseded, and pronounced unavailing and unnecessary?</p>
+
+<p>Nay, though man cannot wake to life his dormant spiritual
+energies&mdash;though these lie slumbering in the deep sleep of the sheeted
+dead, and nothing but Lazarus&#8217; Lord can break the moral trance&mdash;yet <i>he
+can use the appointed means</i>. He dare not be guilty of the monstrous
+inconsistency and crime of willingly allowing impediments to stand in
+the way of his spiritual revival which his own efforts may remove! He
+cannot expect his Lord to sound over his soul the gladdening accents of
+peace, and reconciliation, and joy, if some known sin be still lying,
+like the superincumbent grave-stone, which it is in his power to roll
+away, and at his peril if he suffer to remain!</p>
+
+<p>Christ is alone the &ldquo;abolisher of death,&rdquo; and the &ldquo;giver of life;&rdquo; but
+notwithstanding this, &ldquo;Roll ye away the stone!&rdquo;&mdash;neglect not the means
+He has appointed and prescribed. If ye neglect prayer, and despise
+ordinances, and trifle with temptation, or venture on forbidden ground,
+ye are
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>
+only making the intervening obstacle firmer and faster, and
+wilfully denuding yourselves of the gift of life. Naaman must plunge
+seven times in Jordan, else he cannot be made clean. To cleanse
+<i>himself</i> of his leprosy he cannot, but to wash in Jordan <i>he can</i>. The
+Israelite must gaze on the brazen serpent; he cannot of himself heal one
+fevered wound, but to gaze on the appointed symbol of cure he can. In
+vain can the engines of war effect a breach on the walls of Jericho; but
+the hosts of Joshua can sound the appointed trumpet, and raise the
+prescribed shout, and the battlements in a moment are in the dust.
+Martha and Mary in vain can make their voices be heard in the &ldquo;dull,
+cold ear of death,&rdquo; but at their Lord&#8217;s bidding they can hurl back the
+outer portals where their dead is laid. They cannot unbind one fetter,
+but they can open with human hand the prison-door to admit the Divine
+Liberator.</p>
+
+<p>Let it not be supposed that in this we detract in any wise from the
+omnipotence of the Saviour&#8217;s grace. God forbid! All is of grace, from
+first to last&mdash;free, sovereign grace. Man has no more merit in salvation
+than the beggar has merit in reaching
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>
+forth his hand for alms, or in
+stooping down to drink of the wayside fountain. But neither must we
+ignore the great truth which God strives throughout His Word to impress
+upon us, that He works by <i>means</i>, and that for the neglect of these
+means we are ourselves responsible. Paul had the assurance given him by
+an angel from heaven, when tossed in the storm in Adria, that not one
+life in his vessel was to be lost; that though the ship was to be
+wrecked, all her crew were to come safe to land. But was there on this
+account any effort on his part relaxed to secure their safety? No! he
+toiled and laboured at the pumps and rigging and anchors as
+unremittingly as before; and when some of the sailors made the cowardly
+attempt, by lowering a small boat, to effect their own escape, the voice
+of the apostle was heard proclaiming, amid the storm, that unless they
+abode in the ship none could be saved!</p>
+
+<p>The true philosophy of the Gospel system is this, to feel as if much
+depended on ourselves; but at the same time entertaining the loftier
+conviction that <i>all</i> depends upon God. Jesus, when He invites to the
+strait gate, does not inculcate remaining
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>
+outside, in a state of
+passive and listless inaction, until the portals be seen to move by the
+Divine hand. His exhortation and command rather is,
+&ldquo;Strive&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;knock&rdquo;&mdash;<i>agonise</i> to &ldquo;enter in!&rdquo; We are not to ascend to
+heaven, seated, like Elijah, in a chariot of fire, without toil or
+effort, but rather to &ldquo;<i>fight</i> the good fight of faith.&rdquo; The saying of
+the great Apostle is a vivid portraiture of what the Christian&#8217;s
+feelings ought to be regarding personal holiness&mdash;&ldquo;I laboured, ... yet
+not I, but the grace of God which was with me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>As the Lord of Bethany gives the summons, &ldquo;Roll ye away the stone,&rdquo; His
+words seem paraphrased in this other Scripture, &ldquo;Work out your own
+salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you
+both to will and to do of his good pleasure.&rdquo; You may feel assured that
+He will not impose upon you one needless burden; He will not exact more
+than He knows your strength will bear; He will ask no Peter to come to
+Him on the water, unless He impart at the same time strength and support
+on the unstable wave; He will not demand of you the endurance of
+providences, and trials, and temptations you are
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>
+unable to cope with;
+He will not ask you to draw water if the well is too deep, or withdraw
+the stone if too heavy. But neither, at the same time, will He admit as
+an impossibility that which, as a free and responsible agent, it is in
+your power to avert. He will not regard as your misfortune what is your
+crime. &ldquo;If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Oh! let life be, more than it ever has been, one constant effort to roll
+away the stone from the moral sepulchre&mdash;carefully to remove every
+barrier between our souls and Jesus&mdash;looking forward to that glorious
+day when the voice of the Restorer shall be heard uttering the
+omnipotent &ldquo;<i>Come forth!</i>&rdquo; and to His angel assessors the mandate shall
+be given regarding the thronging myriads of risen dead, &ldquo;<i>Loose them and
+let them go!</i>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_XIV" id="Chap_XIV"></a>XIV.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p134.png" alt="Unbelief." title="Unbelief." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>Unbelief.</h3>
+
+<p>Man&mdash;short-sighted man&mdash;often raises impossibilities when God does not.
+It is hard for rebellious unbelief to lie submissive and still. In
+moments when the spirit might well be overawed into silence, it gives
+utterance to its querulous questionings and surmisings rather than
+remain obedient at the feet of Christ, reposing on the sublime aphorism,
+&ldquo;All things are possible to him that believeth.&rdquo; In the mind of Martha,
+where faith had been so recently triumphant, doubt and unbelief have
+begun again to insinuate themselves. This &ldquo;Peter of her sex&rdquo; had
+ventured out boldly on the water to meet her Lord. She had owned Him as
+the giver of life, and triumphed in Him as her Saviour! But now she is
+beginning to sink. A natural difficulty presents itself to her mind
+about the removal
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>
+of the incumbent grave-stone. She avers how needless
+its displacement would be, as by this time corruption must have begun
+its fatal work. Four brief days only had elapsed since the eye of
+Lazarus had beamed with fraternal affection. Now these lips must be
+&ldquo;saying to corruption, Thou art my father; to the worm, Thou art my
+mother and my sister.&rdquo; Death, she felt, must now be stamping his
+impressive mockery on that cherished earthly friendship, and, attired in
+his most terrible insignia, putting the last fatal extinguisher on the
+glimmerings of her faith and hope. &ldquo;What need is there, Lord,&rdquo; she seems
+to say, &ldquo;for this redundant labour? My brother is far beyond the reach
+even of a voice like Thine. Why excite vain expectations in my breast
+which never can be realised? That grave has closed upon him for the &lsquo;for
+ever&rsquo; of time. Nothing now can revoke the sentence, or reanimate the
+silent dust, save the trump of God on the final day.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_16" id="FNanchor_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p>
+
+<p>Thus blindly did Martha reason. She can see no other object her Redeemer
+can have for the removal of the stone, save to gaze once more on a form and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>
+countenance He loved. Both for His sake, and the strangers
+assembled, she recoils from the thought of disclosing so humiliating a
+sight.</p>
+
+<p>Alas! how little are fitful frames and feelings to be trusted. Only a
+few brief moments before, she had made a noble protestation of her faith
+in the presence of her Lord. His own majestic utterances had soothed her
+griefs, dried her tears, and elicited the confession that He was truly
+the Son of God. But the sight of the tomb and its mournful
+accompaniments obliterate for a moment the recollection of better
+thoughts and a nobler avowal. She forgets that &ldquo;things which are
+impossible with men are possible with God.&rdquo; She is guilty of &ldquo;limiting
+the Holy One of Israel.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>How often is it so with us! How easy is it for us, like Martha, to be
+bold in our creed when there is nothing to cross our wishes, or dim and
+darken our faith. But when the hour of trial comes, how often does
+<i>sense</i> threaten to displace and supplant the nobler antagonist
+principle! How often do we lose sight of the Saviour at the very moment
+when we most need to have Him continually in view! How often are our
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>
+convictions of the efficacy of prayer most dulled and deadened just
+when the dark waves are cresting over our heads, and voices of unbelief
+are uttering the upbraiding in our ears, &ldquo;Where is now thy God?&rdquo; But
+will Jesus leave His people to their own guilty unbelieving doubts? Will
+Martha, by her unworthy insinuations, put an arrest on her Lord&#8217;s arm;
+or will He, in righteous retribution for her faithlessness, leave the
+stone sealed, and the dead unraised?</p>
+
+<p>Nay! He loves His people too well to let their stupid unbelief and
+hardness of heart interfere with His own gracious purposes! How tenderly
+He rebukes the spirit of this doubter. &ldquo;Why,&rdquo; as if He said, &ldquo;Why
+distrust me? Why stultify thyself with these unbelieving surmises. Hast
+thou already forgotten my own gracious assurances, and thine own
+unqualified acceptance of them. My hand is never shortened that it
+cannot save; my ear is never heavy that it cannot hear. I can call the
+things which are not, and make them as though they were. Said I not unto
+thee, in that earnest conversation which I had a little ago outside the
+village, in which Gospel faith was
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>
+the great theme, if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This Bethany utterance has still a voice,&mdash;a voice of rebuke and of
+comfort in our hours of trial. When, like aged Jacob, we are ready to
+say, &ldquo;All these things are against me;&rdquo; when we are about to lose the
+footsteps of a God of love, or <i>have</i> perhaps lost them, there is a
+voice ready to hush into silence every unbelieving doubt and surmise.
+&ldquo;Although thou sayest thou canst not see Him, yet judgment is before
+Him, therefore trust thou in Him.&rdquo; God often thus hides Himself from His
+people in order to try their faith, and elicit their confidence. He puts
+us in perplexing paths&mdash;&ldquo;allures&rdquo; and &ldquo;brings into the wilderness,&rdquo;
+only, however, that we may see more of Himself, and that He may &ldquo;speak
+comfortably unto us.&rdquo; He lets our need attain its extremity, that His
+intervention may appear the more signal. He suffers apparently even His
+own promises to fail, that He may test the faith of His waiting
+people;&mdash;tutor them to &ldquo;hope against hope,&rdquo; and to find, in <i>unanswered</i>
+prayers and baffled expectations, only a fresh reason for clinging to
+His all-powerful arm, and frequenting His mercy-seat.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>
+He dashes first
+to the ground our human confidences and refuges, shewing how utterly
+&ldquo;vain is the help of man;&rdquo; so that faith, with her own folded, dove-like
+wings, may repose in quiet confidence in His faithfulness, saying, &ldquo;In
+the Lord put I my trust: why say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your
+mountain?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Reader! It would be well for you to hear this gentle chiding of Christ,
+too, in the moment of your <i>spiritual</i> depression;&mdash;when complaining of
+your corruptions, the weakness of your graces, your low attainments in
+holiness, the strength of your temptations, and your inability to resist
+sin. &ldquo;<i>Said I not unto thee</i>,&rdquo; interposes this voice of mingled reproof
+and love, &ldquo;My grace is sufficient for thee?&rdquo; &ldquo;The bruised reed I will
+not break, the smoking flax I will not quench.&rdquo; &ldquo;Look unto <i>Me</i>, and be
+ye saved, all the ends of the earth.&rdquo; We are too apt to look to
+<i>ourselves</i>, to turn our contemplation <i>inwards</i>, instead of keeping the
+eye of faith centered undeviatingly on a faithful covenant-keeping God,
+laying our finger on every promise of His Word, and making the challenge
+regarding each, &ldquo;Hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he
+spoken, and shall he not bring it to pass?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>
+Yes; there may be much to try and perplex. Sense and sight may stagger,
+and stumble, and fall; we may be able to see no break in the clouds;
+&ldquo;deep may be calling to deep,&rdquo; and wave responding to wave, &ldquo;yet the
+Lord will command his loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night
+his song shall be with me.&ldquo; If we only &rdquo;<i>believe</i>&rdquo; in spite of unbelief;
+hoping on, and praying on, and trusting on; like the great Father of the
+faithful, in the midst of adverse providences, &ldquo;strong in faith, giving
+glory to God,&rdquo; He will yet cause the day-spring from on high to visit
+us. Even in <i>this</i> world perplexing paths may be made plain, and
+slippery places smooth, and judgments &ldquo;bright as the noonday;&rdquo; but if
+not <i>here</i>, there <i>is</i> at least a glorious day of disclosures at hand,
+when the reign of unbelieving doubt shall terminate for ever, when the
+archives of a chequered past will be ransacked of their every
+mystery;&mdash;all events mirrored and made plain in the light of eternity;
+and this saying of the weeping Saviour of Bethany obtain its true and
+everlasting fulfilment, &ldquo;<span class="smcap">Said I not unto thee, if thou wouldst believe,
+thou shouldst see the glory of God?</span>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_XV" id="Chap_XV"></a>XV.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p141.png" alt="The Divine Pleader." title="The Divine Pleader." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>The Divine Pleader.</h3>
+
+<p>The stone is rolled away, but there is a solemn pause just when the
+miracle is about to be performed.</p>
+
+<p><i>Jesus prays!</i> The God-Man Mediator&mdash;the Lord of Life&mdash;the Abolisher of
+Death&mdash;the Being of all Beings&mdash;who had the boundless treasures of
+eternity in His grasp&mdash;pauses by the grave of the dead, and lifts up His
+eyes to heaven in supplication! How often in the same incidents, during
+our Lord&#8217;s incarnation, do we find His manhood and His Godhead standing
+together in stupendous contrast. At His birth, the mystic star and the
+lowly manger were together; at His death, the ignominious cross and the
+eclipsed sun were together. Here He weeps and prays at the very moment
+when He is baring the arm of Omnipotence. The
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>
+&ldquo;mighty God&rdquo; appears in
+conjunction with &ldquo;the man Christ Jesus.&rdquo; &ldquo;His name is Immanuel, God with
+us.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The body of Lazarus was now probably, by the rolling away of the stone,
+exposed to view. It was a humiliating sight. Earth&mdash;the grave&mdash;could
+afford no solace to the spectators. The Redeemer, by a significant act,
+shews them where alone, at such an hour, comfort can be found. He points
+the mourning spirit to its only true source of consolation and peace in
+God Himself, teaching it to rise above the mortal to the immortal&mdash;the
+corruptible to the incorruptible&mdash;from earth to heaven.</p>
+
+<p>Ah! there is nothing but humiliation and sadness in every view of the
+grave and corruption. Why dwell on the shattered casket, and not rather
+on the jewel which is sparkling brighter than ever in a better world?
+Why persist in gazing on the trophies of the last enemy, when we can
+joyfully realise the emancipated soul exulting in the plenitude of
+purchased bliss? Why fall with broken wing and wailing cry to the dust,
+when on eagle-pinion we can soar to the celestial gate, and learn
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>
+the unkindness of wishing the sainted and crowned one back to the nether
+valley?</p>
+
+<p>It is <i>Prayer</i>, observe, which thus brings the eye and the heart near to
+heaven. It is <i>Prayer</i> which opens the celestial portals, and gives to
+the soul a sight of the invisible.</p>
+
+<p>Yes; ye who may be now weeping in unavailing sorrow over the departed,
+remember, in conjunction with the <i>tears</i>, the <i>prayers</i> of Jesus. Many
+a desolate mourner derives comfort from the thought&mdash;&ldquo;Jesus wept.&rdquo;
+Forget not this other simple entry in our touching narrative, telling
+where the spirit should ever rest amid the shadows of death&mdash;&ldquo;<i>Jesus
+lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard
+me. And I knew that Thou hearest me always.</i>&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_17" id="FNanchor_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p>
+
+<p>Let us gather for a little around this incident in the story of Bethany.
+It is one of the many golden sayings of priceless value.</p>
+
+<p>That utterance has at this moment lost none of its preciousness; that
+voice, silent on earth, is still eloquent in heaven. The Great
+Intercessor still is there, &ldquo;walking in the midst of the seven golden
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>
+candlesticks;&rdquo; loving to note all the wants and weaknesses, the
+necessities and distresses, of every Church, and every member of His
+Church. What He said of old to Peter, He says to every trembling
+believer&mdash;&ldquo;I <i>have</i> prayed, and <i>am</i> praying for <i>thee</i>, that thy faith
+fail not!&rdquo; &ldquo;For <i>thee</i>!&rdquo; We must not merge the interest which Jesus has
+in each separate member of His family, in His intercession for the
+Church in general. While He lets down His censer, and receives into it,
+for presentation on the golden altar, the prayers of the vast aggregate;
+while, as the true High Priest, He enters the holiest of all with the
+names of His spiritual Israel on His breastplate&mdash;carrying the burden of
+their hourly needs to the foot of the mercy-seat;&mdash;yet still, He pleads,
+as if the case of <i>each</i> stood separate and alone! He remembers <i>thee</i>,
+dejected Mourner, as if there were no other heart but thine to be
+healed, and no other tears but thine to be dried. His own words, speaking of
+believers, not collectively but individually, are these&mdash;&ldquo;I will confess
+<i>his</i> name before my Father and his angels.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_18" id="FNanchor_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a>
+&ldquo;<i>Who</i> touched
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>
+me?&rdquo; was His interrogation once on earth, as His discriminating
+love was conscious of some special contact amid the press of the
+multitude,&mdash;&ldquo;<i>Somebody</i> hath touched me!&rdquo; If we can say, in the language
+of Paul&#8217;s appropriating faith, &ldquo;He loved <i>me</i>, and gave Himself for
+<i>me</i>,&rdquo; we can add, He pleads for <i>me</i>, and bears <i>me</i>! He bears this
+very heart of <i>mine</i>, with all its weaknesses, and infirmities, and
+sins, before His Father&#8217;s throne. He has engraven each stone of His Zion
+on the &ldquo;palms of His hands,&rdquo; and &ldquo;its walls are continually before Him!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>How untiring, too, in His advocacy! What has the Christian so to
+complain of, as his own cold, unworthy prayers&mdash;mixed so with
+unbelief&mdash;soiled with worldliness&mdash;sometimes guiltily omitted or
+curtailed. Not the fervid ejaculations of those feelingly alive to their
+spiritual exigencies, but listless, unctionless, the hands hanging down,
+the knees feeble and trembling!</p>
+
+<p>But notwithstanding all, Jesus <i>pleads</i>! Still the Great Intercessor
+&ldquo;waits to be gracious.&rdquo; He is at once Moses on the mountain, and Joshua
+on the battle-plain&mdash;fighting <i>with</i> us in the one, praying
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>
+<i>for</i> us in
+the other. No Aarons or Hurs needed to sustain His sinking strength, for
+it is His sublime prerogative neither to &ldquo;faint nor grow weary!&rdquo; There
+is no loftier occupation for faith than to speed upwards to the throne
+and behold that wondrous Pleader, receiving at one moment, and at
+<i>every</i> moment, the countless supplications and prayers which are coming
+up before Him from every corner of His Church. The Sinner just awoke
+from his moral slumber, and in the agonies of conviction, exclaiming,
+&ldquo;What must I do to be saved?&rdquo;&mdash;The Procrastinator sending up from the
+brink of despair the cry of importunate agony.&mdash;The Backslider wailing
+forth his bitter lamentation over guilty departures, and foul
+ingratitude, and injured love.&mdash;The Sick man feebly groaning forth, in
+undertones of suffering, his petition for succour.&mdash;The Dying, on the
+brink of eternity, invoking the presence and support of the alone arm
+which can be of any avail to them.&mdash;The Bereaved, in the fresh gush of
+their sorrow, calling upon Him who is the healer of the broken-hearted.
+But <i>all heard</i>! Every tear marked&mdash;every sigh registered&mdash;every
+suppliant succoured.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>
+Amalek may come threatening nothing but
+discomfiture; but that pleading Voice on the heavenly Hill is &ldquo;greater
+far than all that can be against us!&rdquo; He pleads for His elect in every
+phase of their spiritual history&mdash;He pleads for their inbringing into
+His fold&mdash;He pleads for their perseverance in grace&mdash;He pleads for their
+deliverance at once from the accusations and the power of Satan&mdash;He
+pleads for their growing sanctification;&mdash;and when the battle of life is
+over, He uplifts His last pleading voice for their complete
+glorification. The intercession of Jesus is the golden key which unlocks
+the gates of Paradise to the departing soul. At a saint&#8217;s dying moments
+we are too often occupied with the lower <i>earthly</i> scene to think of the
+<i>heavenly</i>. The tears of surrounding relatives cloud too often the more
+glorious revelations which faith discloses. But in the muffled stillness
+of that death-chamber, when each is holding his breath as the King of
+Terrors passes by&mdash;if we could listen to it, we should hear the &ldquo;Prince
+who has power with God&rdquo; thus uttering His final prayer, and on the
+rushing wings of ministering angels receiving an answer while He
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>
+is yet speaking&mdash;&ldquo;Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be
+with me where I am, that they may behold my glory!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Reader! exult more and more in this all-prevailing Advocate. See that ye
+approach the mercy-seat with no other trust but in His atoning work and
+meritorious righteousness. There was but <i>One</i> solitary man of the whole
+human race who, of old, in the Jewish temple, was permitted to speak
+face to face with Jehovah. There is but <span class="smcap">one</span> solitary Being in the vast
+universe of God who, in the heavenly sanctuary, can effectually plead in
+behalf of His Spiritual Israel. &ldquo;Seeing, then, that we have a Great High
+Priest passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, ... let us come
+boldly to the throne of grace.&rdquo; If Jesus delights in asking, God
+delights in bestowing. Let us put our every want, and difficulty, and
+perplexity, in His hand, feeling the precious assurance, that all which
+is really good for us will be given, and all that is adverse will, in
+equal mercy, be withheld. There is no limitation set to our requests.
+The treasury of grace is flung wide open for every suppliant. &ldquo;Verily,
+verily, I say unto
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>
+you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father <i>in my name</i>
+He will give it you.&rdquo; Surely we may cease to wonder that the Great
+Apostle should have clung with such intense interest to this elevating
+theme&mdash;the Saviour&#8217;s <i>intercession</i>;&mdash;that in his brief, but most
+comprehensive and beautiful creed,<a name="FNanchor_19" id="FNanchor_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> he should have so exalted, as he
+does, its relative importance, compared with other cognate truths. &ldquo;It
+is Christ that died, <i>yea rather</i>, that is risen again, who is even at
+the right hand of God, <i>who also maketh intercession for us</i>.&rdquo; Climbing,
+step by step, in the upward ascent of Christian faith and hope, he seems
+only to &ldquo;reach the height of his great argument&rdquo; when he stands on &ldquo;<i>the
+mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense</i>.&rdquo; <i>There</i>, gazing on the
+face of the great officiating Priest who fills all heaven with His
+fragrance, and feeling that against <i>that</i> intercession the gates of
+hell can never prevail, he can utter the challenge to devils, and
+angels, and men, &ldquo;Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_XVI" id="Chap_XVI"></a>XVI.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p150.png" alt="The Omnipotent Summons." title="The Omnipotent Summons." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>The Omnipotent Summons.</h3>
+
+<p>The moment has now come for the voice of Omnipotence to give the
+mandate. The group have gathered around the sepulchral grotto&mdash;the
+Redeemer stands in meek majesty in front&mdash;the teardrop still glistening
+in His eye, and that eye directed heavenward! Martha and Mary are gazing
+on His countenance in dumb emotion, while the eager bystanders bend over
+the removed stone to see if the dead be still there. Yes! <i>there</i> the
+captive lies&mdash;in uninvaded silence&mdash;attired still in the same solemn
+drapery. The Lord gives the word. &ldquo;<i>Lazarus come forth!</i>&rdquo; peals through
+the silent vault. The dull, cold ear seems to listen. The pulseless heart begins
+to beat&mdash;the rigid limbs to move&mdash;<i>Lazarus lives</i>! He rises girt in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>
+the swaddling-bands of the tomb, once more to walk in the light
+of the living.</p>
+
+<p>Where Scripture is silent, it is vain for us to picture the emotions of
+that moment, when the weeping sisters found the gloomy hours of
+disconsolate sorrow all at once rolled away. The cry of mingled wonder
+and gratitude rings through that lonely graveyard,&mdash;&ldquo;This our brother
+was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>O most wondrous power&mdash;Death vanquished in his own territory! The
+sleeper has awoke a moral Samson, snapping the withs with which the King
+of Terrors had bound him. The star of Bethlehem shines, and the Valley
+of Achor becomes a door of hope. The all-devouring destroyer has to
+relinquish his prey.</p>
+
+<p>Was the joy of that moment confined to these two bosoms? Nay! The Church
+of Christ in every age may well love to linger around the grave of
+Lazarus. In <i>his</i> resurrection there is to His true people a sure pledge
+and earnest of their own. It was the first sheaf reaped by the mower&#8217;s
+sickle anticipatory of the great Harvest-home of the Final day &ldquo;when all
+that are in their
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>
+graves&rdquo; shall hear the same voice and shall &ldquo;come
+forth.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_20" id="FNanchor_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p>
+
+<p>Solemn, surely, is the thought that that same portentous miracle
+performed on Lazarus is one day to be performed on <i>ourselves</i>. Wherever
+we repose&mdash;whether, as <i>he</i> did, in the quiet churchyard of our native
+village, or in the midst of the city&#8217;s crowded cemetery, or far away
+amid the alien and stranger in some foreign shore, our dust shall be
+startled by that omnipotent summons. How shall we hear it? Would it
+sound in our ears like the sweet tones of the silver trumpet of Jubilee?
+Would it be to gaze like Lazarus on the face of our best friend&mdash;to see
+<i>Jesus</i> bending over us in looks of tenderness&mdash;to hear the living tones
+of that same voice, whose accents were last heard in the dark valley,
+whispering hopes full of immortality? True, we have not to wait for a
+Saviour&#8217;s love and presence till then. The hour of <i>death</i> is to the
+Christian the birthday of endless life. Guardian angels are hovering
+around his dying pillow ready to waft his spirit into Abraham&#8217;s bosom.
+&ldquo;The souls of believers do <i>immediately</i> pass into glory.&rdquo;
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>
+But the full
+plenitude of their joy and bliss is reserved for the time when the
+precious but redeemed dust, which for a season is left to moulder in the
+tomb, shall become instinct with life&mdash;&ldquo;the corruptible put on
+incorruption, and the mortal immortality.&rdquo; The spirits of the just enter
+at <i>death</i> on &ldquo;the inheritance of the saints in light;&rdquo; but at the
+<i>Resurrection</i> they shall rise as separate orbs from the darkness and
+night of the grave, each to &ldquo;shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of
+their Father.&rdquo; However glorious the emancipation of the soul in the
+moment of dissolution, it is not until the plains and valleys of our
+globe shall stand thick with the living of buried generations&mdash;each
+glorified body the image of its Lord&#8217;s&mdash;that the predicted anthem will
+be heard waking the echoes of the universe&mdash;&ldquo;O death, where is thy
+sting? O grave, where is thy victory?&rdquo; Then, with the organs of their
+resurrection-bodies ennobled, etherealised, purified from all the
+grossness of earth, they shall &ldquo;behold the King in his beauty.&rdquo; &ldquo;The
+King&#8217;s daughter,&rdquo; all glorious without, &ldquo;all glorious within&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;her
+clothing of wrought gold&rdquo;&mdash;resplendent <i>without</i> with the robes of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>
+righteousness&mdash;radiant <i>within</i> with the beauties of holiness&mdash;shall be
+brought &ldquo;with gladness and rejoicing,&rdquo; and &ldquo;enter into the King&#8217;s
+palace.&rdquo; This will form the full meridian of the saints&#8217; glory&mdash;the
+essence and climax of their new-born bliss&mdash;the full vision and fruition
+of a Saviour-God. &ldquo;When He shall appear, ... we shall see Him as He is!&rdquo;
+The first sight which will burst on the view of the Risen ones will be
+<i>Jesus</i>! <i>His</i> hands will wreath the glorified brows, in presence of an
+assembled world, with the crown of life. From <i>His</i> lips will proceed
+the gladdening welcome&mdash;&ldquo;Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But this will not exhaust the elements of bliss in the case of the
+&ldquo;perfected just&rdquo; on the day of their final triumph. Though the presence
+of their adorable Redeemer would be enough, and more than enough, to
+fill their cup with happiness, there will be others also to welcome
+them, and to augment their joy. Lazarus&#8217; Lord was not <i>alone</i> at the
+sepulchre&#8217;s brink, at Bethany, ready to greet him back. Two loved
+sisters shared the joy of that gladsome hour. We are left to picture for
+ourselves the reunion, when, with hand linked in hand, they retraversed
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>
+the road which had so recently echoed to the voice of mourning, and
+entered once more their home, radiant with a sunshine they had imagined
+to have passed away from it for ever!</p>
+
+<p>So will it be with the believer on the morning of the Resurrection.
+While his Lord will be <i>there</i>, waiting to welcome him, there will be
+others ready with their presence to enhance the bliss of that gladdening
+restoration. Those whose smiles were last seen in the death-chamber of
+earth, now standing&mdash;not as Martha and Mary, with the tear on their
+cheek and the furrow of deep sorrow on their brow, but robed and radiant
+in resurrection attire, glowing with the anticipations of an everlasting
+and indissoluble reunion!</p>
+
+<p>Can we anticipate, in the resurrection of Lazarus, our own happy
+history? Yes! <i>happier</i> history, for it will not <i>then</i> be to come forth
+once more, like <i>him</i>, into a weeping world, to renew our work and
+warfare, feeling that restoration to life is only but a brief reprieve,
+and that soon again the irrevocable sentence will and must overtake us!
+Not like <i>him</i>, going to a home still covered with the drapery of
+sorrow,&mdash;a few transient years and the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>
+mournful funeral tragedy to be
+repeated,&mdash;but to enter into the region of endless life&mdash;to pass from
+the dark chambers of corruption into the peace and glories of our
+Heavenly Father&#8217;s joyous <i>Home</i>, and &ldquo;so to be for ever with the Lord!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes it is with dying believers as with Lazarus. Their Lord, at the
+approach of death, <i>seems</i> to be absent. He who gladdened their homes
+and their hearts in life, is, for some mysterious reason, away in the
+hour of dissolution; their spirits are depressed; their faith
+languishes; they are ready to say, &ldquo;Where is now my God?&rdquo; But as He
+returned to Bethany to awake His sleeping friend, so will it be with all
+his true people, on that great day when the arm of death shall be for
+ever broken. If <i>now</i> united to Him by a living faith,&mdash;loved by Him as
+Lazarus was, and conscious, however imperfectly, of loving Him back in
+return,&mdash;we may go down to our graves, making Job&#8217;s lofty creed and
+exclamation our own, &ldquo;I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall
+stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin worms
+destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>
+One remark more. We have listened to the Omnipotent fiat,&mdash;&ldquo;Lazarus,
+come forth!&rdquo; We have seen the ear of death starting at the summons, and
+the buried captive goes free! Shall we follow the family group within
+the hallowed precincts of the Bethany dwelling? Shall fancy pour her
+strange and mysterious queries into the ear of him who has just come
+back from that land &ldquo;from whose bourne no traveller returns?&rdquo; He had
+been, in a far truer sense than Paul in an after year, in &ldquo;<i>Paradise</i>.&rdquo;
+He must have heard unspeakable and unutterable words, &ldquo;which it is not
+possible for a man to utter.&rdquo; He had looked upon the Sapphire Throne. He
+had ranged himself with the adoring ranks. He had strung his harp to the
+Eternal Anthem. When, lo! an angel&mdash;a &ldquo;ministering one&rdquo;&mdash;whispers in his
+ear to hush his song, and speed him back again for a little season to
+the valley below.</p>
+
+<p>Startling mandate! Can we suppose a remonstrance to so strange a
+summons? What! to be uncrowned and unglorified!&mdash;Just after a few sips
+of the heavenly fountain, to be hurried away back again to the valley of
+Baca!&mdash;to gather up once
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>
+more the soiled earthly garments and the
+pilgrim staff, and from the pilgrim rest and the victor&#8217;s palm to
+encounter the din and dust and scars of battle! What!&mdash;just after having
+wept his final tear, and fought the last and the most terrible foe, to
+have his eye again dimmed with sorrow, and to have the thought before
+him of breasting a second time the swellings of Jordan!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The Lord hath need of thee,&rdquo; is all the reply, It is enough! He asks no
+more! That glorious Redeemer had left a far brighter throne and heritage
+for <i>him</i>. Lazarus, come forth! sounds in his old world-home, whence his
+spirit had soared, and in his beloved Master&#8217;s words, on a mightier
+embassy, he can say,&mdash;&ldquo;Lo, I come! I delight to do thy will, O my God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Or do other questions involuntarily arise? What was the nature of his
+happiness while &ldquo;absent from the body?&rdquo; What the scenery of that bright
+abode? Had he mingled in the goodly fellowship of prophets? Had he
+conversed with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob? Was his spirit
+stationary&mdash;hovering with a brotherhood of spirits within some holy
+limit&mdash;or, was he permitted to travel
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>
+far and near in errands of love
+and mercy? Had Bethany been revisited during that mysterious interval?
+Had he been the unseen witness of the tears and groans of his anguished
+sisters?</p>
+
+<p>But hush, too, these vain inquiries. We dare not give rein to
+imagination where Inspiration is silent. There is a designed mystery
+about the circumstantials of a future state. Its scenery and locality we
+know nothing of. It is revealed to us only in its <i>character</i>. We are
+permitted to approach its gates, and to read the surmounting
+inscription,&mdash;&ldquo;Without <i>holiness</i> no man shall see the Lord.&rdquo; Further we
+cannot go. Be it ours, like Lazarus, to attain a meetness for heaven, by
+becoming more and more like Lazarus&#8217; Redeemer! &ldquo;<i>We shall be</i> <span class="smcap">like Him</span>,&rdquo;
+is the brief but comprehensive Bible description of that glorious world.
+Saviour-like <i>here</i>, we shall have heaven begun on earth, and lying down
+like Lazarus in the sweet sleep of death, when our Lord comes, on the
+great day-dawn of immortality, we shall be satisfied when we awake in
+<i>His likeness</i>!</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;He that was dead rose up and spoke&mdash;He spoke!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Was it of that majestic world unknown?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Those words which first the bier&#8217;s dread silence broke&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Came they with revelation in each tone?<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">Were the far cities of the nations gone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The solemn halls of consciousness or sleep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For man uncurtain&#8217;d by that spirit lone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Back from the portal summon&#8217;d o&#8217;er the deep?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Be hush&#8217;d, my soul! the veil of darkness lay<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Still drawn; therefore thy Lord called back the voice departed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To spread His truth, to comfort the weak-hearted;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not to reveal the mysteries of its way.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Oh! I take that lesson home in silent faith;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Put on submissive strength to <i>meet</i>, not <i>question</i> <span class="smcap">death</span>.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_XVII" id="Chap_XVII"></a>XVII.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p161.png" alt="The Box of Ointment." title="The Box of Ointment." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>The Box of Ointment.</h3>
+
+<p>Once more we visit in thought a peaceful and happy home-scene in the
+same Bethany household. The severed links in that broken chain are again
+united.</p>
+
+<p>How often in a time of severe bereavement, when some &ldquo;light of the
+dwelling&rdquo; has suddenly been extinguished, does the imagination fondly
+dwell on the possibility of the wild dream of separation passing away;
+of the vacant seat being refilled by its owner the &ldquo;loved and lost one&rdquo;
+again restored. Alas! in all such cases, it is but a feverish vision,
+destined to know no fulfilment. Here, however, it was indeed a happy
+reality. &ldquo;Lazarus is dead!&rdquo; was the bitter dirge a few brief weeks ago;
+but now, &ldquo;Lazarus lives.&rdquo; His silent voice is heard again&mdash;his
+dull eye is lighted
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>
+again&mdash;the temporary pang of separation is only remembered
+to enhance the joy of so gladsome a reunion.</p>
+
+<p>It was on a Sabbath evening, the last Sabbath but one of the waning
+Jewish dispensation, when Spring&#8217;s loveliness was carpeting the Mount of
+Olives and clothing with fresh verdure the groves around Bethany, that
+our blessed Redeemer was seen approaching the haunt of former
+friendship. He had for two months taken shelter from the malice of the
+Sanhedrim in the little town of Ephraim and the mountainous region of
+<span class="tn" title="spelling &lsquo;Per&aelig;an&rsquo; used elsewhere">Perea</span>,
+on the other side of the Jordan. But the Passover solemnity being
+at hand, and his own hour having come, he had &ldquo;set His face steadfastly
+to go to Jerusalem.&rdquo; It is more than probable that for several days He
+had been travelling in the company of other pilgrims coming from Galilee
+on their way to the feast. He seems, however, to have left the festival
+caravan at Jericho, lingering behind with his own disciples in order to
+secure a private approach to the city of solemnities. They were
+completing their journey on the Sabbath referred to just as the sun was
+sinking behind the brow of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>
+Olivet, and, turning aside from the highway,
+they spent the night in their old Bethany retreat. Befitting tranquil
+scene for His closing Sabbath&mdash;a happy preparation for a season of trial
+and conflict! It is well worthy of observation, how, as His saddest
+hours were drawing near&mdash;the shadow of His cross projected on His
+path&mdash;Bethany becomes more and more endeared to Him. Night after night,
+during this memorable week, we shall find Him resorting to its cherished
+seclusion. As the storm is fast gathering, the vessel seeks for shelter
+in its best loved haven.<a name="FNanchor_21" id="FNanchor_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p>
+
+<p>Imagine the joy with which the announcement would be received by the
+inmates&mdash;&ldquo;Our Lord and Redeemer is once more approaching.&rdquo; Imagine how
+the great Conqueror of death would be welcomed into the home consecrated
+alike by His love and power. Now every tear dried! The weeping that
+endured for the long night of bereavement all forgotten. Ah! if Jesus
+were loved before in that happy home, how, we may well imagine, would
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>
+He be adored and reverenced now. What a new claim had He established on
+their deepest affection and regard. Feelingly alive to all they owed
+Him, the restored brother and rejoicing sisters with hearts overflowing
+with gratitude could say, in the words of their Psalmist King&mdash;&ldquo;Thou
+hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness, to the end that
+my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I
+will give thanks unto thee for ever!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But does the love and affection of that household find expression in
+nothing but words? Supper is being made ready. While Martha, with her
+wonted activity, is busied preparing the evening meal&mdash;doing her best to
+provide for the refreshment of the travellers&mdash;the gentle spirit of Mary
+(even if her name had not been given, we should have known it was she)
+prompts her to a more significant proof of the depth of her gratitude.
+Some fragrant ointment of spikenard&mdash;contained, as we gather from the
+other Evangelists, in a box of Alabaster&mdash;had been procured by her at
+great cost;<a name="FNanchor_22" id="FNanchor_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a>
+either obtained for this anticipated meeting
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>
+with her Lord, or it may in some way have fallen into her possession, and
+been sacredly kept among her treasured gifts till some befitting occasion
+occurred for its employment. Has not that occasion occurred now? On whom
+can her grateful heart more joyously bestow this garnered treasure than
+on her beloved Lord. With her own hands she pours it on His feet.
+Stooping down, she wipes them, in further token of her devotion, with
+her loosened tresses, till the whole apartment was filled with the sweet
+perfume.</p>
+
+<p>And what was it that constituted the value of this tribute&mdash;the beauty
+and expressiveness of the action? <i>She gave her Lord the best thing she
+had!</i> She felt that to Him, in addition to what He had done for her own
+soul, she owed the most valued life in the world.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Her eyes are homes of silent prayer,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Nor other thought her mind admits;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But, he was dead, and there he sits,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And He that brought him back is there.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Then one deep love doth supersede<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All other, when her ardent gaze<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Roves from the living brother&#8217;s face<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And rests upon the Life indeed.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;All subtle thought, all curious fears,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Borne down by gladness so complete;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">She bows, she bathes the Saviour&#8217;s feet<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With costly spikenard and with tears.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_23" id="FNanchor_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>What a lesson for us! Are we willing to give our Lord the best of what
+we have&mdash;to consecrate time, talents, strength, life, to His service?
+Not as many, to give Him the mere dregs and sweepings of existence&mdash;the
+wrecks of a &ldquo;worn and withered love&rdquo;&mdash;but, like Mary, anxious to take
+every opportunity and occasion of testifying the depth of obligation
+under which we are laid to Him? Let us not say&mdash;&ldquo;My sphere is lowly, my
+means are limited, my best offerings would be inadequate.&rdquo; Such,
+doubtless, were the very feelings of that humble, diffident, yet loving
+one, as she crept noiselessly to where her pilgrim-Lord reclined, and
+lavished on His weary limbs the costliest treasure she possessed.
+Hundreds of more imposing deeds&mdash;more princely and munificent
+offerings&mdash;may have been left unrecorded by the Evangelists; but
+&ldquo;wherever this Gospel shall be preached, in the whole world, there shall
+also this
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>
+that this woman hath done be told for a memorial of her.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_24" id="FNanchor_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p>
+
+<p>Would that love to &ldquo;that same Jesus&rdquo; were with all of us more paramount
+than it is! &ldquo;Lovest thou Me <i>more than these</i>&rdquo; is His own searching test
+and requirement. Is it so?&mdash;Do we love Him more than self or sin&mdash;more
+than friends or home&mdash;more than any earthly object or earthly good; and
+are we willing, if need be, to make a sacrifice for His glory and for
+the honour of His cause? Happy for us if it be so. There will be a joy
+in the very consciousness of making the effort, feeble and unworthy as
+it may be, for His sake, and in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>
+acknowledgment of the great love
+wherewith He hath loved us.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Thrice blest, whose lives are faithful prayers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Whose loves in higher Love endure;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Whose souls possess themselves so pure,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or is there blessedness like theirs?&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Let it be our privilege and delight to give Him our pound of spikenard,
+whatever that may be; and if we can give no other, let us offer the
+fragrant perfume of holy hearts and holy lives. <i>That</i> religion is
+always best which reveals itself by its effects&mdash;by kindness,
+gentleness, amiability, unselfishness, flowing from a principle of
+grateful love to Him who, though unseen, has been to us as to the family
+of Bethany&mdash;Friend, and Help, and Guide, and Portion. Mary&#8217;s honour was
+great to anoint her Lord, but the lowliest and humblest of His people
+may do the same. We may have no aromatic offering, neither &ldquo;gold, nor
+frankincense, nor myrrh;&rdquo; but My son, My daughter, &ldquo;give Me thine
+heart.&rdquo; &ldquo;The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a
+contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>
+Nor ought we to forget our blessed Lord&#8217;s reply, when Judas objected to
+the waste of the ointment&mdash;&ldquo;Let her alone; ... the poor ye have always
+with you, <i>but Me ye have not always</i>.&rdquo; Let us seek to make the most of
+our Lord&#8217;s visits while we have Him. The visits of Jesus to Bethany were
+soon to be over;&mdash;so also with us. He will not always linger on our
+thresholds, if our souls refuse to receive Him, or yield Him nothing but
+coldness and ingratitude in return for His love. &ldquo;Me ye have not
+always.&rdquo; Soon may sickness incapacitate for active service! Soon may
+opportunities for doing good be gone, and gone for ever! Soon may death
+overtake us, and the alabaster box be left behind, unused and
+unemployed; the dying regret on our lips&mdash;&ldquo;Oh that I had done more while
+I lived for this most precious Saviour! but opportunities of testifying
+my gratitude to Him are now gone beyond recall.&rdquo; Good deeds performed on
+Gospel motives, though unknown and unvalued by the world, will not go
+unrecompensed or unowned by Him who values the cup of cold water given
+in His name. &ldquo;God is not unmindful to forget our work of faith and our
+labour of love.&rdquo;
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>
+The Lamb&#8217;s Book of Life registers every such deed of
+lowly piety; and on the Great Day of account &ldquo;it shall be produced to
+our eternal honour, and rewarded with a reward of grace; though not of
+debt.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Let us bear in mind, also, that every holy service of unostentatious
+love exercises a hallowed influence on those around us. We may not be
+conscious of such. But, if Christians indeed, the sphere in which we
+move will, like the Bethany home, be redolent with the ointment perfume.
+A holy life is a silent witness for Jesus&mdash;an incense-cloud from the
+heart-altar, breathing odours and sweet spices, of which the world
+cannot fail to take knowledge. Yes! were we to seek for a beautiful
+allegorical representation of pure and undefiled Religion, we would find
+it in this loveliest of inspired pictures. Mary&mdash;all silent and
+submissive at the feet of her Lord&mdash;only permitting her love to be
+disclosed by the holy perfume which, unknown to herself, revealed to
+others the reality and intensity of her love. True religion is quiet,
+unobtrusive, seeking the shade&mdash;its ever-befitting attitude at the feet
+of Jesus, looking to Him as all
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>
+in all. Yet, though retiring, it <i>must</i>
+and <i>will</i> manifest its living and influential power. The heart broken
+at the cross, like Mary&#8217;s broken box, begins from that hour to give
+forth the hallowed perfume of faith, and love, and obedience, and every
+kindred grace. Not a fitful and vacillating love and service, but <i>ever</i>
+emitting the fragrance of holiness, till the little world of home
+influence around us is filled with the odour of the ointment.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;I ask Thee for the daily strength,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To none that ask denied;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And a mind to blend with outward life,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">While keeping by Thy side;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Content to fill a little space<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">If Thou be glorified.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;And if some things I do not ask<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In my cup of blessings be,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I would have my spirit fill&#8217;d the more<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With grateful love to Thee&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">More careful not to serve Thee <i>much</i>,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But to please Thee perfectly.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Such is a brief sketch of this beautiful domestic scene, and its main
+practical lessons,&mdash;a green spot on which the eye will ever love to
+repose, among the &ldquo;Memories of Bethany.&rdquo; It is
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>
+unnecessary to advert to
+the controverted question, as to whether the description of the
+anointing, which took place in the house of Simon the leper (as recorded
+in Matt. xxvi. 6-14, and Mark xiv. 3), and where the alabaster box is
+spoken of, be identical with this passage, or whether they refer to two
+distinct occasions. The question is of no great importance in
+itself&mdash;the former view (that they are descriptions of one and the same
+event) seems the more probable. It surely gives a deep intensity to the
+interest of the narrative to imagine the Leper and the raised dead man,
+seated at the same table together with their common Deliverer,
+glorifying their Saviour-God, with bodies and spirits they felt now to
+be doubly <i>His</i>! Simon, it is evident, must have been cured of his
+disease, else, by the Jewish law, he dared not have been associating
+with his friends at a common meal. How was he cured? How else may we
+suppose was that inveterate malady subdued but by the omnipotent word of
+<i>Him</i>, who had only to say,&mdash;&ldquo;I will, be thou made whole!&rdquo; May we not
+regard him as a standing miracle of Jesus&#8217; power over the diseased body,
+as Lazarus
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>
+was the living trophy of His power over death and the grave.
+The one could testify,&mdash;&ldquo;This poor man cried, and the Lord saved him,
+and delivered him out of all his troubles.&rdquo; The other,&mdash;&ldquo;Unless the Lord
+had been my help, my soul must now have dwelt in silence!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>In order to explain the circumstance of this family meeting being in the
+house of <i>Simon</i>, there have not been wanting advocates for the
+supposition, that the restored leper may have been none other than the
+<i>parent</i> of the household.<a name="FNanchor_25" id="FNanchor_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> It is not for us to hazard conjectures,
+where Scripture has thrown no light. Even when sanctioned by venerated
+names, the most plausible hypothesis should be received with that
+caution requisite in dealing with what is supported exclusively by
+traditional authority. Were, however, such a view as we have indicated
+correct (which is just possible, and there is nothing in the face of the
+narrative to render it <i>improbable</i>), it certainly would impart a new
+and fresh beauty to the picture of this Feast of gratitude. Well might
+the <i>parent&#8217;s</i> heart swell within him with more than ordinary emotions!
+<i>Himself</i>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>
+plucked a victim from the most loathsome of diseases! He
+would think, with tearful eye, of the dark dungeon of his
+banishment&mdash;the lazar-house, where he had been gloomily excluded from
+all fellowship with human sympathies and loving hearts. His own children
+condemned by a severe but righteous necessity to shun his presence&mdash;or
+when within sound of human footfall or human voice, compelled to make
+known his presence with the doleful utterance,&mdash;&ldquo;Unclean! Unclean!&rdquo; He
+would think of that wondrous moment in his history, when, shunned by
+<i>man</i>, the <span class="smcap">God-man</span> drew near to him, and with one glance of His love,
+and one utterance of His power, He bade the foul disease for ever away!</p>
+
+<p>Nor was this all that Simon (if he <i>were</i>, indeed, the father of the
+family) must have felt. What must have been those emotions, too deep for
+utterance, as he gazed on the son of his affections, seated once more by
+his side! A short time ago, Lazarus had been laid silent in the
+adjoining sepulchre&mdash;Death had laid his cold hand upon him&mdash;the pride of
+his home had been swept down. But the same Almighty friend who had
+caused his
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>
+own leprosy to depart, had given him back his lost one. They
+were rejoicing together in the presence of Him to whom they owed life
+and all its blessings. Oh, well might &ldquo;the voice of rejoicing and
+salvation be heard in the tabernacles of these righteous!&rdquo; Well might
+the head of the household dictate to Mary to &ldquo;bring forth their best&rdquo;
+and bestow it on their Deliverer&mdash;the costliest gift which the dwelling
+contained&mdash;the prized and valued box of alabaster, and pour its contents
+on His feet! We can imagine the burden, if not the words, of their joint
+anthem of praise,&mdash;&ldquo;Bless the Lord, O our souls, and forget not all his
+benefits, who forgiveth all our iniquities, who healeth all our
+diseases, who redeemeth our lives from destruction, and crowneth us with
+loving-kindness and with tender mercy.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But be all this as it may, that same great Physician of Souls still
+waits to be gracious. He healeth <span class="smcap">all</span> our diseases. Young and old, rich
+and poor, every type of spiritual malady has in Him and His salvation
+its corresponding cure. The same Lord is rich to all that call upon Him.
+The ardent Martha, the contemplative Mary, the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>
+aged Simon, Lazarus the
+loving and beloved&mdash;He has proved friend, and help, and Saviour to
+<i>all</i>; and in their several ways they seek to give expression to the
+depth of their gratitude. Happy home! may there be many such amongst us!
+Fathers, brothers, sisters, &ldquo;loving one another with a pure heart
+fervently,&rdquo; and loving Jesus more than all&mdash;and themselves in Jesus!
+Seeking to have <i>Him</i> as the ever-welcomed guest of their
+dwelling&mdash;feeling that all they <i>have</i>, and all they <i>are</i>, for time or
+for eternity, they owe to <i>Him</i> who has &ldquo;brought them out of the
+horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set their feet upon a rock,
+and established their goings, and put a new song in their mouth, even
+praise unto our God!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Yes! having the Lord, we have what is better and more enduring than the
+best of earthly ties and earthly homes. This must have been impressed
+with peculiar force on aged John, as in distant Ephesus he penned the
+memories of this evening feast. Where were <i>then</i> all its guests?&mdash;the
+recovered leper, the risen Lazarus, the devout sisters, the ardent
+disciples&mdash;all <i>gone</i>!&mdash;none but himself remained to tell the touching
+story. <i>Nay</i>, <i>not</i>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>
+all!&mdash;<span class="smcap">One</span> remained amid this wreck of buried
+friendship&mdash;the adorable Being who had given to that Bethany feast all
+its imperishable interest was still within him and about him. The rocky
+shores of Patmos, and the groves around Ephesus, echoed to the
+well-remembered tones of the same voice of love. His <i>best Friend</i> was
+still left to take loneliness from his solitude. He writes as if he were
+still reclining on that sacred bosom&mdash;&ldquo;Truly our fellowship is with the
+Father and with his Son Jesus Christ!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Reader! take &ldquo;that same Jesus&rdquo; now as your Friend&mdash;receive Him as the
+guest of your soul; and when other guests and other friendships are
+vanished and gone, and you may be left like John, as the alone survivor
+of a buried generation;&mdash;&ldquo;alone! you will yet be <i>not</i> alone!&rdquo;&mdash;lifting
+your furrowed brow and tearful eye to Heaven, you may exclaim, &ldquo;Who
+shall separate me from the love of Christ?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_XVIII" id="Chap_XVIII"></a>XVIII.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p178.png" alt="Palm Branches." title="Palm Branches." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>Palm Branches.</h3>
+
+<p>We have just been contemplating a beautiful episode in the Bethany
+Memories&mdash;a gleam amid gathering clouds. <i>Martha</i>, <i>Mary</i>, and
+<i>Lazarus</i>! With what happy hearts did they hail the presence of their
+Lord on the evening of that Jewish Sabbath! Little did they anticipate
+the events impending. Little did they dream that their Almighty
+Deliverer and Friend would that day week be sleeping in His own grave!</p>
+
+<p>These were indeed eventful hours on which they had now entered. The stir
+through Palestine of the thousands congregating in the earthly Jerusalem
+to the great Paschal Feast, was but a feeble type of the profound
+interest with which myriad angel-worshippers in the Jerusalem above were
+gathering to witness the offering of the True
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>
+Paschal Sacrifice, &ldquo;the
+Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>On the morning after the supper at Bethany (probably that of our
+Sabbath), the Saviour rose from His couch of needed rest to approach
+Jerusalem. The reserve hitherto maintained as to His kingly power is now
+to be set aside. &ldquo;The hour is come in which the Son of man is to be
+glorified.&rdquo; <span class="smcap">Bethany</span> is one of the few places associated with
+recollections of the Redeemer&#8217;s royalty. The &ldquo;despised and rejected&rdquo; is,
+for once, the honoured and exalted. It is a glimpse of the crown before
+He ascends the cross; a foreshadowing of that blessed period when He
+shall be hailed by the loud acclaim of earth&#8217;s nations&mdash;the Gentile
+hosannah mingling with the Hebrew hallelujah in welcoming Him to the
+throne of universal empire.</p>
+
+<p>Multitudes of the assembled pilgrims in the city, who had heard of His
+arrival, crowded out to Bethany to witness the mysterious Being, whose
+deeds of mercy and miracle had now become the universal theme of
+converse. His mightiest prodigy of power in the resurrection of Lazarus
+had invested His name and person with surpassing interest. We
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>
+need not wonder, therefore, that &ldquo;the town of Mary and her sister Martha&rdquo;
+should attract many worshippers from Jerusalem, to behold with their own
+eyes at once the restored villager and his Divine Deliverer! In fulfilment
+of Zechariah&#8217;s prophecy, the meek and lowly Nazarene, seated on no
+caparisoned war-horse, but on an unbroken colt, and surrounded with the
+multitude, sets forth on His journey.<a name="FNanchor_26" id="FNanchor_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a>
+&ldquo;The village and the desert
+were then all alive (as they still are once every year at the Greek
+Easter) with the crowd of Paschal pilgrims moving to and fro between
+Bethany and Jerusalem. ... Three pathways lead, and probably always led,
+from Bethany; ... one a long circuit over the northern shoulder of Mount
+Olivet, down the valley which parts it from Scopus; another, a steep
+footpath over the summit; the third, the natural continuation of the
+road by which mounted travellers always approach the city from Jericho,
+over the southern shoulder between the summit which contains the Tombs
+of the Prophets, and that called the &lsquo;Mount of Offence.&rsquo; There can be no
+doubt that this last is the road
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>
+of the entry of Christ, not only
+because, as just stated, it is, and must always have been, the usual
+approach for horsemen and for large caravans such as then were
+concerned, but also because this is the only one of the three approaches
+which meets the requirements of the narrative which follows. ... This is
+the only one approach which is really grand. It is the approach by which
+the army of Pompey advanced, the first European army that ever
+confronted it. Probably the first impression of every one coming from
+the north-west and the south may be summed up in the simple expression
+used by one of the modern travellers&mdash;&lsquo;I am strangely affected, but
+greatly disappointed!&rsquo; But no human being could be disappointed who
+first saw Jerusalem from the east. The beauty consists in this, that you
+then burst at once on the two great ravines which cut the city off from
+the surrounding table-land.</p>
+
+<hr class="mid dotted" />
+
+<p>&ldquo;Two vast streams of people met on that day. The one poured out from the
+city, and as they came through the gardens whose clusters of palms rose
+on the south-eastern corner of Olivet,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>
+they cut down the long branches,
+as was their wont at the Feast of Tabernacles, and moved upwards towards
+Bethany with loud shouts of welcome. From Bethany streamed forth the
+crowds who had assembled there on the previous night, and who came
+testifying to the great event at the sepulchre of Lazarus. The road soon
+loses sight of Bethany. It is now a rough, but still broad and
+well-defined mountain track, winding over rock and loose stones,&mdash;a
+steep declivity below on the left; the sloping shoulder of Olivet above
+on the right. Along this road the multitudes threw down the branches
+which they cut as they went along, or spread out a rude matting formed
+of the palm branches they had already cut as they came out. The larger
+portion (those perhaps who escorted Him from Bethany) unwrapped their
+loose cloaks from their shoulders, and stretched them along the rough
+path, to form a momentary carpet as he approached. The two streams met
+midway. Half of the vast mass, turning round, preceded; the other half
+followed. Gradually the long procession swept up and over the ridge,
+where first begins the &lsquo;descent of the Mount of Olives,&rsquo; towards
+Jerusalem. At
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>
+this point the first view is caught of the south-eastern
+corner of the city. The Temple and the more northern portions are hid by
+the slope of Olivet on the right; what is seen is only Mount Zion,
+covered with houses to its base, surmounted by the castle of Herod on
+the supposed site of the palace of David, from which that portion of
+Jerusalem, emphatically &lsquo;The City of David,&rsquo; derived its name. It was at
+this precise point, as he drew near, at the descent of the Mount of
+Olives, (may it not have been from the sight thus opening upon them?)
+that the shout of triumph burst forth from the multitude&mdash;&lsquo;Hosannah to
+the Son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!
+Blessed is the kingdom that cometh of our father David.
+Hosannah&mdash;Peace&mdash;Glory in the highest!&rsquo; There was a pause as the shout
+rang through the long defile; and as the Pharisees who stood by in the
+crowd complained, He pointed to the &lsquo;stones,&rsquo; which, strewn beneath
+their feet, would immediately &lsquo;cry out&rsquo; if &lsquo;these were to hold their
+peace.&rsquo; Again the procession advanced. The road descends a slight
+declivity, and the glimpse of the city is again withdrawn
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>
+behind the
+intervening ridge of Olivet. A few moments, and the path mounts again,
+it climbs a rugged ascent, it reaches a ledge of smooth rock, and in an
+instant the whole city bursts into view. As now the dome of the Mosque
+El Aksa rises like a ghost from the earth before the traveller stands on
+the ledge, so then must have risen the Temple Tower; as now the vast
+enclosure of the Mussulman Sanctuary, so then must have spread the
+Temple Courts; as now the gray town on its broken hills, so then the
+magnificent city with its background (long since vanished away) of
+gardens and suburbs on the western plateau behind. Immediately below was
+the valley of the Kedron, here seen in its greatest depth, as it joins
+the valley of Hinnom; and thus giving full effect to the great
+peculiarity of Jerusalem, seen only on its eastern side&mdash;its situation
+as of a city rising out of a deep abyss. It is hardly possible to doubt
+that this rise and turn of the road (this rocky ledge) was the exact
+point where the multitude paused again, and &lsquo;He, when He beheld the
+city, wept over it.&rsquo; ... Here the Lord stayed His onward march, and here
+His eyes beheld what is
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>
+still the most impressive view which the
+neighbourhood of Jerusalem furnishes&mdash;and the tears rushed forth at the
+sight.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_27" id="FNanchor_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p>
+
+<p>Without dwelling longer on this splendid ovation, we may only further
+remark, that had the Redeemer&#8217;s mission been on (the infidel theory) a
+successful imposture, what an opportunity now to have availed Himself of
+that outburst of popular fervour, and to have marched straight to take
+possession of the hereditary throne of David. The populace were
+evidently more than ready to second any such attempt; the Sanhedrim and
+Jewish authorities must have trembled for the result. The hosannas,
+borne on the breeze from the slope of Olivet, could not fail to sound
+ominous of coming disaster. So incontrovertible indeed had been the
+proof of Lazarus&#8217; resurrection, that only the most blinded bigotry could
+refuse to own in that marvellous act the divinity of Jesus. In addition,
+too, to this last crowning demonstration of omnipotence, there were
+hundreds, we may well believe, in that procession, who, in different
+parts of Palestine,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>
+had listened to His gracious words, and witnessed
+His gracious deeds. What <i>other</i>, what <i>better</i> Messiah could they wish
+than this&mdash;combining the might of Godhead with the kindness and
+tenderness of a human philanthropist and friend? Is He to accept of the
+crown? Nay, by a lofty abnegation of self, and all selfish
+considerations, He illustrates the announcement made by Him, a few hours
+later, in Pilate&#8217;s judgment-hall, as to the leading characteristic of
+that empire He is to set up in the hearts of men&mdash;&ldquo;My kingdom is not of
+this world.&rdquo; He was, indeed, one day to be hailed alike King of Zion and
+King of Nations, but a bitter baptism of blood and suffering had
+meanwhile to be undergone. No glitter of earthly honour&mdash;no carnal
+dreams of earthly glory&mdash;would divert Him from His divine and gracious
+undertaking. He would save <i>others</i>&mdash;Himself He <i>would</i> not save.</p>
+
+<p>Let us pause for a moment, and ponder that significant chorus of praise
+which on Olivet arose to the Lord of Glory. How interesting to think of
+the vast and varied multitude gathered around the Conqueror! Many,
+doubtless, assembled from
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>
+curiosity, who had never seen Him before, and
+had only heard of His fame in their distant homes; others, from feelings
+of personal love and gratitude, were blending their voices in the shout
+of welcome. Think, it may be, of Bartimeus, now gazing with his unsealed
+eyes on his Divine Deliverer. Think of Mary Magdalene, her heart gushing
+at the remembrance of her own sin and shame, and her adorable Redeemer&#8217;s
+pardoning and forgiving mercy! Nicodemus, perhaps, no longer seeking to
+repair by stealth, under the shadow of night, to hold a confidential
+meeting; but in the full blaze of day, and before assembled Israel,
+boldly recognising in &ldquo;the Teacher sent from God&rdquo; the promised Messiah,
+the Prince of Peace, the Redeemer of Mankind. Shall we think of Lazarus
+too, fearless of his own personal safety, venturing to follow his guest
+with tearful eye, the multitude gazing with wonder on this living trophy
+of death? We may think of the very children, as He entered the temple,
+uplifting their infant voices in the general welcome&mdash;pledges of the
+myriad little ones who, in future ages, were to have an interest in &ldquo;the
+kingdom of God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Meanwhile He paces through th&#8217; adoring crowd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Calm as the march of some majestic cloud<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That o&#8217;er wild scenes of ocean war<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Holds its still course in Heaven afar.<br /></span>
+<hr class="dotted short poem" />
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Yet in the throng of selfish hearts untrue,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His sad eye rests upon His faithful few;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Children and
+<span class="tn" title="hyphen retained in quoted poem&mdash;&lsquo;childlike&rsquo; elsewhere">child-like</span>
+souls are there,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Blind Bartimeus&#8217; humble prayer;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And Lazarus, waken&#8217;d from his four days&#8217; sleep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Enduring life again that Passover to keep.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_28" id="FNanchor_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>May not Olivet be regarded on this occasion as a type of the Church
+triumphant in Heaven&mdash;Jesus enthroned in the affections of a mighty
+multitude which no man can number&mdash;old and young, great and small, rich
+and poor&mdash;casting their palms of victory at His feet, and ascribing to
+Him all the glory of their great salvation?</p>
+
+<p>Let <i>us</i> ask, have <i>we</i> received Jesus as <i>our</i> King?&mdash;have <i>our</i> palm
+branches been cast at His feet? Feeling that He is alike willing and
+mighty to save, have we joined in the rapture of praise&mdash;&ldquo;Blessed is He
+that cometh in the name of the Lord to save us?&rdquo; Have our hearts become
+living temples thrown open for His reception? Is this
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>
+the motto and
+superscription on their portals&mdash;&ldquo;This is the gate of the Lord, into
+which <span class="smcap">The Righteous One</span> shall enter!&rdquo; Jesus refused and disowned none of
+these gratulations&mdash;He spurned no voice in all that motley Jerusalem
+throng. There were endless diversities and phases, doubtless, of human
+character and history there. The once proud formalist, the once greedy
+extortioner, the hated tax-gatherer, the rich nobleman, the child of
+penury, the Roman officer, the peasant or fisherman of Galilee, the
+humbled publican, the woman from the city, the reclaimed victim of
+misery and guilt! All were there as types and samples of that
+diversified multitude who, in every age, were to own Him as King, and
+receive His gracious benediction.</p>
+
+<p>We have spoken of this incident as a glimpse of glory before His
+sufferings. Alas! it <i>was</i> but a glimpse. What a picture of the
+fickleness and treachery of the heart!&mdash;That excited populace who are
+now shouting their hosannahs, are ere long to be raising the cry,
+&ldquo;Crucify Him, crucify Him!&rdquo; Four days hence we shall find the palm
+branches lying withered on the Bethany road,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>
+and the blazing torches of
+an assassin-band nigh the very spot where He is now passing with an
+applauding retinue! &ldquo;Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his
+nostrils.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It does not belong to our narrative to record the remaining transactions
+of this day in Jerusalem. The shades of evening find the Saviour once
+more repairing to Bethany. The evangelist <i>Mark</i>, in the course of his
+narrative, simply but touchingly says:&mdash;&ldquo;And Jesus entered into
+Jerusalem, and into the temple, and when He had looked round about upon
+all things&rdquo; (the mitred priests, the bleeding victims, the costly
+buildings), &ldquo;and now the eventide was come, he went out unto <span class="smcap">Bethany</span>
+with the twelve.&rdquo; (Mark xi. 11.) As He returned to the sweet calm of
+that quiet home, if He could not fail to think of the hours of darkness
+and agony before Him, could He reap no joy or consolation in the
+thought, that that very day week the redemption of His people was to be
+consummated&mdash;the glory that surrounded the grave and resurrection of
+Lazarus was to be eclipsed by the marvels of His own!</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_XIX" id="Chap_XIX"></a>XIX.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p191.png" alt="The Fig-Tree." title="The Fig-Tree." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>The Fig-Tree.</h3>
+
+<p>The hosannahs of yesterday had died away&mdash;the memorials of its triumph
+were strewed on the road across Olivet&mdash;as, early on the Monday morning,
+while the sun was just appearing above the Mountains of Moab, the Divine
+Redeemer left His Bethany retreat, and was seen retraversing the
+well-worn path to Jerusalem. Here and there, in the &ldquo;olive-bordered
+way,&rdquo; were Fig plantations. The adjoining village of Bethphage derived
+its name from the Green Fig.<a name="FNanchor_29" id="FNanchor_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> Indeed, &ldquo;fig-trees may still be seen
+overhanging the ordinary road from Jerusalem to Bethany, growing out of
+the rocks of the solid mountain, which, by the prayer of faith, might
+&lsquo;be removed and cast into
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>
+the (distant Mediterranean) Sea.&rsquo;&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_30" id="FNanchor_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a>
+An incident connected with one of these is too intimately identified with
+the Redeemer&#8217;s last journeys to and from the home of His friend to admit
+of exclusion from our &ldquo;Bethany Memories.&rdquo; These memories have hitherto,
+for the most part, in connexion at least with our blessed Lord, been
+soothing, hallowed, encouraging. Here the &ldquo;still small voice&rdquo; is for
+once broken with sterner accents. In contrast with the bright background
+of other sunny pictures, we have, standing out in bold relief, a
+withered, sapless stem, impressively proclaiming, in unwonted utterances
+of wrath and rebuke, that the same hand is &ldquo;strong to smite,&rdquo; which we
+have witnessed so lately in the case of Lazarus was &ldquo;strong to save.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The eye of Jesus, as he traversed the rocky path with His disciples,
+rested on a <i>Fig-tree</i>. (Mark xi. 12, 13.) It seems not to have been
+growing alone, but formed part of a group or plantation on one of the
+slopes or ravines of Olivet. Its appearance could not fail to challenge
+attention. It was now only the Passover season (the month of April);
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>
+summer&mdash;the time for ripe figs&mdash;was yet distant; and as it is one of
+the peculiarities of the tree that the fruit appears <i>before</i> the
+leaves, a considerable period, in the ordinary course of nature, ought
+to have elapsed before the foliage was matured. Jesus Himself, it will
+be remembered, on another occasion, spake of the putting forth of the
+fig-tree leaves as an indication that &ldquo;<i>summer</i> was nigh.&rdquo; It must have
+been, therefore, a strange and unusual sight which met the eye of the
+travellers as they gazed, in early spring, on one of these trees with
+its full complement of leaves&mdash;clad in full summer luxuriance. While the
+others in the plantation, true to the order of development, were yet
+bare and leafless, or else the buds of spring only flushing them with
+verdure, the broad leaves of this precocious (and we may think at first
+<i>favoured</i>) plant&mdash;the pioneer of surrounding vegetation&mdash;rustled in the
+morning breeze, and invited the passers-by to turn aside, examine the
+marvel, and pluck the fruit.</p>
+
+<p>We may confidently infer that Jesus, as the Omniscient Lord of the
+inanimate creation, knew
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>
+well that fruit there was none under that
+pretentious foliage. We dare not suppose that He went expecting to find
+Figs; far less, that in a moment of disappointed hope, He ventured on a
+capricious exercise of His power, uttered a hasty malediction, and
+condemned the insensate boughs to barrenness and decay. The first
+cursory reading of the narrative may suggest some such unworthy
+impression. But we dismiss it at once, as strangely at variance with the
+Saviour&#8217;s character, and strangely unlike His wonted actings. We feel
+assured that He literally, as well as figuratively, would not &ldquo;break the
+bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax.&rdquo; He came, in all respects,
+&ldquo;not to destroy, but to save.&rdquo; Some deep inner meaning, not apparent on
+the surface of the inspired story, must have led Him for the moment to
+regard a tree in the light of a responsible agent, and to address it in
+words of unusual severity.</p>
+
+<p>What, then, is the explanation? Our Lord on this occasion revives the
+old typical or picture-teaching with which the Hebrews were to that hour
+so familiar. He, as the greatest of prophets, adopts the significant and
+impressive method, not
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>
+unfrequently employed by the Seers of Israel,
+who, in uttering startling and solemn truths, did so by means of
+<i>symbolic actions</i>. As Jeremiah of old dashed the potter&#8217;s vessel down
+the Valley of Hinnom, to indicate the judgments that were about to
+befall Jerusalem; or, at another time, wore around his own neck a wooden
+yoke, to intimate their approaching bondage under the King of Babylon;
+or, as Isaiah &ldquo;walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and
+wonder upon Egypt and Ethiopia,&rdquo; so did our Lord now invest a tree in
+dumb nature with a prophet&#8217;s warning voice, and make its stripped and
+blighted boughs eloquent of a nation&#8217;s doom!</p>
+
+<p>On the height of their own Olivet, looking down, as it were, on
+Jerusalem, that fig-tree becomes a stern messenger of woe and vengeance
+to the whole house of Judah. Often before had he warned by His <i>words</i>
+and <i>tears</i>; now He is to make an insignificant object in the outer
+world take up His prophecy, and testify to the degenerate people at once
+the cause, the suddenness, and the certainty of their destruction! Let
+us join, then, the Master and His disciples, as they stand on the crest above
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>
+Bethany, and, gazing on that fruitless leaf-bearer, &ldquo;hear this
+parable of the fig-tree.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_31" id="FNanchor_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p>
+
+<p>Jesus, on approaching it (it seemed to be at a little distance from
+their path), and finding abundance of leaves, but no fruit thereon,
+condemns it to perpetual sterility and barrenness.</p>
+
+<p>A difficulty here occurs on the threshold of the narrative. If, as we
+have noted, and as St Mark tells us, &ldquo;the time of figs was <i>not
+yet</i>&rdquo;&mdash;why this seeming impatience&mdash;why this harsh sentence for not
+having what, <i>if found</i>, would have been unseasonable, untimely,
+abnormal?</p>
+
+<p>In this apparent difficulty lies the main truth and zest of the parable.
+The doom of sterility, be it carefully noted, was uttered by Jesus, not
+so much because of the <i>absence of fruit</i>, but because the tree, by its
+premature display of leaves, challenged expectations which a closer
+inspection did not realise. &ldquo;It was punished,&rdquo; says an able writer, &ldquo;not
+for being without fruit, but for proclaiming, by the voice of those
+leaves, that it had such. Not for being barren, but for being
+false.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_32" id="FNanchor_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>
+Graphic picture of boastful and vaunting Israel! This conspicuous tree,
+nigh one of the frequented paths of Olivet, was no inappropriate type,
+surely, of that nation which stood illustrious amid the world&#8217;s
+kingdoms&mdash;exalted to heaven with unexampled privileges which it
+abused&mdash;proudly claiming a righteousness which, when weighed in the
+balances, was found utterly wanting. It mattered not that the heathen
+nations were as guilty, vile, and corrupt as the chosen people.
+Fig-trees were they, too&mdash;naked stems, fruitless and leafless; but then
+they made no boastful pretensions. The Jews had, in the face of the
+world, been glorying in a righteousness which, in reality, was only like
+the foliage of that tree by which the Lord and His disciples now
+stood&mdash;mocking the expectations of its owner by mere outward semblance
+and an utter absence of fruit.</p>
+
+<p>The very day preceding, these mournful deficiencies had brought tears to
+the Saviour&#8217;s eyes&mdash;stirred the depths of His yearning heart in the very
+hour of His triumph. He had looked down
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>
+from the height of the mountain
+on the gilded splendours of the Temple Courts beneath; but, alas! He saw
+that sanctimonious hypocrisy and self-righteous formalism had sheltered
+themselves behind clouds of incense. Mammon, covetousness, oppression,
+fraud, were rising like strange fire from these defiled altars!</p>
+
+<p>He turns the tears of yesterday into an expressive and enduring parable
+to-day! He approaches a luxuriant Fig-tree, boasting great things among
+its fellows, and thus through <i>it</i> He addresses a doomed city and
+devoted land,&mdash;&ldquo;O House of Israel,&rdquo; He seems to say, &ldquo;I have come up for
+the last time to your highest and most ancient festival. You stand forth
+in the midst of the nations of the earth clothed in rich verdure. You
+retain intact the splendour of your ancestral ritual. You boast of your
+rigid adherence to its outward ceremonial, the punctilious observance of
+your fasts and feasts. But I have found that it is but &lsquo;a name to live.&rsquo;
+You sinfully ignore &lsquo;the weightier matters of the law, judgment,
+justice, and mercy!&rsquo; You call out as you tread that gorgeous fane&mdash;&lsquo;The
+Temple of the Lord! The Temple of the Lord! The Temple
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>
+of the Lord are
+we!&rsquo; You forget that your hearts are the Temple I prize! Holiness, the
+most acceptable incense&mdash;love to God, and love to man, the most pleasing
+sacrifice. All that dead and torpid formalism&mdash;that mockery of outward
+foliage&mdash;is to me nothing. &lsquo;Your new moons and Sabbaths&mdash;the calling of
+assemblies&mdash;I cannot away with; it is iniquity even the solemn meeting.&rsquo;
+These are only as the whitewash of your sepulchres to hide the
+loathsomeness within&mdash;&lsquo;the rottenness and dead men&#8217;s bones!&rsquo; If you had
+made no impious pretensions, I would not, peradventure, have dealt so
+sternly with you. If like the other trees you had confessed your
+nakedness, and stood with your leafless stems, waiting for summer suns,
+and dews, and rains, to fructify you, and to bring your fruit to
+perfection&mdash;all well; but you have sought to mock and deceive me by your
+falsity, and thus precipitated the doom of the cumberer. &lsquo;Henceforth,
+let no man eat fruit of thee for ever!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The unconscious Tree listened! One night only passed, and the morrow
+found it with drooping leaf and blighted stem! On yonder mountain crest
+it stood, as a sign between heaven and earth
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>
+of impending judgment.
+Eighteen hundred years have taken up its parable&mdash;fearfully
+authenticated the averments of the August Speaker! Israel, a bared,
+leafless, sapless trunk, testifies to this hour, before the nations,
+that &ldquo;heaven and earth may pass away, but God&#8217;s words will not pass
+away!&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_33" id="FNanchor_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p>
+
+<p>But does the parable stop here? Was there no voice but for the ear of
+Judah and Jerusalem? Have <i>we</i> no part in these solemn monitions?</p>
+
+<p>Ah! be assured, as Jesus dealt with nations so will He deal with
+individuals. This parable-miracle solemnly speaks to all who have only a
+name to live&mdash;the foliage of outward profession&mdash;but who are destitute
+of the &ldquo;fruits of righteousness.&rdquo; It is not neglecters or despisers&mdash;the
+careless&mdash;the infidel&mdash;the scorner&mdash;our Lord here addresses. He deals
+with such elsewhere. It is rather vaunting hypocrites&mdash;wearing the garb
+of religion&mdash;the trappings and dress of outward devotion to
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>
+conceal their inward pollution; like the ivy, screening from view by garlands of
+fantastic beauty&mdash;wreaths of loveliest green&mdash;the mouldering trunk or
+loathsome ruin! We may well believe none are more obnoxious to a holy
+Saviour than <i>such</i>. He (Incarnate <span class="smcap">Truth</span>) would rather have the naked
+stem than the counterfeit blossom. He would rather have no gold than be
+mocked with tinsel and base alloy! &ldquo;I <i>would</i>,&rdquo; says He, speaking to one
+of His Churches at a later time, &ldquo;I would thou wert cold or hot.&rdquo; He
+would rather a man openly avowed his enmity than that he should come in
+disguise, with a traitor-heart, among the ranks of His people. Oh that
+all such ungodly boasters and pretenders would bear in mind, that not
+only do they inflict harm on themselves, but they do infinite damage to
+the Church of God. They lower the standard of godliness. Like that
+worthless Fig-tree, they help to hide out from others the glorious
+sunlight. They intercept from others the refreshing dews of heaven. They
+absorb in their leaves the rains as they fall. Many a tuft of tiny moss,
+many a lowly plant at their feet, is pining and withering, which, <i>but</i> for
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>
+<i>them</i>, would be bathing its tints in sunshine, and filling the air
+with balmy fragrance!</p>
+
+<p>Solemn, then, ought to be the question with every one of us&mdash;every
+Fig-tree in the Lord&#8217;s plantation&mdash;How does it stand with <i>me</i>? am I
+<i>now</i> bringing forth fruit to God? for remember what we are <span class="smcap">now</span>, will
+fix what we <i>shall</i> be when our Lord shall come on the Great Day of
+Scrutiny! We are forming <i>now</i> for Eternity; settling down and
+consolidating in the great mould which ultimately will determine our
+everlasting state; fruitless <i>now</i>, we shall be fruitless <i>then</i>. The
+<i>principle</i> in the future retribution is thus laid down&mdash;&ldquo;He that is
+unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be
+filthy still.&rdquo; The demand and scrutiny of Jesus will on that day be, not
+what is the number of your leaves, the height of your stem, the extent
+of your branches? not whether you have grown on the wayside or in the
+forest, been nurtured in solitude or in a crowd, on the mountain-height
+or in the lowly valley: all will resolve itself into the <i>one
+question</i>&mdash;Where is your <i>fruit</i>? What evidence is there that you have
+profited by My admonitions, listened to My voice,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>
+and accepted My
+salvation? Where are your proofs of love to Myself, delight in My
+service, obedience to My will? Where are the sins you have crucified,
+the sacrifices you have made, the new principles you have nurtured, the
+amiability and love and kindness and generosity and unselfishness which
+have supplanted and superseded baser affections? See that the leaves of
+outward profession be not a snare to you. You may be lulling yourselves
+to sleep with delusive opiates. You may be making these false coverings
+an apology for resisting the &ldquo;putting on of the armour of light.&rdquo; One
+has no difficulty in persuading the tenant of a wretched hovel to
+consent to have his mud-hut taken down; but the man who has the walls of
+his dwelling hung with gaudy drapery, it is hard to persuade him that
+his house is worthless and his foundation insecure. Think not that
+privileges or creeds, or church-sect or church-membership, or the
+Shibboleth of party will save you. It is to the <i>heart</i> that God looks.
+If the inner spirit be right, the outer conduct will be fruitful in
+righteousness. Make it not your worthless ambition to <span class="smcap">appear</span> to be holy,
+but <i>be</i> holy! Live not a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>
+&ldquo;dying life&rdquo;&mdash;that blank existence which
+brings neither glory to God nor good to men. Seek that <i>while</i> you live,
+the world may be the better for you, and when you die the world may miss
+you. Unlike the pretentious tree in our parable-text, be it yours rather
+to have the nobler character and recompense, so beautifully delineated
+under a similar figure three thousand years ago&mdash;&ldquo;He shall be like a
+tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in
+his season. His leaf, also, shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth
+shall prosper.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_34" id="FNanchor_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p>
+
+<p>Let us further learn, from this solemn and impressive miracle, how true
+Christ is to His word. We think of Him as true to His <i>promises</i>, do we
+think of Him, also, as <i>true to His threatenings</i>? Judgment, indeed, is
+His strange work. Amid a multitude of other prodigies already performed
+by Him, this &ldquo;cursing&rdquo; of the fig-tree formed the alone exception to His
+miracles of <i>mercy</i>.<a name="FNanchor_35" id="FNanchor_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> All the others were proofs and illustrations of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>
+beneficence, compassion, love. But He seems to interpose <i>this</i> <span class="smcap">one</span>, in
+case we should forget, in the affluence of benignity and kindness, that
+the same God, whose name and memorial is &ldquo;merciful and gracious,&rdquo; has
+solemnly added that &ldquo;He can by no means clear the guilty.&rdquo; He would have
+us to remember that there is a point beyond which even <i>His</i> love cannot
+go, when the voice of ineffable <i>Goodness</i> must melt and merge into
+tones of stern wrath and vengeance. The guilty may, for the brief
+earthly hour of their impenitence, affect to despise His divine
+warnings, laugh to scorn His solemn expostulations. Sentence may not be
+executed speedily; amazing patience may ward off the descending blow.
+They may, from the very <i>forbearance</i> of Jesus, take impious
+encouragement to defy His threats, and rush swifter to their own
+destruction. But come He <i>will</i> and <i>must</i> to assert His claims as &ldquo;He
+that is <span class="smcap">holy</span>, He that is <span class="smcap">true</span>.&rdquo; The disciples, on the present occasion,
+heard the voice of their Master. They gazed on the doomed Fig-tree, but
+there seemed at the moment to be no visible change on its leaves. As
+they took their final glance ere passing on their way, no blight
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>
+seemed to descend, no worm to prey on its roots. The fowls of Heaven may have
+appeared soaring in the sky, eager to nestle as before on its branches,
+and to bathe their plumage on the dew-drops that drenched its foliage.
+But was the word of Jesus in vain? Did that fig-tree take up a
+responsive parable, and say, &ldquo;Who made Thee a ruler and a judge over
+me?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The Lord and His apostles passed the place a few hours afterwards on
+their return to Bethany.<a name="FNanchor_36" id="FNanchor_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> But though the Passover moon was shining on
+their path, the darkness, and perhaps the distance from the highway,
+veiled from their view the too truthful doom to be revealed in morning
+light. As the dawn of day (Tuesday) finds them once more on their road
+to Jerusalem, the eyes of the disciples wander towards the spot to see
+whether the words of yesterday have proved to be indeed solemn verities.
+One glance is enough! <i>There</i> it stands in impressive memorial. One
+night had done the work. No desert simoom, if it had passed over it,
+could have effected it more thoroughly. Its leaves were shrivelled, its
+sap dried, its glory gone. Ever
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>
+and anon afterwards, as the disciples
+crossed the mountain, and as they gazed on this silent &ldquo;preacher,&rdquo; they
+would be reminded that Jehovah-Jesus, their loving Master, was not &ldquo;a
+man that He should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Ah! Reader, learn from all this, that the wrathful utterances of the
+Saviour are no idle threats. He <i>means</i> what He <i>says</i>! He is &ldquo;the
+Faithful and True witness;&rdquo; and though &ldquo;mercy and truth go continually
+before His face,&rdquo; &ldquo;justice and judgment are the habitation of His
+throne.&rdquo; You may be scorning His message&mdash;lulling yourself into a dream
+of guilty indifference. You may see in His daily dealings no sign or
+symbol of coming retribution; you may be echoing the old challenge of
+the presumptuous scoffer&mdash;&ldquo;Where is the promise of His coming?&rdquo; The fig
+leaves may have lost none of their verdure&mdash;the sky may be unfretted by
+one vengeful cloud&mdash;nature, around you, may be hushed and still. You can
+hear no footsteps of wrath; you may be even tempted at times to think
+that all is a dream&mdash;that credulity has suffered itself to be duped by a
+counterfeit tale of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>
+superstitious terror! Or if, in better moments, you
+awake to a consciousness of the Bible averments being stern realities,
+your next subterfuge is to trust to that rope of sand to which thousands
+have clung, to the wreck of their eternities&mdash;an indefinite dreamy hope
+in the final <i>mercy</i> of God! that on the Great Day the threatenings of
+Jesus will undergo some modification; that He will not carry out to the
+very letter the full weight of His denunciations; that the arm which
+love nailed to the cross of Calvary will sheathe the sword of avenging
+retribution, and proclaim a universal amnesty to the thronging myriads
+at His tribunal!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Nay! O man, who art thou that repliest against God?&rdquo; Come to the
+fig-tree &ldquo;over against&rdquo; Bethany, and let it be a dumb attesting witness
+to the Saviour&#8217;s unswerving and immutable truthfulness! Or, passing from
+the sign to the thing symbolised, behold that nation which God has for
+eighteen centuries set up in the world as a monument of His undeviating
+adherence to His Word. See how, in their case, to the letter He has
+fulfilled His threatenings. Is not this fulfillment intended as an awful
+foreshadowing of eternal verities:
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>
+if He has &ldquo;spared not the natural
+branches,&rdquo; thinkest thou He will spare <i>thee</i>? &ldquo;If these things were
+done in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Mourners! You for whose comfort these pages are specially designed, is
+there no lesson of consolation to be drawn from this solemn &ldquo;memory?&rdquo;
+Jesus smote down that <i>fig-tree</i>&mdash;blasted and blighted it. Never again
+did He come to seek fruit on it. Ten thousand other buds in the
+Fig-forest around were opening their fragrant lips to drink in the
+refreshing dews of spring; but the curse of perpetual sterility rested
+on this!</p>
+
+<p>He has smitten <i>you</i> also, but it is only to <i>heal</i>! He has bared your
+branches&mdash;stripped you of your verdure&mdash;broken &ldquo;your staff and your
+beautiful rod;&rdquo; but the pruning hook has been used to promote the Vigour
+of the tree; to lop off the redundant branches, and open the stems to
+the gladsome sunlight. Murmur not! Remember, <i>but for</i> these loppings of
+affliction you might have effloresced into the rank luxuriant growth of
+mere external profession. You might have rested satisfied with the
+outward display of <i>Religiousness</i>,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>
+without the fruits of true
+<i>Religion</i>. You might have lived and died unproductive <i>cumberers</i>,
+deceiving others and deceiving yourselves. But He would not suffer you
+to linger in this state of worthless barrenness. Oh! better far, surely,
+these severest cuttings and incisions of the pruning knife, than to
+listen to the stern words&mdash;&ldquo;Ephraim is joined to his idols, let him
+alone!&rdquo; It is the most terrible of all judgments when God leaves a
+sinner undisturbed in his sinfulness&mdash;abandons him to &ldquo;the fruit of his
+own ways, and to be filled with his own devices;&rdquo; until, like a tree
+impervious to moistening dews and fructifying heat, he dwarfs and
+dwindles into the last hopeless stage of spiritual decay and death!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what
+son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He purgeth it (<i>pruneth it</i>), that it may bring forth <span class="smcap">more fruit
+</span>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_XX" id="Chap_XX"></a>XX.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p211.png" alt="Closing Hours." title="Closing Hours." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>Closing Hours.</h3>
+
+<p>The evenings of the two succeeding days seem to have closed around our
+adorable Lord at <span class="smcap">Bethany</span>. We may still follow Him in imagination, in the
+mellow twilight, as He and His disciples crossed the bridle-path of the
+holy mountain from Jerusalem to the house and village of His friend.</p>
+
+<p>Much has changed since then; but the great features of unvarying nature
+retain their imperishable outlines, so that what still arrests the view
+of the modern traveller, in crossing the Mount of Olives, we know must
+have formed the identical landscape spread out before the eyes of the
+Incarnate Redeemer. It is more than allowable, therefore, to appropriate
+the words of the same trustworthy recent spectator, from whose pages we
+have already quoted, as presenting a truthful and veritable picture of
+what the Saviour <i>then</i> saw.</p>
+
+<p>From almost every point in the journey, there
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>
+would be visible &ldquo;the
+long purple wall of the Moab mountains, rising out of its unfathomable
+depths; these mountains would then have almost the effect of a distant
+view of the sea, the hues constantly changing; this or that precipitous
+rock coming out clear in the evening shade&mdash;<i>there</i> the form of what may
+possibly be Pisgah, dimly shadowed out by surrounding valleys&mdash;<i>here</i>
+the point of Kerak, the capital of Moab, and future fortress of the
+Crusaders&mdash;and then, at times all wrapt in deep haze, the mountains
+overhanging the valley of the shadow of death, all the more striking
+from their contrast with the gray or green colours of the hills through
+which a glimpse was caught of them.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_37" id="FNanchor_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p>
+
+<p class="break">We have no recorded incidents in connexion with these two nights at
+Bethany. We are left only to realise in thought the refreshment alike
+for body and spirit our Lord enjoyed. Exhausted with the fatigues of
+each day, and the advancing storm-cloud ready to burst on His devoted
+head, we may well imagine how grateful repose would be in the old
+homestead of congenial friendship.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>
+The last evening He spent at the &ldquo;Palm-clad Village&rdquo; must in many ways
+have been full of sorrowing thoughts. He had, in the afternoon, on His
+return from Jerusalem, when seated with his disciples &ldquo;over against the
+Temple,&rdquo; gazing on its doomed magnificence, been discoursing on the
+appalling desolation which awaited that loved and time-honoured
+sanctuary. This had led Him to the more sublime and terrific theme of a
+Day of Judgment. Not only did He foresee the grievous obduracy of His
+own infatuated countrymen, but His Omniscient eye, travelling down to
+the consummation of all things, wept over the fate of myriads, who, in
+spite of atoning love and mercy, were to despise and perish.</p>
+
+<p>He left the threshold, consecrated so oft by His Pilgrim steps, on the
+Thursday of that week, not to return again till death had numbered Him
+among its victims. On that same morning He had sent His disciples into
+the city to make preparation for the keeping of the Passover Supper. He
+Himself followed, probably towards the afternoon, and joined them in
+&ldquo;the Upper room,&rdquo; where, after celebrating for the last time the old Jewish
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>
+rite, he instituted the New Testament memorial of His own dying
+love. Supper being ended, the disciples, probably, contemplated nothing
+but a return, as on preceding evenings, by their old route to Bethany.
+Singing their paschal hymn, they descended the Jehoshaphat ravine, by
+the side of the Temple. The brook Kedron was crossed, and they are once
+more on the Bethany path. They have reached Gethsemane; their Master
+retires into the depths of the olive grove, as was often His wont, to
+hold secret communion with His Father. But the crisis-hour has at last
+arrived! The Shepherd is about to be smitten, and the sheep to be
+scattered! Rude hands arrest Him on His way. In vain shall Lazarus and
+his sisters wait for their expected Lord! For <i>Him</i> that night there is
+no voice of earthly comforter&mdash;no couch of needed rest;&mdash;when the
+shadows of darkness have gathered around Bethany, and the pale passover
+moon is lighting up its palm-trees, the Lord of glory is standing
+buffetted and insulted in the hall of Annas.</p>
+
+<p>The Remembrances of Bethany are here absorbed and overshadowed for a
+time by the darker
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>
+memories of Gethsemane and Calvary. Jesus may,
+indeed, afterwards revisit the loved haunt of former friendship; but
+meanwhile He is first to accomplish that glorious Decease, <i>but for
+which</i> the world could never have had on its surface one Bethany-home of
+love, or been cheered by one ray of happiness or hope.</p>
+
+<p>In vain do we try to picture, as we revert to the peaceful Village, the
+feelings of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary on that day of ignominious
+crucifixion! <i>where</i> they were&mdash;<i>how</i> they were employed! Can we imagine
+that they could linger behind, unconcerned, in their dwelling, when
+their Best Friend was in the hands of His murderers? We cannot think so.
+We may rather well believe that among the tearful eyes of the weeping
+women that followed the innocent Victim along the &ldquo;Dolorous way,&rdquo; not
+the least anguished were the two Bethany mourners; and that as He hung
+upon the cross, and His languid eye saw here and there a faithful friend
+lingering around him while disciples had fled, Lazarus would be among
+the few who soothed and smoothed that awful death-pillow! Perhaps even
+when death had sealed His eyes, and faithless
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>
+apostles gave vent to
+their feelings of hopeless despondency, &ldquo;We trusted it had been He who
+should have redeemed Israel,&rdquo; the family of Bethany would recollect how
+oft He had spoken of this very hour of darkness and bereavement which
+had now come; Mary would, in trembling emotion, (in connexion with the
+humble token of her own gratitude and affection,) remember the words of
+the Lord Jesus, how He said, &ldquo;Let her alone, against the day of my
+<i>burying</i> hath she done this.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>We need not pursue these thoughts. We may well believe, however, that
+when the first day of the week had come&mdash;and the glad announcement
+spread from disciple to disciple, &ldquo;<i>The Lord is risen indeed</i>,&rdquo;&mdash;on no
+home in Judea would the tidings fall more welcome than on that of
+Lazarus of Bethany. Martha and Mary had, a few weeks before, experienced
+the happiness of a restored <i>Brother</i>. Now it was that of a restored
+<i>Saviour</i>! Whether He revisited these, His former friends, the days
+immediately after His resurrection, we cannot tell. It is more than
+probable He would. May not some hallowed <i>unrecorded</i> &ldquo;Memories of
+Bethany&rdquo; be included in the closing
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>
+words of John&#8217;s gospel&mdash;&ldquo;There are
+also many <span class="smcap">other</span> things which Jesus did?&rdquo; On the way to Emmaus He joined
+Himself to two disciples, and &ldquo;caused their hearts to burn within them
+as He talked by the way.&rdquo; So may He not have joined Himself to the
+friends with whom He had so oft held sacred intercourse during the days
+of His humiliation&mdash;breathing on them His benediction, and discoursing
+of those covenant blessings which He had died to purchase, and which He
+was about to bestow, &ldquo;set as king on His holy hill of Zion.&rdquo; With what a
+new and glorious meaning to Martha must her Saviour&#8217;s words have now
+been invested, &ldquo;<i>I am the Resurrection and the Life</i>&mdash;he that believeth
+on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>As the God-man, He had power over her brother&#8217;s life&mdash;He had now
+demonstrated that He had &ldquo;power over His own;&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;power&rdquo; not only to &ldquo;lay
+it down,&rdquo; but &ldquo;power to take it up again.&rdquo; Her Lord had &ldquo;spoken <i>once</i>,
+yea <i>twice</i> had she heard this, that <i>power</i> belongeth unto God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The Grave of Bethany was thus in her eyes inseparably connected with the
+grave at Golgotha. But for the rolling away of the stone from a more
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>
+august sepulchre, her brother must still have been slumbering in the
+embrace of death. &ldquo;But now had Christ risen from the dead, and become
+the first-fruits of them that slept.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The Almighty Reaper had risen Himself from the tomb, with the sharp
+sickle in His hand. In the person of His dearest earthly friend He
+presented an earnest-sheaf of the great Resurrection-reaping-time&mdash;when
+the mandate was to be carried to the four winds of heaven, &ldquo;Put ye in
+the sickle, for the harvest is ripe;&mdash;Multitudes&mdash;multitudes in the
+Valley of Decision.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Can we participate in the joy of the family of <span class="smcap">Bethany</span>? Have we, like
+them, followed Christ to His cross and His tomb, and listened to the
+angelic announcement, &ldquo;He is not here, He is risen?&rdquo; Have we seen in His
+death the secret of our life? Have we beheld Him as the Great Precursor
+emerging from Hades, and shewing to ransomed millions the purchased path
+of life&mdash;the luminous highway to glory? Let our hearts be as Bethany
+dwellings, to welcome in a dying risen Jesus. Let us not expel Him from
+our souls by our sins&mdash;crucifying the Lord afresh, and putting
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>
+Him to an open shame. Let not God&#8217;s restoring mercies be, as, alas! often they
+are to us, <i>unsanctified</i>;&mdash;receiving back our Lazarus from the brink of
+the tomb, but refusing, on the return of health and prosperity, to share
+in bearing our Lord&#8217;s cross&mdash;to &ldquo;go forth with Him without the
+camp&mdash;bearing His reproach.&rdquo; If He has delivered our souls from death,
+and our eyes from tears, be it ours to follow Him through good and
+through bad report. Not alone amid the hosannahs of His people, or amid
+the world&#8217;s bright sunshine, but, if need be, to confront suffering, and
+trial, and death for His sake. Like the Bethany family, let us mourn His
+absence, and long for His return. It is but for &ldquo;a little while&rdquo; we
+&ldquo;shall <i>not</i> see Him&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;again a little while and we <i>shall</i> see Him.&rdquo;
+Oh, blessed day! when the words of the old prophet will start once more
+into fulfilment, and a voice from Heaven will thus address a waiting
+Church&mdash;&ldquo;Rejoice, O daughter of Zion, behold thy King cometh!&rdquo; He
+cometh!&mdash;but it is now with no badges of humiliation&mdash;with no
+anticipations of sorrow and woe to mar that hour of glory. &ldquo;His head
+shall be crowned with many crowns&rdquo;&mdash;all His saints with Him to
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>
+share His triumph and enter into His joy. May we be enabled to look forward to
+that blessed season when, arrayed in white robes, with golden crowns on
+our heads, and palms of victory in our hands, these shall be cast at His
+feet, and the feeble
+<span class="tn" title="not capitalised elsewhere">Hosannahs</span>
+of time shall be lost and merged in the
+rapturous Hallelujahs of eternity!</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_XXI" id="Chap_XXI"></a>XXI.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p221.png" alt="The Last Visit." title="The Last Visit." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>The Last Visit.</h3>
+
+<p>What saddening thoughts are associated with our final interview with a
+Beloved Friend! He was in health when we last met; we little dreamt, in
+parting, we were to meet no more. Every circumstance of that interview
+is stored up in the most hallowed chambers of the soul. His last
+words&mdash;his last <i>look</i>&mdash;his last smile&mdash;they live there in undying
+memorial! Such was now the case with the disciples. They had their last
+walk together with their beloved Master. Ere another sun goes down over
+the western hills of Jerusalem He will have returned from His
+consummated Work to the bosom of His Father!</p>
+
+<p>And what is the spot which he selects as the place of Ascension?&mdash;What
+the favoured height or valley that is to listen to His farewell words?
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>
+Still it is <span class="smcap">Bethany</span>&mdash;the loved home of cherished friendship, where, so
+lately, hours of anticipated anguish had been mitigated and soothed. The
+spot which, above all others, had been witness to His tears and His
+Omnipotence, is selected as that <i>from</i> which, or <i>near</i> to which, He is
+to bid adieu to his sorrowing Church on earth. Although there seem to be
+no special reasons for this selection, we cannot think it was altogether
+undesigned or insignificant. Our Lord was still <span class="smcap">Man</span>&mdash;participating in
+every tender feeling of our common nature; and just as many are known in
+life to express a partiality for the place of their departure, where
+they would desire their last hours to be spent, or for the sepulchre or
+churchyard where they would prefer their ashes to be laid;&mdash;so may we
+not imagine the Saviour, reverting in these, His last hours, to the
+hallowed memories of that hallowed village, wishful that He might ascend
+to heaven within view, at least, of the spot He loved so well?</p>
+
+<p>Whether this be the true explanation or no, we are called now to follow
+Him, in thought, from His concluding visit in Jerusalem to the scene of
+Ascension. We may imagine it, in all likelihood,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>
+the early dawn of day.
+The grey mists of morning were still hovering over the Jehoshaphat
+valley, as for the last time he descended the well-known path. He must
+have crossed the brook <span class="smcap">Kedron</span>&mdash;that brook which had so oft before
+murmured in His ear during night-seasons of deep sorrow&mdash;He must have
+passed by <span class="smcap">Gethsemane</span>&mdash;the thick Olives pendant with dew, the shadows of
+early day still brooding over them. Their gloomy vistas must have
+recalled terrible hours, when the sod underneath was moistened with
+&ldquo;great drops of blood.&rdquo; Can we dare to imagine His sensations and
+feelings when passing <i>now</i>? Would they not be the same as that of every
+Christian still, while passing through memories of trial, &ldquo;It was good
+for me to be here?&rdquo; Had He dashed untasted to the ground, the cup which
+in the depths of that awful solitude He had grasped six weeks before,
+His work would have been undone&mdash;a world yet unsaved! But He shrunk not
+from that baptism of blood and suffering. Gethsemane can now be gazed
+upon as a place of triumph. His Omniscient eye, as He now skirts its
+precincts, connects its awful struggles with the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>
+Redemption and joy of
+ransomed myriads through all eternity. He has the first realising
+earnest of the prophet&#8217;s words,&mdash;Seeing of the fruit of &ldquo;the travail of
+His soul,&rdquo; He is &ldquo;satisfied.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But vain is it to conjecture feelings and emotions unrecorded. It would,
+doubtless, not be on Himself the Great Redeemer would, in these waning
+hours of earthly communion, chiefly dwell. They would rather be occupied
+in preparing the hearts of the sorrowful band around Him for His
+approaching departure. He would unfold to them the glorious conquests
+which, in His name, they were on earth to achieve, as His
+standard-bearers and apostles, and the ineffable bliss awaiting them in
+that Heaven whither He was about to ascend as their Forerunner and
+Precursor. It must indeed have been to them a season of severe and
+bitter trial! They had in their hearts a full and tender impression&mdash;a
+gushing recollection of three years&#8217; unvarying kindness and
+affection&mdash;sorrows soothed&mdash;burdens eased&mdash;ingratitude
+overlooked&mdash;treachery forgiven. Many others they could only think of in
+connexion with altered tones and changed affection. <i>He</i> was <i>ever the
+same</i>! But the sad
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>
+day <i>has</i> really come when they are to be parted for
+<i>time</i>! No more tender counsels in difficulty,&mdash;no more gentle rebukes
+in waywardness,&mdash;no more joyous surprises, as on the shores of Tiberias,
+or the road to Emmaus, when, with joyful lips, they would exclaim,&mdash;&ldquo;It
+is the Lord!&rdquo; This dream of blissful intercourse, like a meteor-flash,
+was about to be quenched in darkness. Their Lord was to depart, and
+long, long centuries were to elapse ere His gracious face was to be seen
+again!</p>
+
+<p>Whether, in this ever-memorable walk to the place of Ascension, the
+Adorable Redeemer visited the village of Bethany, we cannot tell. It is
+possible&mdash;it is <i>more</i> than possible&mdash;He may have honoured the home of
+Lazarus with a farewell benediction; but this we can only conjecture.
+All the notice we have regarding it is: that &ldquo;He led them out as far as
+to Bethany;&rdquo; that He there lifted up His hands and blessed them; and was
+from thence taken up to Heaven.<a name="FNanchor_38" id="FNanchor_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a>
+Honoured hamlet!
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>
+thus to be alone
+mentioned in connexion with the closing scene in this mighty drama! He
+selected not <i>Bethlehem</i>, where angel hosts had chanted His praise; nor
+<i>Tabor</i>, where celestial beings had hovered around Him in homage; nor
+<i>Calvary</i>, where riven rocks and bursting grave-stones had proclaimed
+His deity; nor the <i>Temple-court</i>, in all its sumptuous glory, where for
+ages His own Shekinah had blazed in mystic splendour; but He hallows
+afresh the name of a lowly <i>Village</i>; He consecrates a Home of love.
+<span class="smcap">Bethany</span> is the last spot
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>
+which lingers on His view, as the cloud comes
+down and receives Him out of sight.</p>
+
+<p>Let us gather for a little in imagination on this sacred ground. Let us
+note a few of the interesting thoughts which cluster around it, and
+listen to the Saviour&#8217;s farewell themes of converse there with His
+beloved disciples.</p>
+
+<p>(1.) He cheers their hearts with the promised baptism of the Holy
+Ghost.&mdash;&ldquo;John,&rdquo; He had said, a few hours before, at His last meeting
+with them in Jerusalem, &ldquo;truly baptized with water; but ye shall be
+baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_39" id="FNanchor_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> He, moreover,
+enjoined them to linger in the Holy City, and wait this &ldquo;promise of the
+Father&rdquo; which &ldquo;they had heard of Him;&rdquo; and now, once more, when on the
+eve of Ascension, He speaks of the coming of the same Holy Ghost to
+qualify them for their future work.<a name="FNanchor_40" id="FNanchor_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p>
+
+<p>This, we know, was the great topic of consolation with which He had
+often before soothed their hearts at the thought of parting. <i>He</i> was to
+leave them;&mdash;but an Almighty <i>Paraclete</i> or <i>Comforter</i> was
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>
+to take His place, whose gracious presence would more than compensate for
+the withdrawal of His own. For when, on the intimation of His coming
+departure, He observed that sorrow was filling their hearts&mdash;&ldquo;It is
+expedient,&rdquo; said He, &ldquo;for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the
+Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto
+you.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_41" id="FNanchor_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p>
+
+<p>Now that the anticipated hour is come, He reverts to the same omnipotent
+ground of comfort;&mdash;that this Divine Enlightener, Cheerer, Sanctifier,
+would fill up the gap His own withdrawal would make. They were about to
+enter on a new dispensation&mdash;the dispensation of the <span class="smcap">Spirit</span>&mdash;and the
+approaching Pentecost was to give them a pledge and earnest of His
+mighty agency in the conversion of souls.</p>
+
+<p>Jesus, our adorable Lord, has ascended to &ldquo;His Father and our Father&mdash;to
+His God and our God!&rdquo; We, like the disciples, have to mourn the denial
+of His personal presence. His Church is left widowed and lonely by
+reason of His departure. But have we known, in our experience, the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>
+value of the great compensating boon here spoken of? Have we known, in
+the midst of our weakness and wants, our griefs and sorrows, the power
+and grace of the promised Paraclete? It is to be feared we do not
+realise or value His blessed agency as we ought. To what is much of the
+deadness, and dullness, and languor of our frames to be traced&mdash;the
+poverty of our faith, the lukewarmness of our love, the coldness of our
+Sabbath services, the little hold and influence of divine things upon
+us? Is it not to the feeble realisation of the quickening, life-giving
+power of this Divine Agent? &ldquo;It is the Spirit that quickeneth.&rdquo; Church
+of the living God! if you would awake from your slumber and apathy; if
+you would exhibit among your members more faithfulness, more zeal, more
+love, more unselfishness, more union&mdash;if you would buckle on your armour
+for fresh conquests in the outlying wastes of heathenism, it will be by
+a fresh baptism of the Holy Ghost! Another Pentecost will usher in the
+Millennial morning. The showers of His benign influences will form the
+prelude to the world&#8217;s great Spiritual Harvest. &ldquo;Pray ye, then, the Lord
+of the Harvest,&rdquo;
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>
+that His Spirit may &ldquo;come down like rain upon the mown
+grass, and as showers that water the earth,&rdquo; and that the promise
+regarding the latter-day glory may be fulfilled&mdash;&ldquo;I will pour down My
+Spirit upon all flesh.&rdquo; Or would you have Jesus made more precious to
+your <i>own</i> soul? Would you see more of His matchless excellences,&mdash;the
+glories of His person and work,&mdash;His suitableness and adaptation to all
+the wants and weaknesses, the sorrows and temptations, of your tried and
+tempted natures. Pray for this gracious Unfolder of the Saviour&#8217;s
+character. This is one of His most precious offices&mdash;as the <i>Revealer</i>
+of Jesus. &ldquo;He shall glorify <i>Me</i>; for He shall receive of <i>Mine</i>, and
+shall shew it unto you!&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_42" id="FNanchor_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p>
+
+<p>(2.) Another theme of Christ&#8217;s converse, when within sight of Bethany,
+was <i>the nature of His Kingdom</i>&mdash;&ldquo;Lord, wilt thou at this time restore
+again the kingdom of Israel?&rdquo; was the inquiry of the disciples. &ldquo;And he
+said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which
+the Father hath put in His own power.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_43" id="FNanchor_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p>
+
+<p>The thoughts of His followers were clinging to
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>
+the last to the dream of
+earthly sovereignty. How difficult it is to get even the renewed and
+regenerated mind to understand and realise Heavenly things, and to wean
+it from what is of the earth earthy! He checks their presumption&mdash;He
+tells them these are questions which they may not pry into. There is to
+be no present fulfilment of these visions of millennial glory. That day
+and that hour are to be wrapt in unrevealed and impenetrable secrecy.
+The Church may not attempt rashly and inquisitively to lift the veil.
+She is not to know the <i>time</i> of the Saviour&#8217;s appearing, that she may
+live every day in the frame she would wish to be found in when the cry
+shall be heard, &ldquo;Behold the Bridegroom cometh.&rdquo; The apostolic band are,
+in the first instance, to be cross-bearers, as He their Master
+was,&mdash;witnesses to His sufferings, earthen vessels, defamed, persecuted,
+reviled,&mdash;before they become partakers of His purchased happiness and
+bliss!</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, it was a grand and glorious mission He sketched out for
+them. How worthy of <span class="smcap">Himself</span>&mdash;of his loving, forgiving, unselfish
+Spirit&mdash;was the opening clause in that wondrous
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>
+Missionary Charter He
+then put into their hands. Even at the moment when all the memory of
+Jewish ingratitude was fresh on His heart, He inserts a wondrous
+provision of mercy and grace. They were to proclaim His name through the
+wide world; but was <span class="smcap">Jerusalem</span> (the scene of His ignominy) to form an
+exception? Nay, rather they were to <i>begin there</i>! The Gospel-Trumpet
+was to be sounded in its streets. The assassins of Gethsemane, the
+murderers of Calvary were to listen to the first offers of pardon and
+reconciliation&mdash;&ldquo;And He said unto them ... that repentance and remission
+of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, <i>beginning</i> at
+<i>Jerusalem</i>!&rdquo; Precious warrant, surely, are these words to &ldquo;the chief of
+sinners&rdquo; to repair to this gracious Saviour. If even for &ldquo;<i>the Jerusalem
+sinner</i>&rdquo; there is mercy, can there be ground for one human being to
+despair?</p>
+
+<p>But &ldquo;<i>beginning</i>&rdquo; at Jerusalem, the Gospel Commission did not <i>end</i>
+there? It was to embrace, first, &ldquo;Judea,&rdquo; then &ldquo;Samaria,&rdquo; then &ldquo;the
+uttermost parts of the earth.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_44" id="FNanchor_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> The
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>
+ascending Redeemer&#8217;s expansive
+heart took in with a vast sweep the wide circle of humanity. From the
+elevated ridge of Olivet, on which He now stood with the arrested group
+around Him, He might tell them to gaze, in thought at least, far north
+beyond the Cedar Heights of Lebanon and Hermon;&mdash;Southward to the desert
+and the Isles of the Ocean;&mdash;Westward to the fair lands washed by the
+Great Sea;&mdash;Eastward across the palm-trees of Bethany and the chain of
+Moabite mountains on unexplored continents, where heathenism still
+revelled in its rites and orgies of impurity and blood. With Palestine
+as their centre and starting-point, the vast World was to be their
+circumference. The Gospel was to be preached &ldquo;as a witness to all
+nations.&rdquo; The Great Mission-Angel was to &ldquo;fly through the midst of
+Heaven,&rdquo; having its everlasting truths to &ldquo;preach to every nation, and
+kindred, and tongue, and people.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Are <i>we</i> faithfully fulfilling our Lord&#8217;s farewell Apostolic Commission?
+As members of the Church of God, component parts of the Royal
+Priesthood, are we doing what lies in our power,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>
+that His name, and
+doctrine, and salvation, be proclaimed to the uttermost parts of the
+earth? Or is it so, that we are looking coldly, suspiciously,
+indifferently on the Church&#8217;s efforts in the cause of Missions,
+suffering her funds to fail, and her schemes to languish, and her
+devoted servants to sink in discouragement? Or rather, are we prepared
+to incur the responsibility of heathen souls, through our neglect,
+passing hour by hour into eternity, with a Saviour&#8217;s name unheard of,
+and a Saviour&#8217;s love unknown? Go to the Rocky ridge above <span class="smcap">Bethany</span>, and
+listen to the parting injunction of our Great Master. His last words,
+ere the cloud received Him to glory, were <i>Missionary</i> words, a
+<i>Missionary</i> appeal, a pleading for the Gospel being sent to heathen
+shores. Ah! <i>our own Britain</i> was then among the number! If the
+Apostolic Company had in these days, like many among ourselves, refused,
+on the ground of the <i>home-heathen</i> in Judea, to send any of their band
+abroad, where would <i>we</i> have been at this hour? With our Druids&#8217;
+altars, our bloody sacrifices, our cruel rites! But their best and
+noblest were commissioned to speed from port to port in the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>
+Mediterranean and the Isles of the Gentiles, with the Gospel errand on
+their lips, and the blessing of God on their labours! All honour to
+these leal-hearted men, who, in spite of national and hereditary
+prejudices, implicitly followed the will of their Lord and Master, who
+had given to them, as He has given to us, a great Missionary motto&mdash;&ldquo;<span class="smcap">The
+field is the world</span>!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="break">And now His themes of instruction and comfort are over&mdash;He is about to
+Ascend! The symbolic cloud&mdash;(invariable emblem of Deity)&mdash;comes down to
+conduct Him to His throne. What a moment was that! Glory in view&mdash;the
+hallelujahs of angels floating in His ear&mdash;the air thronged with
+celestial hosts waiting as His retinue to bear Him upwards;&mdash;all heaven
+in eager expectancy for her returning Lord. And yet&mdash;how is He employed?
+Is the world, that had so disowned Him, disowned now in return? Are the
+disciples, who have so oft deserted Him, now deserted in return?&mdash;their
+name forgotten in the thought of the loftier spirits who are to gather
+around Him in the skies? Nay, His every thought is centered on the
+weeping band
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>
+of earth. &ldquo;He lifted up his hands and blessed them!&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_45" id="FNanchor_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a>
+His last words are those of mercy&mdash;His last act is outstretching His
+arms to bless! It was an act replete with meaning to the Church of God
+in every age. Jesus, when He was last seen on earth, wore no terror on
+His lips&mdash;but He left our world pouring a benediction on His redeemed
+people.</p>
+
+<p>There is something, moreover, significant in the recorded fact that
+&ldquo;<span class="smcap">while</span> He blessed them, He was parted from them!&rdquo; The Benediction was
+unfinished when the cloud bore Him away! As they gazed upwards and
+upwards till that glorious form was diminishing in the blue sky above,
+still His hands were extended;&mdash;the last dim vision which lingered on
+their memories was the True High Priest blessing the representative
+Israel of God! It would seem as if He wished to indicate that the act
+begun on earth was to be carried on and perpetuated in heaven&mdash;that
+though parted from them, His outstretched arms would still plead for
+them on the Throne. His <i>voice</i> could no longer
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>
+be heard&mdash;but His
+blessing still would continue to descend till He came again!</p>
+
+<p>Wondrous close to a wondrous life! We have traversed in thought many
+other memorials of Bethany. We have stood by the gate where Martha met
+her Lord&mdash;the silent sepulchre which listened to the voice of
+Omnipotence&mdash;the holy home where friendship was realised such as earth
+never before or since beheld. But surely not less sacred or hallowed
+than any of these is the scene presented on the green ridge rising to
+the west of the village, overlooking its groves of palm. Before
+superstition ventured to raise its cumbrous monument on the heights of
+Olivet, may we not think of the scene of the Ascension, rather in
+connexion with three <i>living</i> Temples? May we not think of it as oft and
+again visited by Martha, and Mary, and Lazarus? May we not well imagine
+it would form a hallowed retirement for solemn meditation! Amid more
+sorrowful thoughts, connected with their Lord&#8217;s absence from them, would
+they not there often muse in holy joy over the now fulfilled prophetic
+strains of their minstrel King?&mdash;&ldquo;Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast
+led captivity
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>
+captive: Thou hast received gifts for men; yea, <i>for</i> the
+rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among <i>them</i>.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_46" id="FNanchor_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p>
+
+<p>Do <i>we</i> love also to linger in spirit on that spot, and listen to that
+benediction?&mdash;&ldquo;Blessed,&rdquo; we read, &ldquo;are they that know the joyful sound.&rdquo;
+In these words there is a beautiful allusion to the sound of the pendant
+bells on the vestment of the High Priest in the Jewish temple of old.
+When the assembled multitudes in the outer court heard their music
+within the holiest of all, it conveyed the assurance that the High
+Priest was there, actively engaged in his official duties&mdash;sprinkling
+the Mercy Seat with blood, and pleading for the nation. They felt
+&ldquo;blessedness&rdquo; in hearing and <i>knowing</i> &ldquo;that joyful sound.&rdquo; Beautiful
+type of <span class="smcap">Jesus</span> the Great High Priest within the veil! We seem, as we
+behold Him standing on the crest of Olivet, to listen to the first note
+of these gladsome chimes. He leaves His Church proclaiming nothing but
+blessings. As He rises upwards, and the diminishing cloud recedes from
+sight, still the music of benediction seems to float on the calm
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>
+morning air. The Golden Bells are sounding&mdash;and though the celestial
+notes cease, it is only distance which renders them inaudible. They are
+still pendant at His Royal Priestly robes, telling us that still He
+intercedes! Oh, let us now hear His benediction! Let the comforting
+thought follow us wherever we go&mdash;&ldquo;<i>Jesus is pleading for me within the
+Veil.</i>&rdquo; He left this world <i>blessing</i>&mdash;He is engaged in <i>blessing</i>
+still. &ldquo;<span class="smcap">He ever liveth to make intercession for us</span>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_XXII" id="Chap_XXII"></a>XXII.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p240.png" alt="Angelic Comforters." title="Angelic Comforters." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>Angelic Comforters.</h3>
+
+<p>The Lord has ascended. The disciples are left alone in wondering
+amazement. The bright cloud which formed His chariot had swept
+majestically upwards&mdash;till (dimming on their view) the gates of heaven
+closed on Him, who, a moment before, had been breathing upon them
+farewell benedictions of peace and love. Are they to be left alone?
+Terrible must have been the feeling of solitude on that lone
+mountain-ridge, as the voice of mingled Omnipotence and Love was hushed
+for all time. &ldquo;Alone, but yet <i>not</i> alone!&rdquo; While their eyes are still
+directed up to the spot where they got the last glimpse of the vanishing
+cloud&mdash;transfixed there in speechless Sorrow, lo! &ldquo;two men stood by them
+in shining vestures!&rdquo; The Saviour has departed; the sunshine of His own loving
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>
+presence is gone&mdash;but He leaves them not unsolaced. The vision
+of the patriarch is again realised. When, like that weary pilgrim,
+dejected, disconsolate, and sad&mdash;a ladder of comfort is stretched down
+from the heaven on which they gaze, and &ldquo;the Angels of God are ascending
+and descending on it!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Ah! whenever the Lord removes one comfort, He is ready to supply
+another. He Himself leaves His disciples&mdash;but no sooner <i>does</i> He leave,
+than Angels come and minister to them; and this is immediately followed
+by a mightier than Angelic Comforter&mdash;even the fulfilled promise of the
+Holy Spirit. &ldquo;If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you,
+but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.&rdquo; How graciously does Jesus
+thus adapt Himself to the character and trials of His people! What
+compensations He gives when they are suffering tribulation! One blessing
+is taken away&mdash;it is only that they may be brought more fully to value
+others which remain. A beloved friend is removed by death&mdash;the household
+is saddened at the stroke&mdash;its aching hearts are smitten and withered
+like the grass&mdash;but new
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>
+spiritual consolations are imparted, unknown
+before&mdash;brighter manifestations of the Saviour&#8217;s grace and mercy are
+vouchsafed&mdash;the Promises of God, like the ministering angels on Mount
+Olivet, are sent to hover around these stricken spirits. They are made
+to sing of &ldquo;mercy&rdquo; in the midst of &ldquo;judgment!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Is Hagar in the desert? There is a fountain (though at first unseen) at
+her side! Is Elijah trembling in the dark cave of Horeb? There is a
+&ldquo;still small voice&rdquo; amid the long-drawn breath of the tempest, and
+earthquake, and storm;&mdash;&ldquo;The Lord is <i>there</i>!&rdquo; Be assured He will never
+leave nor forsake any that truly seek Him. To all desolate ones, who,
+like the Olivet disciples, lift the steadfast eye of faith heavenwards,
+bending like them in the silent attitude of resignation and faith&mdash;God
+will send comfort. He will have his angels ready to wipe weeping eyes
+and soothe sorrowful hearts.</p>
+
+<p>We cannot grapple with this doctrine. We who are creatures of sense, who
+are cognisant through a corporeal organism only of what is tangible and
+material, cannot grasp what relates to the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>
+immaterial, invisible,
+spiritual. We strive in vain to realise the truth of Angelic Beings
+compassing our earthly path, joying with us in our joys&mdash;aiding us in
+our perplexities, and mingling their accents of comfort with us in our
+seasons of sorrow. But though mysteriously invisible, we believe there
+are hosts of these blessed messengers thronging around, profoundly
+interested in all that concerns us&mdash;&ldquo;bearing us up in all our
+ways&rdquo;&mdash;following us, as Jacob saw them, step by step up the ladder of
+salvation, till we reach our thrones and our crowns! Angelic agency is
+no mere gorgeous dream of inspired poetry&mdash;no mere symbolic way of
+stating the doctrine of Divine Providence, and the peculiar care which
+God takes of His Church and people. The Bible gives us too many positive
+statements on the subject to permit a figurative interpretation. These
+bright and holy Beings are there represented as having witnessed all
+along with profound interest the gradual unfolding of the plan of
+salvation&mdash;from the hour when, at creation&#8217;s birth, the morning stars
+sang together, and all the Sons of God shouted for joy&mdash;onwards to the
+eventful night
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>
+when they met over the plains of Bethlehem and chanted a
+responsive anthem at the advent of the Prince of Peace! Now that
+Redemption is completed&mdash;they have gathered once more on Olivet to form
+a royal retinue to conduct their Lord to His crown&mdash;to summon the gates
+of Heaven to &ldquo;lift up their heads&rdquo; that &ldquo;the King of Glory may enter
+in.&rdquo; If God, in bringing in His first-begotten into the world, said,
+&ldquo;Let all the angels of God worship Him;&rdquo; much more, when His work is
+done, and the moral Conqueror, laden with the spoils of victory, is
+about to return to His throne, may we expect that &ldquo;the chariots of God&rdquo;
+(&ldquo;twenty thousand, even thousands of angels&rdquo;) are waiting to grace His
+triumph.</p>
+
+<p>Nor were they merely employed on earth as His servants and attendants
+during the period of His incarnation&mdash;leaving our world, when <i>He</i> left
+it, to &ldquo;serve him day and night in His heavenly temple.&rdquo; A portion of
+this glorious bodyguard we find now, at the hour of Ascension, left
+behind to certify to the disciples and the Church in every age, that Angels
+were still to continue their loving watchfulness and interest over the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>
+Pilgrims in a Pilgrim world&mdash;still to be sent forth on errands
+of mercy to &ldquo;minister to them who are heirs of salvation!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Is it the House of God&mdash;the gates of Zion&mdash;the Holy place of
+Solemnities? The scene now before us on Mount Olivet forms a miniature
+picture of what takes place Sabbath after Sabbath in every meeting of
+Christian disciples. As we are assembled like the apostles in our
+Sanctuary&mdash;looking upwards to Heaven, there are glorious Spirits, we may
+well believe, clustering around us&mdash;hovering in silence over our
+assembly&mdash;engaged, it may be, in unseen conflict with the emissaries of
+evil&mdash;assisting us in our prayers&mdash;joining with us in our
+praises&mdash;waiting to waft these upwards, and get them perfumed with the
+incense of the Saviour&#8217;s merits.</p>
+
+<p>Nor is it the Sanctuary alone they overshadow with their wings of light.
+The lowliest homestead of the believer is oftentimes made a <span class="smcap">Mahanaim</span> (&ldquo;a
+Host&rdquo;). The dwellers in the world&#8217;s thousand Bethany-homes of simple
+faith and lowly love are &ldquo;entertaining angels unawares.&rdquo; In the hour of
+sickness they are there unseen to smooth
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>
+our pillow. In the hour of
+danger they are at hand to &ldquo;shut the lions&#8217; mouths.&rdquo; In the hour of
+bereavement they are employed bringing messages of solace from the
+Intercessor within the veil, and enabling us to &ldquo;glorify God in the
+fires.&rdquo; In the hour of death they are waiting to lend their wings to the
+Immortal tenant as it bursts its earthly coil. Oh, if the <i>return</i> of
+the Repentant Sinner be to them an hour of joyous jubilee;&mdash;if their
+songs of triumph greet the Believer <i>justified</i>;&mdash;what must it be to
+exult over the gladsome consummation&mdash;the Believer <i>glorified</i>; to be
+engaged on the Great Day as Reapers at the ingathering of the sheaves
+into the heavenly garner&mdash;throwing open, at the bidding of their Great
+Lord, the Golden Portals that the ransomed millions may enter in!</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Oh never, till the clouds of time<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Have vanish&#8217;d from the ken of man,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And he from yonder heaven sublime<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Look back where mystic life began,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Will gather&#8217;d saints in glory know<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What blessings men to angels owe.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;This earth is but a thorny wild,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A tangled maze where griefs abound,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By sorrow vex&#8217;d, by sin defiled,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Where foes and friends our walk surround;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But does not God in mercy say,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Angelic guardians line the way?<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Sickness and woe perchance may have<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Ethereal hosts whom none perceive,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Whose golden wings around us wave<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When all alone men seem to grieve;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But while we sigh or shed the tear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their sympathies may linger near.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;When gracious beams of holy light<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From heaven&#8217;s half-open&#8217;d portals play,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And from our scene of suffering night<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Melts nigh its haunted gloom away;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Each doubt perchance some angel sees,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And hovers o&#8217;er our bended knees!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;And when at length this wearied life<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Of toil and danger breathes its last,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or ere the flesh, with parting strife,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Is down to clay and coldness cast;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The struggling soul can learn the story,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">How angels waft the blest to glory.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_47" id="FNanchor_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>But, after all, can Angels really impart comfort? They cannot. They are
+but servants and delegates of a Mightier than they. Like all ministers
+and messengers, if they can dry a human tear and soothe a human sorrow,
+it is by pointing, not to themselves, but to their glorious and
+glorified Lord. What was their message now? Was it, &ldquo;We are come to
+supply the place of your Ascended Redeemer&mdash;we are henceforth to be your
+appointed helpers&mdash;the objects of your faith, and hope, and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>
+confidence, in the house of your pilgrimage?&rdquo; No! The eyes of the disciples
+are gazing upwards and heavenwards. The Angels tell them not in anywise to
+alter the direction of their thoughts and affections. They are musing
+(as in vain they still wistfully look for any relic of the
+chariot-cloud) on &ldquo;<i>Jesus only</i>.&rdquo; They are to think of &ldquo;<i>Him only</i>&rdquo;
+still! The Celestial Visitants seem to say, &ldquo;Ye men of Galilee, <i>we</i>
+cannot comfort you;&mdash;<i>we</i> would prove but poor solaces and compensations
+for the Adorable Saviour who has left you. <i>We</i> come not to take His
+place&mdash;but to speak to you still regarding Him. He has left you! but it
+is only for a season; and better than this, although He has left you, He
+loves you as much as ever. Even in that distant glory to which He has
+sped His way, His heart is unchanged and unchangeable&mdash;His name
+is<span class="tn" title="double quotation mark used in text"> &lsquo;</span>Jesus
+Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for
+ever.<span class="tn" title="one quotation mark omitted in text">&rsquo;&rdquo;</span></p>
+
+<p>Here then was their first theme of comfort. It was the <span class="smcap">name</span> of <i>Jesus</i>.
+That &ldquo;name of their Lord&rdquo; was still to be their &ldquo;strong tower!&rdquo; Oh,
+there is something touchingly beautiful about this angelic address. What
+a simple but sublime
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>
+antidote for these stricken Spirits, &ldquo;<span class="smcap">That same
+Jesus</span>.&rdquo; &ldquo;That <i>same</i> Jesus,&rdquo;&mdash;He who laid His infant head on the manger
+at Bethlehem&mdash;He who walked on the Sea of Tiberias, and hushed its angry
+waves&mdash;He who spoke comfort to a stricken spirit at the well of Sychar,
+and at the gate of Nain&mdash;He who, in yonder palm-clad village sleeping in
+quiet loveliness at their feet, soothed the pangs of deeply afflicted
+hearts, and made death itself yield its prey&mdash;He who had first shed His
+tears and then His blood over the city He loved&mdash;He who so freely
+forgave, so meekly suffered, so willingly died! &ldquo;<span class="smcap">That same Jesus</span>&rdquo; was
+still on High! The Brother&#8217;s form was still there! The
+Kinsman-Redeemer&#8217;s sympathy was still there! Though all heaven was then
+doing Him homage&mdash;though He had exchanged the chilling ingratitude of
+earth for the glories of an unsullied world of purity and love&mdash;yet
+nothing could blot out from His heart the names of those whom He had
+still left for a little season behind, to be bearers of His cross before
+they became sharers of His crown!</p>
+
+<p>What a comfort, amid all earth&#8217;s vicissitudes
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>
+and changes, this
+motto-verse! <i>Earth may</i> change. Since the Lord ascended, earth <i>has</i>
+changed! There are &ldquo;Written rocks&rdquo;&mdash;manifold more than those of
+Sinai&mdash;that bear engraven on their furrowed brows, &ldquo;The world passeth
+away.&rdquo; Ocean&#8217;s old shores have transgressed their boundaries&mdash;kingdoms
+have risen and fallen&mdash;thronging cities have sprung up amid desert
+wastes&mdash;and proud capitals have been levelled with the dust. <i>Friends</i>
+may change; our very lot and circumstances, in spite of ourselves, may
+change. Our fondly planned schemes and cherished hopes may vanish into
+thin air, and the <i>place</i> that now knows us know us no more! But there
+is <span class="smcap">One</span> that changeth not&mdash;a Rock which stands immutable amid all the
+ceaseless heavings and commotions of this mortal life&mdash;and that Rock is
+Christ!</p>
+
+<p>Has he ever failed us? Ask the <i>tried</i> Christian. Ask the <i>aged</i>
+Christian. That gray-haired believer may be like a solitary oak in the
+forest&mdash;all his compeers cut down&mdash;tempest after tempest has sighed and
+swept amid the branches&mdash;tree by tree has succumbed to the blast&mdash;there
+may be nothing but wreck and ruin and devastation all
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>
+around. Friend after friend has departed; some have <i>altered</i> towards him;
+kindness may have given way to alien looks and estranged affection; others are
+removed by <i>distance</i>&mdash;old familiar faces and scenes have given place to
+new ones;&mdash;others have been called away to the silent grave&mdash;sleeping
+quiet and still in &ldquo;the narrow house appointed for all living.&rdquo; That
+aged lonely Christian can clasp his withered hands, and exclaim, through
+his tears, &ldquo;<i>But</i> <span class="smcap">Thou</span> art the same, and <i>Thy</i> years shall have no end.&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Heart and flesh do faint and fail, but God is the strength of my heart,
+and my portion for ever.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;My God, I thank thee, Thou dost care for me;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I am content rejoicing to go on,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Even when my home seems very far away;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And over grief, and aching emptiness,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And fading hopes a higher joy ariseth.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In nightliest hours one lonely spot is bright,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">High over head, through folds and folds of space;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It is the earnest star of all my heavens,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And tremulous in the deep-well of my being,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Its image answers.&nbsp; *&nbsp; *&nbsp; *&nbsp; *&nbsp;
+<span class="smcap">I will think of Jesus</span>.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_48" id="FNanchor_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>But, in addition to the name and nature of Jesus&mdash;the Angels added a
+promise of comfort regarding
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>
+Him. &ldquo;He shall <i>so come</i> in like manner as
+ye have seen Him go into heaven.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_49" id="FNanchor_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> <i>Jesus shall come again!</i></p>
+
+<p>When a beloved brother or friend whom we love is taken from us by death,
+how cheered we are by the thought of rejoining him in a brighter and
+better world. Even in earthly separations, how cheering the prospect of
+those severed by oceans and continents meeting once more in the
+flesh&mdash;the associations of youth renewed and perpetuated&mdash;and the
+long-severed links of friendship welded and cemented again! What must
+be, to the bereft and lonely Christian, the thought of being restored,
+and that <i>for ever</i>, to his long-absent Saviour? <i>Jesus shall come
+again</i>!&mdash;it is the Church&#8217;s &ldquo;blessed hope&rdquo;&mdash;the day when her weeds and
+robes of ashen sorrow shall be laid for ever aside, and she shall &ldquo;enter
+into the joy of her Lord?&rdquo; It is His return, too, in a glorified
+manhood. That <i>same Jesus shall <span class="smcap">so</span> come</i>! Yes! &ldquo;<i>so</i> come,&rdquo; in the very
+body with which He bade the sorrowing eleven that sad, farewell! He left
+them with His hands extended, and with blessings on His lips.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>
+He will return in the same attitude to greet His expectant Church, with the
+words, &ldquo;Come, <i>ye blessed</i> of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
+for you from the foundation of the world.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And if it be a comforting thought, &ldquo;Jesus <i>still</i> the <i>same</i>, now seated
+on the Mediatorial throne,&rdquo;&mdash;equally comforting surely is the prospect
+that it will be in all the unchanging and undying sympathies of His
+exalted humanity, that He will come again as Judge. &ldquo;God hath appointed
+a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by <i>that</i> <span class="smcap">Man</span>
+whom he hath ordained.&rdquo; He shall come, not arrayed in the stern
+magnificence of Godhead! As we behold Him, we need not crouch in terror
+at His approach. <i>Humanity</i> will soften the awe which Deity would
+inspire. We can rejoice with Job not only that our Kinsman Redeemer
+&ldquo;<i>liveth</i>,&rdquo; but that, <i>as</i> our Kinsman Redeemer, &ldquo;He shall stand at the
+latter day upon the earth!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><i>Would</i> that we more constantly lived under the realising power of this
+elevating thought&mdash;&ldquo;Soon my Lord will come!&rdquo; &ldquo;Of the times and the
+seasons ye need not that I write unto you.&rdquo; It is not for us to
+dogmatize on the unrevealed period
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>
+of the &ldquo;glorious appearing.&rdquo; The
+millennial trumpet may in all probability sound over our slumbering
+dust&mdash;the millennial sun shine on the turf which may for centuries have
+covered our graves!&mdash;But <i>who</i>, on the other hand, dare venture to
+question the <i>possibility</i> of the nearer alternative?&mdash;that the Judge
+may be &ldquo;standing before the door&rdquo;&mdash;the shadow of the Advent Throne even
+now projected on an unthinking and unbelieving world! &ldquo;He that <i>shall</i>
+come <i>will</i> come, and will not tarry!&rdquo;&mdash;Although it be true that
+eighteen hundred years have elapsed since that utterance was made, and
+still no gleam of the coming morning streaks the horizon&mdash;although the
+calculations and longing expectations of the Church have hitherto only
+issued in successive disappointments, yet the hour <i>is</i> nearing! As
+grain by grain drops in Time&#8217;s sand-glass, it gives new significance and
+truthfulness to the Divine monition&mdash;&ldquo;Behold, I come quickly!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Ah! if He <i>may</i> come <i>soon</i>&mdash;if He <span class="smcap">must</span> come at some time, how shall I
+meet Him? Will it be with joy? Am I shaping my course in life&mdash;my
+plans&mdash;my schemes&mdash;my wishes with what I feel would be in accordance
+with His will? Am I
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>
+conscious of doing nothing that would lead me to be
+ashamed before Him at His coming? It would save many a perplexity&mdash;it
+would soothe many a heart-ache, and dry many a tear&mdash;if we were to make
+this great culminating event in the world&#8217;s history, with all its
+elevating motives, more our guide and regulator than we do;&mdash;living each
+day, and <i>all</i> our days, as if <i>possibly</i> the very next hour might
+disclose &ldquo;the sign of the Son of Man in the midst of the Heavens!&rdquo; Not
+building our nests too fondly here&mdash;not too anxious to nestle in
+creature comforts, but occupying faithfully the talents to be traded on
+which He has committed to our stewardship; straining the eye of faith,
+like the mother of Sisera, for His approaching chariot; and amid our
+griefs, and separations, and sorrows, listening to the sublime inspired
+antidote&mdash;&ldquo;Stablish your hearts, <span class="smcap">for</span> <i>the coming of the Lord draweth
+nigh</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Blessed&mdash;glorious&mdash;happy day! And as His <i>first</i> coming was terminated
+by His Ascension, so will there be a second Ascension at His <i>second</i>
+Advent, with this important difference, however, that, as in the former,
+He left His Church behind
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>
+Him, orphaned and forlorn, to battle in a
+world of sorrow and sin; in the other, not one unit among the rejoicing
+myriads, bought with His blood, will He debar from sharing in the
+splendour of His final entrance within the celestial gates. &ldquo;The Lord
+Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout&mdash;with the voice of the
+archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise
+first. Then they who are alive and remain, shall be caught up together
+with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we
+ever be with the Lord.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;We must not stand to gaze too long,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Though on unfolding heaven our gaze we bend;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When lost behind the bright angelic throng,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">We see Christ&#8217;s entering triumph slow ascend.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;No fear but we shall soon behold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Faster than now it fades, that gleam revive,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When issuing from his cloud of fiery gold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Our wasted frames feel the true Sun and live.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Then shall we see Thee as Thou art,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For ever fix&#8217;d in no unfruitful gaze,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But such as lifts the new created heart<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Age after age in worthier love and praise.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="Chap_XXIII" id="Chap_XXIII"></a>XXIII.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="imgheading" src="images/p257.png" alt="The Disciples&#8217; Return." title="The Disciples&#8217; Return." />
+</div>
+
+<h3>The Disciples&#8217; Return.</h3>
+
+<p>The time has come when the disciples must leave the crest of Olivet and
+bend their steps once more to Jerusalem. Ah! most sorrowful
+thought&mdash;most sorrowful pilgrimage! Often, often had it been trodden
+before with their Lord&#8217;s voice of love and power sounding in their ears.
+Often had it proved an Emmaus journey, when their hearts &ldquo;burned within
+them as He talked to them by the way and opened unto them the
+Scriptures.&rdquo; But He is gone!&mdash;that voice is now hushed&mdash;the well-loved
+path, worn by His blessed footsteps, and consecrated by His midnight
+prayers, must be trodden by them alone! Willingly, perhaps, like Peter,
+on Tabor, would they have tarried on the spot where they last saw His
+human form, and listened to the music of His voice, just as we still
+love to revisit some haunt of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>
+hallowed friendship and associate it with
+the name and words and features of the departed. But they dare not
+linger. As the disciples of this great and good Master, they dare not
+remain to indulge in mere sentimental grief, or in vain hopes and
+expectations of a speedy return. Life is too short&mdash;their Apostolic work
+too solemn and momentous, to suffer them to consume their hours in
+unavailing sorrow. We may imagine them taking their last look upwards to
+heaven, and then bending a tearful eye down upon Bethany&mdash;its hallowed
+remembrances all the <i>more</i> hallowed, that the vision is now about to
+pass away for ever! The Angels, too, have sped away, and the eleven
+pilgrims begin their solitary return back to the city and temple from
+which the <i>true</i> Glory had indeed departed!</p>
+
+<p><i>And how did they return?</i> What were their feelings as they rose to
+pursue their way? Had we not been told far otherwise, we should have
+imagined them to have been those of deep dejection. We should have
+pictured to ourselves a weary, weeping, troubled band; their
+countenances shaded with a sorrow too profound for words;&mdash;the joyous
+melodies of that morning hour, all in sad
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>
+contrast with those hearts
+which were bowed down with a bereavement unparalleled in its nature
+since a weeping world was bedewed with tears! They were going too, as
+&ldquo;lambs in the midst of wolves,&rdquo; to the very city where, a few weeks
+before, their Lord had been crucified,&mdash;the disciples of a hated Master,
+&ldquo;not knowing the things that might befall <i>them</i> there.&rdquo; Could we
+wonder, if for the moment these aching spirits should have surrendered
+themselves to mingled feelings of disconsolate grief and terror. But
+<i>how different</i>! Sorrow indeed they <i>must</i> have had; but if so, it was
+counterbalanced and overborne by far other emotions; for of the
+<i>sorrow</i>, the Evangelist says <i>nothing</i>; the simple record of this
+mournful journey is in these words, &ldquo;They returned to Jerusalem <span class="smcap">with
+great joy</span>.&rdquo; Most wonderful, and yet most true! Never did mourner return
+from a funeral scene&mdash;(from laying in the grave his nearest and
+dearest)&mdash;with a heavier sense of an overwhelming loss than did that
+widowed orphaned band. And yet, lo! they are <i>joyful</i>! A sunshine is
+lighting up their faces. The &ldquo;Sun of their souls&rdquo; has set behind the
+world&#8217;s horizon. But though vanished
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>
+from the eye of sense, His glory
+and radiance seem still to linger on their spirits, just as the orb of
+day gilds the lofty mountain-peaks long after his descent. They tread
+the old footway with elastic step! As Gethsemane, and Kedron, and the
+Temple-path, are in succession skirted, while &ldquo;<i>sorrowful</i>, they are
+alway <span class="smcap">rejoicing</span>.&rdquo; Why is this? It was God Himself fulfilling in their
+experience His own promise, &ldquo;<i>As thy day is, so shall thy strength be.</i>&rdquo;
+He metes out strength IN the day of trial, and FOR the day of trial.
+When <i>we</i> expect nothing but fainting and trembling, sadness and
+despondency, He whispers His own promise, and makes it good, &ldquo;My grace
+is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Who so faint as these disciples? Think of them in their by-past history,
+tossed on Gennesaret, cowering with dread in their vessel! Think of them
+in the Judgment-Hall of Pilate; think of them at the cross! Nothing
+there but pusillanimity and cowardice. Nay, when our Lord had spoken to
+them on a former occasion of this same departure, we read that &ldquo;<i>sorrow
+had filled their hearts</i>.&rdquo; They could not bear the thought of so
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>
+cruel a severance from all they held dear: But see them now&mdash;when the sad hour
+has come&mdash;lonely&mdash;unbefriended&mdash;their Lord hopelessly removed from the
+<i>eye of sense</i>; though but a few days before, they were traitors to
+their trust&mdash;unfaithful in their allegiance&mdash;bending, like bruised
+reeds, before the storm&mdash;behold them now, retraversing their way to
+Jerusalem, not with sorrow, as we might expect, but <i>with joy</i>. The
+Evangelist even notes the extent and measure of the emotion. It was not
+a mere effort to overbear their sorrow&mdash;an outward semblance of
+reconciliation to their hard fate&mdash;but it was a deep fountain of real
+gladness, welling up from their riven spirits. They returned, he tells
+us, with &ldquo;<span class="smcap">great joy</span>!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Oh! the wonders of the <i>grace of God</i>. What grace <i>has</i> done&mdash;what grace
+<i>can</i> do! We speak not of it now under its manifold other and
+diversified phases,&mdash;<i>converting</i> grace, and <i>restraining</i> grace, and
+<i>sanctifying</i> grace, and <i>dying</i> grace. Here we have to do only with
+<i>sustaining</i> and <i>supporting</i> grace. But how many Christian disciples,
+in their Olivets of sorrow, have been able to tell the same experience?
+How often, when a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>
+believer is stricken down with sore affliction&mdash;when
+the hand of death enters his family&mdash;when the treasured life of the
+dwelling is taken, and he feels in the anticipation of such a blow as if
+it would smite <i>him</i>, too, to the dust, and it were impossible to
+survive the prostration of all that links him to life&mdash;when the
+tremendous blow <i>comes</i>, lo! sustaining grace he never could have
+<i>dreamed</i> of comes along with it. He rises <i>above</i> his trial. Underneath
+him are the Everlasting arms. &ldquo;The joy of the Lord is his strength!&rdquo; He
+treads along life&#8217;s lonely way <i>sorrowful</i>, yet with a &ldquo;song in the
+night.&rdquo; Amid earth&#8217;s separations and sadness, he hears the voice of
+Jesus, saying, &ldquo;Lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
+world.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Oh, trust that Grace still! It is the secret of your spiritual strength.
+&ldquo;Not I, not I, but the grace of God that is with me!&rdquo; You may have to
+confront &ldquo;a great fight of afflictions;&rdquo; but that grace sustaining you,
+you will be made &ldquo;more than conquerors.&rdquo; &ldquo;All men forsook me,&rdquo; said the
+great Apostle, &ldquo;<i>nevertheless</i>, the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> stood with me, and strengthened
+me, and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.&rdquo; &ldquo;And God is
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>
+able to make <i>all</i> grace abound toward
+<span class="smcap">you</span>; that ye, always having
+<i>all-sufficiency</i> in <i>all things</i>, may abound to every good work.&rdquo; You
+have found Him faithful in the past;&mdash;trust Him in the future. Cast all
+your cares, and each care, as it arises, on Him, saying, in childlike
+faith, &ldquo;Undertake Thou for me!&rdquo; Then, then, in your very night-seasons,
+&ldquo;His song will be with you.&rdquo; The Mount of your trial&mdash;the mournful,
+desolate, solitary, rugged path you tread, will be carpeted with love,
+fringed with mercy, and earth&#8217;s darkest future will grow bright as you
+listen to a voice stealing from the upper sanctuary, &ldquo;I will come again
+and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>In this scene of the disciples returning to Jerusalem, we are presented
+with the last picture of the Home of <span class="smcap">Bethany</span>. Here the earthly vision is
+sealed, and we are only left to imagine Martha, and Mary, and Lazarus,
+when the joyous footfall that had cheered their dwelling could be heard
+no more, living together in sacred harmony, exulting in &ldquo;the blessed
+hope, even the glorious appearing of the Great God their Saviour.&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_50" id="FNanchor_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>
+Did they live to survive the destruction of Jerusalem? Did they live to
+hear the tramp of the Roman legions resounding through their quiet
+hamlet, and &ldquo;the abomination of desolation,&rdquo; the imperial eagles
+desecrating the hallowed ridges of Olivet? Did they often repair to the
+meetings of the infant Church in Jerusalem, and delight to mingle with
+the <i>under</i> shepherds, when the &ldquo;<i>Chief</i>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>
+Shepherd&rdquo; had gone? Or did the
+venerable company of Apostles love to resort, as their Lord before them,
+to the old village of palm-trees, whose every memory was fragrant with
+their Master&#8217;s name? All these, and similar questions, we cannot answer.
+This we know and feel assured of&mdash;they are now gathered a holy and happy
+family in the true Bethany above&mdash;<i>there</i> never more to listen
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>
+to the voice of weeping, or hear the tread of the funeral crowd, or the
+wail of the Mourner!</p>
+
+<p>And soon, too, shall many of us (let us trust) be <i>there</i>, to meet them!
+<span class="smcap">Bethany</span>, we have seen, had alike its tears and its joys; so will it be
+with every spot and every scene in this mingled world. But where the
+Family of Bethany <i>now</i> are, the motto is&mdash;&ldquo;<span class="smcap">Never</span> <i>sorrowful</i>, <span class="smcap">alway</span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>
+<i>rejoicing</i>!&rdquo; And, better than all, while they never can be severed
+from one another, they never can be separated from their Lord. He is no
+longer now, as formerly at their earthly home, like &ldquo;a wayfaring
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>
+man that turneth aside to tarry for a night.&rdquo; No Olivet now to remind of
+farewells. They are &ldquo;<i>with Him</i>,&rdquo; &ldquo;seeing Him as He is,&rdquo; and that &ldquo;for
+ever and ever!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And if, meanwhile, regarding ourselves, the journey of life has for a
+little still to be traversed, and the battle of life still to be fought;
+blessed be God, &ldquo;we go not a warfare on our own charges.&rdquo; The same grace
+vouchsafed to the disciples is promised to <i>us</i>. <i>That grace</i> will
+enable us to rise superior to all the vicissitudes and changes of the
+journey. Let us rise from our Olivet-ridge and be going; and though
+traversing different footpaths to the same Home&mdash;be it ours, like the
+disciples, to reach at last&mdash;a holy and happy company&mdash;the true Heavenly
+Jerusalem&mdash;&ldquo;<span class="smcap">with Great Joy</span>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="break center">THE END.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h3><a name="FOOTNOTES" id="FOOTNOTES"></a>FOOTNOTES</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <i>Bethany</i> signifies literally &ldquo;<i>The house of dates</i>.&rdquo;</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> &ldquo;The <i>figs</i> of Bethany&rdquo; are mentioned specially by the
+Rabbins as being subject to tithing.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3" id="Footnote_3"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Stanley&#8217;s &ldquo;Sinai and Palestine.&rdquo;</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4" id="Footnote_4"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Anderson.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5" id="Footnote_5"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Bartlett&#8217;s &ldquo;Walks about Jerusalem.&rdquo;</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6" id="Footnote_6"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Neander&#8217;s &ldquo;Life of Christ.&rdquo;</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7" id="Footnote_7"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> &ldquo;What Mary fell short in words she made up in tears. She
+said less than Martha, but wept more; and tears of devout affection have
+a voice, a loud prevailing voice&mdash;no rhetoric like that.&rdquo;&mdash;<span class="smcap">Matthew
+Henry.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8" id="Footnote_8"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> <i>Note</i>.&mdash;See p.
+<span class="tn" title="full stop omitted in text">173.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9" id="Footnote_9"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> &ldquo;Within and Without.&rdquo;</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10" id="Footnote_10"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> John xi. 11.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11" id="Footnote_11"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> John xi. 20.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12" id="Footnote_12"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> John xi. 21.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13" id="Footnote_13"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> John xi. 26.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14" id="Footnote_14"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> John xi. 27.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15" id="Footnote_15"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> John xi. 39.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16" id="Footnote_16"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> John xi. 39.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17" id="Footnote_17"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> John xi. 41.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18" id="Footnote_18"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Rev. iii. 5.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19" id="Footnote_19"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Rom. viii. 34.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20" id="Footnote_20"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> John v. 29.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21" id="Footnote_21"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> As the Jewish sabbath began at six o&#8217;clock on Friday
+evening, and lasted till six on Saturday evening, we may infer it was
+after the close of its sacred hours (at &ldquo;eventide&rdquo;) He reached Bethany.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22" id="Footnote_22"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> It is supposed to have been equivalent to &pound;10 of our
+money.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23" id="Footnote_23"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Tennyson.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24" id="Footnote_24"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> An excellent Christian poet has thus amplified this
+thought:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Thou hast thy record in the monarch&#8217;s hall,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And on the waters of the far mid sea;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And where the mighty mountain shadows fall,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The Alpine hamlet keeps a thought of thee.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where&#8217;er, beneath some Oriental tree,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The Christian traveller rests&mdash;where&#8217;er the child<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Looks upward from the English mother&#8217;s knee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With earnest eyes, in wond&#8217;ring reverence mild,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There art thou known. Where&#8217;er the Book of Light<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Bears hope and healing, there, beyond all blight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Is borne thy memory&mdash;and all praise above.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Oh! say what deed so lifted thy sweet name,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Mary! to that pure, silent place of fame?&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">One lowly offering of exceeding love.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25" id="Footnote_25"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> This was a common opinion among the Fathers of the
+Church.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26" id="Footnote_26"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Mark xi. 1-12.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27" id="Footnote_27"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Stanley&#8217;s &ldquo;Sinai and Palestine,&rdquo; p. 188-191. A work of
+rare interest, which condenses in one volume the literature of the Holy
+Land.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28" id="Footnote_28"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> &ldquo;Christian Year.&rdquo;</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29" id="Footnote_29"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Bethphage, <i>lit.</i> &ldquo;the house of figs.&rdquo;</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30" id="Footnote_30"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Stanley, p. 418.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31" id="Footnote_31"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> &ldquo;If the miracles generally have a symbolical import, we
+have in this case one that is <i>entirely</i> symbolical.&rdquo;&mdash;<span class="smcap">Neander</span>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32" id="Footnote_32"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> &ldquo;Trench on the Miracles,&rdquo; p. 444. See a full exposition of
+the design and import of this miracle in this exhaustive and admirable
+dissertation.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33" id="Footnote_33"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> &ldquo;The fig-tree, rich in foliage, but destitute of fruit,
+represents the Jewish people, so abundant in outward shows of piety, but
+destitute of its reality. Their vital sap was squandered upon leaves.
+And as the fruitless tree, failing to realise the aim of its being, was
+destroyed, so the theocratic nation, for the same reason, was to be
+overtaken, after long forbearance, by the judgments of God, and shut out
+from His kingdom.&rdquo;&mdash;<span class="smcap">Neander</span>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34" id="Footnote_34"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Psalm i. 3.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35" id="Footnote_35"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> &ldquo;In that of the devils in the swine there was no
+punishment, but only a permitting of the thing.&rdquo;&mdash;See &ldquo;Stier&#8217;s Words of
+the Lord Jesus,&rdquo; vol. iii. p. 100.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36" id="Footnote_36"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Mark xi. 19.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37" id="Footnote_37"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> &ldquo;Sinai and Palestine,&rdquo; p. 165.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38" id="Footnote_38"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a>
+&ldquo;On the wild uplands,&rdquo; says Mr Stanley, &ldquo;which immediately
+overhangs the village, He finally withdrew from the eyes of His
+disciples, in a seclusion which, perhaps, could nowhere else be found so
+near the stir of a mighty city, the long ridge of Olivet screening those
+hills, and those hills the village beneath them, from all sight or sound
+of the city behind; the view opening only on the wide waste of desert
+rocks, and ever-descending valleys, into the depths of the distant
+Jordan and its mysterious lake. At this point the last interview took
+place. He led them out as far as to Bethany. The appropriateness of the
+whole scene presents a singular contrast to the inappropriateness of
+that fixed by a later fancy, &lsquo;Seeking for a sign&rsquo; on the broad top of
+the mountain, out of sight of Bethany, and in full sight of Jerusalem,
+and thus an equal contradiction to the letter and the spirit of the
+Gospel narrative.&rdquo;&mdash;P. 192.</p>
+
+<p>The same writer, in another place (p. 450), says, &ldquo;Even if the
+evangelist had been less explicit in stating that He led them out &lsquo;as
+far as to Bethany,&rsquo; the secluded hills (that especially to which Tobler
+assigns the name of Djebel Sajach) which overhang that village on the
+eastern slope of Olivet, are evidently as appropriate to the whole tenor
+of the narrative, as the startling, the almost offensive publicity of
+the traditional spot, in the full view of the whole city of Jerusalem,
+is wholly inappropriate, and (in the absence, as it now appears, of even
+traditional support) wholly untenable.&rdquo;</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39" id="Footnote_39"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Acts i. 5.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40" id="Footnote_40"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Acts i. 8.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41" id="Footnote_41"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> John xvi. 7.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42" id="Footnote_42"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> John xvi. 14.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43" id="Footnote_43"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Acts i. 6, 7.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44" id="Footnote_44"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> Acts i. 8.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45" id="Footnote_45"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> Luke xxiv. 50.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46" id="Footnote_46"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Ps. lxviii. 18.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47" id="Footnote_47"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Montgomery.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48" id="Footnote_48"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> &ldquo;Within and Without.&rdquo;</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49" id="Footnote_49"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Acts i. 11.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50" id="Footnote_50"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Is it lawful to think of Bethany in connexion with the
+Church of the Future? Are there no foreshadowed glories found in the
+pages of Holy Writ, which include this lowly village&mdash;gilding it with
+the beams of a Millennial Sun? Is it destined to remain as it now is&mdash;a
+wreck of vanished loveliness? and is the crested ridge above it, which
+was the scene of the great terminating event of the Incarnation, to be
+associated with no other august displays of the Redeemer&#8217;s power and
+majesty? The following remarkable prediction occurs in the prophet
+Zechariah:&mdash;&ldquo;<i>And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of
+Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives
+shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west,
+and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall
+remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.</i>&rdquo; Zech. xiv.
+4. Were we of the number of those&mdash;(perhaps some who read these
+pages)&mdash;who look with firm and joyful confidence to the Personal Reign
+of the Redeemer on earth, and who in their code of interpretation
+regarding unfulfilled prophecy, espouse the literal in preference to the
+spiritual meaning, we might here have an inviting picture presented to
+us of the <span class="smcap">Bethany</span> of the future. The Mount of Olives, by some great
+physical, or rather supernatural agency, is represented as heaving from
+its foundations, and parting in twain. The middle summit disappears. The
+remaining two form the steep sides of a new Valley, which, as it is
+spoken of as opening at Jerusalem (from Gethsemane), eastwards, the
+Vista must necessarily terminate with <span class="smcap">Bethany</span>; thus connecting the two
+most memorable spots associated with our Lord&#8217;s humiliation. &ldquo;His feet
+shall stand in that day on the <i>Mount of Olives</i>.&rdquo;&mdash;The once lowly
+Saviour again &ldquo;stands&rdquo; in power and great glory on the very spot over
+Bethany from which He formerly ascended. A new highway from the &ldquo;Village
+of Palms&rdquo; is made for His triumphal entrance to the Holy City, while the
+air resounds with the old welcome&mdash;&ldquo;Rejoice, O daughter of Zion, behold
+thy King cometh!&rdquo; If further we turn with the literalists to the
+majestic Temple-Visions of Ezekiel, we find the front of the
+newly-erected structure <i>facing up</i> this valley; a new stream&mdash;(indeed a
+mighty river)&mdash;gushes down from the temple-colonnade, flowing through
+the same gorge, and discharging its purifying waters into the Dead Sea.
+(Verse 8, and Ezekiel xlvii. 1-12; Joel iii. 18. The reader is referred
+to these passages in full.) From the geographical position, this river
+must needs, in the course assigned to it, flow nigh to the restored
+palm-groves of <i>Bethany</i>&mdash;thus murmuring by scenes consecrated for
+centuries by the footsteps and tears of a weeping Saviour.</p>
+
+<p>But if we cannot participate in these gorgeous literal picturings, we
+are abundantly warranted to take the words of the Prophet as delineating
+the glorious results of the future <i>restoration</i> of the Jews to their
+own Jerusalem. We can think of the City of the Great King raised from
+her desolation, &ldquo;her walls salvation, and her gates praise.&rdquo; The
+Messiah, once rejected, now owned and welcomed&mdash;&ldquo;the children of Zion
+joyful in their King.&rdquo; We can think of the valley which is to divide the
+Mount of <i>Olives</i>&mdash;(the mountain bedewed with the memory of the
+Saviour&#8217;s <i>prayers</i>)&mdash;we can think of <i>that</i> valley, and the stream
+which flows through it, as emblematic of spiritual blessings. &ldquo;Ask of
+Me,&rdquo; says God, addressing His adorable Son, &ldquo;and I will give Thee the
+heathen for thine inheritance.&rdquo; Is not the symbolic answer here given?
+The Mountain where the Saviour so &ldquo;oft resorted&rdquo; to &ldquo;ask of His Father,&rdquo;
+is rent in sunder&mdash;every barrier to the progress of the truth is now
+swept away&mdash;the living stream of Gospel mercy issues from Zion (or
+rather, from Him who is the True Temple), that it may flow to the
+remotest nations of the earth! As it enters the bituminous waters of the
+Asphaltite Lake, it is represented as curing them of their bitterness
+(Ezek. xlvii. 8, 9); descriptive of the power of the Gospel, whose
+living streams, like the symbolic &ldquo;leaves of the tree of life,&rdquo; are for
+&ldquo;the healing of the nations.&rdquo; Then shall the words of Isaiah be
+fulfilled, &ldquo;Every valley shall be exalted, and <i>every mountain and hill
+shall be made low</i>, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the
+rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all
+flesh shall see it together.&rdquo; (Isa. xl. 4.) In the prophecy of
+Zechariah, to which we have just referred, we are told that in that same
+happy millennial period, the representatives of the world&#8217;s nations will
+go up &ldquo;year by year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep
+<i>the feast of Tabernacles</i>.&rdquo; (Zech. xiv. 16.) Who can tell but this may
+be a literal revival of the old Hebrew festival, only invested with a
+new Gospel and Christian meaning. &ldquo;This feast,&rdquo; says a gifted expositor,
+&ldquo;is the only unfulfilled one of the great feasts of Israel. <i>Passover</i>
+was fulfilled at Christ&#8217;s death, and <i>Pentecost</i> at the outpouring of
+the Spirit. But this feast represents the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> <i>tabernacling with men</i>,
+and is only fulfilled when &lsquo;<i>The Lord my God shall come, and all the
+saints with Thee</i>.&rsquo; On the Transfiguration-Hill, Peter, almost
+unwittingly, set forth this truth. He seemed to mean to say, &lsquo;Is not
+this the true joy of the Feast of Tabernacles? Is not the Lord here?&rsquo;&rdquo; If
+this be so, we can think of the palm-groves of Bethany again bared of
+their branches;&mdash;these waved in triumph as a new and nobler &ldquo;Hosannah&rdquo;
+awakes the ancient echoes of Olivet&mdash;&ldquo;Blessed is He that cometh in the
+name of the Lord!&rdquo; As the regenerated children of Abraham build up the
+waste places in and around Zion, which for ages have been &ldquo;without
+inhabitant,&rdquo; and whose names are still dear to them&mdash;think we, amid
+other scenes of hallowed interest, they will not love oftentimes to take
+the old &ldquo;Sabbath-day&#8217;s journey&rdquo; to the site of &ldquo;the Home of Mary and her
+sister Martha.&rdquo; While seated nigh the reputed burial-place, with the
+Gospel in their hands, reading, through their tears, the story of their
+fathers&#8217; impenitency, and of their Saviour&#8217;s compassion and sympathy at
+the grave of His friend, will not a new and impressive truthfulness
+invest one of the old Bethany utterances, &ldquo;<span class="smcap">Then</span> said the Jews, Behold
+how He loved him!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But these, after all, are merely speculative thoughts, on which we can
+build nothing. We have in these &ldquo;Memories&rdquo; to deal with the Bethany of
+the <i>past</i>, not with the imagined Bethany of the <i>future</i>. However
+pleasing, in connexion with the Honoured Village, these thoughts of a
+Millennial day may be, &ldquo;nevertheless <span class="smcap">we</span>, according to His promise,
+rather look for <i>new</i> Heavens and a <i>new</i> Earth, wherein dwelleth
+righteousness.&rdquo;</p></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Memories of Bethany, by John Ross Macduff
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@@ -0,0 +1,5803 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Memories of Bethany, by John Ross Macduff
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Memories of Bethany
+
+Author: John Ross Macduff
+
+Release Date: October 3, 2008 [EBook #26760]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMORIES OF BETHANY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Heiko Evermann, Nigel Blower and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+book was produced from scanned images of public domain
+material from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+             MEMORIES OF BETHANY.
+
+
+                    By the
+
+          REV. JOHN R. MACDUFF, D.D.
+
+
+                  Author of
+
+"MORNING AND NIGHT WATCHES," "WORDS OF JESUS,"
+   "MIND OF JESUS," "FOOTSTEPS OF ST. PAUL,"
+  "FAMILY PRAYERS," "MEMORIES OF GENNESARET,"
+          "STORY OF BETHLEHEM," ETC.
+
+
+                   NEW YORK:
+           ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS,
+               No. 530 Broadway.
+                     1861.
+
+
+
+
+                      To
+               MOURNERS IN ZION,
+                   with whom
+                    BETHANY
+  has ever been a name consecrated to sorrow,
+                     these
+                   MEMORIES
+                ARE INSCRIBED.
+
+
+
+
+PASSAGES REFERRING TO BETHANY IN THE SACRED NARRATIVE.
+
+
+I.
+
+Earliest Notice of Bethany.
+
+LUKE X. 38-42.--"And He entered into a certain village: and a certain
+woman named Martha received Him into her house. And she had a sister
+called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word. But
+Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, Lord,
+dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her
+therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her,
+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."
+
+
+II.
+
+Bethany in connexion with the Sickness, Death, and Resurrection of
+Lazarus.
+
+JOHN XI. 1.--"Now a certain _man_ was sick, _named_ Lazarus, of BETHANY,
+the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was _that_ Mary which
+anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose
+brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto Him, saying,
+Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard _that_, He
+said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that
+the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha, and
+her sister, and Lazarus. When He had heard therefore that he was sick,
+He abode two days still in the same place where He was."
+
+       *       *       *
+
+"And after that He saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I
+go, that I may awake him out of sleep. 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. 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."
+
+       *       *       *
+
+"Then, when Jesus came, He found that he had _lain_ in the grave four
+days already. (Now BETHANY was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen
+furlongs off.) And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort
+them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that
+Jesus was coming, went and met Him: but Mary sat _still_ in the house.
+Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother
+had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of
+God, God will give _it_ Thee. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall
+rise again. Martha saith unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in
+the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the
+resurrection, and the life: He that believeth in Me, though he were
+dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth, and believeth in Me,
+shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto Him, Yea, Lord: I
+believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into
+the world. 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.
+As soon as she heard _that_, she arose quickly, and came unto Him. Now
+Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha
+met Him. The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted
+her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed
+her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was
+come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying
+unto Him, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. When
+Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came
+with her, He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, and said, Where
+have ye laid him? They say unto Him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept.
+Then said the Jews, Behold how He loved him! And some of them said,
+Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that
+even this man should not have died! Jesus therefore again groaning in
+Himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
+Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was
+dead, saith unto Him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been
+_dead_ four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if
+thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they
+took away the stone _from the place_ where the dead was laid. And Jesus
+lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, 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. And when He thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus,
+come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with
+grave-clothes; and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith
+unto them, Loose him, and let him go."
+
+
+III.
+
+Notices of Bethany subsequent to the Raising of Lazarus.
+
+JOHN XII. 1-8.--"Then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to
+BETHANY, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the
+dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was
+one of them that sat at the table with Him. Then took Mary a pound of
+ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and
+wiped His feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of
+the ointment. Then saith one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's
+_son_, which should betray Him, Why was not this ointment sold for three
+hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared
+for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what
+was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of My
+burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but Me
+ye have not always."
+
+MATTHEW XXVI. 12-13.--"For in that she hath poured this ointment on my
+body, she did _it_ for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever
+this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, _there_ shall also
+this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her."
+
+JOHN XII. 9.--"Much people of the Jews therefore knew that He was there:
+and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus
+also, whom he had raised from the dead."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+JOHN XII. 12-15.--"On the next day much people that were come to the
+feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches
+of palm trees, and went forth to meet Him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed
+is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus,
+when He had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, Fear not,
+daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt."
+
+MATTHEW XXI. 10-12.--"And when He was come into Jerusalem, all the city
+was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus
+the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of
+God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and
+overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that
+sold doves."
+
+MARK XI. 11-15.--"And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple:
+and when He had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide
+was come, he went out unto BETHANY, with the twelve. And on the morrow,
+when they were come from Bethany, He was hungry: And seeing a fig-tree
+afar off having leaves, He came, if haply he might find any thing
+thereon: and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves; for the
+time of figs was not _yet_. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man
+eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And His disciples heard _it_. And
+they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to
+cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the
+tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves."
+
+Verse 19-20.--"And when even was come, He went out of the city. And in
+the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig-tree dried up from the
+roots."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+LUKE XXIV. 50-52--"And He led them out as far as to BETHANY; and He
+lifted up His hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He
+blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into Heaven. And
+they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy."
+
+ACTS I. 9-12.--"And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld,
+He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And, while
+they looked stedfastly toward Heaven as He went up, behold, two men
+stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why
+stand ye gazing up into Heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from
+you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go
+into Heaven. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the Mount called
+Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath-day's journey."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+ZECHARIAH XIV. 4.--"And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount
+of Olives, which _is_ before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of
+Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the
+west, _and there shall be_ a very great valley; and half of the mountain
+shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south."
+
+       *       *       *
+
+"And it shall be in that day, _that_ living waters shall go out from
+Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward
+the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the Lord shall
+be King over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his
+name one."
+
+       *       *       *
+
+"And it shall come to pass, _that_ every one that is left of all the
+nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year
+to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of
+Tabernacles."
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+    I. OPENING THOUGHTS                        1
+
+   II. THE HOME SCENE                         11
+
+  III. LESSONS                                24
+
+   IV. THE MESSENGER                          34
+
+    V. THE MESSAGE                            42
+
+   VI. THE SLEEPER                            53
+
+  VII. LIGHTS AND SHADOWS                     67
+
+ VIII. THE MOURNER'S COMFORT                  77
+
+   IX. THE MOURNER'S CREED                    84
+
+    X. THE MASTER                             92
+
+   XI. SECOND CAUSES                         100
+
+  XII. THE WEEPING SAVIOUR                   108
+
+ XIII. THE GRAVE-STONE                       125
+
+  XIV. UNBELIEF                              134
+
+   XV. THE DIVINE PLEADER                    141
+
+  XVI. THE OMNIPOTENT SUMMONS                150
+
+ XVII. THE BOX OF OINTMENT                   161
+
+XVIII. PALM BRANCHES                         178
+
+  XIX. THE FIG-TREE                          191
+
+   XX. CLOSING HOURS                         211
+
+  XXI. THE LAST VISIT                        221
+
+ XXII. ANGELIC COMFORTERS                    240
+
+XXIII. THE DISCIPLES' RETURN                 257
+
+
+
+
+MEMORIES OF BETHANY
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+OPENING THOUGHTS.
+
+
+Places associated with great minds are always interesting. What a halo
+of moral grandeur must ever be thrown around that spot which was
+hallowed above all others by the Lord of glory as the scene of His most
+cherished earthly friendship! However holy be the memories which
+encircle other localities trodden by Him in the days of His
+flesh,--Bethlehem, with its manger cradle, its mystic star, and
+adoring cherubim--Nazareth, the nurturing home of His youthful
+affections--Tiberias, whose shores so often echoed to His footfall, or
+whose waters in stillness or in storm bore Him on their bosom--the
+crested heights where He uttered His beatitudes--the midnight mountains
+where He prayed--the garden where He suffered--the hill where He
+died,--there is no one single resort in His divine pilgrimage on which
+sanctified thought loves so fondly to dwell as on the home and village
+of BETHANY.
+
+Its hours of sacred converse have long ago fled. Its honoured family
+have slumbered for ages in their tomb. Bethany's Lord has been for
+centuries enthroned amid the glories of a brighter home. But though its
+Memories are all that remain, the place is still fragrant with His
+presence. The echoes of His voice--words of unearthly sweetness--still
+linger around it; and have for eighteen hundred years served to cheer
+and encourage many a fainting pilgrim in his upward ascent to the true
+Bethany above!
+
+There, the Redeemer of the world proclaimed a brief but impressive
+Gospel. Heaven and earth seemed then to touch one another. We have the
+tender tones of a _Man_ blended with the ineffable majesty of _God_.
+Hopes "full of immortality" shine with their celestial rainbow-hues
+amid a shower of holy tears. The cancelling from our Bibles of the 11th
+chapter of St John would be like the blotting out of the brightest
+planet from the spiritual firmament. Each of its magnificent utterances
+has proved like a ministering-angel--a seraph-messenger bearing its
+live-coal of comfort to the broken, bleeding heart from the holiest
+altar which SYMPATHY (divine and human) ever upreared in a trial-world!
+Many has been the weary footstep and tearful eye that has hastened in
+thought to BETHANY--"gone to the grave of Lazarus, to weep there."
+
+"The town of Mary and her sister Martha," then, furnishes us alike with
+a garnered treasury of Christian solaces, and one of the very loveliest
+of the Bible's domestic portraitures. If the story of Joseph and his
+brethren is in the Old Testament invested with surpassing interest, here
+is a Gospel home-scene in the New, of still deeper and tenderer
+pathos--a picture in which the true Joseph appears as the central
+figure, without any estrangements to mar its beauty. Often at other
+times a drapery of woe hangs over the pathway of the Man of Sorrows.
+But _Bethany_ is bathed in sunshine;--a sweet _oasis_ in his toil-worn
+pilgrimage. At this quiet abode of congenial spirits he seems to have
+had his main "sips at the fountain of human joy," and to have obtained a
+temporary respite from unwearied labour and unmerited enmity. The "Lily
+among thorns" raised His drooping head in this Eden home! Thither we can
+follow Him from the courts of the Temple--the busy crowd--the lengthened
+journey--the miracles of mercy--the hours of vain and ineffectual
+pleading with obdurate hearts. We can picture Him as the inmate of a
+peaceful family, spirit blending with spirit in sanctified communion. We
+can mark the tenderness of His holy humanity. We can see how He loved,
+and sympathised, and wept, and rejoiced!
+
+As the tremendous events which signalised the close of His pilgrimage
+drew on, still it is _Bethany_ with which they are mainly associated. It
+was at _Bethany_ the fearful visions of His cross and passion cast their
+shadow on his path! From its quiet palm-trees[1] He issued forth on His
+last day's journey across Mount Olivet. It was with _Bethany_ in view
+He ascended to heaven. Its soil was the last He trod--its homes were the
+last on which his eye rested when the cloud received Him up into glory.
+The beams of the Sun of Righteousness seemed as if they loved to linger
+on this consecrated height.
+
+We cannot doubt that many incidents regarding His oft sojournings there
+are left unrecorded. We have more than once, indeed, merely the simple
+announcement in the inspired narrative that He retired from Jerusalem
+all night to the village where His friend Lazarus resided. We dare not
+withdraw more of the veil than the Word of God permits. Let us be
+grateful for what we have of the gracious unfoldings here vouchsafed of
+His inner life--the comprehensive intermingling of doctrine,
+consolation, comfort, and instruction in righteousness. His Bethany
+sayings are for all time--they have "gone through all the earth"--His
+Bethany words "to the end of the world!" Like its own alabaster box of
+precious ointment, "wheresoever the Gospel is preached," there will
+these be held in grateful memorial.
+
+The traveller in Palestine is to this day shewn, in a sort of secluded
+ravine on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives (about fifteen
+furlongs or two miles from Jerusalem), a cluster of poor cottages,
+numbering little more than twenty families, with groups of palm-trees
+surrounding them, interspersed here and there with the olive, the
+almond, the pomegranate, and the fig.[2]
+
+This ruined village bears the Arab name of El-Azirezeh--the Arabic form
+of the name Lazarus--and at once identifies it with a spot so sacred and
+interesting in Gospel story. It is described by the most recent and
+discerning of Eastern writers as "a wild mountain hamlet, screened by an
+intervening ridge from the view of the top of Olivet--perched on its
+open plateau of rock--the last collection of human habitations before
+the desert hills that reach to Jericho. ... High in the distance are the
+Peraean mountains; the foreground is the deep descent of the mountain
+valley."[3]
+
+"The fields around," says another traveller, "lie uncultivated, and
+covered with rank grass and wild flowers; but it is easy to imagine the
+deep and still beauty of this spot when it was the home of Lazarus and
+his sisters, Martha and Mary. Defended on the north and west by the
+Mount of Olives, it enjoys a delightful exposure to the southern sun.
+The grounds around are obviously of great fertility, though quite
+neglected; and the prospect to the south-east commands a magnificent
+view of the Dead Sea and the plains of Jordan."[4]
+
+                   "On the horizon's verge,
+    The last faint tracing on the blue expanse,
+    Rise Moab's summits; and above the rest
+    One pinnacle, where, placed by Hand Divine,
+    Israel's great leader stood, allow'd to view,
+    And but to view, that long-expected land
+    He may not now enjoy. Below, dim gleams
+    The sea, untenanted by ought that lives,
+    And Jordan's waters thread the plain unseen.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    Here, hid among her trees, a village clings--
+    Roof above roof uprising. White the walls,
+    And whiter still by contrast; and those roofs,
+    Broad sunny platforms, strew'd with ripening grain.
+    Some wandering olive or unsocial fig
+    Amid the broken rooks which bound the path
+    Snatches scant nurture from the creviced stone."[5]
+
+Before closing these prefatory remarks, the question cannot fail to have
+occurred to the most unobservant reader, why the history of the Family
+of Bethany and the Resurrection of Lazarus, in themselves so replete
+with interest and instruction--the latter, moreover, forming, as it did,
+so notable a crisis in the Saviour's life--should have been recorded
+only by the Evangelist John. Strange that the other inspired penmen
+should have left altogether unchronicled this touching episode in sacred
+writ. One or other of two reasons--or both combined--we may accept as
+the most satisfactory explanation regarding what, after all, must remain
+a difficulty. John alone of the Gospel writers narrates the transactions
+which took place in _Judea_ in connexion with the Saviour's public
+ministry,--the others restricted themselves mainly to the incidents and
+events of His _Galilean_ life and journeys; at all events, till they
+come to the closing scene of all.[6] There is another reason equally
+probable:--A wise Christian prudence, and delicate consideration for the
+feelings of the living, may have prevented the other Evangelists giving
+publicity to facts connected with their Lord's greatest miracle; a
+premature disclosure of which might have exposed Lazarus and his sisters
+to the violence of the unscrupulous persecutors of the day. They would,
+moreover, (as human feelings are the same in every age,) naturally
+shrink from violating the peculiar sacredness of domestic grief by
+publishing circumstantially its details while the mourners and the
+mourned still lingered at their Bethany home. Well did they know that
+that Holy Spirit at whose dictation they wrote, would not suffer "the
+Church of the future" to be deprived of so precious a record of divine
+love and power. Hence the sacred task of being the Biographer of Lazarus
+was consigned to their aged survivor.
+
+When the Apostle of Patmos wrote his Gospel, as is supposed in distant
+Ephesus, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were, in all likelihood, reposing in
+their graves. Happily so, too, for ere this the Roman armies were
+encamped almost within sight of their old dwelling, and the inhabitants
+of Jerusalem undergoing their unparalleled sufferings.
+
+Add to this, John, of all the Evangelists, was best qualified to do
+justice to this matchless picture. Baptized himself with the spirit of
+love, his inspired pencil could best portray the lights and shadows in
+this lovely and loving household. Pre-eminently like his Lord, he could
+best delineate the scene of all others where the tenderness of that
+tender Saviour shone most conspicuous. He was the disciple who had leant
+on His bosom--who had been admitted by Him to nearest and most confiding
+fellowship. He would have the Church, to the latest period of time, to
+enjoy the same. He interrupts, therefore, the course of his narrative
+that he may lift the veil which enshrouds the private life of Jesus, and
+exhibit Him in all ages in the endearing attitude and relation of a
+_Human Friend_. Immanuel is transfigured on this Mount of Love before
+His suffering and glory! The Bethany scene, with its tints of soft and
+mellowed sunlight, forms a pleasing background to the sadder and more
+awful events which crowd the Gospel's closing chapters.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+THE HOME SCENE.
+
+
+The curtain rises on a quiet Judean village, the sanctuary of three holy
+hearts. Each of the inmates have some strongly-marked traits of
+individual character. These have been so often delicately and truthfully
+drawn that it is the less necessary to dwell minutely upon them here.
+There is abundant material in the narrative to discover to us, in the
+sisters, two characters--both interesting in themselves, both beloved by
+Jesus, both needful in the Church of God, but at the same time widely
+different, preparing by a diverse education for heaven--requiring, as we
+shall find, from Him who best knew their diversity, a separate and
+peculiar treatment.
+
+Martha, the elder (probably the eldest of the family), has been
+accurately represented as the type of activity; bustling, energetic,
+impulsive, well qualified to be the head of the household, and to
+grapple with the stern realities and routine of actual life; quick in
+apprehension, strong and vigorous in intellect, anxious to give a reason
+for all she did, and requiring a reason for the conduct of others; a
+useful if not a noble character, combining diligence in business with
+fervency in spirit.
+
+Mary, again, was the type of reflection; calm, meek, devotional,
+contemplative, sensitive in feeling, ill suited to battle with the cares
+and sorrows, the strifes and griefs of an engrossing and encumbering
+world; one of those gentle flowers that pine and bend under the rough
+blasts of life, easily battered down by hail and storm, but as ready to
+raise its drooping leaves under heavenly influences. Her position was at
+her Lord's feet, drinking in those living waters which came welling up
+fresh from the great Fountain of life; asking no questions, declining
+all arguments, gentle and submissive, a beautiful impersonation of the
+childlike faith which "beareth all things, hopeth all things, believeth
+all things." While her sister can so command her feelings as to be able
+to rush forth to meet her Lord outside the village, calm and
+self-possessed, to unbosom to Him all her hopes and fears, and even to
+interrogate Him about death and the resurrection, Mary can only meet Him
+buried in her all-absorbing grief. The crushed leaves of that flower of
+paradise are bathed and saturated with dewy tears. She has not a word of
+remonstrance. Jesus speaks to Martha--chides her--reasons with her; with
+Mary, He knew that the heart was too full, the wound too deep, to bear
+the probing of word or argument; He speaks, therefore, in the touching
+pathos of her own silent grief. Her melting emotion has its response in
+His own. In one word, Martha was one of those meteor spirits rushing to
+and fro amid the ceaseless activities of life, softened and saddened,
+but not prostrated and crushed by the sudden inroads of sorrow. Mary,
+again, we think of as one of those angel forms which now and then seem
+to walk the earth from the spirit-land; a quiet evening star, shedding
+its mellowed radiance among deepening twilight shadows, as if her home
+was in a brighter sphere, and her choice, as we know it was, "a better
+part, that never could be taken from her."[7] Beautifully and delicately
+has a Christian poet thus drawn her loving character:--
+
+    "Oh, blest beyond all daughters of the East!
+       What were the Orient thrones to that low seat,
+     Where thy hush'd spirit drew celestial birth!
+       Mary! meek listener at the Saviour's feet,
+       No feverish cares to that divine retreat
+     Thy woman's heart of silent worship brought,
+       But a fresh childhood, heavenly truth to meet
+     With love and wonder and submissive thought.
+       Oh! for the holy quiet of thy breast,
+     Midst the world's eager tones and footsteps flying,
+     Thou whose calm soul was like a well-spring, lying
+       So deep and still in its transparent rest,
+     That e'en when noontide burns upon the hills,
+     Some one bright solemn star all its lone mirror fills."
+
+Of Lazarus, around whom the main interest of the narrative gathers, we
+have fewer incidental touches to guide us in giving individuality to his
+character. This, however, we may infer, from the poignant sorrow of the
+twin hearts that were so unexpectedly broken, that he was a loved and
+lamented only brother, a sacred prop around which their tenderest
+affections were entwined. Included too, as he was, in the love which
+the Divine Saviour bore to the household (for "Jesus loved Lazarus"), is
+it presumptuous to imagine that his spirit had been cast into much the
+same human mould as that of his beloved Lord, and that the friendship of
+Jesus for him had been formed on the same principles on which
+friendships are formed still--a similarity of disposition, some mental
+and moral resemblances and idiosyncrasies? They were like-minded, so far
+as a fallible nature and the nature of a stainless humanity _could_ be
+assimilated. We can think of him as gentle, retiring, amiable,
+forgiving, heavenly-minded; an imperfect and shadowy, it may be, but
+still a faithful reflection and transcript of incarnate loveliness. May
+we not venture to use regarding him his Lord's eulogy on another,
+"Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!"
+
+Nor must we forget, in this rapid sketch, what a precious unfolding we
+have in this home portraiture of the humanity of the Saviour! "_The Man_
+Christ Jesus" stands in softened majesty and tenderness before our view.
+He who had a heart capacious enough to take in all mankind, had yet His
+likings (sinless partialities) for individuals and minds which were more
+than others congenial and kindred with His own. As there are some heart
+sanctuaries where we can more readily rush to bury the tale of our
+sorrows or unburden our perplexities, so had He. "Jesus wept!"--this
+speaks of Him as the human Sympathiser. "Jesus loved Lazarus"--this
+speaks of Him as the human Friend! He had an ardent affection for all
+His disciples, but even among _them_ there was an inner circle of holier
+attachments--a Peter, and James, and John; and out of this sacred _trio_
+again there was one pre-eminently "Beloved." So, amid the hallowed
+haunts of Palestine, the homes of Judea, the cities of Galilee, there
+was but _one_ Bethany. It is delightful thus to think of the heart of
+Jesus in all but sin as purely _human_, identical and identified with
+our own. He was no hermit-spirit dwelling in mysterious solitariness
+apart from His fellows, but open to the charities of life;--in all His
+refined and hallowed sensibilities "made like unto His brethren."
+Friendship is itself a holy thing. The bright intelligences in the upper
+sanctuary know it and experience it. They "cry one to another." Theirs
+is no solitary strain--no isolated existence. Unlike the planets in the
+material firmament, shining distant and apart, they are rather
+clustering constellations, whose gravitation-law is unity and love, this
+binding them to one another, and all to God. Nay--with reverence we say
+it--may not the archetype of all friendship be found shadowed forth in
+what is higher still, those mystic and ineffable communings subsisting
+between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a past eternity? We can thus
+regard the friendship of Jesus on earth--like all ennobled, purified
+affections--as an emanation from the Divine; a sacred and holy rill,
+flowing direct from the Fountain of infinite love. How our adorable Lord
+in the days of His flesh fondly clung even to hearts that grew faithless
+when fidelity was most needed! What was it but a noble and touching
+tribute to the longings and susceptibilities of His holy soul for human
+friendship, when, on entering the precincts of Gethsemane, He thus
+sought to mitigate the untold sorrows of that awful hour--"Tarry _ye_
+here and _watch_ with _Me_!"
+
+But to return. Such was the home around which the memories of its
+inmates and our own love to linger.
+
+Mary, Martha, and Lazarus--all three partakers of the same grace,
+fellow-pilgrims Zionward, and that journey sanctified and hallowed by a
+sacred fellowship with the Lord of pilgrims. The Saviour's own precious
+promise seems under that roof of lowly unobtrusive love to receive a
+living fulfilment: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name,
+there am I in the midst of them." Though many a gorgeous palace was at
+that era adorning the earth, where was the spot, what the dwelling, half
+so consecrated as this? Solomon had a thousand years before, two miles
+distant, in presence of assembled Israel, uttered the exclamation, "But
+will God in very deed dwell with men upon earth?" He was now verily
+dwelling! Nor was it under any gorgeous canopy or august temple. He had
+selected Three Human Souls as the shrines He most loved. He had sought
+their holy, heavenly converse as the sweetest incense and costliest
+sacrifice. How or where they first saw Jesus we cannot tell. They had
+probably been among the number of those pious Jews who had prayerfully
+waited for the "consolation of Israel," and who had lived to see their
+fondest wishes and hopes realised. The Evangelist gives no information
+regarding their previous history. The narrative all at once, with an
+abruptness of surpassing beauty, leaves us in no doubt that the Divine
+Redeemer had been for long a well-known guest in that sunlit home, and
+that, when the calls and duties of His public ministry were suspended,
+many an hour was spent in the enjoyment of its peaceful seclusion.
+
+We can fancy, and no more, these oft happy meetings, when the Pilgrim
+Saviour, weary and worn, was seen descending the rocky footpath of
+Olivet,--Lazarus or his sisters, from the flat roof of their dwelling,
+or under the spreading fig-tree, eager to catch the first glimpse of His
+approach.
+
+When seated in the house, we may picture their converse: Themes of
+sublime and heavenly import, unchronicled by the inspired penmen, which
+sunk deep into those listening spirits, and nerved two of them for an
+after-hour of unexpected sorrow. If there be bliss in the interchange of
+communion between Christian and Christian, what must it have been to
+have had the presence and fellowship of the Lord Himself! Not seeing
+Him, as _we_ see Him, "behind the lattice," but seated underneath His
+shadow, drinking in the living tones of His living voice. These
+"children of Zion" must, indeed, have been "joyful in their King."
+
+One of these hallowed seasons is that referred to in the 10th of St
+Luke, where Martha the ministering spirit, and Mary the lowly disciple,
+are first introduced to our notice. That visit is conjectured to have
+occurred when Jesus was returning to the country from the Feast of
+Tabernacles. The Bethany circle dreamt not then of their impending
+trial. But, foreseen as it was by Him who knows the end from the
+beginning, may we not well believe one reason (the main reason) for His
+going thither was to soothe them in the prospect of a saddened home? So
+that, when the stroke _did_ descend, they might be cheered and consoled
+with the remembrances of His visit, and of the gracious words which
+proceeded out of His mouth.
+
+And is not this still the way Jesus deals with His people? He visits
+them often by some precious love-tokens--some special manifestations of
+His grace and presence before the hour of trial. So that, when that hour
+does come, they may not be altogether prostrated or overwhelmed with it.
+Like Elijah of old, they have their miraculous food provided before they
+encounter the sterile desert. When they come to speak of their crushed
+hearts, they have solaces to tell of too. Their language is, "I will
+sing of _mercy_ and _judgment_!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We may be led to inquire why a character so lovely as that of Lazarus
+was not enlisted along with the other disciples in the active service of
+the Apostleship. Why should Peter and Andrew, John and James, be
+summoned from their boats and nets on Gennesaret to follow Jesus, and
+this other, imbued with the same spirit and honoured with the same
+regard, be left alone and undisturbed in his village home?
+
+"To every man there is a work." Some are more peculiarly called to
+active duty, and better fitted for it; others for passive obedience and
+suffering. Some are selected as bold standard-bearers of the cross,
+others to give their testimony in the quiet seclusion of domestic life.
+Some are specially gifted, as Paul, to appear in the halls of Nero or on
+the heights of Mars' Hill, and, confronting face to face the world's
+boasted wisdom, maintain intact the honour of their Lord. Others are
+required to glorify Him on beds of sickness, or in homes of sorrow, or
+in the holy consistent tenor of their everyday walk. Some are called as
+Levites to temple service; others to give the uncostly cup of cold
+water, or the widow's mite; others to manifest the meek, gentle,
+unselfish, resigned, forgiving heart, when there is no cup or mite to
+offer!
+
+Believer! rejoice that your path is marked out for you. Your lot in
+life, with all its "accidents," is your Lord's appointing. Dream not, in
+your own short-sighted wisdom, that, had you occupied some other or more
+prominent position--had your talents been greater, or your worldly
+influence more extensive--you might have glorified your God in a way
+which is at present denied to you. He can be served in the lowliest as
+well as in the most exalted stations. As the tiniest leaf or smallest
+star in the world of nature reflects His glory as well as the giant
+mountain or blazing sun, so does He graciously own and recognise the
+humblest effort of lowly love no less than the most lavish gifts which
+splendid munificence and costly devotion can cast into His treasury. Let
+it be your great aim and ambition to honour Him just in the position He
+has seen meet to assign you. "Let every man," says the Apostle, "wherein
+he is called, therein abide with God." However limited your sphere, you
+may become a centre of holy influences to the little world around you.
+Your heart may be an incense-altar of love and affection, kindness and
+gentleness to man--your life a perpetual hymn of praise to your Father
+in Heaven; glorifying Him, like Martha, by active service; like Mary, by
+sitting at His feet; or, like Lazarus, by holy living and happy dying,
+and leaving behind you "the Memory of the Just" which is "blessed."
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+LESSONS.
+
+
+As yet the home of Bethany is all happiness. The burial-ground has been
+untraversed since, probably years before the dust of one, or perhaps
+both parents had been committed to the sepulchre.[8] Death had long left
+the inmates an unbroken circle. Can it be that the unwelcome intruder is
+so nigh at hand?--that their now joyous dwelling is so soon to echo to
+the wail of lamentation? We imagine it but lately visited by Jesus. In a
+little while the arrow hath sped; the sacredness of a divine friendship
+is no guarantee against the incursion of the sleepless foe of human
+happiness. Bethany is a mourning household. The sisters are bowed in the
+agony of their worst bereavement--the prop of their existence is laid
+low--"_Lazarus is dead!_"
+
+At the very threshold of this touching story, are we not called on to
+pause, and read _the uncertainty of earth's best joys and purest
+happiness_; that the brightest sunshine is often the precursor of a dark
+cloud. When the gourd is all flourishing, a worm may unseen be preying
+at its root! When the vessel is gliding joyously on the calm sea, the
+treacherous rock may be at hand, and, in one brief hour, it has become a
+shattered wreck!
+
+It is the touching record of the inspired historian in narrating
+Abraham's heaviest trial--"After _these things_, God did tempt Abraham."
+After _what_ things? After a season of rich blessings, gilding a future
+with bright hopes!
+
+Would that, amidst our happy homes, and sunshine hours, and seasons of
+holy and joyous intercourse between friend and friend, we would more
+habitually bear in mind "This is not to last!" In one brief and
+unsuspected moment Lazarus may be taken. The messenger may now be on the
+wing to lay low some treasured object of earthly solicitude and love.
+God would teach us--while we are glad of our gourds--not to be
+"exceeding glad;" not to nestle here as if we were to "live alway," but
+rather, as we are perched on our summer boughs, to be ready at His
+bidding to soar away, and leave behind us what most we prize.
+
+It tells us, too, _the utter mysteriousness of many of the divine
+dispensations_.
+
+"LAZARUS IS DEAD!" What! He, the head, and support, and stay of two
+helpless females? The joy and solace of a common orphanhood,--a brother
+evidently made and born for their adversities? What! Lazarus, whom Jesus
+tenderly loved? How much, even to his Lord, will be buried in that early
+grave! We may well expect, if there be one homestead in all Palestine
+guarded by the overshadowing wings of angels to debar the entrance of
+death, whose inmates may pillow their heads night after night in the
+confident assurance of immunity from trial, it must surely be that loved
+resort--that "Arbour in His Hill Difficulty," where the God-man
+delighted oft to pause and refresh His wearied body and aching mind.
+Will Omnipotence not have set its mark, as of old, on the door-posts and
+lintels of that consecrated dwelling, so that the destroyer, in going
+his rounds elsewhere, may pass by it unscathed? How, too, can the
+infant Church spare him? The aged Simeon or Anna we dare not wish to
+detain. Burdened with years and infirmities, after having got a glimpse
+of their Lord and Saviour, let them depart in peace, and receive their
+crowns. These decayed trees in the forest--those to whom old age on
+earth is a burden--let them bow to the axe, and be transplanted to a
+nobler clime. But one in the vigour of life--one so beautifully
+combining natural amiability with Christian love--one who was
+pre-eminently the _friend_ of Jesus, and that _word_ profoundly
+suggestive of all that was lovely in a disciple's character. Death may
+visit other homes in that sequestered village, and spread desolation in
+other hearts, but surely the Church's Lord will not suffer one of its
+pillars so prematurely to fall!
+
+And yet it is even so! The mysterious summons has come!--the most
+honoured home on earth has been rudely rifled!--the most loving of
+hearts have been cruelly torn; and inscrutable is the dealing, for
+"_Lazarus is dead_!"
+
+    "He, the young and strong, who cherish'd
+       Noble longings for the strife,
+     By the roadside fell, and perish'd
+       On the threshold march of life."
+
+And worse, too, than all, "the Lord is absent." Why is Omniscience
+tarrying elsewhere, when His presence and power are above all needed at
+the house of His friend?
+
+The disconsolate sisters, in wondering amazement, repeat over and over
+again the exclamation, "If Jesus had been here, this our brother had not
+died!" "Hath He forgotten to be gracious?" "Surely our way is hid from
+the Lord, our judgment is passed over from our God."
+
+Ah! the experience of His people is often still the same. What are many
+of God's dispensations?--a baffling enigma--all strangeness--all mystery
+to the eye of sense. _Useless_ lives prolonged, _useful_ ones taken! The
+honoured minister of God struck down, the unfaithful watchman spared!
+The philanthropic and benevolent have an arrest put on their manifold
+deeds of kindness and generosity; the grasping, the avaricious, the
+mean-souled--those who neither fear God nor do good to man, are suffered
+to live on from day to day! What is it but the picture here presented
+eighteen hundred years ago--_Judas_ spared to be a _traitor to his
+Lord_, while--_Lazarus is dead_!
+
+But let us be still! The Saviour, indeed, does not now lead us forth,
+amid the scene of our trial, as He did the bereft sisters, to unravel
+the mysteries of His providence, and to shew glory to God, redounding
+from the darkest of His dispensations. To _us_ the grand sequel is
+reserved for eternity. The grand development of the divine plan will not
+be fully accomplished till _then_; faith must meanwhile rest satisfied
+with what is baffling to sight and sense. This whole narrative is
+designed to teach the lesson that there is an undeveloped future in all
+God's dealings. There is an unseen "why and wherefore" which cannot be
+answered here. Our befitting attitude and language _now_ is that of
+simple confidingness--"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do
+right?"--Listening to one of these Bethany sayings (we shall by and by
+consider), whose meaning will be interpreted in a brighter world by Him
+who uttered it in the days of His flesh--"Said I not unto thee, that if
+thou wouldest _believe_ thou shouldest _see_ the glory of God?"
+
+    "O thou who mournest on thy way,
+     With longings for the close of day,
+     He walks with thee, that Angel kind,
+     And gently whispers--'Be resign'd;
+     Bear up--bear on--the end shall tell,
+     The dear Lord ordereth all things well.'"
+
+Our duty, meanwhile, is that of children, simply to trust the
+faithfulness of a God whose footsteps of love we often fail to trace.
+All will be seen at last to have been not only _for_ the best, but
+really _the best_. Dark clouds will be fringed with mercy. What we call
+now "baffling dispensations," will be seen to be wondrous parts of a
+great connected whole,--the wheel within wheel of that complex
+machinery, by which "all things" (yes, ALL things) are now working
+together for good.
+
+"Lazarus is dead!" The choicest tree in the earthly Eden has succumbed
+to the blast. The choicest cup has been dashed to the ground. Some great
+lights in the moral firmament have been extinguished. But God can do
+without human agency. His Church can be preserved, though no Moses be
+spared to conduct Israel over Jordan, and no Lazarus to tell the story
+of his Saviour's grace and love, when other disciples have forsaken Him
+and fled.
+
+We may be calling, in our blind unbelief, as we point to some ruined
+fabric of earthly bliss--some tomb which has become the grave of our
+fondest affections and dearest hopes--"Shall the dust praise thee, shall
+_it_ declare thy truth?" _Believe! believe!_ God will not give us back
+our dead as He did to the Bethany sisters; but He will not deprive us of
+aught we have, or suffer one garnered treasure to be removed, except for
+His own glory and our good. _Now_ it is our province to _believe_ it--in
+_Heaven_ we shall _see_ it. Before the sapphire throne we shall _see_
+that not one redundant thorn has been suffered to pierce our feet, or
+one needless sorrow to visit our dwelling, or tear to dim our eye. Then
+our acknowledgment will be, "We have _known_ and _believed_ the love
+which God hath to us."
+
+    "Oh, weep not though the beautiful decay,
+       Thy heart must have its autumn--its pale skies
+     Leading mayhap to winter's cold dismay.
+     Yet doubt not. Beauty doth not pass away;
+       His form departs not, though his body dies.
+       Secure beneath the earth the snowdrop lies,
+     Waiting the spring's young resurrection-day."[9]
+
+Be it ours to have Jesus _with_ us, and Jesus _for_ us, in all our
+afflictions. If we wish to insure these mighty solaces, we must not
+suffer the hour of sorrow and bereavement to overtake us with a Saviour
+till _then_ a stranger and unknown. St Luke tells us the secret of
+Mary's faith and composure at her loved one's grave:--_She had, long
+before her day of trial, learned to sit at her Redeemer's feet. It was
+when in health Jesus was first resorted to and loved_.
+
+In prosperity may our homes and hearts be gladdened with His footstep;
+and when prosperity is withdrawn, and is succeeded by the dark and
+cloudy day, may we know, like Martha and Mary, where to rush in our
+seasons of bitter sorrow; listening from His glorified lips on the
+throne to those same exalted themes of consolation which, for eighteen
+hundred years, have to myriad, myriad mourners been like oil thrown on
+the troubled sea. Jesus is with us! The Master is come! His presence
+will extract sorrow from the bitterest cup, and make, as He did at
+Bethany, a very home of bereavement and a burial scene to be "hallowed
+ground!"
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+THE MESSENGER.
+
+
+Is the absent Saviour not to be sought? Martha and Mary knew the
+direction He had taken. The last time He had visited their home was at
+the Feast of Dedication, during the season of winter, when the
+palm-trees were bared of their leaves, and the voice of the turtle was
+silent. Jesus, on that occasion, had to escape the vengeance of the Jews
+in Jerusalem by a temporary retirement to the place where John first
+baptized, near Enon, on the wooded banks of the Jordan. It must have
+been to Him a spot and season of calm and grateful repose; a pleasing
+transition from the rude hatred and heartless formalism which met Him in
+the degenerate "City of Solemnities." The savour of the Baptist's name
+and spirit seemed to linger around this sequestered region. John had
+evidently prepared, by his faithful ministry, the way for a mightier
+Preacher, for we read, as the result of the Saviour's present sojourn,
+that "many believed on him there."
+
+If we visit with hallowed emotion the places where first we learned to
+love the Lord, to two at least of those who accompanied the Redeemer,
+the region He now traversed must have been full of fragrant memories;
+_there_ it was that Jesus had been first pointed out to them as the
+"Lamb of God;" _there_ they first "beheld His glory, the glory as of the
+only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth." (John i. 28.)
+
+On His way thither, on the present occasion, He most probably passed
+through Bethany, and apprised His friends of His temporary absence.
+Lazarus was then in his wonted vigour--no shadow of death had yet passed
+over his brow; he doubtless parted with the Lord he loved happy at the
+thought of ere long meeting again.
+
+But soon all is changed. The hand of sickness unexpectedly lays him low.
+At first there is no cause for anxiety. But soon the herald-symptoms of
+danger and death gather fast and thick around his pillow; "his beauty
+consumes away like a moth." The terrible possibility for the first time
+flashes across the minds of the sisters, of a desolate home, and of
+themselves being the desolate survivors of a loved brother. The joyous
+dream of restoration becomes fainter and fainter. Human remedies are
+hopeless. There was _One_, and _only_ ONE, in the wide world who could
+save from impending death. His word, they knew, could alone summon
+lustre to that eye, and bloom to that wan and fading cheek. Fifty long
+miles intervene between the great Physician and their cottage home. But
+they cannot hesitate. Some kind and compassionate neighbour is soon
+found ready to hasten along the Jericho road with the brief but urgent
+message, "_Lord! behold he whom thou lovest is sick._" If it only reach
+in time, they know that no more is needed. They even indulge the
+expectation that their messenger may be anticipated by the Lord Himself
+appearing. Others might doubt His omniscience, but they knew its
+reality. They had the blessed conviction, that while they were seated in
+burning tears by that couch of sickness, there was a sympathising Being
+far away marking every heart-throb of His suffering friend. Even when
+the stern human conviction of "no hope" was pressing upon them, "hoping
+against hope," they must have felt confident that He would not suffer
+His faithfulness now to fail. He had often proved Himself a Brother and
+Friend in the hour of _joy_. _Could_ He fail--_can_ He fail to prove
+Himself now a "Brother born for _adversity_?"
+
+Although, however, thus convinced that the tale of their sorrows was
+known to Jesus, _a messenger is sent_,--_the means are employed_! They
+act as though He knew it _not_; as if that omniscient Saviour had been
+all unconscious of these hours of prolonged and anxious agony!
+
+What a lesson is there here for _us_! God is acquainted with our every
+trouble; He knows (far better than we know ourselves) every pang we
+heave, every tear we weep, every perplexing path we tread; but the knee
+must be bent, the message must be taken, the prayer must ascend! It is
+His own appointed method,--His own consecrated medium for obtaining
+blessings. Jesus _may_ have gone, and probably _would_ have gone to
+restore His friend, even though no such messenger had reached Him: We
+dare not limit the grace and dealings of God: He is often (blessed be
+His name for it!) "found of them that sought Him not." But He loves such
+messages as this. He loves the confiding, childlike trust of His own
+people, who delight in the hour of their extremity to cast their burdens
+upon Him, and send the winged herald of prayer to the throne of grace on
+which He sits.
+
+Would that we valued, more than we do, this blessed link of
+communication between our souls and Heaven! More especially in our
+seasons of trouble, (when "vain is the help of man,") happy for us to be
+able implicitly to rest in the ability and willingness of a gracious
+Redeemer.
+
+Prayer brings the soul near to Jesus, and fetches Jesus near to the
+soul. He may linger, as He did now at the Jordan, ere the answer be
+vouchsafed, but it is for some wise reason; and even if the answer given
+be not in accordance with our pre-conceived wishes or anxious desires,
+yet how comforting to have put our case and all its perplexities in His
+hand, saying, "I am oppressed; undertake Thou for me! To Thee I
+unburden and unbosom my sorrows. I shall be satisfied whether my cup be
+filled or emptied. Do to me as seemeth good in Thy sight. He whom I love
+and whom THOU lovest is sick; the Lazarus of my earthly hopes and
+affections is hovering on the brink of death. That levelling blow, if
+consummated, will sweep down in a moment all my hopes of earthly
+happiness and joy. But it is my privilege to confide my trouble to Thee;
+to know that I have surrendered myself and all that concerns me into the
+hand of Him who 'considers my soul in adversity.' Yes; and should my
+schemes be crossed, and my fondest hopes baffled, I will feel, even in
+apparently _unanswered_ prayers, that the Judge of all the earth has
+done right!"
+
+"It is said," says Rutherford, speaking of the Saviour's delay in
+responding to the request of the Syrophenician woman; "It is said He
+_answered_ not a word, but it is not said He _heard_ not a word. These
+two differ much. Christ often heareth when He doth not answer. His not
+answering is an answer, and speaks thus: 'Pray on, go on and cry, for
+the Lord holdeth His door fast bolted not to keep you out, but that you
+may knock and knock.'"
+
+"God delays to answer prayer," says Archbishop Usher, "because he would
+have more of it. If the musicians come to play at our doors or our
+windows, if we delight not in their music, we throw them out money
+presently that they may be gone. But if the music please us, we forbear
+to give them money, because we would keep them longer to enjoy their
+music. So the Lord loves and delights in the sweet words of His
+children, and therefore puts them off and answers them not presently."
+
+Observe still further, in the case of these sorrowing sisters of
+Bethany, while in all haste and urgency they send their messenger, they
+do not ask Jesus to come--they dictate no procedure--they venture on no
+positive request--all is left to Himself. What a lesson also is there
+here to confide in His wisdom, to feel that His way and His will must be
+the best--that our befitting attitude is to lie passive at His feet--to
+wait His righteous disposal of us and ours--to make this the burden of
+our petition, "Lord, what wouldst _Thou_ have me to do?" "If it be
+possible let this cup pass from me, _nevertheless_, not as _I_ will, but
+as _Thou wilt_."
+
+Reader! invite to your gates this celestial messenger. Make prayer a
+holy habit--a cherished privilege. Seek to be ever maintaining
+intercommunion with Jesus; consecrating life's common duties with His
+favour and love. Day by day ere you take your flight into the world,
+night by night when you return from its soiling contacts, bathe your
+drooping plumes in this refreshing fountain. Let prayer sweeten
+prosperity and hallow adversity. Seek to know the unutterable
+blessedness of habitual filial nearness to your Father in heaven--in
+childlike confidence unbosoming to Him those heart-sorrows with which no
+earthly friend can sympathise, and with which a stranger cannot
+intermeddle. No trouble is too trifling to confide to His ear--no want
+too trivial to bear to His mercy-seat.
+
+    "Prayer is appointed to convey
+       The blessings He designs to give;
+     Long as they live should Christians pray,
+       For only while they pray, they live."
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+THE MESSAGE.
+
+
+The messenger has reached--what is his message? It is a brief, but a
+beautiful one. "_Lord, behold he whom Thou lovest is sick._"
+
+No laboured eulogium--no lengthened panegyric could have described more
+significantly the character of the dying villager of Bethany. Four
+mystic words invest his name with a sacred loveliness. By one stroke of
+his pen the Apostle unfolds a heart-history; so that we desiderate no
+more--more would almost spoil the touching simplicity--"_He whom Thou
+lovest!_"
+
+We might think at first the words are inverted. Can the messenger have
+mistaken them? Is it not more likely the message of the sisters was
+this:--"Go and tell Him, 'Lord, he whom _we_ love,' or else, 'he who
+loveth _Thee_ is sick?'"
+
+Nay, it is a loftier argument by which they would stir the infinite
+depths of the Fountain of love! They had "known and believed the love"
+which the Great Redeemer bore to their brother, and they further felt
+assured that "loving him at the beginning, He would love him even to the
+end." Their love to Lazarus (tender, unspeakably tender as it was one of
+the loveliest types of human affection)--was at best an _earthly
+love_--finite--imperfect--fitful--changing--perishable. But the love
+they invoked was undying and everlasting, superior to all
+vacillation--enduring as eternity.
+
+It is ours "to take encouragement in prayer from God only;"--to plead
+nothing of our own--our poor devotedness, or our unworthy services; they
+are rather arguments for our condemnation;--but _His_ promises are all
+"Yea, and amen." They never fail. His name is "a strong tower," running
+into which the righteous are safe. That tower is garrisoned and
+bulwarked by the attributes of His own everlasting nature. Among these
+attributes not the least glorious is His _Love_--_that_ unfathomable
+love which dwelt in His bosom from all eternity, and which is immutably
+pledged never to be taken from His people!
+
+Man's love to his God is like the changing sand--_His_ is like the solid
+rock. Man's love is like the passing meteor with its fitful gleam. _His_
+like the fixed stars, shining far above, clear and serene, from age to
+age, in their own changeless firmament.
+
+Do we know anything of the words of this message? Could it be written on
+our hearts in life? Were we to die, could it be inscribed on our tombs,
+"This is one whom _Jesus loved_?"
+
+Happy assurance! The pure spirits who bend before the throne know no
+happier. The archangels--the chieftains among principalities and powers,
+can claim no higher privilege, no loftier badge of glory!
+
+Love is the atmosphere they breathe. It is the grand moral law of
+gravitation in the heavenly economy. God, the central sun of light, and
+joy, and glory, keeping by this great motive principle every spiritual
+planet in its orbit, "for _God is love_."
+
+That love is not confined to heaven. It may be foretasted here. The sick
+man of Bethany knew of it, and exulted in it. Though in the moment of
+dissolution he had to mourn the personal absence of his Lord, yet
+"believing" in that love, he "rejoiced with joy unspeakable and full of
+glory." His sisters, as they stood in sorrowing emotion by his dying
+couch, and thought of that hallowed fraternal bond which was about so
+soon to be dissolved, could triumph in the thought of an affection
+nobler and better which knit him and them to the Brother of
+brothers--and which, unlike any earthly tie, was indissoluble.
+
+And what was experienced in that lowly Bethany home, may be experienced
+by us.
+
+That love in its wondrous manifestation is confined to no limits, no
+age, no peculiar circumstances. Many a Lazarus, pining in want, who can
+claim no heritage but poverty, no home but cottage walls, or who,
+stretched on a bed of protracted sickness, is heard saying in the
+morning, "Would God it were evening! and in the evening, Would God it
+were morning!" if he have that love reigning in his heart, he has a
+possession outweighing the wealth of worlds!
+
+What a message, too, of consolation is here to the _sick_! How often
+are those chained down year after year to some aching pillow, worn,
+weary, shattered in body, depressed in spirit,--how apt are they to
+indulge in the sorrowful thought, "Surely God cannot care for _me_!"
+What! Jesus think of this wasted frame--these throbbing temples--these
+powerless limbs--this decaying mind! I feel like a wreck on the desert
+shore--beyond the reach of His glance--beneath the notice of His pitying
+eye! Nay, thou poor desponding one, He _does_ cherish, He _does_
+remember thee!--"Lord, _he whom Thou lovest_ is sick." Let this
+motto-verse be inscribed on thy Bethany chamber. The Lord _loves_ His
+sick ones, and He often chastens them with sickness, just _because_ He
+loves them. If these pages be now traced by some dim eyes that have been
+for long most familiar with the sickly glow of the night-lamp--the weary
+vigils of pain and languor and disease--an exile from a busy world, or a
+still more unwilling alien from the holy services of the sanctuary--oh!
+think of Him who _loves_ thee, who loved thee _into_ this sickness, and
+will love thee _through_ it, till thou standest in that unsuffering,
+unsorrowing world, where sickness is unknown! Think of Lazarus in _his_
+chamber, and the plea of the sisters in behalf of their prostrate
+brother, "Lord, come to the sick one, _whom Thou lovest_."
+
+Believe it, the very continuance of this sickness is a pledge of His
+love. You may be often tempted to say with Gideon, "If the Lord be with
+me, why has _all_ this befallen me?" Surely if my Lord loved me, He
+would long ere this have hastened to my relief, rebuked this sore
+disease, and raised me up from this bed of languishing? Did you ever
+note, in the 6th verse of this Bethany chapter, the strangely beautiful
+connexion of the word THEREFORE? The Evangelist had, in the preceding
+verse, recorded the affection Jesus bore for that honoured family. "Now
+Jesus _loved_ Martha and her sister and Lazarus." "When He had heard
+THEREFORE that he was sick,"--what did He do? "Fled on wings of love to
+the succour of His loved friend; hurried in eager haste by the shortest
+route from Bethabara?" We expect to hear so, as the natural deduction
+from John's premises. How we might think could love give a more truthful
+exponent of its reality than hastening instantaneously to the relief of
+one so dear to Him? But not so! "When He had heard THEREFORE that he was
+sick, _He abode two days still in the same place where He was_!" Yes,
+there is _tarrying_ love as well as _succouring_ love. He _sent_ that
+sickness because He loves thee; He _continues_ it because He loves thee.
+He heaps fresh fuel on the furnace-fires till the gold is refined. He
+appoints, not one, but "many days where neither sun nor stars appear,
+and no small tempest lies on us," that the ship may be lightened, and
+faith exercised; our bark hastened by these rough blasts nearer shore,
+and the Lord glorified, who rules the raging of the sea. "We expect,"
+says Evans, "the blessing or relief in _our_ way; He chooses to bestow
+it in _His_."
+
+Reader! let this ever be your highest ambition, to love and to be loved
+of Jesus. If we are covetous to have the regard and esteem of the great
+and good on earth, what is it to share the fellowship and kindness of
+Him, in comparison with whose love the purest earthly affection is but a
+passing shadow!
+
+Ah! to be without that love, is to be a little world ungladdened by its
+central sun, wandering on in its devious pathway of darkness and gloom.
+Earthly things may do well enough when the world is all bright and
+shining--when prosperity sheds its bewitching gleam around you, and no
+symptoms of the cloudy and dark day are at hand; but the hour is coming
+(it may come soon, it _must_ come at some time) when your Bethany-home
+will be clouded with deepening death-shadows--when, like Lazarus, you
+will be laid on a dying couch, and what will avail you then? Oh,
+nothing, _nothing_! if bereft of that love whose smile is heaven. If you
+are left in the agony of desolation to utter importunate pleadings to an
+_Unknown Saviour_, a _Stranger God_--if the dark valley be entered
+uncheered by the thought of a loving Redeemer dispelling its gloom, and
+waiting on the Canaan side to shew you the path of life!
+
+Let the home of your hearts be often open, as was the home of Lazarus,
+to the visits of Jesus in the day of brightness; and _then_, when the
+hour of sorrow and trial unexpectedly arises, you will know where to
+find your Lord--where to send your prayer-message for Him to come to
+your relief.
+
+Yes! He _will_ come! It will be in His own way, but His joyous footfall
+_will_ be heard! He is not like Baal, "slumbering and sleeping, or
+taking a journey" when the voice of importunate prayer ascends from the
+depths of yearning hearts! If, instead of at once hastening back to
+Bethany, He "abides still for two days where He was"--if He linger among
+the mountain-glens of distant Gilead, instead of, as we would expect,
+hastening to the cry and succour of cherished friendship, and to ward
+off the dart of the inexorable foe--be assured there must be a reason
+for this strange procrastination--there must be an unrevealed cause
+which the future will in due time disclose and unravel. All the
+recollections of the past forbid one unrighteous surmise on His tried
+faithfulness. "_Now, Jesus loved Lazarus_," is a soft pillow on which to
+repose;--raising the sorrowing spirit above the unkind insinuation, "My
+Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me."
+
+If He linger, it is to try and test the faith of His people. If He let
+loose the storm, and suffer it to sweep with a vengeance apparently
+uncontrolled, it is that these living trees may strike their roots
+firmer and deeper in Himself--the Rock of eternal ages. Trust Him where
+you cannot trace Him. Not one promise of His can come to nought. The
+channel may have continued long dry--the streams of Lebanon may have
+failed--the cloud has been laden, but no shower descends--the barren
+waste is unwatered--the windows of heaven seem hopelessly closed. Nay,
+nay! Though "the vision tarry," yet if you "wait for it" the gracious
+assurance will be fulfilled in your experience--"The Lord is good to
+them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him." The fountain of
+love pent up in His heart will in due time gush forth--the apparently
+unacknowledged prayer will be crowned with a gracious answer. In His own
+good time sweet tones of celestial music will be wafted to your ear--"It
+is the voice of the Beloved!--lo, He cometh leaping upon the mountains,
+skipping upon the hills!" If you are indeed the child of God, as Lazarus
+was, remember this for your comfort in your dying hour, that whether the
+prayers of sorrowing friends for your recovery be answered or no, the
+Lord of love has at least _heard_ them--the messenger has not been
+mocked--the prayer-message has not been spurned or forgotten! I repeat
+it, He _will_ answer, but it will be _in His own way_! If the
+Bethany-home be ungladdened by Lazarus restored, it will exult through
+tears in the thought of Lazarus glorified. And the Marthas and Marys, as
+they go often unto the grave to weep there, will read, as they weep, in
+the holy memories of the departed, that which will turn tears into
+joy--"_Jesus loved him._"
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+THE SLEEPER.
+
+
+"_Our friend Lazarus sleepeth._"--The hopes and fears which alternately
+rose and fell in the bosoms of the sisters, like the surges of the
+ocean, are now at rest. Oft and again, we may well believe, had they
+gone, like the mother of Sisera, to the lattice to watch the return of
+the messenger, or, what was better, to hail their expected Lord. Gazing
+on the pale face at their side, and remembering that ere now the tidings
+of his illness must have reached Bethabara, they may have even expected
+to witness the power of a distant _word_;--to behold the hues of
+returning health displacing the ghastly symptoms of dissolution. But in
+vain! The curtain has fallen! Their season of aching anxiety is at an
+end. Their worst fears are realised.--"Lazarus sleepeth."
+
+How calm, how tranquil that departure! Never did sun sink so gently in
+its crimson couch--never did child, nestling in its mother's bosom,
+close its eyes more sweetly!
+
+    "His summon'd breath went forth as peacefully
+     As folds the spent rose when the day is done."
+
+Befitting close to a calm and noiseless existence! It would seem as if
+the guardian angels who had been hovering round his death-pillow had
+well-nigh reached the gates of glory ere the sorrowing survivors
+discovered that the clay tabernacle was all that was left of a "brother
+beloved!"
+
+From the abrupt manner in which, in the course of the narrative, our
+Lord makes the announcement to His disciples,[10] we are almost led to
+surmise that He did so at the very moment of the spirit's dismissal--the
+Redeemer speaks while the eyelids are just closing, and the emancipated
+soul is winging its arrowy flight up to the spirit-land!
+
+_Death_ a SLEEP!--How beautiful the image! Beautifully true, and _only_
+true regarding the Christian. It is here where the true and the
+false--Christianity and Paganism--meet together in impressive and
+significant contrast. The one comes to the dark river with her pale,
+sickly lamp. It refuses to burn--the damps of Lethe dim and quench it.
+Philosophy tries to discourse on death as a "stern necessity"--of the
+duty of passing heroically into this mysterious, oblivion-world--taking
+with bold heart "the leap in the dark," and confronting, as we best can,
+blended images of annihilation and terror.
+
+The Gospel takes us to the tomb, and shews us Death vanquished, and the
+Grave spoiled. Death truly is in itself an unwelcome messenger at our
+door. It is the dark event in this our earth,--the deepest of the many
+deep shadows of an otherwise fair creation--a cold, cheerless avalanche
+lying at the heart of humanity, freezing up the gushing fountains of
+joyous life. But the Gospel shines, and the cold iceberg melts. The Sun
+of Righteousness effects what philosophy, with all its boasted power,
+never could. Jesus is the abolisher of Death. He has taken all that is
+terrible from it. It is said of some venomous insects that when they
+once inflict a sting, they are deprived of any future power to hurt.
+Death left his envenomed sting in the body of the great victim of
+Calvary. It was thenceforward disarmed of its fearfulness! So complete,
+indeed, is the Redeemer's victory over this last enemy, that He Himself
+speaks of it as no longer a reality, but a shadow--a phantom-foe from
+which we have nothing to dread. "Whosoever believeth in Me shall _never
+die_." "If a man keep My sayings, he shall _never see death_." These are
+an echo of the sweet Psalmist's beautiful words, a transcript of his
+expressive figure when he pictures the Dark Valley to the believer as
+the Valley of a "_shadow_." The substance is removed! When the gaunt
+spirit meets him on the midnight waters, he may, like the disciples at
+first, be led to "cry out for fear." But a gentle voice of love and
+tenderness rebukes his dread, and calms his misgivings--"It is I! be not
+afraid!" Yes, here is the wondrous secret of a calm departure--the
+"sleep" of the believer in death. It is the name and presence of JESUS.
+There may be many accompaniments of weakness and prostration, pain and
+suffering, in that final conflict; the mind may be a wreck--memory may
+have abdicated her seat--the loving salutation of friends may be
+returned only with vacant looks, and the hand be unable to acknowledge
+the grasp of affection--but there is strength in that presence, and
+music in that name to dispel every disquieting, anxious thought. Clung
+to as a sheet-anchor in life, He will never leave the soul in the hour
+of dissolution to the mercy of the storm. Amid sinking nature, He is
+faithful that promised--"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of
+the world."--"Thou art with me," says Lady Powerscourt--"this is the
+rainbow of light thrown across the valley, for there is no need of sun
+or moon where covenant-love illumes."
+
+A Christian's death-bed! It is indeed "good to be there." The man who
+has not to seek a living Saviour at a dying hour, but who, long having
+known His preciousness, loved His Word, valued His ordinances, sought
+His presence by believing prayer, has now nothing to do but to die (to
+_sleep_), and wake up in glory everlasting! "Oh! that all my brethren,"
+were among Rutherford's last words, "may know what a Master I have
+served, and what peace I have this day. This night shall close the
+door, and put my anchor within the veil." "This must be the chariot,"
+said Helen Plumtre, making use of Elijah's translation as descriptive of
+the believer's death; "This must be the chariot; oh, how easy it is!"
+"Almost well," said Richard Baxter, when asked on his death-bed how he
+did.
+
+Yes! there is speechless eloquence in such a scene. The figure of a
+quiet slumber is no hyperbole, but a sober verity. As the gentle smile
+of a foretasted heaven is seen playing on the marble lips--the rays
+gilding the mountain tops after the golden sun has gone down--what more
+befitting reflection than this, "_So_ giveth He His beloved SLEEP!"
+
+    "Sweetly remembering that the parting sigh
+     Appoints His saints to slumber, not to die,
+     The starting tear we check--we kiss the rod,
+     And not to earth resign them, but to God."
+
+Or shall we leave the death-chamber and visit the grave? Still it is a
+place of _sleep_; a bed of rest--a couch of tranquil repose--a quiet
+dormitory "until the day break," and the night shadows of earth "flee
+away." The dust slumbering there is precious because redeemed; the
+angels of God have it in custody; they encamp round about it, waiting
+the mandate to "gather the elect from the four winds of heaven--from the
+one end of heaven to the other." Oh, wondrous day, when the long
+dishonoured casket shall be raised a "glorified, body" to receive once
+more the immortal jewel, polished and made meet for the Master's use!
+See how Paul clings, in speaking of this glorious resurrection period,
+to the expressive figure of his Lord before him--"Them also which SLEEP
+in Jesus will God bring with Him!" _Sleep in Jesus!_ His saints fall
+asleep on their death-couch in His arms of infinite love. There their
+spirits repose, until the body, "sown in corruption" shall be "raised in
+incorruption," and both reunited in the day of His appearing, become "a
+crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand
+of their God."
+
+Weeping mourner! Jesus dries thy tears with the encouraging assurance,
+"Thy dead shall live; together with My body they shall arise." Let thy
+Lazarus "sleep on now and take his rest;" the time will come when My
+voice shall be heard proclaiming, "Awake, and sing, ye that dwell in
+dust." "The winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers
+appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the
+voice of the turtle is heard in the land. Arise, my love, my fair one,
+and come away." "Weep not! he is not dead, but sleepeth. Soon shall the
+day-dawn of glory streak the horizon, and then I shall go that I may
+awake him out of sleep!"
+
+Beautifully has it been said, "Dense as the gloom is which hangs over
+the mouth of the sepulchre, it is the spot, above all others, where the
+Gospel, if it enters, shines and triumphs. In the busy sphere of life
+and health, it encounters an active antagonist--the world confronts it,
+aims to obscure its glories, to deny its claims, to drown its voice, to
+dispute its progress, to drive it from the ground it occupies. But from
+the mouth of the grave the world retires; it shrinks from the contest
+there; it leaves a clear and open space in which the Gospel can assert
+its claims and unveil its glories without opposition or fear. There the
+infidel and worldling look anxiously around--but the world has left them
+helpless, and fled. There the Christian looks around, and lo! the angel
+of mercy is standing close by his side. The Gospel kindles a torch which
+not only irradiates the valley of the shadow of death, but throws a
+radiance into the world beyond, and reveals it peopled with the sainted
+spirits of those who have died in Jesus."
+
+Reader! may this calm departure be yours and mine. "Blessed are the dead
+which die in the Lord. ... They REST." All life's turmoil and tossing is
+over; they are anchored in the quiet haven. _Rest_--but not the rest of
+annihilation--
+
+    "Grave! the guardian of our dust;
+       Grave! the treasury of the skies;
+     Every atom of thy trust
+       Rests in hope again to rise!"
+
+Let us seek to have the eye of faith fixed and centred on Jesus _now_.
+It is _that_ which alone can form a peaceful pillow in a dying hour, and
+enable us to rise superior to all its attendant terrors. Look at that
+scene in the Jehoshaphat valley! The proto-martyr Stephen has a pillow
+of thorns for his dying couch, showers of stones are hurled by
+infuriated murderers on his guiltless head, yet, nevertheless, he "fell
+asleep." What was the secret of that calmest of sunsets amid a
+blood-stained and storm-wreathed sky? The eye of faith (if not of sight)
+pierced through those clouds of darkness. Far above the courts of the
+material temple at whose base he lay, he beheld, in the midst of the
+general assembly and Church of the First-born of Heaven, "JESUS standing
+at the right hand of God." The vision of his Lord was like a celestial
+lullaby stealing from the inner sanctuary. With _Jesus_, his last sight
+on earth and his next in glory, he could "lay him down in peace and
+sleep," saying, in the words of the sweet singer of Israel, "What time I
+awake I am still with Thee."
+
+    "It matters little at what hour o' the day
+     The righteous falls asleep. Death cannot come
+     To him untimely who is fit to die.
+     The less of this cold world the more of heaven;
+     The briefer life, the earlier immortality."--MILMAN.
+
+"Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." This tells us that Christ forgets not the
+dead. The dead often bury their dead, and remember them no more. The
+name of their silent homes has passed into a proverb, "The land of
+forgetfulness." But they are not forgotten by Jesus. That which sunders
+and dislocates all other ties--wrenching brother from brother, sister
+from sister, friend from friend--cannot sunder us from the living,
+loving heart on the throne of heaven. His is a friendship and love
+stronger than death, and surviving death. While the language of earth is
+
+    "Friend after friend departs--
+     Who hath not lost a friend?"
+
+the emancipated spirit, as it wings its magnificent flight among the
+ministering seraphim, can utter the challenge, "Who shall separate me
+from the love of Christ?" The righteous are had with Him "in everlasting
+remembrance." Their names "written among the living in Jerusalem;" yea,
+"engraven on the palms of His hands."
+
+One other thought.--Jesus had at first kindly and considerately
+disguised from His disciples the stern truth of Lazarus' departure. "Our
+friend sleepeth." "They thought that He had spoken of taking of rest in
+sleep." They understood it as the indication of the crisis-hour in
+sickness when the disease has spent itself, and is succeeded by a balmy
+slumber--the presage of returning health; but now He says unto them
+plainly, "Lazarus is dead." How gently He thus breaks the sad
+intelligence! And it is His method of dealing still. He _prepares_ His
+people for their hours of trial. He does not lay upon them more than
+they are able to bear. He considers their case--He teaches by slow and
+gradual discipline, leading on step by step; staying His rough wind in
+the day of His east wind. As the Good Physician, He metes out drop by
+drop in the bitter cup--as the Good Shepherd, His is not rough driving,
+but gentle guiding from pasture to pasture. "He leadeth them out;" "He
+goeth before them." He is Himself their sheltering rock in the "dark and
+cloudy day." The sheep who are inured to the hardships of the mountain,
+He leaves at times to wrestle with the storm; but "the _lambs_" (the
+young, the faint, the weak, the weary) "He gathers in His arms and
+carries in His bosom." He speaks in gentle whispers. He uses the
+pleasing symbol of quiet slumber before He speaks plainly out the
+mournful reality, "Lazarus is dead." Truly "He knoweth our frame--He
+remembereth that we are dust." "Like as a father pitieth his children,
+so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him!"
+
+But let us resume our narrative, and follow the journey of the dead
+man's "Friend." It is a mighty task He has undertaken; to storm the
+strong enemy in his own citadel, and roll back the barred gates! In
+mingled majesty and tenderness He hastens to the bereft and desolate
+home on this mission of power and love. We left the sisters wondering at
+His mysterious delay. Again and again had they imagined that at last
+they heard His tardy step, or listened to His hand on the latch, or to
+the loving music of His longed-for voice. But they are mistaken; it was
+only the beating of the vine-tendrils on the lattice, or the footfall of
+the passer by. The Lord is still absent! Their earnest and importunate
+heart-breathings are expressed by the Psalmist--"O Lord our God, early
+do we seek Thee: our soul thirsteth for Thee, our flesh longeth for Thee
+in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see Thy power and Thy
+glory, as we _have_ seen Thee." Be still, afflicted ones! He is coming.
+He will, however, let the cup of anguish be first filled to the brim
+that He may manifest and magnify all the more the might of His
+omnipotence, and the marvels of His compassion. The thirsty land is
+about to become streams of water. The sky is at its darkest, when, lo!
+the rainbow of love is seen spanning the firmament, and a shower of
+blessings is about to fall on the "_Home of Bethany_!"
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+LIGHTS AND SHADOWS.
+
+
+The sounds of lamentation had now been heard for four days in the
+desolate household.
+
+In accordance with general wont, the friends and relatives of the
+deceased had assembled to pay their tribute of respect to the memory of
+a revered friend, and to solace the hearts of the disconsolate
+survivors. They needed all the sympathy they received. It was now the
+dull dead calm after the torture of the storm, the leaden sea strewn
+with wrecks, enabling them to realise more fully the extent of their
+loss. Amid the lulls of the tempest, while Lazarus yet lived, hope
+shrunk from entertaining gloomy apprehensions. But now that the storm
+has spent its fury, now that the worst has come, the future rises up
+before them crowded with ten thousand images of desolation and sorrow.
+The void in their household is daily more and more felt. All the past
+bright memories of Bethany seem to be buried in a yawning grave.
+
+We may picture the scene. The stronger and more resolute spirit of
+Martha striving to stem the tide of overmuch sorrow. The more sensitive
+heart of Mary, bowed under a grief too deep for utterance, able only to
+indicate by her silent tears the unknown depths of her sadness.
+
+Thus are they employed, when Martha, unseen to her sister, has been
+beckoned away. "_The Master has come._" But desirous of ascertaining the
+truth of the joyful tidings, ere intruding on the grief of Mary, the
+elder of the survivors rushes forth with trembling emotion to give full
+vent to her sorrow at the feet of the Great Friend of all the
+friendless![11]
+
+He has not yet entered the village. She cannot, however, wait His
+arrival. Leaving home and sepulchre behind, she hastens outside the
+groves of palm at its gate.
+
+It requires no small fortitude in the season of sore bereavement to
+face an altered world; and, doubtless, passing all alone now through the
+little town, meeting familiar faces wearing sunny smiles which could not
+be returned, must have been a painful effort to this child of sorrow.
+But what will the heart not do to meet such a Comforter? What will
+Martha be unprepared to encounter if the intelligence brought her be
+indeed confirmed? One glance is enough. "_It is the Lord!_" In a moment
+she is a suppliant at His feet. Doubt and faith and prayer mingle in the
+exclamation, "Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not
+died!"[12]
+
+That she had faith and assured confidence in the love and tenderness of
+Jesus we cannot question. But a momentary feeling of unbelief (shall we
+say, of reproach and upbraiding?) mingled with better emotions. "Why,
+Lord," seemed to be the expression of her inner thoughts, "wert Thou
+absent? It was unlike Thy kind heart. Thou hast often gladdened our home
+in our season of joy--why this forgetfulness in the night of our bitter
+agony? Death has torn from us a loved brother--the blow would have been
+spared--these hearts would have been unbroken--these burning tears
+unshed, if _Thou hadst_ been here!"
+
+Such was the bold--the _unkind_ reasoning of the mourner. It was the
+reasoning of a finite creature. Ah! if she could but have looked into
+the workings of that infinite Heart she was ungenerously upbraiding, how
+differently would she have broached her tearful suit!
+
+_Her_ exclamation is--"Why this _unkind_ absence?"
+
+_His_ comment on that _same_ absence to His disciples is _this_--"I was
+_glad_ for your sakes that I was _not_ there!"
+
+How often are _God_ and _man_ thus in strange antagonism, with regard to
+earthly dispensations! Man, as he arraigns the rectitude of the Divine
+procedure, exclaiming--"How unaccountable this dealing! How baffling
+this mystery! Where is now my God?" This sickness--why prolonged? This
+thorn in the flesh--why still buffeting? This family blank--why
+permitted? Why the most treasured and useful life taken--the blow aimed
+where it cut most severely and levelled lowest?
+
+Hush the secret atheism! This trial, whatever it be, has this grand
+motto written upon it in characters of living light;--we can read it on
+anguished pillows--aching hearts--ay, on the very portals of the
+tomb--"_This_ is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be
+glorified thereby!"
+
+At the very moment we are mourning what are called "_dark_
+providences"--"untoward calamities"--"strokes of
+misfortune"--"unmitigated evils"--Jesus has a different verdict;--"I am
+_glad_ for your sakes."
+
+The absence at Jordan--the still more unaccountable lingering for two
+days in the same place after the message had been sent, instead of
+hastening direct to Bethany, all was well and wisely ordered. And
+although Martha's upbraidings were now received in forbearing silence,
+her Saviour afterwards, in a calmer moment, read the rebuke--"Said I not
+unto thee, if thou wouldst _believe_, thou shouldst see the glory of
+God?"
+
+It is indeed a comforting assurance in all trials, that God has some
+holy and wise end to subserve. He never stirs a ripple on the waters,
+but for His own glory, or the good of others. The delay on the present
+occasion, though protracting for a time the sorrows of the bereaved, was
+intended for the benefit of the Church in every age, and for the more
+immediate benefit of the disciples.
+
+_They_ were destined in a few brief weeks also to be desolate
+survivors--to mourn a Brother dearer still! He who had been to them
+Friend--Father--Brother, all in one, was to be, like Lazarus, laid
+silent in a Jerusalem sepulchre. The Lord of Life was to be the victim
+of Death! His body was to be transfixed to a malefactor's cross, and
+consigned to a lonely grave! He knew the shock that awaited their faith.
+He knew, as this terrible hour drew on, how needful some overpowering
+visible demonstration would be of His mastery over the tomb.
+
+_Now_ a befitting opportunity occurred in the case of their friend
+Lazarus to read the needed lesson. "I was glad for your sakes, ... to
+the intent ye might believe."
+
+Would that we could feel as believers more than we do--that the dealings
+of our God are for the strengthening of our faith, and the enlivening
+and invigorating of our spiritual graces. Let us seek to accept more
+simply in dark dealings the Saviour's explanation, "It is for _your_
+sake!" He gives us a blank for our every trial, indorsing it with His
+own gracious word, "This, _this_ is for the glory of God, that the Son
+of God may be glorified thereby."
+
+The words of Martha, then, surely teach as their great lesson, never to
+be hasty in our surmises and conclusions regarding God's ways.
+
+"Lord! IF Thou _hadst_ been here?" Could she question for a moment that
+that loving eye of Omniscience had all the while been scanning that
+sick-chamber--marking every throb in that fevered brow--and every tear
+that fell unbidden from the eyes that watched his pillow?
+
+"Lord! _if_ Thou hadst been here?" Could she question His ability, had
+He so willed it, to prevent the bereavement altogether--to put an arrest
+on the hand of death ere the bow was strung?
+
+O faithless disciple, wherefore didst thou doubt? But thou art ere long
+to learn what each of us will learn out in eternity, that "_all_ things
+are for our sakes, that the abundant grace might, through the
+thanksgiving of many, redound _to the glory of God_."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But the momentary cloud has passed. Faith breaks through. The murmur of
+upbraiding has died away. He who listens makes allowance for an
+anguished heart. The glance of tender sympathy and gentleness which met
+Martha's eye, at once hushes all remains of unbelief. Words of exulting
+confidence immediately succeed. "But I know that even now whatsoever
+Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee."
+
+What is this, but that which every believer exults in to this hour, as
+the sheet-anchor of hope and peace and comfort, when tossed on a
+tempestuous sea--a gracious confidence in the ability and willingness of
+Christ to save. The Friend of Bethany is still the Friend in Heaven. To
+Him "all power has been committed;" "as a prince He has power with God,
+and must prevail."
+
+Yes, gracious antidote to the spirit in the moment of its trial; when
+bowed down with anticipated bereavement; the curtains of death about to
+fall over life's brightest joys. How blessed to lay hold on the
+_perfect_ conviction that "the Ever-living Intercessor in glory has all
+power to revoke the sentence if He sees meet"--that even _now_ (yes
+_now_, in a moment) the delegated angel may be sent speeding from his
+throne, to spare the tree marked to fall, and prolong the lease of
+existence!
+
+Let us rejoice in the power of this God-man Mediator, that He is as able
+as He is willing, and as willing as He is able. "Him the Father heareth
+always." "_Father, I will_," is His own divine _formula_ for every
+needed boon for His people.
+
+How it ought to make our sick-chambers and death-chambers consecrated to
+prayer! leading us to make our every trial and sorrow a fresh reason for
+going to God. Laying our burden, whatever it may be, on the mercy-seat,
+it will be _considered_ by Him, who is too wise to grant what is better
+to be withdrawn, and too kind to withhold what, without injury to us,
+may be granted.
+
+Let us imitate Martha's faith in our approaches to Him. Ah, in our dull
+and cold devotions, how little lively apprehension have we of the
+gracious _willingness_ of Christ to listen to our petitions! Standing as
+the great Angel of the Covenant with the golden censer, His hand never
+shortened--His ear never heavy--His uplifted arm of intercession never
+faint. No variety bewildering Him--no importunity wearying Him--"waiting
+to be gracious"--loving the music of the suppliant spirit.
+
+Would that we had ever before us as the superscription of faith written
+on our closet-devotions, and domestic altars, and public sanctuaries,
+_whenever_ and _wherever_ the knee is bent, and the Hearer of prayer is
+invoked--"I _know_ that even _now_ whatsoever _Thou_ wilt ask of God,
+God will give it Thee."
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+THE MOURNER'S COMFORT.
+
+
+Martha's tearful utterances are now met with an exalted solace.
+
+"_Thy brother shall rise again._" It is the first time her Lord has
+spoken. She now once more hears those well-remembered tones which were
+last listened to, when life was all bright, and her home all happy.
+
+It is the self-same consolation which steals still, like celestial
+music, to the smitten heart, when every chord of earthly gladness ceases
+to vibrate. And it is befitting too that _Jesus_ should utter it. He
+alone is qualified to do so. The words spoken to the bereaved one of
+Bethany are words purchased by His own atoning work. "Thy brother--thy
+sister--thy friend, shall rise again!"
+
+This brief oracle of comfort was addressed, in the first instance,
+specially to Martha. It had a primary reference, doubtless, to the vast
+miracle which was on the eve of performance. But there were more hearts
+to comfort and souls to cheer than one; that Almighty Saviour had at the
+moment troops of other bereaved ones in view; myriads on myriads of
+aching, bleeding spirits who could not, like the Bethany mourner, rush
+into His visible presence for consolation and peace. He expands,
+therefore, for their sakes the sublime and exalted solace which He
+ministers to _her_. And in words which have carried their echoes of hope
+and joy through all time, He exclaims--"I am the resurrection and the
+life; he that believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live;
+and whosoever liveth and believeth on Me shall never die!"
+
+If Bethany had bequeathed no other "memory" than _this_, how its name
+would have been embalmed in hallowed recollection! Truly these two brief
+verses are as apples of gold in pictures of silver. "_Jesus, the
+Resurrection and the Life._" Himself conquering death, He has conquered
+it for His people--opening the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
+
+The full grandeur of that Bethany utterance could not be appreciated by
+her to whom it was first spoken. His death and resurrection was still,
+even to His nearest disciples, a profound mystery. Little did that
+trembling spirit, who was now gazing on her living Lord with tearful
+eye, dream that in a few brief days the grave was to hold HIM, too, as
+its captive; and that guardian angels were to proclaim words which would
+now have been all enigma and strangeness, "The Lord is risen!" With us
+it is different. The mighty deed has been completed. "Christ has died;
+yea, rather has risen again!" The resurrection and revival of Lazarus
+was a marvellous act, but it was only the rekindling of a little star
+that had ceased to twinkle in the firmament. A week more--and Martha
+would witness the Great Sun of all Being undergoing an eclipse; in a
+mysterious moment veiled and shrouded in darkness and blood; and then
+all at once coming forth like a Bridegroom from his chamber to shine the
+living and luminous centre of ransomed millions!
+
+Christians! we can turn now aside and see this great sight--death
+closing the lips of the Lord of life--a borrowed grave containing the
+tenantless body of the Creator of all worlds! Is death to hold that
+prey? Is the grave to retain in gloomy custody that immaculate frame? Is
+the living temple to lie there an inglorious ruin, like other crumbling
+wrecks of mortality? The question of our eternal life or eternal death
+was suspended on the reply! If death succeeds in chaining down the
+illustrious Victim, our hopes of everlasting life are gone for ever. In
+vain can these dreary portals be ever again unbarred for the children of
+fallen humanity. He has gone there as their surety-Saviour. If his
+suretyship be accepted--if He meet and fulfil all the requirements of an
+outraged law, the gates of the dismal prison-house will and must be
+opened. If, on the other hand, there be any flaw or deficiency in His
+person or work as the Kinsman-Redeemer, then no power can snap the
+chains which bind Him; the tomb will refuse to surrender what it has in
+custody; the hopes of His people must perish along with Him! Golgotha
+must become the grave of a world's hopes!
+
+But the stone _has_ been rolled away. The grave-clothes are all that are
+left as trophies of the conqueror. Angels are seated in the vacant tomb
+to verify with their gladdening assurance His own Bethany oracle, "The
+Lord has risen." "He is indeed the resurrection and the life; he that
+liveth and believeth on Him shall never die!"
+
+Yes! however many be the comforting thoughts which cluster around the
+grave of Lazarus, grander still is it to gather, as Jesus Himself here
+bids us, around His own tomb, and to gaze on His own resurrection scene!
+It was the most eventful morning of all time. It will be the focus point
+of the Church's hope and triumph through all eternity.
+
+"The Lord is risen!" It proclaimed the atonement complete, sin pardoned,
+mediation accepted, the law satisfied, God glorified! "The Lord is
+risen!" It proclaimed resurrection and life for His people--life (the
+forfeited _gift_ of life) now repurchased. That mighty victor rose not
+for Himself, but as the representative and earnest of countless
+multitudes, who exult in His death as their life--in His resurrection as
+the pledge and guarantee of their everlasting safety;--"I am He that
+liveth," and "because I live ye shall live also."
+
+Anticipating His own glorious rising, He might well speak to Martha,
+standing before Him as the representative of weeping, sinful, woe-worn
+humanity, "He that liveth and believeth on Me shall never die." "_In
+Me_, death is no longer death; it is only a parenthesis in life--a
+transition to a loftier stage of being. _In Me_, the grave is the
+vestibule of heaven, the robing-room of immortality!"
+
+Reader, yours is the same strong consolation. "Believe," "Only believe"
+in that risen Lord. He has purchased all, paid all, procured all! Look
+into that vacant tomb; see sin cancelled, guilt blotted out, the law
+magnified, justice honoured, the sinner saved!
+
+Ay, and more than that, as you see the moral conqueror marching forth
+clothed with immortal victory, you see Him not alone! He is heading and
+heralding a multitude which no man can number. Himself the victorious
+precursor, he is shewing to these exulting thousands "the _path_ of
+life." He tells them to dread neither for themselves or others that
+lonesome tomb. The curse is extracted from it; the envenomed sting is
+plucked away. In passing through its lonesome chambers they may exult in
+the thought that a mightier than they has sanctified it by His own
+presence, and transmuted what was once a gloomy portico into a triumphal
+arch, bearing the inscription, "O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave,
+I will be thy destruction!"
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+THE MOURNER'S CREED.
+
+
+How stands our faith?
+
+These mighty thoughts and words of consolation--are they really
+believed, felt, trusted in, rejoiced over?
+
+Christian, "Believest _thou this_?"[13] Art thou really looking to this
+exalted life-giving Saviour? Hast thou in some feeble measure realised
+this resurrection-life as thine own? Hast thou the joyful consciousness
+of participating in this vital union with a living Lord? In vain do we
+listen to these sublime Bethany utterances unless we feel "_Jesus speaks
+to me_," and unless we be living from day to day under their
+invigorating power.
+
+He had unfolded to Martha in a single verse a whole Gospel; He had
+irradiated by a few words the darkness of the tomb; and now, turning to
+the poor dejected weeper at his side, He addresses the all-important
+question, "Believest thou _this_?"
+
+Her faith had been but a moment before staggering. Some guilty
+misgivings had been mingling with her anguished tears. She has now an
+opportunity afforded of rising above her doubts,--the ebbings and
+flowings of her fitful feelings,--and cleaving fast to the Living Rock.
+
+It elicits an unfaltering response--"Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art
+the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world."[14]
+
+Remarkable confession! We should not so much have wondered to hear it
+after the grave, hard by, had been rifled, and the silent lips of
+Lazarus had been unsealed; or had she stood like the other Mary at her
+Lord's own sepulchre in the garden, and after a few brief, but momentous
+days and hours, seen a whole flood of light thrown on the question of
+His Messiahship.
+
+But as yet there was much to damp such a bold confession, and lead to
+hesitancy in the avowal of such a creed. The poverty, the humiliations,
+the unworldly obscurity of that solitary _One_ who claimed no earthly
+birthright, and owned no earthly dwelling, were not all these,
+particularly to a Jew, at variance with every idea formed in connexion
+with the coming Shiloh?
+
+Was Martha's then a blind unmeaning faith? Far from it. It was nurtured,
+doubtless, in that quiet home of holy love, where, while Lazarus yet
+lived, this mysterious Being, in an earthly form and in pilgrim garb,
+came time after time discoursing to them often, as we are warranted to
+believe, on the dignity of His nature, the glories of His person, the
+completeness of His work. It was neither the evidence of miracle or
+prophecy which had revealed to that weeping disciple that Jesus of
+Nazareth was the Son of God. With the exception of Micah's statement
+regarding Bethlehem-Ephratah as His birthplace, we question if any other
+remarkable prediction concerning Him had yet been fulfilled; and so far
+as miracles were concerned, though she may and must have doubtless known
+of them by hearsay, we have no evidence that she had as yet so much as
+witnessed _one_. We never read till this time of their quiet village
+being the scene of any manifestations of His power. These had generally
+taken place either in Jerusalem or in the cities and coasts of Galilee.
+The probability, therefore, is that Martha, had never yet seen that arm
+of Omnipotence bared, or witnessed those prodigies with which elsewhere
+He authenticated His claims to Divinity.
+
+_Whence then her creed?_ May we not believe she had made her noble
+avowal mainly from the study of that beauteous, spotless character--from
+those looks, and words, and deeds--from that lofty teaching--so unlike
+every human system--so wondrously adapted to the wants and woes, the
+sins, the sorrows, and aching necessities of the human heart. All this
+had left on her own spirit, and on that of Lazarus and Mary, the
+irresistible impression and evidence that he was indeed the Lord of
+Glory--"the Hope of Israel, and the Saviour thereof."
+
+And is it not the same evidence we exult in still? Is this not the
+_reason_ of many a humble believer's creed and faith--who may be all
+unlettered and unlearned in the evidences of the schools--the external
+and internal bulwarks of our impregnable Christianity? Ask them why
+they believe? why their faith is so firm--their love so strong?
+
+They will tell you that that Saviour, in all the glories of His person,
+in all the completeness of His work, in all the beauties of His
+character, is the very Saviour they need!--that His Gospel is the very
+errand of mercy suited to their souls' necessities;--that His words of
+compassion, and tenderness, and hope, are in every way adapted to meet
+the yearnings of their longing spirits. They need to stand by the grave
+of no Lazarus to be certified as to His Messiahship. His looks and
+tones--His character and doctrine,--His cures and remedies for the wants
+and woes of their ruined natures, point Him out as the true Heavenly
+Physician.
+
+They can tell of the best of all evidences, and the strongest of
+all--the _experimental_ evidence! They are no theorists. Religion is no
+subject with them of barren speculation; it is a matter of inner and
+heartfelt experience. They have tried the cure--they have found it
+answer;--they have fled to the Physician--they have applied His
+balm--they have been healed and live! And you might as well try to
+convince the restored blind that the sunlight which has again burst on
+them is a wild dream of fancy, or the restored deaf that the world's
+joyous melodies which have again awoke on them are the mockeries of
+their own brain, as convince the spiritually enlightened and awakened
+that He who has proved to them light and life, and joy and peace--their
+comfort in prosperity--their refuge in adversity--is other than the _Son
+of God and Saviour of the world_!
+
+Reader, is this your experience? Have you tasted and seen that the Lord
+is gracious? Have you felt the preciousness of His gospel, the
+adaptation of His work to the necessities of your ruined condition?--the
+power of His grace, the prevalence of His intercession, the fulness and
+glory and truthfulness of His promises? Are you exulting in Him as the
+Resurrection and Life, who has raised you from the death of sin, and
+will at last raise you from the power of death, and invest you with that
+eternal life which His love has purchased?
+
+Precious as is this hope and confidence at all times, specially so is
+it, mourners in Zion! in your seasons of sorrow. When human refuges
+fail, and human friendships wither, and human props give way, how
+sustaining to have this "anchor of the soul sure and steadfast"--union
+with a living Lord on earth, and the joyful hope of endless and
+uninterrupted union and communion with Him in glory! Are you even now
+enjoying, through your tears, this blessed persuasion, and exulting in
+this blessed creed? Do you know the secret of that twofold solace, "the
+power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings?"--the
+"fellowship of His sufferings" telling of His sympathy with your sorrows
+below;--the "power of His resurrection" assuring you of the glorious
+gift of everlasting life in a world where sorrow dare not enter. Rest
+not satisfied with a mere outward creed and confession that "Jesus is
+the Saviour." Let yours be the nobler _formula_ of an appropriating
+faith--"He is my Saviour; He loved ME, and gave Himself for ME." Let it
+not be with you a salvation _possible_, but a salvation _found_; so
+that, with a tried apostle, you can rise above the surges of deepening
+tribulation as you glory in the conviction, "I _know_ in whom I _have_
+believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have
+committed unto Him."
+
+Sad, indeed, for those who, when "deep calleth unto deep," have no such
+"strong consolation" to enable them to ride out the storm; who, when
+sorrow and bereavement overtake them--the lowering shadows of the dark
+and cloudy day--have still to grope after an _unknown Christ_; and, amid
+the hollowness of earthly and counterfeit comforts, have to seek, for
+the first time, the _only_ true One.
+
+Oh! if our hour of trial has not yet come, let us be prepared for
+it--for come it will. Let us seek to have our vessels moored _now_ to
+the Rock of Ages, that when the tempest arises--when the floods beat,
+and the winds blow, and the wrecks of earthly joy are seen strewing the
+waters--we may triumphantly utter the challenge, "Who shall separate us
+from the love of Christ?"
+
+                          "Say, ye who tempt
+     The sea of life, by summer gales impell'd,
+     Have ye this anchor? Sure a time will come
+     For storms to try you, and strong blasts to rend
+     Your painted sails, and shred your gold like chaff
+     O'er the wild wave. And what a wreck is man,
+     If sorrow find him unsustain'd by God!"
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+THE MASTER.
+
+
+Martha can withhold no longer from her sister the joyful tidings which
+she has been the first to hear. With fleet foot she hastens back to the
+house with the announcement, "The Master is come, and calleth for thee."
+Mary hears, but makes no comment. Wrapt in the silence of her own
+meditative grief, "when she heard that, she arose quickly and came unto
+Him."
+
+    "To her all earth could render nothing back
+     Like that pale changeless brow. Calmly she stood
+     As marble statue.
+
+                       In that maiden's breast
+     Sorrow and loneliness sank darkly down,
+     Though the blanch'd lips breathed out no boisterous plaint
+     Of common grief."
+
+The formal sympathisers who gathered around her had observed her
+departure. They are led to form their conjectures as to the cause of
+this sudden break in her trance of anguish. She had up till that
+moment, with the instinctive aversion which mourners only know, and
+which we have formerly alluded to in the case of Martha, been shrinking
+from facing the gladsome light of heaven, caring not to look abroad on
+the blight of an altered world. But the few words her sister uttered,
+and which the other auditors manifestly had not comprehended, all at
+once rouse her from her seat of pensive sadness, and her shadow is seen
+hurrying by the darkened lattice. They can form but one surmise: that,
+in accordance with wont, she has betaken herself to the burial-ground to
+feed her morbid grief "She goeth unto the grave to weep there." Ah!
+little did they know how much nobler was her motive--how truer and
+grander the solace she sought and found.
+
+There is little that is really profitable or hallowed in visiting the
+grave of loved ones. Though fond affection will, from some false feeling
+of the tribute due to the memory of the departed, seek to surmount
+sadder thoughts, and linger at the spot where treasured ashes repose,
+yet--think and act as we may--there is nothing cheering, nothing
+elevating _there_. The associations of the burial-place are all with the
+humiliating triumphs of the King of Terrors. It is a view of death taken
+from the _earthly_ entrance of the valley, not the _heavenly_ view of it
+as that valley opens on the bright plains of immortality. The gay
+flowers and emerald sod which carpet the grave are poor mockeries to the
+bereft spirit, shrouding, as they do, nobler withered blossoms which the
+foot of the destroyer has trampled into dust, and which no earthly
+beauty can again clothe, or earthly spring reanimate. They are to be
+pitied who have no higher solace, no better remedy for their grief, than
+thus to water with unavailing tears the trophies of death; or to read
+the harrowing record which love has traced on its slab of cold marble,
+telling of the vanity of human hopes.
+
+Such, however, was not Mary's errand in leaving the chamber of
+bereavement. That drooping flower was not opening her leaves, only to be
+crushed afresh with new tear-floods of sorrow. She sought _One_ who
+would disengage her soiled and shattered tendrils from the chill
+comforts of earth, and bathe them in the genial influences of Heaven.
+The music of her Master's name alone could put gladness into her
+heart--tempt her to muffle other conflicting feelings and hasten to His
+feet. "_The Master is come!_" Nothing could have roused her from her
+profound grief but this. While her poor earthly comforters are imagining
+her prostrate at the sepulchre's mouth, giving vent to the wild delirium
+of her young grief, she is away, not to the victim of death, but to the
+Lord of Life, either to tell to Him the tale of her woe, or else to
+listen from His lips to words of comfort no other comforter had given.
+Is there not the same music in that name--the same solace and joy in
+that presence still? Earthly sympathy is not to be despised; nay, when
+death has entered a household, taken the dearest and the best and laid
+them in the tomb, nothing is more soothing to the wounded, crushed, and
+broken one, than to experience the genial sympathy of true Christian
+friendship. Those, it may be, little known before (comparative
+strangers), touched with the story of a neighbour's sorrow, come to
+offer their tribute of condolence, and to "weep with those that weep."
+Never is _true_ friendship so tested as then. Hollow attachments, which
+have nothing but the world or a time of prosperity to bind them,
+discover their worthlessness. "Summer friends" stand aloof--they have
+little patience for the sadness of sorrow's countenance and the funereal
+trappings of the death-chamber; while sympathy, based on lofty Christian
+principle, loves to minister as a subordinate healer of the
+broken-hearted, and to indulge in a hundred nameless ingenious offices
+of kindness and love.
+
+_But_ "thus far shalt thou go, and no farther." The purest and noblest
+and most disinterested of earthly friends can only go a certain way.
+Their minds and sympathies are limited. They cannot enter into the deep
+recesses of the smitten heart--the yawning crevices that bereavement has
+laid bare. _But_ JESUS _can_! Ah! there are capacities and sensibilities
+in that Mighty Heart that can probe the deepest wound and gauge the
+profoundest sorrow. While from the _best_ of earthly comforters the mind
+turns away unsatisfied; while the burial-ground and the grave only
+recall the deep humiliations of the body's wreck and ruin--with what
+fond emotion does the spirit, like Mary, turn to Him who possesses the
+majesty of Deity with all the tenderness of humanity. The Mighty Lord,
+and yet the Elder Brother!
+
+The sympathy of man is often selfish, formal, constrained, commonplace,
+coming more from the surface than from the depths of the heart. It is
+the finite sympathy of a finite creature. The Redeemer's sympathy is
+that of the perfect Man and the infinite God--able to enter into all the
+peculiarities of the case--all the tender features and shadings of
+sorrow which are hidden from the keenest and kindliest _human_ eye.
+
+Mary's procedure is a true type and picture of what the broken heart of
+the Christian feels. Not undervaluing human sympathy, yet, nevertheless,
+all the crowd of sympathising friends--Jewish citizens, Bethany
+villagers--are nothing to her when she hears _her Lord has come_!
+
+Happy for us if, while the world, like the condoling crowd of Jews, is
+forming its own cold speculations on the amount of our grief and the
+bitterness of our loss, we are found hastening to cast ourselves at our
+Saviour's feet; if our afflictions prove to us like angel messengers
+from the inner sanctuary--calling us from friends, home, comforts,
+blessings, all we most prize on earth--telling us that ONE is nigh who
+will more than compensate for the loss of all--"_The Master is come, and
+calleth for thee!_"
+
+It is the very end and design our gracious God has in all His dealings,
+to lead _us_, as he led Mary, to the feet of Jesus.
+
+Yes! thou poor weeping, disconsolate one, "The Master calleth for
+_thee_." _Thee_ individually, as if thou stoodest the alone sufferer in
+a vast world. He wishes to pour His oil and wine into thy wounded
+heart--to give thee some overwhelming proof and pledge of the love he
+bears thee in this thy sore trial. He has come to pour drops of comfort
+in the bitter cup--to ease thee of thy heavy burden, and to point thee
+to hopes full of immortality. Go and learn what a kind, and gentle, and
+gracious Master He is! Go forth, Mary, and meet thy Lord. "Weeping may
+endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning!"
+
+We may imagine her hastening along the foot-road, with the spirit of the
+Psalmist's words on her tongue--"As the hart panteth after the
+water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth
+for God--for the living God!"
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+SECOND CAUSES.
+
+
+With a bounding heart, Mary was in a moment at her Master's feet. She
+weeps! and is able only to articulate, in broken accents, "Lord, if thou
+hadst been here, my brother had not died." It is the repetition of
+Martha's same expression. Often at a season of sore bereavement some one
+poignant thought or reflection takes possession of the mind, and, for
+the time, overmasters every other. This echo of the other mourner's
+utterance leads us to conclude that it had been a familiar and
+oft-quoted phrase during these days of protracted agony. This
+independent quotation, indeed, on the part of each, gives a truthful
+beauty to the whole inspired narrative.
+
+The twin sisters--musing on the terrible past, gazing through their
+tears on the vacant seat at their home-hearth--had been every now and
+then breaking the gloomy silence of the deserted chamber by exclaiming,
+"If _He_ had been here, this never would have happened! This is the
+bitterest drop in our cup, that all might have been different! These hot
+tears might never have dimmed our eyes; our loved Lazarus might have
+been a living and loving brother still! Oh! that the Lord had delayed
+for a brief week that untoward journey, or anticipated by four days his
+longed-for return; or would that we had despatched our messenger earlier
+for Him. It is now too late. Though He _has_ at last come, His advent
+can be of little avail. The fell destroyer has been at our cottage door
+before Him. He may soothe our grief, but the blow cannot be averted.
+_His_ friend and _our_ brother is locked in sleep too deep to be
+disturbed."
+
+Ah! is it not the same unkind surmise which is still often heard in the
+hour of bereavement and in the home of death?--a guilty, unholy brooding
+over _second causes_. "If such and such had been done, my child had
+still lived. If that mean, or that remedy, or that judicious caution had
+been employed, this terrible overthrow of my earthly hopes would never
+have occurred; that loved one would have been still walking at my side;
+that chaplet of sorrows would not now have been girding my brows; the
+Bethany sepulchre would have been unopened--'This my brother had not
+died!'"
+
+Hush! hush! these guilty insinuations--that dethroning of God from the
+Providential Sovereignty of His own world--that hasty and inconsiderate
+verdict on His divine procedure.
+
+"IF _Thou_ hadst been here!" Can we, _dare_ we doubt it? Is the
+departure of the immortal soul to the spirit-world so trivial a matter
+that the life-giving God takes no cognisance of it? No! Mourning one, in
+the deep night of thy sorrow, thou must rise above "untoward
+coincidences"--thou must cancel the words "accident" and "fate" from thy
+vocabulary of trial. God, _thy_ God, was _there_! If there _be_
+perplexing accompaniments, be assured they were of _His_ permitting; all
+was planned--wisely, kindly planned. Question not the unerring rectitude
+of His dealings. Though _apparently_ absent, He was _really_ present.
+The apparent veiling of His countenance is only what Cowper calls "the
+severer aspect of His love." Kiss the rod that smites--adore the hand
+that lays low. Pillow thy head on that simple, yet grandest source of
+composure--"_The Lord reigneth!_" It is not for us to venture to dictate
+what the procedure of infinite love and wisdom should be. To our dim and
+distorted views of things, it might have been more for the glory of God
+and the Church's good, if the "beautiful bird of light" had still "sat
+with its folded wings" ere it sped to nestle in the eaves of Heaven. But
+if its earthly song has been early hushed; if those full of promise have
+been allowed rather to fall asleep in Jesus, "Even so, Father; for it
+seems good in Thy sight!" It was from no want of power or ability on
+God's part that they were not recalled from the gates of death. "We will
+be dumb--we will open not our mouths, because _Thou_ didst it."
+
+Afflicted one! if the brother or friend whom you now mourn be a brother
+in glory--if he be now among the white-robed multitude--his last tear
+wept--for ever beyond reach of a sinning and sorrowing world--can you
+upbraid your God for his early departure? Would you weep him back if
+you could from his early crown?
+
+Fond nature, as it stands in trembling agony watching the ebbing pulses
+of life, would willingly arrest the pale messenger--stay the
+chariot--and have the wilderness relighted with his smile.
+
+But when all is over, and you are able to contemplate, with calm
+emotion, the untold bliss into which the unfettered spirit has entered,
+do you not feel as if it were cruel selfishness alone that would denude
+that sainted pilgrim of his glory, and bring him once more back to
+earth's cares and tribulations?
+
+    "We sadly watch'd the close of all,
+       Life balanced in a breath;
+     We saw upon his features fall
+       The awful shade of death.
+     All dark and desolate we were;
+       And murmuring nature cried--
+     'Oh! surely, Lord! hadst _Thou_ been here
+       Our brother had not died!'
+
+    "But when its glance the memory cast
+       On all that grace had done;
+     And thought of life's long warfare pass'd,
+       And endless victory won.
+     Then faith prevailing, wiped the tear,
+       And looking upward, cried--
+     'O Lord! Thou surely _hast_ been here,
+       Our brother has _not_ died!'"
+
+We have already had occasion to note the impressive and significant
+silence of the Saviour to Mary. We may just again revert to it in a
+sentence here. Martha had, a few moments before, given vent to the same
+impassioned utterance respecting her departed brother. Jesus had replied
+to her; questioned her as to her faith; and opened up to her sublime
+sources of solace and consolation. With Mary it is different. He
+responds to her also--but it is only in silence and in tears!
+
+Why this distinction? Does it not unfold to us a lovely feature in the
+dealings of Jesus--how He adapts Himself to the peculiarities of
+individual character. With those of a bolder temperament He can argue
+and remonstrate--with those of a meek, sensitive, contemplative spirit,
+He can be silent and weep!
+
+The stout but manly heart of Peter needed at times a bold and cutting
+rebuke; a similar reproof would have crushed to the dust the tender soul
+of John. The character of the one is painted in his walking on the
+stormy water to meet his Lord; of the other, in his reclining on the
+bosom of the same Divine Master, drinking sacred draughts at the
+Fountain-head of love!
+
+So it was with Martha and Mary, "the Peter and John of Bethany;" and so
+it is with His people still.
+
+How beautifully and considerately Jesus _studies_ their case--adapting
+His dealings to what He sees and knows they can bear--fitting the yoke
+to the neck, and the neck to the yoke. To some He is "the Lion of the
+tribe of Judah, uttering His thunders"--pleading with Martha-spirits "by
+terrible things in righteousness;"--to others (the shrinking, sensitive
+Marys) whispering only accents of gentleness--giving expression to no
+needless word that would aggravate or embitter their sorrows.
+
+Ah, believer! how tenderly considerate is your dear Lord! Well may you
+make it your prayer, "Let me fall into the hands of God, for great are
+His mercies!" He may at times, like Joseph to His brethren, _appear_ to
+"speak roughly," but it is dissembled _kindness_. When a father inflicts
+on his wayward child the severest and harshest discipline, none but he
+can tell the bitter heart-pangs of yearning love that accompany every
+stroke of the rod. So it is with your Father in Heaven; with this
+difference, that the earthly parent _may_ act unwisely, arbitrarily,
+indiscreetly--he may misjudge the necessities of the case--he may do
+violence and wrong to the natural disposition of his offspring. Not so
+with an all-wise Heavenly Parent. He will inflict no redundant or
+unneeded chastisement. Man _may_ err, _has_ erred, and _is_ ever
+erring--but "as for God, His way is perfect!"
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+THE WEEPING SAVIOUR.
+
+
+The silent procession is moving on. We may suppose they have reached the
+gates of the burial-ground. But a new scene and incident here arrest our
+thoughts!
+
+It is not the humiliating memorials of mortality that lie scattered
+around,--the caves and grottoes and grassy heaps sacred to many a
+Bethany villager. It is not even the newly sealed stone which marks the
+spot where Lazarus "sleeps." Let us turn aside for a little, and see
+this great sight. It is the Creator of all worlds in tears!--the God-man
+Mediator dissolved in tenderest grief! Of all the memories of Bethany,
+this surely is the _most_ hallowed and the most wondrous. These tears
+form the most touching episode in sacred story; and if we are in sorrow,
+it may either dry our own tears, or give them the warrant to flow when
+we are told--_Jesus wept!_
+
+Whence those tears? This is what we shall now inquire. There is often a
+false interpretation put upon this brief and touching verse, as if it
+denoted the expression of the Saviour's sorrow for the loss of a loved
+friend. This, it is plain, it could not be. However mingled may have
+been the hopes and fears of the weeping mourners around him, _He_ at
+least knew that in a few brief moments Lazarus was to be restored. He
+could not surely weep so bitterly, possessing, as He then did, the
+confident assurance that death was about to give back its captive, and
+light up every tear-dimmed eye with an ecstasy of joy. Whence, then, we
+again ask, this strange and mysterious grief? Come and let us surround
+the grave of Bethany, and as we behold the chief mourner at that grave,
+let us inquire why it was that "_Jesus wept!_"
+
+
+(1.) JESUS WEPT _out of Sympathy for the Bereaved_.
+
+The hearts around Him were breaking with anguish. All unconscious
+of how soon and how wondrously their sorrow was to be turned into
+joy, the appalling thought was alone present to them in all its
+fearfulness--"Lazarus is dead!" When _He_, the God-man Mediator, with
+the refined sensibilities of His tender heart, beheld the poignancy of
+that grief, the pent-up torrent of His own human sympathies could be
+restrained no longer. His tears flowed too.
+
+But it would be a contracted view of the tears of Jesus to think that
+two solitary mourners in a Jewish graveyard engrossed and monopolised
+that sympathy. It had a far wider sweep.
+
+There were hearts, yes--myriads of desolate sufferers in ages then
+unborn, who He knew would be brought to stand as He was then doing by
+the grave of loved relatives--mourners who would have no visible
+comforter or restorer to rush to, as had Martha and Mary, to dry their
+tears, and give them back their dead; and when He thought of this,
+"_Jesus wept!_"
+
+What an interest it gives to that scene of weeping, to think that at
+that eventful moment, the Saviour had before Him the bereaved of _all
+time_--that His eye was roaming at that moment through deserted
+chambers, and vacant seats, and opened graves, down to the end of the
+world. The aged Jacobs and Rachels weeping for their children--the
+Ezekiels mourning in the dust and ashes of disconsolate widowhood, "the
+desire of their eyes taken away by a stroke"--the unsolaced Marys and
+Marthas brooding over a dark future, with the prop and support of
+existence swept down, the central sun and light of their being
+eclipsed in mysterious darkness! Think, (as you are now perusing
+these pages,) throughout the wide world, how many breaking hearts
+there are--how loud the wail of suffering humanity, could we but
+hear it!--those written childless and fatherless, and friendless and
+homeless!--Bethany-processions pacing with slow and measured step to
+deposit their earthly all in the cold custody of the tomb! Think of the
+Marys and Marthas who are now "going to some grave to weep there,"
+perhaps with no Saviour's smile to gladden them--or the desolate
+chambers that are now resounding to the plaintive dirge, "O Absalom,
+Absalom, would God I had died for thee; O Absalom, my son! my son!"
+Think of all these scenes at that moment vividly suggested and pictured
+to the Redeemer's eye--the long and loud _miserere_, echoing dismally
+from the remotest bounds of time, and there "entering into the ear of
+the God of Sabaoth," and can you wonder that--_Jesus wept!_
+
+Blessed and amazing picture of the Lord of glory! It combines the
+delineation alike of the tenderness of His humanity, and the majesty of
+His Godhead. His Humanity! It is revealed in those tear drops, falling
+from a human eye on a human grave. His _Godhead_! It is manifested in
+His ability to take in with a giant grasp all the prospective sufferings
+of His suffering people.
+
+Weeping believer! thine anguished heart was included in those Bethany
+tears! Be assured thy grief was visibly portrayed at that moment to that
+omniscient Saviour. He had all thy sorrows before Him--thy anxious
+moments during thy friend's tedious sickness--the trembling
+suspense--the nights of weary watching--the agonising revelation of "no
+hope"--the closing scene! Bethany's graveyard became to Him a
+picture-gallery of the world's aching hearts; and _thine_, yes! _thine_
+was _there_! and as He beheld it, "_Jesus wept!_"
+
+    "Jesus wept! These tears are over,
+     But His heart is still the same;
+     Kinsman, Friend, and Elder Brother,
+     Is His everlasting name.
+
+         Saviour, who can love like Thee,
+         _Gracious_ One of Bethany!
+
+    "When the pangs of trial seize us,
+     When the waves of sorrow roll,
+     I will lay my head on Jesus,
+     Pillow of the troubled soul.
+
+         Surely none can feel like Thee,
+         _Weeping_ One of Bethany!
+
+    "Jesus wept! And still in glory,
+     He can mark each mourner's tear;
+     Loving to retrace the story
+     Of the hearts he solaced here.
+
+         Lord! when I am call'd to die,
+         Let me think of Bethany!
+
+    "Jesus wept! That tear of sorrow
+     Is a legacy of love;
+     Yesterday, to-day, to-morrow,
+     He the same doth ever prove.
+
+         Thou art all in all to me,
+         _Living_ One of Bethany!"
+
+
+(2.) JESUS WEPT _when He thought of the triumphs of Death_!
+
+He was treading a burial ground--mouldering heaps were around
+Him--silent sepulchral caves, giving forth no echo of life!
+
+It is a solemn and impressive thing, even for _us_, to tread the
+graveyard; more especially if there are there nameless treasures of
+buried affection. The thought that those whose smile gladdened to us
+every step in the wilderness, who formed our solace in sorrow, and our
+joy in adversity--whose words, and society, and converse were
+intertwined with our very being--it is solemn and saddening, as we tread
+that land of oblivion, to find these words and looks and tears
+unanswered--a gloomy silence hovering over the spot where the wrecks of
+worth and loveliness are laid! He would have a bold, a stern heart
+indeed who could pace unmoved over such hallowed ground, and forbid a
+tear to flow over the gushing memories of the past!
+
+What, then, must it have been at that moment in Bethany with _Jesus_,
+when he saw one of those purchased by his own blood (dearest to him)
+chased by the unsparing destroyer to that gloomy prison-house?
+
+If we have supposed that the tears of Martha and Mary were suggestive
+of manifold other broken and sorrowing hearts in other ages, we may well
+believe that graveyard was suggestive of triumphs still in reserve for
+the tomb, numberless trophies which in every age were to be reaped in by
+the King of Terrors until the reaper's arm was paralyzed, and death
+swallowed up in victory. The few silent sepulchres around must have
+significantly called to the mind of the Divine spectator how sin had
+blasted and scathed His noblest workmanship; converting the fairest
+province of His creation into one vast _Necropolis_,--one dismal "city
+of the dead!" The body of man, "so fearfully and wonderfully made," and
+on which he had originally placed His own impress of "very good,"
+_ruined_, and resolved into a mass of humiliating dust! If the Architect
+mourns over the destruction of some favourite edifice which the storm
+has swept down, or the fire has wrapt in conflagration and reduced to
+ashes--if the Sculptor mourns to see his breathing marble with one rude
+stroke hurled to the ground, and its fragments scattered at his
+feet--what must have been the sensations of the mighty Architect of the
+human frame, at whose completion the morning stars and the sons of God
+chanted a loud anthem--what must have been His sensations as He thought
+of them, now a devastated wreck, mouldering in dissolution and decay,
+the King of Terrors sitting in regal state, holding his high holiday
+over a vassal world!
+
+In Bethany He beheld only a few of these broken and prostrate columns,
+but they were powerfully suggestive of millions on millions which were
+yet in coming ages to undergo the same doom of mortality.
+
+If even our less sensitive hearts may be wrung with emotion at the
+tidings of some mournful catastrophe that occupies, after all, but some
+passing hour in the world's history, but which has carried death and
+lamentation into many households--the sudden pestilence that has swept
+down its thousands--the gallant vessel that was a moment before
+spreading proudly its white wings to the gale, the joyous hearts on
+board dreaming of hearth and home, and the "many ports that would exult
+in the gleam of her mast"--the next! hurrying down to the depths of an
+ocean grave, with no survivor to tell the tale!--or the terrible
+records of War--the ranks of bold and brave laid low in the carnage of
+battle--youth and strength and beauty and rank and friendship blent in
+one red burial!--if these and such like mournful tales of death, and the
+power of death, affect at the moment even the most callous amongst us,
+causing the lip to grow pale, and demanding the tribute of more than a
+tear, oh! what must it have been to the omniscient eye and exquisitely
+sensitive spirit of Jesus, as, taking in all time at a glance, He beheld
+the Pale Horse with its ghastly rider trampling under foot the vast
+human family; converting the globe in which they dwelt into a mournful
+valley of vision, filled with the wrecks and skeletons of breathing men
+and animated frames!
+
+The triumphs of death are, in ordinary circumstances, to us scarcely
+perceptible. He moves with noiseless tread. The footprint is made on the
+sands of time; but like the tides of the ocean, the world's
+oblivion-power washes it away. The name of yonder churchyard is "the
+_land of forgetfulness_!" Not so with the Lord of Life, the great
+Antagonist of this usurper! The future, a ghastly future, rose in
+appalling vividness before Him.--Death (vulture-like) flapping his wings
+over the multitudes he claimed as his own,--vessels freighted with
+immortality lying wrecked and stranded on the shores of Time!
+
+Yes! we can only understand the full import of these tears of Jesus, as
+we imagine to ourselves His Godlike eye penetrating at that moment every
+churchyard and every grave: the mausoleums of the great--the grassy sods
+of the poor; the marble cenotaph of the noble and illustrious slumbering
+under fretted aisle and cathedral canopy--the myriads whose requiem is
+chanted by the bleak winds of the desert or the chimes of the ocean! The
+child carried away in the twinkling of an eye--the blossom just opening,
+and then frost-blighted; the aged sire, cut down like a shock of corn in
+its season, falling withered and seared like the leaves of autumn; the
+young exulting in the prime of manhood; the pious and benevolent, the
+great and good, succumbing indiscriminately to the same inexorable
+decree; the erring and thoughtless, reckless of all warning, hurried
+away in the midst of scorned mercy--Oh! as He beheld this ghastly
+funeral procession moving before Him, the whole world going to the same
+long home, and He Himself alone left the survivor, can we wonder that
+_Jesus wept_?
+
+
+(3.) Once more, JESUS WEPT _when He thought of the impenitence and
+obduracy of the human heart_.
+
+This may not be at first sight patent as a cause of the tears of Jesus,
+but we may well believe it entered largely as an element into this
+strange flood of sorrow.
+
+He was about to perform a great (His greatest) miracle; but while He
+knew that, in consequence of this manifestation of His mighty power,
+many of those who now stood around Lazarus' tomb would _believe_, He
+knew also that others would only "despise, and wonder, and perish;" that
+while some, as we shall afterwards find, acknowledged Him as the
+Messiah, others went straightway into Jerusalem to concert with the
+Pharisees in plotting His murder. When He observed the impenitence of
+these obdurate hearts at His side, He could not subdue His tenderest
+emotion. We read that, when He saw the sisters weeping, _and the Jews
+that were with them weeping_, Jesus wept. These Jews could weep for a
+fellow-mortal, but they could not weep for _themselves_, and therefore
+_for them, Jesus wept_!
+
+One soul was precious to Him. He who alone can estimate alike the worth
+and the loss of the soul, might have wept, even had there been but one
+then present found to resist His claims and forfeit His salvation. But
+these tears extended far beyond that lonely spot in a Jewish village,
+and the few impenitent hearts that were then flocking around. These
+obdurate Jews were types of the world's impenitency. There was at that
+moment summoned before Him a mournful picture of the hardened hearts in
+every age--those who would read His gospel, and hear of His miracles,
+and listen to the story of His love all unmoved--who would die as they
+had lived, uncheered by His grace and unmeet for His presence.
+
+Ah! surely no cause could more tenderly elicit a Redeemer's tears than
+_this_--the thought of His Redemption scorned, His blood trampled on,
+His work set at nought.
+
+If we have thought of Him shedding tears over the ruin of the _body_,
+what must have been the depth and intensity of those tears over the
+sadder, more fearful ruin of the soul? Immortal powers, that ought to
+have been ennobled and consecrated to His service, alienated, degraded,
+destroyed!--immortal beings spurning from them the day of grace and the
+hopes of heaven! Bitter as may have been the wail of mourning and
+sorrowing hearts that may then have reached His ear from future ages,
+more agonising and dismal far must have been the wailing cry which,
+beyond the limits of time, came floating up from a dark and dreary
+eternity; those who might have believed and lived, but who blasphemed or
+trifled, neglected and procrastinated, and finally perished!
+
+If we think of it, it is not the loss of health, or the loss of wealth,
+or the loss of friends, which forms the heaviest of trials, the deepest
+ground of soul sadness. _We_ put on the sable attire as emblems of
+mourning; but if we saw it as a weeping Jesus sees it, there is more
+real cause for sackcloth and ashes in the heart at enmity with God, and
+despising His salvation, trampling under foot His Son, and enacting
+over again the sad tragedy of Calvary.
+
+Reader! are you at this moment guilty of living on in a state of
+presumptuous impenitence--salvation unsought--Jesus a stranger--His name
+unhonoured--His Bible unread--His promises unappropriated--His wrath
+undreaded--defeating all His marvellous appliances of love, and
+remonstrance, and forbearance--meeting a prodigal expenditure of
+patience and long-suffering with cold and chilling indifference and
+neglect--casting away from you the hoarded riches of eternity which He
+has been holding out for your acceptance? In that sacred Bethany ground,
+as ye mark these falling tear-drops which dim His eye, there may have
+been a tear for _you_! Eighteen hundred years have since elapsed, but He
+to whom "a thousand years are as one day," marked even _then_ your
+present ungrateful apostacy or guilty alienation--there was a tear then
+which stole down that cheek on account of unrequited love?
+
+Is that tear to flow in vain? Are you to mock His tender sympathy still
+with cold formalism, or persisted-in impenitency? Are you to think of
+Bethany and its tear-drops and still go on in sin?
+
+Ah, never was sermon preached to an erring or impenitent sinner half so
+eloquent as _this_. Paul was not given to weeping, and it makes his
+fervid love of souls all the more striking when we find him confessing
+that he had wept like a child over those who were "enemies to the cross
+of Christ." We have often felt Paul's burning tears over hardened
+sinners to be touching and impressive. But what are they, after all, in
+comparison with those of Paul's Lord?
+
+He, the Great Sun of the World--the Sun of Righteousness, was to set in
+a few brief days behind the walls of ungrateful Jerusalem in darkness
+and blood--His last rays seem now lingering over the crest of
+Olivet--His tears seem to tell that He has clung till He can cling no
+more to the fond hope that an impenitent nation and guilty city will yet
+turn at His reproof, believe and live.
+
+And still does He linger among _us_. Though the night cometh, the beams
+of mercy are still tardily lingering, as if loth to leave the
+backsliding to their wanderings, or the impenitent to their own
+midnight of despair.
+
+O Reader! leave not _this_ subject--leave not the graveyard of Bethany
+till you think of Jesus as then weeping for _thee_. Yes! for _thee_--thy
+pitiable condition--thy perverse ingratitude--thy slighting of His
+warnings--thy grieving of His spirit--thy unkindness to _Him_--thine
+obstinate disregard of thine own everlasting interests. Let it be the
+most wondrous and heart-searching of all the memories of Bethany, that
+for thy soul--that traitor, truant, worthless soul--which like a stray
+planet He might have suffered to drift away from Himself into the
+blackness of eternal darkness--helpless, hopeless, ruined, lost!--Yes!
+that for _thee_, JESUS WEPT!
+
+    "And doth the Saviour weep
+       Over His people's sin,
+     Because we will not let Him keep
+       The souls He died to win?
+     Ye hearts that love the Lord,
+       If at this sight ye burn,
+     See that in thought, in deed, in word,
+       Ye hate what made Him mourn."
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+THE GRAVE STONE.
+
+
+They have now reached the grave. It was a rocky sepulchre. A flat stone
+(possibly with some Hebrew inscription) lay upon the mouth of it.
+
+In wondering amazement the sorrowing group follow the footsteps of the
+Saviour. "Behold how He loved him," whisper the Jews to one another as
+they witness His fast falling tears. Can His repairing thus to the tomb
+be anything more than to pay a mournful tribute to an honoured
+friendship, and behold the silent home of the loved dead? Nay; He is
+about, as the Lord of Life, to wrench away the swaddling-bands of
+corruption, to vindicate His name and prerogative as the "Abolisher of
+death"--to have the first-fruits of that vast triumph which, ages before
+the birth of time, He had anticipated with longing earnestness--"I will
+ransom them from the power of the grave, I will redeem them from death.
+O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction."
+
+Does He proceed forthwith to speak the word, and to accomplish the giant
+deed? He breaks silence. But we listen, in the first instance, not to
+the omnipotent summons, but to an address to the bystanders--"_Jesus
+said, Take ye away the stone!_"[15]
+
+What need of this parenthesis in His mighty work? Why this summoning in
+any feeble human agency when His own independent fiat could have
+effected the whole? Would it not have been a more startling
+manifestation of Omnipotence, by a mandate similar to that which chained
+the tempests of Tiberias, or the demoniac of Gadara, to have hurled the
+incumbent stone into fragments? Might not He who has "the keys of the
+grave and of death" have Himself unlocked the portals preparatory to the
+vaster prodigy that was to follow?
+
+Nay, there was a mighty lesson to be read in thus delegating human hands
+to remove the intervening barrier. The Church of the living God may, in
+every age, gather from it instruction!
+
+What, then, does the Saviour here figuratively, but significantly, teach
+His people? Is it not the important truth that, though dependent on Him
+for all they are, and all they have, they are not thereby released and
+exempted from the use of _means_? He alone can bring back Lazarus from
+his death-sleep. Martha and Mary may weep an ocean of tears, but they
+cannot weep him back. They may linger for days and nights in that lonely
+graveyard, making it resound with their bitter dirges, but their
+impassioned entreaties will be mocked with impressive silence. Too well
+do they know _that_ spirit is fled beyond their recall--the spark of
+life extinguished beyond any earthly rekindling!
+
+But though the word of Omnipotence can alone bring back the dead, human
+hands and human efforts can roll away the interjacent stone, and prepare
+for the performance of the miracle; and after the miracle _is_
+performed, human hands may again be called in to tear off the cerements
+of the tomb, to ungird the bandages from the restored captive, to
+"loose him and let him go!"
+
+This simple incident in the Bethany narrative admits of manifold
+practical applications. Let us look to it with reference to the mightier
+moral miracle of the Resurrection of the soul "dead in trespasses and
+sins." Jesus, and Jesus alone, can awake that soul from the deep slumber
+of its spiritual death, and invest it with the glories of a new
+resurrection-life. In vain can it awake of itself; no human skill can
+put animation into the moral skeleton. No power of human eloquence, no
+"excellency of man's wisdom," can open these rayless eyes, and pour
+life, and light, and hope into the dull caverns of the spiritual
+sepulchre. "Prophesy to the dry bones!"--We may prophesy for ever--we
+may wake the valley of vision by ceaseless invocations, but the dead
+will hear not. No bone of the spiritual skeleton will stir, for it is
+"not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts."
+
+But though it be a Divine work from first to last which effects the
+spiritual regeneration of man, are we from this presumptuously to
+disregard the use of means? Are prayer, and preaching, and human
+effort, and strenuous earnestness in the work of our high calling, are
+these all to be superseded, and pronounced unavailing and unnecessary?
+
+Nay, though man cannot wake to life his dormant spiritual
+energies--though these lie slumbering in the deep sleep of the sheeted
+dead, and nothing but Lazarus' Lord can break the moral trance--yet _he
+can use the appointed means_. He dare not be guilty of the monstrous
+inconsistency and crime of willingly allowing impediments to stand in
+the way of his spiritual revival which his own efforts may remove! He
+cannot expect his Lord to sound over his soul the gladdening accents of
+peace, and reconciliation, and joy, if some known sin be still lying,
+like the superincumbent grave-stone, which it is in his power to roll
+away, and at his peril if he suffer to remain!
+
+Christ is alone the "abolisher of death," and the "giver of life;" but
+notwithstanding this, "Roll ye away the stone!"--neglect not the means
+He has appointed and prescribed. If ye neglect prayer, and despise
+ordinances, and trifle with temptation, or venture on forbidden ground,
+ye are only making the intervening obstacle firmer and faster, and
+wilfully denuding yourselves of the gift of life. Naaman must plunge
+seven times in Jordan, else he cannot be made clean. To cleanse
+_himself_ of his leprosy he cannot, but to wash in Jordan _he can_. The
+Israelite must gaze on the brazen serpent; he cannot of himself heal one
+fevered wound, but to gaze on the appointed symbol of cure he can. In
+vain can the engines of war effect a breach on the walls of Jericho; but
+the hosts of Joshua can sound the appointed trumpet, and raise the
+prescribed shout, and the battlements in a moment are in the dust.
+Martha and Mary in vain can make their voices be heard in the "dull,
+cold ear of death," but at their Lord's bidding they can hurl back the
+outer portals where their dead is laid. They cannot unbind one fetter,
+but they can open with human hand the prison-door to admit the Divine
+Liberator.
+
+Let it not be supposed that in this we detract in any wise from the
+omnipotence of the Saviour's grace. God forbid! All is of grace, from
+first to last--free, sovereign grace. Man has no more merit in salvation
+than the beggar has merit in reaching forth his hand for alms, or in
+stooping down to drink of the wayside fountain. But neither must we
+ignore the great truth which God strives throughout His Word to impress
+upon us, that He works by _means_, and that for the neglect of these
+means we are ourselves responsible. Paul had the assurance given him by
+an angel from heaven, when tossed in the storm in Adria, that not one
+life in his vessel was to be lost; that though the ship was to be
+wrecked, all her crew were to come safe to land. But was there on this
+account any effort on his part relaxed to secure their safety? No! he
+toiled and laboured at the pumps and rigging and anchors as
+unremittingly as before; and when some of the sailors made the cowardly
+attempt, by lowering a small boat, to effect their own escape, the voice
+of the apostle was heard proclaiming, amid the storm, that unless they
+abode in the ship none could be saved!
+
+The true philosophy of the Gospel system is this, to feel as if much
+depended on ourselves; but at the same time entertaining the loftier
+conviction that _all_ depends upon God. Jesus, when He invites to the
+strait gate, does not inculcate remaining outside, in a state of
+passive and listless inaction, until the portals be seen to
+move by the Divine hand. His exhortation and command rather is,
+"Strive"--"knock"--_agonise_ to "enter in!" We are not to ascend to
+heaven, seated, like Elijah, in a chariot of fire, without toil or
+effort, but rather to "_fight_ the good fight of faith." The saying of
+the great Apostle is a vivid portraiture of what the Christian's
+feelings ought to be regarding personal holiness--"I laboured, ... yet
+not I, but the grace of God which was with me."
+
+As the Lord of Bethany gives the summons, "Roll ye away the stone," His
+words seem paraphrased in this other Scripture, "Work out your own
+salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you
+both to will and to do of his good pleasure." You may feel assured that
+He will not impose upon you one needless burden; He will not exact more
+than He knows your strength will bear; He will ask no Peter to come to
+Him on the water, unless He impart at the same time strength and support
+on the unstable wave; He will not demand of you the endurance of
+providences, and trials, and temptations you are unable to cope with;
+He will not ask you to draw water if the well is too deep, or withdraw
+the stone if too heavy. But neither, at the same time, will He admit as
+an impossibility that which, as a free and responsible agent, it is in
+your power to avert. He will not regard as your misfortune what is your
+crime. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me."
+
+Oh! let life be, more than it ever has been, one constant effort to roll
+away the stone from the moral sepulchre--carefully to remove every
+barrier between our souls and Jesus--looking forward to that glorious
+day when the voice of the Restorer shall be heard uttering the
+omnipotent "_Come forth!_" and to His angel assessors the mandate shall
+be given regarding the thronging myriads of risen dead, "_Loose them and
+let them go!_"
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+UNBELIEF.
+
+
+Man--short-sighted man--often raises impossibilities when God does not.
+It is hard for rebellious unbelief to lie submissive and still. In
+moments when the spirit might well be overawed into silence, it gives
+utterance to its querulous questionings and surmisings rather than
+remain obedient at the feet of Christ, reposing on the sublime aphorism,
+"All things are possible to him that believeth." In the mind of Martha,
+where faith had been so recently triumphant, doubt and unbelief have
+begun again to insinuate themselves. This "Peter of her sex" had
+ventured out boldly on the water to meet her Lord. She had owned Him as
+the giver of life, and triumphed in Him as her Saviour! But now she is
+beginning to sink. A natural difficulty presents itself to her mind
+about the removal of the incumbent grave-stone. She avers how needless
+its displacement would be, as by this time corruption must have begun
+its fatal work. Four brief days only had elapsed since the eye of
+Lazarus had beamed with fraternal affection. Now these lips must be
+"saying to corruption, Thou art my father; to the worm, Thou art my
+mother and my sister." Death, she felt, must now be stamping his
+impressive mockery on that cherished earthly friendship, and, attired in
+his most terrible insignia, putting the last fatal extinguisher on the
+glimmerings of her faith and hope. "What need is there, Lord," she seems
+to say, "for this redundant labour? My brother is far beyond the reach
+even of a voice like Thine. Why excite vain expectations in my breast
+which never can be realised? That grave has closed upon him for the 'for
+ever' of time. Nothing now can revoke the sentence, or reanimate the
+silent dust, save the trump of God on the final day."[16]
+
+Thus blindly did Martha reason. She can see no other object her Redeemer
+can have for the removal of the stone, save to gaze once more on a form
+and countenance He loved. Both for His sake, and the strangers
+assembled, she recoils from the thought of disclosing so humiliating a
+sight.
+
+Alas! how little are fitful frames and feelings to be trusted. Only a
+few brief moments before, she had made a noble protestation of her faith
+in the presence of her Lord. His own majestic utterances had soothed her
+griefs, dried her tears, and elicited the confession that He was truly
+the Son of God. But the sight of the tomb and its mournful
+accompaniments obliterate for a moment the recollection of better
+thoughts and a nobler avowal. She forgets that "things which are
+impossible with men are possible with God." She is guilty of "limiting
+the Holy One of Israel."
+
+How often is it so with us! How easy is it for us, like Martha, to be
+bold in our creed when there is nothing to cross our wishes, or dim and
+darken our faith. But when the hour of trial comes, how often does
+_sense_ threaten to displace and supplant the nobler antagonist
+principle! How often do we lose sight of the Saviour at the very moment
+when we most need to have Him continually in view! How often are our
+convictions of the efficacy of prayer most dulled and deadened just
+when the dark waves are cresting over our heads, and voices of unbelief
+are uttering the upbraiding in our ears, "Where is now thy God?" But
+will Jesus leave His people to their own guilty unbelieving doubts? Will
+Martha, by her unworthy insinuations, put an arrest on her Lord's arm;
+or will He, in righteous retribution for her faithlessness, leave the
+stone sealed, and the dead unraised?
+
+Nay! He loves His people too well to let their stupid unbelief and
+hardness of heart interfere with His own gracious purposes! How tenderly
+He rebukes the spirit of this doubter. "Why," as if He said, "Why
+distrust me? Why stultify thyself with these unbelieving surmises. Hast
+thou already forgotten my own gracious assurances, and thine own
+unqualified acceptance of them. My hand is never shortened that it
+cannot save; my ear is never heavy that it cannot hear. I can call the
+things which are not, and make them as though they were. Said I not unto
+thee, in that earnest conversation which I had a little ago outside the
+village, in which Gospel faith was the great theme, if thou wouldst
+believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God?"
+
+This Bethany utterance has still a voice,--a voice of rebuke and of
+comfort in our hours of trial. When, like aged Jacob, we are ready to
+say, "All these things are against me;" when we are about to lose the
+footsteps of a God of love, or _have_ perhaps lost them, there is a
+voice ready to hush into silence every unbelieving doubt and surmise.
+"Although thou sayest thou canst not see Him, yet judgment is before
+Him, therefore trust thou in Him." God often thus hides Himself from His
+people in order to try their faith, and elicit their confidence. He puts
+us in perplexing paths--"allures" and "brings into the wilderness,"
+only, however, that we may see more of Himself, and that He may "speak
+comfortably unto us." He lets our need attain its extremity, that His
+intervention may appear the more signal. He suffers apparently even His
+own promises to fail, that He may test the faith of His waiting
+people;--tutor them to "hope against hope," and to find, in _unanswered_
+prayers and baffled expectations, only a fresh reason for clinging to
+His all-powerful arm, and frequenting His mercy-seat. He dashes first
+to the ground our human confidences and refuges, shewing how utterly
+"vain is the help of man;" so that faith, with her own folded, dove-like
+wings, may repose in quiet confidence in His faithfulness, saying, "In
+the Lord put I my trust: why say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your
+mountain?"
+
+Reader! It would be well for you to hear this gentle chiding of Christ,
+too, in the moment of your _spiritual_ depression;--when complaining of
+your corruptions, the weakness of your graces, your low attainments in
+holiness, the strength of your temptations, and your inability to resist
+sin. "_Said I not unto thee_," interposes this voice of mingled reproof
+and love, "My grace is sufficient for thee?" "The bruised reed I will
+not break, the smoking flax I will not quench." "Look unto _Me_, and be
+ye saved, all the ends of the earth." We are too apt to look to
+_ourselves_, to turn our contemplation _inwards_, instead of keeping the
+eye of faith centered undeviatingly on a faithful covenant-keeping God,
+laying our finger on every promise of His Word, and making the challenge
+regarding each, "Hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he
+spoken, and shall he not bring it to pass?"
+
+Yes; there may be much to try and perplex. Sense and sight may stagger,
+and stumble, and fall; we may be able to see no break in the clouds;
+"deep may be calling to deep," and wave responding to wave, "yet the
+Lord will command his loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night
+his song shall be with me." If we only "_believe_" in spite of unbelief;
+hoping on, and praying on, and trusting on; like the great Father of the
+faithful, in the midst of adverse providences, "strong in faith, giving
+glory to God," He will yet cause the day-spring from on high to visit
+us. Even in _this_ world perplexing paths may be made plain, and
+slippery places smooth, and judgments "bright as the noonday;" but if
+not _here_, there _is_ at least a glorious day of disclosures at hand,
+when the reign of unbelieving doubt shall terminate for ever, when the
+archives of a chequered past will be ransacked of their every
+mystery;--all events mirrored and made plain in the light of eternity;
+and this saying of the weeping Saviour of Bethany obtain its true and
+everlasting fulfilment, "SAID I NOT UNTO THEE, IF THOU WOULDST BELIEVE,
+THOU SHOULDST SEE THE GLORY OF GOD?"
+
+
+
+
+XV.
+
+THE DIVINE PLEADER.
+
+
+The stone is rolled away, but there is a solemn pause just when the
+miracle is about to be performed.
+
+_Jesus prays!_ The God-Man Mediator--the Lord of Life--the Abolisher of
+Death--the Being of all Beings--who had the boundless treasures of
+eternity in His grasp--pauses by the grave of the dead, and lifts up His
+eyes to heaven in supplication! How often in the same incidents, during
+our Lord's incarnation, do we find His manhood and His Godhead standing
+together in stupendous contrast. At His birth, the mystic star and the
+lowly manger were together; at His death, the ignominious cross and the
+eclipsed sun were together. Here He weeps and prays at the very moment
+when He is baring the arm of Omnipotence. The "mighty God" appears in
+conjunction with "the man Christ Jesus." "His name is Immanuel, God with
+us."
+
+The body of Lazarus was now probably, by the rolling away of the stone,
+exposed to view. It was a humiliating sight. Earth--the grave--could
+afford no solace to the spectators. The Redeemer, by a significant act,
+shews them where alone, at such an hour, comfort can be found. He points
+the mourning spirit to its only true source of consolation and peace in
+God Himself, teaching it to rise above the mortal to the immortal--the
+corruptible to the incorruptible--from earth to heaven.
+
+Ah! there is nothing but humiliation and sadness in every view of the
+grave and corruption. Why dwell on the shattered casket, and not rather
+on the jewel which is sparkling brighter than ever in a better world?
+Why persist in gazing on the trophies of the last enemy, when we can
+joyfully realise the emancipated soul exulting in the plenitude of
+purchased bliss? Why fall with broken wing and wailing cry to the dust,
+when on eagle-pinion we can soar to the celestial gate, and learn the
+unkindness of wishing the sainted and crowned one back to the nether
+valley?
+
+It is _Prayer_, observe, which thus brings the eye and the heart near to
+heaven. It is _Prayer_ which opens the celestial portals, and gives to
+the soul a sight of the invisible.
+
+Yes; ye who may be now weeping in unavailing sorrow over the departed,
+remember, in conjunction with the _tears_, the _prayers_ of Jesus. Many
+a desolate mourner derives comfort from the thought--"Jesus wept."
+Forget not this other simple entry in our touching narrative, telling
+where the spirit should ever rest amid the shadows of death--"_Jesus
+lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard
+me. And I knew that Thou hearest me always._"[17]
+
+Let us gather for a little around this incident in the story of Bethany.
+It is one of the many golden sayings of priceless value.
+
+That utterance has at this moment lost none of its preciousness; that
+voice, silent on earth, is still eloquent in heaven. The Great
+Intercessor still is there, "walking in the midst of the seven golden
+candlesticks;" loving to note all the wants and weaknesses, the
+necessities and distresses, of every Church, and every member of His
+Church. What He said of old to Peter, He says to every trembling
+believer--"I _have_ prayed, and _am_ praying for _thee_, that thy faith
+fail not!" "For _thee_!" We must not merge the interest which Jesus has
+in each separate member of His family, in His intercession for the
+Church in general. While He lets down His censer, and receives into it,
+for presentation on the golden altar, the prayers of the vast aggregate;
+while, as the true High Priest, He enters the holiest of all with the
+names of His spiritual Israel on His breastplate--carrying the burden of
+their hourly needs to the foot of the mercy-seat;--yet still, He pleads,
+as if the case of _each_ stood separate and alone! He remembers _thee_,
+dejected Mourner, as if there were no other heart but thine to be
+healed, and no other tears but thine to be dried. His own words,
+speaking of believers, not collectively but individually, are these--"I
+will confess _his_ name before my Father and his angels."[18] "_Who_
+touched me?" was His interrogation once on earth, as His discriminating
+love was conscious of some special contact amid the press of the
+multitude,--"_Somebody_ hath touched me!" If we can say, in the language
+of Paul's appropriating faith, "He loved _me_, and gave Himself for
+_me_," we can add, He pleads for _me_, and bears _me_! He bears this
+very heart of _mine_, with all its weaknesses, and infirmities, and
+sins, before His Father's throne. He has engraven each stone of His Zion
+on the "palms of His hands," and "its walls are continually before Him!"
+
+How untiring, too, in His advocacy! What has the Christian so to
+complain of, as his own cold, unworthy prayers--mixed so with
+unbelief--soiled with worldliness--sometimes guiltily omitted or
+curtailed. Not the fervid ejaculations of those feelingly alive to their
+spiritual exigencies, but listless, unctionless, the hands hanging down,
+the knees feeble and trembling!
+
+But notwithstanding all, Jesus _pleads_! Still the Great Intercessor
+"waits to be gracious." He is at once Moses on the mountain, and Joshua
+on the battle-plain--fighting _with_ us in the one, praying _for_ us in
+the other. No Aarons or Hurs needed to sustain His sinking strength, for
+it is His sublime prerogative neither to "faint nor grow weary!" There
+is no loftier occupation for faith than to speed upwards to the throne
+and behold that wondrous Pleader, receiving at one moment, and at
+_every_ moment, the countless supplications and prayers which are coming
+up before Him from every corner of His Church. The Sinner just awoke
+from his moral slumber, and in the agonies of conviction, exclaiming,
+"What must I do to be saved?"--The Procrastinator sending up from the
+brink of despair the cry of importunate agony.--The Backslider wailing
+forth his bitter lamentation over guilty departures, and foul
+ingratitude, and injured love.--The Sick man feebly groaning forth, in
+undertones of suffering, his petition for succour.--The Dying, on the
+brink of eternity, invoking the presence and support of the alone arm
+which can be of any avail to them.--The Bereaved, in the fresh gush of
+their sorrow, calling upon Him who is the healer of the broken-hearted.
+But _all heard_! Every tear marked--every sigh registered--every
+suppliant succoured. Amalek may come threatening nothing but
+discomfiture; but that pleading Voice on the heavenly Hill is "greater
+far than all that can be against us!" He pleads for His elect in every
+phase of their spiritual history--He pleads for their inbringing into
+His fold--He pleads for their perseverance in grace--He pleads for their
+deliverance at once from the accusations and the power of Satan--He
+pleads for their growing sanctification;--and when the battle of life is
+over, He uplifts His last pleading voice for their complete
+glorification. The intercession of Jesus is the golden key which unlocks
+the gates of Paradise to the departing soul. At a saint's dying moments
+we are too often occupied with the lower _earthly_ scene to think of the
+_heavenly_. The tears of surrounding relatives cloud too often the more
+glorious revelations which faith discloses. But in the muffled stillness
+of that death-chamber, when each is holding his breath as the King of
+Terrors passes by--if we could listen to it, we should hear the "Prince
+who has power with God" thus uttering His final prayer, and on the
+rushing wings of ministering angels receiving an answer while He is yet
+speaking--"Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be
+with me where I am, that they may behold my glory!"
+
+Reader! exult more and more in this all-prevailing Advocate. See that ye
+approach the mercy-seat with no other trust but in His atoning work and
+meritorious righteousness. There was but _One_ solitary man of the whole
+human race who, of old, in the Jewish temple, was permitted to speak
+face to face with Jehovah. There is but ONE solitary Being in the vast
+universe of God who, in the heavenly sanctuary, can effectually plead in
+behalf of His Spiritual Israel. "Seeing, then, that we have a Great High
+Priest passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, ... let us come
+boldly to the throne of grace." If Jesus delights in asking, God
+delights in bestowing. Let us put our every want, and difficulty, and
+perplexity, in His hand, feeling the precious assurance, that all which
+is really good for us will be given, and all that is adverse will, in
+equal mercy, be withheld. There is no limitation set to our requests.
+The treasury of grace is flung wide open for every suppliant. "Verily,
+verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father _in my name_
+He will give it you." Surely we may cease to wonder that the Great
+Apostle should have clung with such intense interest to this elevating
+theme--the Saviour's _intercession_;--that in his brief, but most
+comprehensive and beautiful creed,[19] he should have so exalted, as he
+does, its relative importance, compared with other cognate truths. "It
+is Christ that died, _yea rather_, that is risen again, who is even at
+the right hand of God, _who also maketh intercession for us_." Climbing,
+step by step, in the upward ascent of Christian faith and hope, he seems
+only to "reach the height of his great argument" when he stands on "_the
+mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense_." _There_, gazing on the
+face of the great officiating Priest who fills all heaven with His
+fragrance, and feeling that against _that_ intercession the gates of
+hell can never prevail, he can utter the challenge to devils, and
+angels, and men, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"
+
+
+
+
+XVI.
+
+THE OMNIPOTENT SUMMONS.
+
+
+The moment has now come for the voice of Omnipotence to give the
+mandate. The group have gathered around the sepulchral grotto--the
+Redeemer stands in meek majesty in front--the teardrop still glistening
+in His eye, and that eye directed heavenward! Martha and Mary are gazing
+on His countenance in dumb emotion, while the eager bystanders bend over
+the removed stone to see if the dead be still there. Yes! _there_ the
+captive lies--in uninvaded silence--attired still in the same solemn
+drapery. The Lord gives the word. "_Lazarus come forth!_" peals through
+the silent vault. The dull, cold ear seems to listen. The pulseless
+heart begins to beat--the rigid limbs to move--_Lazarus lives_! He rises
+girt in the swaddling-bands of the tomb, once more to walk in the light
+of the living.
+
+Where Scripture is silent, it is vain for us to picture the emotions of
+that moment, when the weeping sisters found the gloomy hours of
+disconsolate sorrow all at once rolled away. The cry of mingled wonder
+and gratitude rings through that lonely graveyard,--"This our brother
+was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found!"
+
+O most wondrous power--Death vanquished in his own territory! The
+sleeper has awoke a moral Samson, snapping the withs with which the King
+of Terrors had bound him. The star of Bethlehem shines, and the Valley
+of Achor becomes a door of hope. The all-devouring destroyer has to
+relinquish his prey.
+
+Was the joy of that moment confined to these two bosoms? Nay! The Church
+of Christ in every age may well love to linger around the grave of
+Lazarus. In _his_ resurrection there is to His true people a sure pledge
+and earnest of their own. It was the first sheaf reaped by the mower's
+sickle anticipatory of the great Harvest-home of the Final day "when all
+that are in their graves" shall hear the same voice and shall "come
+forth."[20]
+
+Solemn, surely, is the thought that that same portentous miracle
+performed on Lazarus is one day to be performed on _ourselves_. Wherever
+we repose--whether, as _he_ did, in the quiet churchyard of our native
+village, or in the midst of the city's crowded cemetery, or far away
+amid the alien and stranger in some foreign shore, our dust shall be
+startled by that omnipotent summons. How shall we hear it? Would it
+sound in our ears like the sweet tones of the silver trumpet of Jubilee?
+Would it be to gaze like Lazarus on the face of our best friend--to see
+_Jesus_ bending over us in looks of tenderness--to hear the living tones
+of that same voice, whose accents were last heard in the dark valley,
+whispering hopes full of immortality? True, we have not to wait for a
+Saviour's love and presence till then. The hour of _death_ is to the
+Christian the birthday of endless life. Guardian angels are hovering
+around his dying pillow ready to waft his spirit into Abraham's bosom.
+"The souls of believers do _immediately_ pass into glory." But the full
+plenitude of their joy and bliss is reserved for the time when the
+precious but redeemed dust, which for a season is left to moulder in the
+tomb, shall become instinct with life--"the corruptible put on
+incorruption, and the mortal immortality." The spirits of the just enter
+at _death_ on "the inheritance of the saints in light;" but at the
+_Resurrection_ they shall rise as separate orbs from the darkness and
+night of the grave, each to "shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of
+their Father." However glorious the emancipation of the soul in the
+moment of dissolution, it is not until the plains and valleys of our
+globe shall stand thick with the living of buried generations--each
+glorified body the image of its Lord's--that the predicted anthem will
+be heard waking the echoes of the universe--"O death, where is thy
+sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" Then, with the organs of their
+resurrection-bodies ennobled, etherealised, purified from all the
+grossness of earth, they shall "behold the King in his beauty." "The
+King's daughter," all glorious without, "all glorious within"--"her
+clothing of wrought gold"--resplendent _without_ with the robes of
+righteousness--radiant _within_ with the beauties of holiness--shall be
+brought "with gladness and rejoicing," and "enter into the King's
+palace." This will form the full meridian of the saints' glory--the
+essence and climax of their new-born bliss--the full vision and fruition
+of a Saviour-God. "When He shall appear, ... we shall see Him as He is!"
+The first sight which will burst on the view of the Risen ones will be
+_Jesus_! _His_ hands will wreath the glorified brows, in presence of an
+assembled world, with the crown of life. From _His_ lips will proceed
+the gladdening welcome--"Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!"
+
+But this will not exhaust the elements of bliss in the case of the
+"perfected just" on the day of their final triumph. Though the presence
+of their adorable Redeemer would be enough, and more than enough, to
+fill their cup with happiness, there will be others also to welcome
+them, and to augment their joy. Lazarus' Lord was not _alone_ at the
+sepulchre's brink, at Bethany, ready to greet him back. Two loved
+sisters shared the joy of that gladsome hour. We are left to picture for
+ourselves the reunion, when, with hand linked in hand, they retraversed
+the road which had so recently echoed to the voice of mourning, and
+entered once more their home, radiant with a sunshine they had imagined
+to have passed away from it for ever!
+
+So will it be with the believer on the morning of the Resurrection.
+While his Lord will be _there_, waiting to welcome him, there will be
+others ready with their presence to enhance the bliss of that gladdening
+restoration. Those whose smiles were last seen in the death-chamber of
+earth, now standing--not as Martha and Mary, with the tear on their
+cheek and the furrow of deep sorrow on their brow, but robed and radiant
+in resurrection attire, glowing with the anticipations of an everlasting
+and indissoluble reunion!
+
+Can we anticipate, in the resurrection of Lazarus, our own happy
+history? Yes! _happier_ history, for it will not _then_ be to come forth
+once more, like _him_, into a weeping world, to renew our work and
+warfare, feeling that restoration to life is only but a brief reprieve,
+and that soon again the irrevocable sentence will and must overtake us!
+Not like _him_, going to a home still covered with the drapery of
+sorrow,--a few transient years and the mournful funeral tragedy to be
+repeated,--but to enter into the region of endless life--to pass from
+the dark chambers of corruption into the peace and glories of our
+Heavenly Father's joyous _Home_, and "so to be for ever with the Lord!"
+
+Sometimes it is with dying believers as with Lazarus. Their Lord, at the
+approach of death, _seems_ to be absent. He who gladdened their homes
+and their hearts in life, is, for some mysterious reason, away in the
+hour of dissolution; their spirits are depressed; their faith
+languishes; they are ready to say, "Where is now my God?" But as He
+returned to Bethany to awake His sleeping friend, so will it be with all
+his true people, on that great day when the arm of death shall be for
+ever broken. If _now_ united to Him by a living faith,--loved by Him as
+Lazarus was, and conscious, however imperfectly, of loving Him back in
+return,--we may go down to our graves, making Job's lofty creed and
+exclamation our own, "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall
+stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin worms
+destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."
+
+One remark more. We have listened to the Omnipotent fiat,--"Lazarus,
+come forth!" We have seen the ear of death starting at the summons, and
+the buried captive goes free! Shall we follow the family group within
+the hallowed precincts of the Bethany dwelling? Shall fancy pour her
+strange and mysterious queries into the ear of him who has just come
+back from that land "from whose bourne no traveller returns?" He had
+been, in a far truer sense than Paul in an after year, in "_Paradise_."
+He must have heard unspeakable and unutterable words, "which it is not
+possible for a man to utter." He had looked upon the Sapphire Throne. He
+had ranged himself with the adoring ranks. He had strung his harp to the
+Eternal Anthem. When, lo! an angel--a "ministering one"--whispers in his
+ear to hush his song, and speed him back again for a little season to
+the valley below.
+
+Startling mandate! Can we suppose a remonstrance to so strange a
+summons? What! to be uncrowned and unglorified!--Just after a few sips
+of the heavenly fountain, to be hurried away back again to the valley of
+Baca!--to gather up once more the soiled earthly garments and the
+pilgrim staff, and from the pilgrim rest and the victor's palm to
+encounter the din and dust and scars of battle! What!--just after having
+wept his final tear, and fought the last and the most terrible foe, to
+have his eye again dimmed with sorrow, and to have the thought before
+him of breasting a second time the swellings of Jordan!
+
+"The Lord hath need of thee," is all the reply, It is enough! He asks no
+more! That glorious Redeemer had left a far brighter throne and heritage
+for _him_. Lazarus, come forth! sounds in his old world-home, whence his
+spirit had soared, and in his beloved Master's words, on a mightier
+embassy, he can say,--"Lo, I come! I delight to do thy will, O my God."
+
+Or do other questions involuntarily arise? What was the nature of his
+happiness while "absent from the body?" What the scenery of that bright
+abode? Had he mingled in the goodly fellowship of prophets? Had he
+conversed with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob? Was his spirit
+stationary--hovering with a brotherhood of spirits within some holy
+limit--or, was he permitted to travel far and near in errands of love
+and mercy? Had Bethany been revisited during that mysterious interval?
+Had he been the unseen witness of the tears and groans of his anguished
+sisters?
+
+But hush, too, these vain inquiries. We dare not give rein to
+imagination where Inspiration is silent. There is a designed mystery
+about the circumstantials of a future state. Its scenery and locality we
+know nothing of. It is revealed to us only in its _character_. We are
+permitted to approach its gates, and to read the surmounting
+inscription,--"Without _holiness_ no man shall see the Lord." Further we
+cannot go. Be it ours, like Lazarus, to attain a meetness for heaven, by
+becoming more and more like Lazarus' Redeemer! "_We shall be_ LIKE HIM,"
+is the brief but comprehensive Bible description of that glorious world.
+Saviour-like _here_, we shall have heaven begun on earth, and lying down
+like Lazarus in the sweet sleep of death, when our Lord comes, on the
+great day-dawn of immortality, we shall be satisfied when we awake in
+_His likeness_!
+
+    "He that was dead rose up and spoke--He spoke!
+       Was it of that majestic world unknown?
+     Those words which first the bier's dread silence broke--
+       Came they with revelation in each tone?
+     Were the far cities of the nations gone,
+       The solemn halls of consciousness or sleep,
+     For man uncurtain'd by that spirit lone,
+       Back from the portal summon'd o'er the deep?
+     Be hush'd, my soul! the veil of darkness lay
+       Still drawn; therefore thy Lord called back the voice departed,
+       To spread His truth, to comfort the weak-hearted;
+     Not to reveal the mysteries of its way.
+       Oh! I take that lesson home in silent faith;
+       Put on submissive strength to _meet_, not _question_ DEATH."
+
+
+
+
+XVII.
+
+THE BOX OF OINTMENT.
+
+
+Once more we visit in thought a peaceful and happy home-scene in the
+same Bethany household. The severed links in that broken chain are again
+united.
+
+How often in a time of severe bereavement, when some "light of the
+dwelling" has suddenly been extinguished, does the imagination fondly
+dwell on the possibility of the wild dream of separation passing away;
+of the vacant seat being refilled by its owner the "loved and lost one"
+again restored. Alas! in all such cases, it is but a feverish vision,
+destined to know no fulfilment. Here, however, it was indeed a happy
+reality. "Lazarus is dead!" was the bitter dirge a few brief weeks ago;
+but now, "Lazarus lives." His silent voice is heard again--his dull eye
+is lighted again--the temporary pang of separation is only remembered
+to enhance the joy of so gladsome a reunion.
+
+It was on a Sabbath evening, the last Sabbath but one of the waning
+Jewish dispensation, when Spring's loveliness was carpeting the Mount of
+Olives and clothing with fresh verdure the groves around Bethany, that
+our blessed Redeemer was seen approaching the haunt of former
+friendship. He had for two months taken shelter from the malice of the
+Sanhedrim in the little town of Ephraim and the mountainous region of
+Perea, on the other side of the Jordan. But the Passover solemnity being
+at hand, and his own hour having come, he had "set His face steadfastly
+to go to Jerusalem." It is more than probable that for several days He
+had been travelling in the company of other pilgrims coming from Galilee
+on their way to the feast. He seems, however, to have left the festival
+caravan at Jericho, lingering behind with his own disciples in order to
+secure a private approach to the city of solemnities. They were
+completing their journey on the Sabbath referred to just as the sun was
+sinking behind the brow of Olivet, and, turning aside from the highway,
+they spent the night in their old Bethany retreat. Befitting tranquil
+scene for His closing Sabbath--a happy preparation for a season of trial
+and conflict! It is well worthy of observation, how, as His saddest
+hours were drawing near--the shadow of His cross projected on His
+path--Bethany becomes more and more endeared to Him. Night after night,
+during this memorable week, we shall find Him resorting to its cherished
+seclusion. As the storm is fast gathering, the vessel seeks for shelter
+in its best loved haven.[21]
+
+Imagine the joy with which the announcement would be received by the
+inmates--"Our Lord and Redeemer is once more approaching." Imagine how
+the great Conqueror of death would be welcomed into the home consecrated
+alike by His love and power. Now every tear dried! The weeping that
+endured for the long night of bereavement all forgotten. Ah! if Jesus
+were loved before in that happy home, how, we may well imagine, would
+He be adored and reverenced now. What a new claim had He established on
+their deepest affection and regard. Feelingly alive to all they owed
+Him, the restored brother and rejoicing sisters with hearts overflowing
+with gratitude could say, in the words of their Psalmist King--"Thou
+hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness, to the end that
+my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I
+will give thanks unto thee for ever!"
+
+But does the love and affection of that household find expression in
+nothing but words? Supper is being made ready. While Martha, with her
+wonted activity, is busied preparing the evening meal--doing her best to
+provide for the refreshment of the travellers--the gentle spirit of Mary
+(even if her name had not been given, we should have known it was she)
+prompts her to a more significant proof of the depth of her gratitude.
+Some fragrant ointment of spikenard--contained, as we gather from the
+other Evangelists, in a box of Alabaster--had been procured by her at
+great cost;[22] either obtained for this anticipated meeting with her
+Lord, or it may in some way have fallen into her possession, and been
+sacredly kept among her treasured gifts till some befitting occasion
+occurred for its employment. Has not that occasion occurred now? On whom
+can her grateful heart more joyously bestow this garnered treasure than
+on her beloved Lord. With her own hands she pours it on His feet.
+Stooping down, she wipes them, in further token of her devotion, with
+her loosened tresses, till the whole apartment was filled with the sweet
+perfume.
+
+And what was it that constituted the value of this tribute--the beauty
+and expressiveness of the action? _She gave her Lord the best thing she
+had!_ She felt that to Him, in addition to what He had done for her own
+soul, she owed the most valued life in the world.
+
+    "Her eyes are homes of silent prayer,
+       Nor other thought her mind admits;
+       But, he was dead, and there he sits,
+     And He that brought him back is there.
+
+    "Then one deep love doth supersede
+       All other, when her ardent gaze
+       Roves from the living brother's face
+     And rests upon the Life indeed.
+
+    "All subtle thought, all curious fears,
+       Borne down by gladness so complete;
+       She bows, she bathes the Saviour's feet
+     With costly spikenard and with tears."[23]
+
+What a lesson for us! Are we willing to give our Lord the best of what
+we have--to consecrate time, talents, strength, life, to His service?
+Not as many, to give Him the mere dregs and sweepings of existence--the
+wrecks of a "worn and withered love"--but, like Mary, anxious to take
+every opportunity and occasion of testifying the depth of obligation
+under which we are laid to Him? Let us not say--"My sphere is lowly, my
+means are limited, my best offerings would be inadequate." Such,
+doubtless, were the very feelings of that humble, diffident, yet loving
+one, as she crept noiselessly to where her pilgrim-Lord reclined, and
+lavished on His weary limbs the costliest treasure she possessed.
+Hundreds of more imposing deeds--more princely and munificent
+offerings--may have been left unrecorded by the Evangelists; but
+"wherever this Gospel shall be preached, in the whole world, there shall
+also this that this woman hath done be told for a memorial of her."[24]
+
+Would that love to "that same Jesus" were with all of us more paramount
+than it is! "Lovest thou Me _more than these_" is His own searching test
+and requirement. Is it so?--Do we love Him more than self or sin--more
+than friends or home--more than any earthly object or earthly good; and
+are we willing, if need be, to make a sacrifice for His glory and for
+the honour of His cause? Happy for us if it be so. There will be a joy
+in the very consciousness of making the effort, feeble and unworthy as
+it may be, for His sake, and in acknowledgment of the great love
+wherewith He hath loved us.
+
+    "Thrice blest, whose lives are faithful prayers,
+       Whose loves in higher Love endure;
+       Whose souls possess themselves so pure,
+     Or is there blessedness like theirs?"
+
+Let it be our privilege and delight to give Him our pound of spikenard,
+whatever that may be; and if we can give no other, let us offer the
+fragrant perfume of holy hearts and holy lives. _That_ religion is
+always best which reveals itself by its effects--by kindness,
+gentleness, amiability, unselfishness, flowing from a principle of
+grateful love to Him who, though unseen, has been to us as to the family
+of Bethany--Friend, and Help, and Guide, and Portion. Mary's honour was
+great to anoint her Lord, but the lowliest and humblest of His people
+may do the same. We may have no aromatic offering, neither "gold, nor
+frankincense, nor myrrh;" but My son, My daughter, "give Me thine
+heart." "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a
+contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."
+
+Nor ought we to forget our blessed Lord's reply, when Judas objected to
+the waste of the ointment--"Let her alone; ... the poor ye have always
+with you, _but Me ye have not always_." Let us seek to make the most of
+our Lord's visits while we have Him. The visits of Jesus to Bethany were
+soon to be over;--so also with us. He will not always linger on our
+thresholds, if our souls refuse to receive Him, or yield Him nothing but
+coldness and ingratitude in return for His love. "Me ye have not
+always." Soon may sickness incapacitate for active service! Soon may
+opportunities for doing good be gone, and gone for ever! Soon may death
+overtake us, and the alabaster box be left behind, unused and
+unemployed; the dying regret on our lips--"Oh that I had done more while
+I lived for this most precious Saviour! but opportunities of testifying
+my gratitude to Him are now gone beyond recall." Good deeds performed on
+Gospel motives, though unknown and unvalued by the world, will not go
+unrecompensed or unowned by Him who values the cup of cold water given
+in His name. "God is not unmindful to forget our work of faith and our
+labour of love." The Lamb's Book of Life registers every such deed of
+lowly piety; and on the Great Day of account "it shall be produced to
+our eternal honour, and rewarded with a reward of grace; though not of
+debt."
+
+Let us bear in mind, also, that every holy service of unostentatious
+love exercises a hallowed influence on those around us. We may not be
+conscious of such. But, if Christians indeed, the sphere in which we
+move will, like the Bethany home, be redolent with the ointment perfume.
+A holy life is a silent witness for Jesus--an incense-cloud from the
+heart-altar, breathing odours and sweet spices, of which the world
+cannot fail to take knowledge. Yes! were we to seek for a beautiful
+allegorical representation of pure and undefiled Religion, we would find
+it in this loveliest of inspired pictures. Mary--all silent and
+submissive at the feet of her Lord--only permitting her love to be
+disclosed by the holy perfume which, unknown to herself, revealed to
+others the reality and intensity of her love. True religion is quiet,
+unobtrusive, seeking the shade--its ever-befitting attitude at the feet
+of Jesus, looking to Him as all in all. Yet, though retiring, it _must_
+and _will_ manifest its living and influential power. The heart broken
+at the cross, like Mary's broken box, begins from that hour to give
+forth the hallowed perfume of faith, and love, and obedience, and every
+kindred grace. Not a fitful and vacillating love and service, but _ever_
+emitting the fragrance of holiness, till the little world of home
+influence around us is filled with the odour of the ointment.
+
+    "I ask Thee for the daily strength,
+       To none that ask denied;
+     And a mind to blend with outward life,
+       While keeping by Thy side;
+     Content to fill a little space
+       If Thou be glorified.
+
+    "And if some things I do not ask
+       In my cup of blessings be,
+     I would have my spirit fill'd the more
+       With grateful love to Thee--
+     More careful not to serve Thee _much_,
+       But to please Thee perfectly."
+
+Such is a brief sketch of this beautiful domestic scene, and its main
+practical lessons,--a green spot on which the eye will ever love to
+repose, among the "Memories of Bethany." It is unnecessary to advert to
+the controverted question, as to whether the description of the
+anointing, which took place in the house of Simon the leper (as recorded
+in Matt. xxvi. 6-14, and Mark xiv. 3), and where the alabaster box is
+spoken of, be identical with this passage, or whether they refer to two
+distinct occasions. The question is of no great importance in
+itself--the former view (that they are descriptions of one and the same
+event) seems the more probable. It surely gives a deep intensity to the
+interest of the narrative to imagine the Leper and the raised dead man,
+seated at the same table together with their common Deliverer,
+glorifying their Saviour-God, with bodies and spirits they felt now to
+be doubly _His_! Simon, it is evident, must have been cured of his
+disease, else, by the Jewish law, he dared not have been associating
+with his friends at a common meal. How was he cured? How else may we
+suppose was that inveterate malady subdued but by the omnipotent word of
+_Him_, who had only to say,--"I will, be thou made whole!" May we not
+regard him as a standing miracle of Jesus' power over the diseased body,
+as Lazarus was the living trophy of His power over death and the grave.
+The one could testify,--"This poor man cried, and the Lord saved him,
+and delivered him out of all his troubles." The other,--"Unless the Lord
+had been my help, my soul must now have dwelt in silence!"
+
+In order to explain the circumstance of this family meeting being in the
+house of _Simon_, there have not been wanting advocates for the
+supposition, that the restored leper may have been none other than the
+_parent_ of the household.[25] It is not for us to hazard conjectures,
+where Scripture has thrown no light. Even when sanctioned by venerated
+names, the most plausible hypothesis should be received with that
+caution requisite in dealing with what is supported exclusively by
+traditional authority. Were, however, such a view as we have indicated
+correct (which is just possible, and there is nothing in the face of the
+narrative to render it _improbable_), it certainly would impart a new
+and fresh beauty to the picture of this Feast of gratitude. Well might
+the _parent's_ heart swell within him with more than ordinary emotions!
+_Himself_ plucked a victim from the most loathsome of diseases! He
+would think, with tearful eye, of the dark dungeon of his
+banishment--the lazar-house, where he had been gloomily excluded from
+all fellowship with human sympathies and loving hearts. His own children
+condemned by a severe but righteous necessity to shun his presence--or
+when within sound of human footfall or human voice, compelled to make
+known his presence with the doleful utterance,--"Unclean! Unclean!" He
+would think of that wondrous moment in his history, when, shunned by
+_man_, the GOD-MAN drew near to him, and with one glance of His love,
+and one utterance of His power, He bade the foul disease for ever away!
+
+Nor was this all that Simon (if he _were_, indeed, the father of the
+family) must have felt. What must have been those emotions, too deep for
+utterance, as he gazed on the son of his affections, seated once more by
+his side! A short time ago, Lazarus had been laid silent in the
+adjoining sepulchre--Death had laid his cold hand upon him--the pride of
+his home had been swept down. But the same Almighty friend who had
+caused his own leprosy to depart, had given him back his lost one. They
+were rejoicing together in the presence of Him to whom they owed life
+and all its blessings. Oh, well might "the voice of rejoicing and
+salvation be heard in the tabernacles of these righteous!" Well might
+the head of the household dictate to Mary to "bring forth their best"
+and bestow it on their Deliverer--the costliest gift which the dwelling
+contained--the prized and valued box of alabaster, and pour its contents
+on His feet! We can imagine the burden, if not the words, of their joint
+anthem of praise,--"Bless the Lord, O our souls, and forget not all his
+benefits, who forgiveth all our iniquities, who healeth all our
+diseases, who redeemeth our lives from destruction, and crowneth us with
+loving-kindness and with tender mercy."
+
+But be all this as it may, that same great Physician of Souls still
+waits to be gracious. He healeth ALL our diseases. Young and old, rich
+and poor, every type of spiritual malady has in Him and His salvation
+its corresponding cure. The same Lord is rich to all that call upon Him.
+The ardent Martha, the contemplative Mary, the aged Simon, Lazarus the
+loving and beloved--He has proved friend, and help, and Saviour to
+_all_; and in their several ways they seek to give expression to the
+depth of their gratitude. Happy home! may there be many such amongst us!
+Fathers, brothers, sisters, "loving one another with a pure heart
+fervently," and loving Jesus more than all--and themselves in Jesus!
+Seeking to have _Him_ as the ever-welcomed guest of their
+dwelling--feeling that all they _have_, and all they _are_, for time or
+for eternity, they owe to _Him_ who has "brought them out of the
+horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set their feet upon a rock,
+and established their goings, and put a new song in their mouth, even
+praise unto our God!"
+
+Yes! having the Lord, we have what is better and more enduring than the
+best of earthly ties and earthly homes. This must have been impressed
+with peculiar force on aged John, as in distant Ephesus he penned the
+memories of this evening feast. Where were _then_ all its guests?--the
+recovered leper, the risen Lazarus, the devout sisters, the ardent
+disciples--all _gone_!--none but himself remained to tell the touching
+story. _Nay_, _not_ all!--ONE remained amid this wreck of buried
+friendship--the adorable Being who had given to that Bethany feast all
+its imperishable interest was still within him and about him. The rocky
+shores of Patmos, and the groves around Ephesus, echoed to the
+well-remembered tones of the same voice of love. His _best Friend_ was
+still left to take loneliness from his solitude. He writes as if he were
+still reclining on that sacred bosom--"Truly our fellowship is with the
+Father and with his Son Jesus Christ!"
+
+Reader! take "that same Jesus" now as your Friend--receive Him as the
+guest of your soul; and when other guests and other friendships are
+vanished and gone, and you may be left like John, as the alone survivor
+of a buried generation;--"alone! you will yet be _not_ alone!"--lifting
+your furrowed brow and tearful eye to Heaven, you may exclaim, "Who
+shall separate me from the love of Christ?"
+
+
+
+
+XVIII.
+
+PALM BRANCHES.
+
+
+We have just been contemplating a beautiful episode in the Bethany
+Memories--a gleam amid gathering clouds. _Martha_, _Mary_, and
+_Lazarus_! With what happy hearts did they hail the presence of their
+Lord on the evening of that Jewish Sabbath! Little did they anticipate
+the events impending. Little did they dream that their Almighty
+Deliverer and Friend would that day week be sleeping in His own grave!
+
+These were indeed eventful hours on which they had now entered. The stir
+through Palestine of the thousands congregating in the earthly Jerusalem
+to the great Paschal Feast, was but a feeble type of the profound
+interest with which myriad angel-worshippers in the Jerusalem above were
+gathering to witness the offering of the True Paschal Sacrifice, "the
+Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
+
+On the morning after the supper at Bethany (probably that of our
+Sabbath), the Saviour rose from His couch of needed rest to approach
+Jerusalem. The reserve hitherto maintained as to His kingly power is now
+to be set aside. "The hour is come in which the Son of man is to be
+glorified." BETHANY is one of the few places associated with
+recollections of the Redeemer's royalty. The "despised and rejected" is,
+for once, the honoured and exalted. It is a glimpse of the crown before
+He ascends the cross; a foreshadowing of that blessed period when He
+shall be hailed by the loud acclaim of earth's nations--the Gentile
+hosannah mingling with the Hebrew hallelujah in welcoming Him to the
+throne of universal empire.
+
+Multitudes of the assembled pilgrims in the city, who had heard of His
+arrival, crowded out to Bethany to witness the mysterious Being, whose
+deeds of mercy and miracle had now become the universal theme of
+converse. His mightiest prodigy of power in the resurrection of Lazarus
+had invested His name and person with surpassing interest. We need not
+wonder, therefore, that "the town of Mary and her sister Martha" should
+attract many worshippers from Jerusalem, to behold with their own eyes
+at once the restored villager and his Divine Deliverer! In fulfilment of
+Zechariah's prophecy, the meek and lowly Nazarene, seated on no
+caparisoned war-horse, but on an unbroken colt, and surrounded with the
+multitude, sets forth on His journey.[26] "The village and the desert
+were then all alive (as they still are once every year at the Greek
+Easter) with the crowd of Paschal pilgrims moving to and fro between
+Bethany and Jerusalem. ... Three pathways lead, and probably always led,
+from Bethany; ... one a long circuit over the northern shoulder of Mount
+Olivet, down the valley which parts it from Scopus; another, a steep
+footpath over the summit; the third, the natural continuation of the
+road by which mounted travellers always approach the city from Jericho,
+over the southern shoulder between the summit which contains the Tombs
+of the Prophets, and that called the 'Mount of Offence.' There can be no
+doubt that this last is the road of the entry of Christ, not only
+because, as just stated, it is, and must always have been, the usual
+approach for horsemen and for large caravans such as then were
+concerned, but also because this is the only one of the three approaches
+which meets the requirements of the narrative which follows. ... This is
+the only one approach which is really grand. It is the approach by which
+the army of Pompey advanced, the first European army that ever
+confronted it. Probably the first impression of every one coming from
+the north-west and the south may be summed up in the simple expression
+used by one of the modern travellers--'I am strangely affected, but
+greatly disappointed!' But no human being could be disappointed who
+first saw Jerusalem from the east. The beauty consists in this, that you
+then burst at once on the two great ravines which cut the city off from
+the surrounding table-land.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Two vast streams of people met on that day. The one poured out from the
+city, and as they came through the gardens whose clusters of palms rose
+on the south-eastern corner of Olivet, they cut down the long branches,
+as was their wont at the Feast of Tabernacles, and moved upwards towards
+Bethany with loud shouts of welcome. From Bethany streamed forth the
+crowds who had assembled there on the previous night, and who came
+testifying to the great event at the sepulchre of Lazarus. The road soon
+loses sight of Bethany. It is now a rough, but still broad and
+well-defined mountain track, winding over rock and loose stones,--a
+steep declivity below on the left; the sloping shoulder of Olivet above
+on the right. Along this road the multitudes threw down the branches
+which they cut as they went along, or spread out a rude matting formed
+of the palm branches they had already cut as they came out. The larger
+portion (those perhaps who escorted Him from Bethany) unwrapped their
+loose cloaks from their shoulders, and stretched them along the rough
+path, to form a momentary carpet as he approached. The two streams met
+midway. Half of the vast mass, turning round, preceded; the other half
+followed. Gradually the long procession swept up and over the ridge,
+where first begins the 'descent of the Mount of Olives,' towards
+Jerusalem. At this point the first view is caught of the south-eastern
+corner of the city. The Temple and the more northern portions are hid by
+the slope of Olivet on the right; what is seen is only Mount Zion,
+covered with houses to its base, surmounted by the castle of Herod on
+the supposed site of the palace of David, from which that portion of
+Jerusalem, emphatically 'The City of David,' derived its name. It was at
+this precise point, as he drew near, at the descent of the Mount of
+Olives, (may it not have been from the sight thus opening upon them?)
+that the shout of triumph burst forth from the multitude--'Hosannah to
+the Son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!
+Blessed is the kingdom that cometh of our father David.
+Hosannah--Peace--Glory in the highest!' There was a pause as the shout
+rang through the long defile; and as the Pharisees who stood by in the
+crowd complained, He pointed to the 'stones,' which, strewn beneath
+their feet, would immediately 'cry out' if 'these were to hold their
+peace.' Again the procession advanced. The road descends a slight
+declivity, and the glimpse of the city is again withdrawn behind the
+intervening ridge of Olivet. A few moments, and the path mounts again,
+it climbs a rugged ascent, it reaches a ledge of smooth rock, and in an
+instant the whole city bursts into view. As now the dome of the Mosque
+El Aksa rises like a ghost from the earth before the traveller stands on
+the ledge, so then must have risen the Temple Tower; as now the vast
+enclosure of the Mussulman Sanctuary, so then must have spread the
+Temple Courts; as now the gray town on its broken hills, so then the
+magnificent city with its background (long since vanished away) of
+gardens and suburbs on the western plateau behind. Immediately below was
+the valley of the Kedron, here seen in its greatest depth, as it joins
+the valley of Hinnom; and thus giving full effect to the great
+peculiarity of Jerusalem, seen only on its eastern side--its situation
+as of a city rising out of a deep abyss. It is hardly possible to doubt
+that this rise and turn of the road (this rocky ledge) was the exact
+point where the multitude paused again, and 'He, when He beheld the
+city, wept over it.' ... Here the Lord stayed His onward march, and here
+His eyes beheld what is still the most impressive view which the
+neighbourhood of Jerusalem furnishes--and the tears rushed forth at the
+sight."[27]
+
+Without dwelling longer on this splendid ovation, we may only further
+remark, that had the Redeemer's mission been on (the infidel theory) a
+successful imposture, what an opportunity now to have availed Himself of
+that outburst of popular fervour, and to have marched straight to take
+possession of the hereditary throne of David. The populace were
+evidently more than ready to second any such attempt; the Sanhedrim and
+Jewish authorities must have trembled for the result. The hosannas,
+borne on the breeze from the slope of Olivet, could not fail to sound
+ominous of coming disaster. So incontrovertible indeed had been the
+proof of Lazarus' resurrection, that only the most blinded bigotry could
+refuse to own in that marvellous act the divinity of Jesus. In addition,
+too, to this last crowning demonstration of omnipotence, there were
+hundreds, we may well believe, in that procession, who, in different
+parts of Palestine, had listened to His gracious words, and witnessed
+His gracious deeds. What _other_, what _better_ Messiah could they wish
+than this--combining the might of Godhead with the kindness and
+tenderness of a human philanthropist and friend? Is He to accept of the
+crown? Nay, by a lofty abnegation of self, and all selfish
+considerations, He illustrates the announcement made by Him, a few hours
+later, in Pilate's judgment-hall, as to the leading characteristic of
+that empire He is to set up in the hearts of men--"My kingdom is not of
+this world." He was, indeed, one day to be hailed alike King of Zion and
+King of Nations, but a bitter baptism of blood and suffering had
+meanwhile to be undergone. No glitter of earthly honour--no carnal
+dreams of earthly glory--would divert Him from His divine and gracious
+undertaking. He would save _others_--Himself He _would_ not save.
+
+Let us pause for a moment, and ponder that significant chorus of praise
+which on Olivet arose to the Lord of Glory. How interesting to think of
+the vast and varied multitude gathered around the Conqueror! Many,
+doubtless, assembled from curiosity, who had never seen Him before, and
+had only heard of His fame in their distant homes; others, from feelings
+of personal love and gratitude, were blending their voices in the shout
+of welcome. Think, it may be, of Bartimeus, now gazing with his unsealed
+eyes on his Divine Deliverer. Think of Mary Magdalene, her heart gushing
+at the remembrance of her own sin and shame, and her adorable Redeemer's
+pardoning and forgiving mercy! Nicodemus, perhaps, no longer seeking to
+repair by stealth, under the shadow of night, to hold a confidential
+meeting; but in the full blaze of day, and before assembled Israel,
+boldly recognising in "the Teacher sent from God" the promised Messiah,
+the Prince of Peace, the Redeemer of Mankind. Shall we think of Lazarus
+too, fearless of his own personal safety, venturing to follow his guest
+with tearful eye, the multitude gazing with wonder on this living trophy
+of death? We may think of the very children, as He entered the temple,
+uplifting their infant voices in the general welcome--pledges of the
+myriad little ones who, in future ages, were to have an interest in "the
+kingdom of God."
+
+    "Meanwhile He paces through th' adoring crowd,
+     Calm as the march of some majestic cloud
+     That o'er wild scenes of ocean war
+     Holds its still course in Heaven afar.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    "Yet in the throng of selfish hearts untrue,
+     His sad eye rests upon His faithful few;
+     Children and child-like souls are there,
+     Blind Bartimeus' humble prayer;
+     And Lazarus, waken'd from his four days' sleep,
+     Enduring life again that Passover to keep."[28]
+
+May not Olivet be regarded on this occasion as a type of the Church
+triumphant in Heaven--Jesus enthroned in the affections of a mighty
+multitude which no man can number--old and young, great and small, rich
+and poor--casting their palms of victory at His feet, and ascribing to
+Him all the glory of their great salvation?
+
+Let _us_ ask, have _we_ received Jesus as _our_ King?--have _our_ palm
+branches been cast at His feet? Feeling that He is alike willing and
+mighty to save, have we joined in the rapture of praise--"Blessed is He
+that cometh in the name of the Lord to save us?" Have our hearts become
+living temples thrown open for His reception? Is this the motto and
+superscription on their portals--"This is the gate of the Lord, into
+which THE RIGHTEOUS ONE shall enter!" Jesus refused and disowned none of
+these gratulations--He spurned no voice in all that motley Jerusalem
+throng. There were endless diversities and phases, doubtless, of human
+character and history there. The once proud formalist, the once greedy
+extortioner, the hated tax-gatherer, the rich nobleman, the child of
+penury, the Roman officer, the peasant or fisherman of Galilee, the
+humbled publican, the woman from the city, the reclaimed victim of
+misery and guilt! All were there as types and samples of that
+diversified multitude who, in every age, were to own Him as King, and
+receive His gracious benediction.
+
+We have spoken of this incident as a glimpse of glory before His
+sufferings. Alas! it _was_ but a glimpse. What a picture of the
+fickleness and treachery of the heart!--That excited populace who are
+now shouting their hosannahs, are ere long to be raising the cry,
+"Crucify Him, crucify Him!" Four days hence we shall find the palm
+branches lying withered on the Bethany road, and the blazing torches of
+an assassin-band nigh the very spot where He is now passing with an
+applauding retinue! "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his
+nostrils."
+
+It does not belong to our narrative to record the remaining transactions
+of this day in Jerusalem. The shades of evening find the Saviour once
+more repairing to Bethany. The evangelist _Mark_, in the course of his
+narrative, simply but touchingly says:--"And Jesus entered into
+Jerusalem, and into the temple, and when He had looked round about upon
+all things" (the mitred priests, the bleeding victims, the costly
+buildings), "and now the eventide was come, he went out unto BETHANY
+with the twelve." (Mark xi. 11.) As He returned to the sweet calm of
+that quiet home, if He could not fail to think of the hours of darkness
+and agony before Him, could He reap no joy or consolation in the
+thought, that that very day week the redemption of His people was to be
+consummated--the glory that surrounded the grave and resurrection of
+Lazarus was to be eclipsed by the marvels of His own!
+
+
+
+
+XIX.
+
+THE FIG-TREE.
+
+
+The hosannahs of yesterday had died away--the memorials of its triumph
+were strewed on the road across Olivet--as, early on the Monday morning,
+while the sun was just appearing above the Mountains of Moab, the Divine
+Redeemer left His Bethany retreat, and was seen retraversing the
+well-worn path to Jerusalem. Here and there, in the "olive-bordered
+way," were Fig plantations. The adjoining village of Bethphage derived
+its name from the Green Fig.[29] Indeed, "fig-trees may still be seen
+overhanging the ordinary road from Jerusalem to Bethany, growing out of
+the rocks of the solid mountain, which, by the prayer of faith, might
+'be removed and cast into the (distant Mediterranean) Sea.'"[30] An
+incident connected with one of these is too intimately identified with
+the Redeemer's last journeys to and from the home of His friend to admit
+of exclusion from our "Bethany Memories." These memories have hitherto,
+for the most part, in connexion at least with our blessed Lord, been
+soothing, hallowed, encouraging. Here the "still small voice" is for
+once broken with sterner accents. In contrast with the bright background
+of other sunny pictures, we have, standing out in bold relief, a
+withered, sapless stem, impressively proclaiming, in unwonted utterances
+of wrath and rebuke, that the same hand is "strong to smite," which we
+have witnessed so lately in the case of Lazarus was "strong to save."
+
+The eye of Jesus, as he traversed the rocky path with His disciples,
+rested on a _Fig-tree_. (Mark xi. 12, 13.) It seems not to have been
+growing alone, but formed part of a group or plantation on one of the
+slopes or ravines of Olivet. Its appearance could not fail to challenge
+attention. It was now only the Passover season (the month of April);
+summer--the time for ripe figs--was yet distant; and as it is one of
+the peculiarities of the tree that the fruit appears _before_ the
+leaves, a considerable period, in the ordinary course of nature, ought
+to have elapsed before the foliage was matured. Jesus Himself, it will
+be remembered, on another occasion, spake of the putting forth of the
+fig-tree leaves as an indication that "_summer_ was nigh." It must have
+been, therefore, a strange and unusual sight which met the eye of the
+travellers as they gazed, in early spring, on one of these trees with
+its full complement of leaves--clad in full summer luxuriance. While the
+others in the plantation, true to the order of development, were yet
+bare and leafless, or else the buds of spring only flushing them with
+verdure, the broad leaves of this precocious (and we may think at first
+_favoured_) plant--the pioneer of surrounding vegetation--rustled in the
+morning breeze, and invited the passers-by to turn aside, examine the
+marvel, and pluck the fruit.
+
+We may confidently infer that Jesus, as the Omniscient Lord of the
+inanimate creation, knew well that fruit there was none under that
+pretentious foliage. We dare not suppose that He went expecting to find
+Figs; far less, that in a moment of disappointed hope, He ventured on a
+capricious exercise of His power, uttered a hasty malediction, and
+condemned the insensate boughs to barrenness and decay. The first
+cursory reading of the narrative may suggest some such unworthy
+impression. But we dismiss it at once, as strangely at variance with the
+Saviour's character, and strangely unlike His wonted actings. We feel
+assured that He literally, as well as figuratively, would not "break the
+bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax." He came, in all respects,
+"not to destroy, but to save." Some deep inner meaning, not apparent on
+the surface of the inspired story, must have led Him for the moment to
+regard a tree in the light of a responsible agent, and to address it in
+words of unusual severity.
+
+What, then, is the explanation? Our Lord on this occasion revives the
+old typical or picture-teaching with which the Hebrews were to that hour
+so familiar. He, as the greatest of prophets, adopts the significant and
+impressive method, not unfrequently employed by the Seers of Israel,
+who, in uttering startling and solemn truths, did so by means of
+_symbolic actions_. As Jeremiah of old dashed the potter's vessel down
+the Valley of Hinnom, to indicate the judgments that were about to
+befall Jerusalem; or, at another time, wore around his own neck a wooden
+yoke, to intimate their approaching bondage under the King of Babylon;
+or, as Isaiah "walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and
+wonder upon Egypt and Ethiopia," so did our Lord now invest a tree in
+dumb nature with a prophet's warning voice, and make its stripped and
+blighted boughs eloquent of a nation's doom!
+
+On the height of their own Olivet, looking down, as it were, on
+Jerusalem, that fig-tree becomes a stern messenger of woe and vengeance
+to the whole house of Judah. Often before had he warned by His _words_
+and _tears_; now He is to make an insignificant object in the outer
+world take up His prophecy, and testify to the degenerate people at once
+the cause, the suddenness, and the certainty of their destruction! Let
+us join, then, the Master and His disciples, as they stand on the crest
+above Bethany, and, gazing on that fruitless leaf-bearer, "hear this
+parable of the fig-tree."[31]
+
+Jesus, on approaching it (it seemed to be at a little distance from
+their path), and finding abundance of leaves, but no fruit thereon,
+condemns it to perpetual sterility and barrenness.
+
+A difficulty here occurs on the threshold of the narrative. If, as we
+have noted, and as St Mark tells us, "the time of figs was _not
+yet_"--why this seeming impatience--why this harsh sentence for not
+having what, _if found_, would have been unseasonable, untimely,
+abnormal?
+
+In this apparent difficulty lies the main truth and zest of the parable.
+The doom of sterility, be it carefully noted, was uttered by Jesus, not
+so much because of the _absence of fruit_, but because the tree, by its
+premature display of leaves, challenged expectations which a closer
+inspection did not realise. "It was punished," says an able writer, "not
+for being without fruit, but for proclaiming, by the voice of those
+leaves, that it had such. Not for being barren, but for being
+false."[32]
+
+Graphic picture of boastful and vaunting Israel! This conspicuous tree,
+nigh one of the frequented paths of Olivet, was no inappropriate type,
+surely, of that nation which stood illustrious amid the world's
+kingdoms--exalted to heaven with unexampled privileges which it
+abused--proudly claiming a righteousness which, when weighed in the
+balances, was found utterly wanting. It mattered not that the heathen
+nations were as guilty, vile, and corrupt as the chosen people.
+Fig-trees were they, too--naked stems, fruitless and leafless; but then
+they made no boastful pretensions. The Jews had, in the face of the
+world, been glorying in a righteousness which, in reality, was only like
+the foliage of that tree by which the Lord and His disciples now
+stood--mocking the expectations of its owner by mere outward semblance
+and an utter absence of fruit.
+
+The very day preceding, these mournful deficiencies had brought tears to
+the Saviour's eyes--stirred the depths of His yearning heart in the very
+hour of His triumph. He had looked down from the height of the mountain
+on the gilded splendours of the Temple Courts beneath; but, alas! He saw
+that sanctimonious hypocrisy and self-righteous formalism had sheltered
+themselves behind clouds of incense. Mammon, covetousness, oppression,
+fraud, were rising like strange fire from these defiled altars!
+
+He turns the tears of yesterday into an expressive and enduring parable
+to-day! He approaches a luxuriant Fig-tree, boasting great things among
+its fellows, and thus through _it_ He addresses a doomed city and
+devoted land,--"O House of Israel," He seems to say, "I have come up for
+the last time to your highest and most ancient festival. You stand forth
+in the midst of the nations of the earth clothed in rich verdure. You
+retain intact the splendour of your ancestral ritual. You boast of your
+rigid adherence to its outward ceremonial, the punctilious observance of
+your fasts and feasts. But I have found that it is but 'a name to live.'
+You sinfully ignore 'the weightier matters of the law, judgment,
+justice, and mercy!' You call out as you tread that gorgeous fane--'The
+Temple of the Lord! The Temple of the Lord! The Temple of the Lord are
+we!' You forget that your hearts are the Temple I prize! Holiness, the
+most acceptable incense--love to God, and love to man, the most pleasing
+sacrifice. All that dead and torpid formalism--that mockery of outward
+foliage--is to me nothing. 'Your new moons and Sabbaths--the calling of
+assemblies--I cannot away with; it is iniquity even the solemn meeting.'
+These are only as the whitewash of your sepulchres to hide the
+loathsomeness within--'the rottenness and dead men's bones!' If you had
+made no impious pretensions, I would not, peradventure, have dealt so
+sternly with you. If like the other trees you had confessed your
+nakedness, and stood with your leafless stems, waiting for summer suns,
+and dews, and rains, to fructify you, and to bring your fruit to
+perfection--all well; but you have sought to mock and deceive me by your
+falsity, and thus precipitated the doom of the cumberer. 'Henceforth,
+let no man eat fruit of thee for ever!'"
+
+The unconscious Tree listened! One night only passed, and the morrow
+found it with drooping leaf and blighted stem! On yonder mountain crest
+it stood, as a sign between heaven and earth of impending judgment.
+Eighteen hundred years have taken up its parable--fearfully
+authenticated the averments of the August Speaker! Israel, a bared,
+leafless, sapless trunk, testifies to this hour, before the nations,
+that "heaven and earth may pass away, but God's words will not pass
+away!"[33]
+
+But does the parable stop here? Was there no voice but for the ear of
+Judah and Jerusalem? Have _we_ no part in these solemn monitions?
+
+Ah! be assured, as Jesus dealt with nations so will He deal with
+individuals. This parable-miracle solemnly speaks to all who have only a
+name to live--the foliage of outward profession--but who are destitute
+of the "fruits of righteousness." It is not neglecters or despisers--the
+careless--the infidel--the scorner--our Lord here addresses. He deals
+with such elsewhere. It is rather vaunting hypocrites--wearing the garb
+of religion--the trappings and dress of outward devotion to conceal
+their inward pollution; like the ivy, screening from view by garlands of
+fantastic beauty--wreaths of loveliest green--the mouldering trunk or
+loathsome ruin! We may well believe none are more obnoxious to a holy
+Saviour than _such_. He (Incarnate TRUTH) would rather have the naked
+stem than the counterfeit blossom. He would rather have no gold than be
+mocked with tinsel and base alloy! "I _would_," says He, speaking to one
+of His Churches at a later time, "I would thou wert cold or hot." He
+would rather a man openly avowed his enmity than that he should come in
+disguise, with a traitor-heart, among the ranks of His people. Oh that
+all such ungodly boasters and pretenders would bear in mind, that not
+only do they inflict harm on themselves, but they do infinite damage to
+the Church of God. They lower the standard of godliness. Like that
+worthless Fig-tree, they help to hide out from others the glorious
+sunlight. They intercept from others the refreshing dews of heaven. They
+absorb in their leaves the rains as they fall. Many a tuft of tiny moss,
+many a lowly plant at their feet, is pining and withering, which, _but_
+for _them_, would be bathing its tints in sunshine, and filling the air
+with balmy fragrance!
+
+Solemn, then, ought to be the question with every one of us--every
+Fig-tree in the Lord's plantation--How does it stand with _me_? am I
+_now_ bringing forth fruit to God? for remember what we are NOW, will
+fix what we _shall_ be when our Lord shall come on the Great Day of
+Scrutiny! We are forming _now_ for Eternity; settling down and
+consolidating in the great mould which ultimately will determine our
+everlasting state; fruitless _now_, we shall be fruitless _then_. The
+_principle_ in the future retribution is thus laid down--"He that is
+unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be
+filthy still." The demand and scrutiny of Jesus will on that day be, not
+what is the number of your leaves, the height of your stem, the extent
+of your branches? not whether you have grown on the wayside or in the
+forest, been nurtured in solitude or in a crowd, on the mountain-height
+or in the lowly valley: all will resolve itself into the _one
+question_--Where is your _fruit_? What evidence is there that you have
+profited by My admonitions, listened to My voice, and accepted My
+salvation? Where are your proofs of love to Myself, delight in My
+service, obedience to My will? Where are the sins you have crucified,
+the sacrifices you have made, the new principles you have nurtured, the
+amiability and love and kindness and generosity and unselfishness which
+have supplanted and superseded baser affections? See that the leaves of
+outward profession be not a snare to you. You may be lulling yourselves
+to sleep with delusive opiates. You may be making these false coverings
+an apology for resisting the "putting on of the armour of light." One
+has no difficulty in persuading the tenant of a wretched hovel to
+consent to have his mud-hut taken down; but the man who has the walls of
+his dwelling hung with gaudy drapery, it is hard to persuade him that
+his house is worthless and his foundation insecure. Think not that
+privileges or creeds, or church-sect or church-membership, or the
+Shibboleth of party will save you. It is to the _heart_ that God looks.
+If the inner spirit be right, the outer conduct will be fruitful in
+righteousness. Make it not your worthless ambition to APPEAR to be holy,
+but _be_ holy! Live not a "dying life"--that blank existence which
+brings neither glory to God nor good to men. Seek that _while_ you live,
+the world may be the better for you, and when you die the world may miss
+you. Unlike the pretentious tree in our parable-text, be it yours rather
+to have the nobler character and recompense, so beautifully delineated
+under a similar figure three thousand years ago--"He shall be like a
+tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in
+his season. His leaf, also, shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth
+shall prosper."[34]
+
+Let us further learn, from this solemn and impressive miracle, how true
+Christ is to His word. We think of Him as true to His _promises_, do we
+think of Him, also, as _true to His threatenings_? Judgment, indeed, is
+His strange work. Amid a multitude of other prodigies already performed
+by Him, this "cursing" of the fig-tree formed the alone exception to His
+miracles of _mercy_.[35] All the others were proofs and illustrations of
+beneficence, compassion, love. But He seems to interpose _this_ ONE, in
+case we should forget, in the affluence of benignity and kindness, that
+the same God, whose name and memorial is "merciful and gracious," has
+solemnly added that "He can by no means clear the guilty." He would have
+us to remember that there is a point beyond which even _His_ love cannot
+go, when the voice of ineffable _Goodness_ must melt and merge into
+tones of stern wrath and vengeance. The guilty may, for the brief
+earthly hour of their impenitence, affect to despise His divine
+warnings, laugh to scorn His solemn expostulations. Sentence may not be
+executed speedily; amazing patience may ward off the descending blow.
+They may, from the very _forbearance_ of Jesus, take impious
+encouragement to defy His threats, and rush swifter to their own
+destruction. But come He _will_ and _must_ to assert His claims as "He
+that is HOLY, He that is TRUE." The disciples, on the present occasion,
+heard the voice of their Master. They gazed on the doomed Fig-tree, but
+there seemed at the moment to be no visible change on its leaves. As
+they took their final glance ere passing on their way, no blight seemed
+to descend, no worm to prey on its roots. The fowls of Heaven may have
+appeared soaring in the sky, eager to nestle as before on its branches,
+and to bathe their plumage on the dew-drops that drenched its foliage.
+But was the word of Jesus in vain? Did that fig-tree take up a
+responsive parable, and say, "Who made Thee a ruler and a judge over
+me?"
+
+The Lord and His apostles passed the place a few hours afterwards on
+their return to Bethany.[36] But though the Passover moon was shining on
+their path, the darkness, and perhaps the distance from the highway,
+veiled from their view the too truthful doom to be revealed in morning
+light. As the dawn of day (Tuesday) finds them once more on their road
+to Jerusalem, the eyes of the disciples wander towards the spot to see
+whether the words of yesterday have proved to be indeed solemn verities.
+One glance is enough! _There_ it stands in impressive memorial. One
+night had done the work. No desert simoom, if it had passed over it,
+could have effected it more thoroughly. Its leaves were shrivelled, its
+sap dried, its glory gone. Ever and anon afterwards, as the disciples
+crossed the mountain, and as they gazed on this silent "preacher," they
+would be reminded that Jehovah-Jesus, their loving Master, was not "a
+man that He should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent."
+
+Ah! Reader, learn from all this, that the wrathful utterances of the
+Saviour are no idle threats. He _means_ what He _says_! He is "the
+Faithful and True witness;" and though "mercy and truth go continually
+before His face," "justice and judgment are the habitation of His
+throne." You may be scorning His message--lulling yourself into a dream
+of guilty indifference. You may see in His daily dealings no sign or
+symbol of coming retribution; you may be echoing the old challenge of
+the presumptuous scoffer--"Where is the promise of His coming?" The fig
+leaves may have lost none of their verdure--the sky may be unfretted by
+one vengeful cloud--nature, around you, may be hushed and still. You can
+hear no footsteps of wrath; you may be even tempted at times to think
+that all is a dream--that credulity has suffered itself to be duped by a
+counterfeit tale of superstitious terror! Or if, in better moments, you
+awake to a consciousness of the Bible averments being stern realities,
+your next subterfuge is to trust to that rope of sand to which thousands
+have clung, to the wreck of their eternities--an indefinite dreamy hope
+in the final _mercy_ of God! that on the Great Day the threatenings of
+Jesus will undergo some modification; that He will not carry out to the
+very letter the full weight of His denunciations; that the arm which
+love nailed to the cross of Calvary will sheathe the sword of avenging
+retribution, and proclaim a universal amnesty to the thronging myriads
+at His tribunal!
+
+"Nay! O man, who art thou that repliest against God?" Come to the
+fig-tree "over against" Bethany, and let it be a dumb attesting witness
+to the Saviour's unswerving and immutable truthfulness! Or, passing from
+the sign to the thing symbolised, behold that nation which God has for
+eighteen centuries set up in the world as a monument of His undeviating
+adherence to His Word. See how, in their case, to the letter He has
+fulfilled His threatenings. Is not this fulfillment intended as an awful
+foreshadowing of eternal verities: if He has "spared not the natural
+branches," thinkest thou He will spare _thee_? "If these things were
+done in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?"
+
+Mourners! You for whose comfort these pages are specially designed, is
+there no lesson of consolation to be drawn from this solemn "memory?"
+Jesus smote down that _fig-tree_--blasted and blighted it. Never again
+did He come to seek fruit on it. Ten thousand other buds in the
+Fig-forest around were opening their fragrant lips to drink in the
+refreshing dews of spring; but the curse of perpetual sterility rested
+on this!
+
+He has smitten _you_ also, but it is only to _heal_! He has bared your
+branches--stripped you of your verdure--broken "your staff and your
+beautiful rod;" but the pruning hook has been used to promote the Vigour
+of the tree; to lop off the redundant branches, and open the stems to
+the gladsome sunlight. Murmur not! Remember, _but for_ these loppings of
+affliction you might have effloresced into the rank luxuriant growth of
+mere external profession. You might have rested satisfied with the
+outward display of _Religiousness_, without the fruits of true
+_Religion_. You might have lived and died unproductive _cumberers_,
+deceiving others and deceiving yourselves. But He would not suffer you
+to linger in this state of worthless barrenness. Oh! better far, surely,
+these severest cuttings and incisions of the pruning knife, than to
+listen to the stern words--"Ephraim is joined to his idols, let him
+alone!" It is the most terrible of all judgments when God leaves a
+sinner undisturbed in his sinfulness--abandons him to "the fruit of his
+own ways, and to be filled with his own devices;" until, like a tree
+impervious to moistening dews and fructifying heat, he dwarfs and
+dwindles into the last hopeless stage of spiritual decay and death!
+
+"If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what
+son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?"
+
+"He purgeth it (_pruneth it_), that it may bring forth MORE FRUIT."
+
+
+
+
+XX.
+
+CLOSING HOURS.
+
+
+The evenings of the two succeeding days seem to have closed around our
+adorable Lord at BETHANY. We may still follow Him in imagination, in the
+mellow twilight, as He and His disciples crossed the bridle-path of the
+holy mountain from Jerusalem to the house and village of His friend.
+
+Much has changed since then; but the great features of unvarying nature
+retain their imperishable outlines, so that what still arrests the view
+of the modern traveller, in crossing the Mount of Olives, we know must
+have formed the identical landscape spread out before the eyes of the
+Incarnate Redeemer. It is more than allowable, therefore, to appropriate
+the words of the same trustworthy recent spectator, from whose pages we
+have already quoted, as presenting a truthful and veritable picture of
+what the Saviour _then_ saw.
+
+From almost every point in the journey, there would be visible "the
+long purple wall of the Moab mountains, rising out of its unfathomable
+depths; these mountains would then have almost the effect of a distant
+view of the sea, the hues constantly changing; this or that precipitous
+rock coming out clear in the evening shade--_there_ the form of what may
+possibly be Pisgah, dimly shadowed out by surrounding valleys--_here_
+the point of Kerak, the capital of Moab, and future fortress of the
+Crusaders--and then, at times all wrapt in deep haze, the mountains
+overhanging the valley of the shadow of death, all the more striking
+from their contrast with the gray or green colours of the hills through
+which a glimpse was caught of them."[37]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We have no recorded incidents in connexion with these two nights at
+Bethany. We are left only to realise in thought the refreshment alike
+for body and spirit our Lord enjoyed. Exhausted with the fatigues of
+each day, and the advancing storm-cloud ready to burst on His devoted
+head, we may well imagine how grateful repose would be in the old
+homestead of congenial friendship.
+
+The last evening He spent at the "Palm-clad Village" must in many ways
+have been full of sorrowing thoughts. He had, in the afternoon, on His
+return from Jerusalem, when seated with his disciples "over against the
+Temple," gazing on its doomed magnificence, been discoursing on the
+appalling desolation which awaited that loved and time-honoured
+sanctuary. This had led Him to the more sublime and terrific theme of a
+Day of Judgment. Not only did He foresee the grievous obduracy of His
+own infatuated countrymen, but His Omniscient eye, travelling down to
+the consummation of all things, wept over the fate of myriads, who, in
+spite of atoning love and mercy, were to despise and perish.
+
+He left the threshold, consecrated so oft by His Pilgrim steps, on the
+Thursday of that week, not to return again till death had numbered Him
+among its victims. On that same morning He had sent His disciples into
+the city to make preparation for the keeping of the Passover Supper. He
+Himself followed, probably towards the afternoon, and joined them in
+"the Upper room," where, after celebrating for the last time the old
+Jewish rite, he instituted the New Testament memorial of His own dying
+love. Supper being ended, the disciples, probably, contemplated nothing
+but a return, as on preceding evenings, by their old route to Bethany.
+Singing their paschal hymn, they descended the Jehoshaphat ravine, by
+the side of the Temple. The brook Kedron was crossed, and they are once
+more on the Bethany path. They have reached Gethsemane; their Master
+retires into the depths of the olive grove, as was often His wont, to
+hold secret communion with His Father. But the crisis-hour has at last
+arrived! The Shepherd is about to be smitten, and the sheep to be
+scattered! Rude hands arrest Him on His way. In vain shall Lazarus and
+his sisters wait for their expected Lord! For _Him_ that night there is
+no voice of earthly comforter--no couch of needed rest;--when the
+shadows of darkness have gathered around Bethany, and the pale passover
+moon is lighting up its palm-trees, the Lord of glory is standing
+buffetted and insulted in the hall of Annas.
+
+The Remembrances of Bethany are here absorbed and overshadowed for a
+time by the darker memories of Gethsemane and Calvary. Jesus may,
+indeed, afterwards revisit the loved haunt of former friendship; but
+meanwhile He is first to accomplish that glorious Decease, _but for
+which_ the world could never have had on its surface one Bethany-home of
+love, or been cheered by one ray of happiness or hope.
+
+In vain do we try to picture, as we revert to the peaceful Village, the
+feelings of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary on that day of ignominious
+crucifixion! _where_ they were--_how_ they were employed! Can we imagine
+that they could linger behind, unconcerned, in their dwelling, when
+their Best Friend was in the hands of His murderers? We cannot think so.
+We may rather well believe that among the tearful eyes of the weeping
+women that followed the innocent Victim along the "Dolorous way," not
+the least anguished were the two Bethany mourners; and that as He hung
+upon the cross, and His languid eye saw here and there a faithful friend
+lingering around him while disciples had fled, Lazarus would be among
+the few who soothed and smoothed that awful death-pillow! Perhaps even
+when death had sealed His eyes, and faithless apostles gave vent to
+their feelings of hopeless despondency, "We trusted it had been He who
+should have redeemed Israel," the family of Bethany would recollect how
+oft He had spoken of this very hour of darkness and bereavement which
+had now come; Mary would, in trembling emotion, (in connexion with the
+humble token of her own gratitude and affection,) remember the words of
+the Lord Jesus, how He said, "Let her alone, against the day of my
+_burying_ hath she done this."
+
+We need not pursue these thoughts. We may well believe, however, that
+when the first day of the week had come--and the glad announcement
+spread from disciple to disciple, "_The Lord is risen indeed_,"--on no
+home in Judea would the tidings fall more welcome than on that of
+Lazarus of Bethany. Martha and Mary had, a few weeks before, experienced
+the happiness of a restored _Brother_. Now it was that of a restored
+_Saviour_! Whether He revisited these, His former friends, the days
+immediately after His resurrection, we cannot tell. It is more than
+probable He would. May not some hallowed _unrecorded_ "Memories of
+Bethany" be included in the closing words of John's gospel--"There are
+also many OTHER things which Jesus did?" On the way to Emmaus He joined
+Himself to two disciples, and "caused their hearts to burn within them
+as He talked by the way." So may He not have joined Himself to the
+friends with whom He had so oft held sacred intercourse during the days
+of His humiliation--breathing on them His benediction, and discoursing
+of those covenant blessings which He had died to purchase, and which He
+was about to bestow, "set as king on His holy hill of Zion." With what a
+new and glorious meaning to Martha must her Saviour's words have now
+been invested, "_I am the Resurrection and the Life_--he that believeth
+on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."
+
+As the God-man, He had power over her brother's life--He had now
+demonstrated that He had "power over His own;"--"power" not only to "lay
+it down," but "power to take it up again." Her Lord had "spoken _once_,
+yea _twice_ had she heard this, that _power_ belongeth unto God."
+
+The Grave of Bethany was thus in her eyes inseparably connected with the
+grave at Golgotha. But for the rolling away of the stone from a more
+august sepulchre, her brother must still have been slumbering in the
+embrace of death. "But now had Christ risen from the dead, and become
+the first-fruits of them that slept."
+
+The Almighty Reaper had risen Himself from the tomb, with the sharp
+sickle in His hand. In the person of His dearest earthly friend He
+presented an earnest-sheaf of the great Resurrection-reaping-time--when
+the mandate was to be carried to the four winds of heaven, "Put ye in
+the sickle, for the harvest is ripe;--Multitudes--multitudes in the
+Valley of Decision."
+
+Can we participate in the joy of the family of BETHANY? Have we, like
+them, followed Christ to His cross and His tomb, and listened to the
+angelic announcement, "He is not here, He is risen?" Have we seen in His
+death the secret of our life? Have we beheld Him as the Great Precursor
+emerging from Hades, and shewing to ransomed millions the purchased path
+of life--the luminous highway to glory? Let our hearts be as Bethany
+dwellings, to welcome in a dying risen Jesus. Let us not expel Him from
+our souls by our sins--crucifying the Lord afresh, and putting Him to
+an open shame. Let not God's restoring mercies be, as, alas! often they
+are to us, _unsanctified_;--receiving back our Lazarus from the brink of
+the tomb, but refusing, on the return of health and prosperity, to share
+in bearing our Lord's cross--to "go forth with Him without the
+camp--bearing His reproach." If He has delivered our souls from death,
+and our eyes from tears, be it ours to follow Him through good and
+through bad report. Not alone amid the hosannahs of His people, or amid
+the world's bright sunshine, but, if need be, to confront suffering, and
+trial, and death for His sake. Like the Bethany family, let us mourn His
+absence, and long for His return. It is but for "a little while" we
+"shall _not_ see Him"--"again a little while and we _shall_ see Him."
+Oh, blessed day! when the words of the old prophet will start once more
+into fulfilment, and a voice from Heaven will thus address a waiting
+Church--"Rejoice, O daughter of Zion, behold thy King cometh!" He
+cometh!--but it is now with no badges of humiliation--with no
+anticipations of sorrow and woe to mar that hour of glory. "His head
+shall be crowned with many crowns"--all His saints with Him to share
+His triumph and enter into His joy. May we be enabled to look forward to
+that blessed season when, arrayed in white robes, with golden crowns on
+our heads, and palms of victory in our hands, these shall be cast at His
+feet, and the feeble Hosannahs of time shall be lost and merged in the
+rapturous Hallelujahs of eternity!
+
+
+
+
+XXI.
+
+THE LAST VISIT.
+
+
+What saddening thoughts are associated with our final interview with a
+Beloved Friend! He was in health when we last met; we little dreamt, in
+parting, we were to meet no more. Every circumstance of that interview
+is stored up in the most hallowed chambers of the soul. His last
+words--his last _look_--his last smile--they live there in undying
+memorial! Such was now the case with the disciples. They had their last
+walk together with their beloved Master. Ere another sun goes down over
+the western hills of Jerusalem He will have returned from His
+consummated Work to the bosom of His Father!
+
+And what is the spot which he selects as the place of Ascension?--What
+the favoured height or valley that is to listen to His farewell words?
+Still it is BETHANY--the loved home of cherished friendship, where, so
+lately, hours of anticipated anguish had been mitigated and soothed. The
+spot which, above all others, had been witness to His tears and His
+Omnipotence, is selected as that _from_ which, or _near_ to which, He is
+to bid adieu to his sorrowing Church on earth. Although there seem to be
+no special reasons for this selection, we cannot think it was altogether
+undesigned or insignificant. Our Lord was still MAN--participating in
+every tender feeling of our common nature; and just as many are known in
+life to express a partiality for the place of their departure, where
+they would desire their last hours to be spent, or for the sepulchre or
+churchyard where they would prefer their ashes to be laid;--so may we
+not imagine the Saviour, reverting in these, His last hours, to the
+hallowed memories of that hallowed village, wishful that He might ascend
+to heaven within view, at least, of the spot He loved so well?
+
+Whether this be the true explanation or no, we are called now to follow
+Him, in thought, from His concluding visit in Jerusalem to the scene of
+Ascension. We may imagine it, in all likelihood, the early dawn of day.
+The grey mists of morning were still hovering over the Jehoshaphat
+valley, as for the last time he descended the well-known path. He must
+have crossed the brook KEDRON--that brook which had so oft before
+murmured in His ear during night-seasons of deep sorrow--He must have
+passed by GETHSEMANE--the thick Olives pendant with dew, the shadows of
+early day still brooding over them. Their gloomy vistas must have
+recalled terrible hours, when the sod underneath was moistened with
+"great drops of blood." Can we dare to imagine His sensations and
+feelings when passing _now_? Would they not be the same as that of every
+Christian still, while passing through memories of trial, "It was good
+for me to be here?" Had He dashed untasted to the ground, the cup which
+in the depths of that awful solitude He had grasped six weeks before,
+His work would have been undone--a world yet unsaved! But He shrunk not
+from that baptism of blood and suffering. Gethsemane can now be gazed
+upon as a place of triumph. His Omniscient eye, as He now skirts its
+precincts, connects its awful struggles with the Redemption and joy of
+ransomed myriads through all eternity. He has the first realising
+earnest of the prophet's words,--Seeing of the fruit of "the travail of
+His soul," He is "satisfied."
+
+But vain is it to conjecture feelings and emotions unrecorded. It would,
+doubtless, not be on Himself the Great Redeemer would, in these waning
+hours of earthly communion, chiefly dwell. They would rather be occupied
+in preparing the hearts of the sorrowful band around Him for His
+approaching departure. He would unfold to them the glorious conquests
+which, in His name, they were on earth to achieve, as His
+standard-bearers and apostles, and the ineffable bliss awaiting
+them in that Heaven whither He was about to ascend as their
+Forerunner and Precursor. It must indeed have been to them a season
+of severe and bitter trial! They had in their hearts a full and tender
+impression--a gushing recollection of three years' unvarying
+kindness and affection--sorrows soothed--burdens eased--ingratitude
+overlooked--treachery forgiven. Many others they could only think of in
+connexion with altered tones and changed affection. _He_ was _ever the
+same_! But the sad day _has_ really come when they are to be parted for
+_time_! No more tender counsels in difficulty,--no more gentle rebukes
+in waywardness,--no more joyous surprises, as on the shores of Tiberias,
+or the road to Emmaus, when, with joyful lips, they would exclaim,--"It
+is the Lord!" This dream of blissful intercourse, like a meteor-flash,
+was about to be quenched in darkness. Their Lord was to depart, and
+long, long centuries were to elapse ere His gracious face was to be seen
+again!
+
+Whether, in this ever-memorable walk to the place of Ascension, the
+Adorable Redeemer visited the village of Bethany, we cannot tell. It is
+possible--it is _more_ than possible--He may have honoured the home of
+Lazarus with a farewell benediction; but this we can only conjecture.
+All the notice we have regarding it is: that "He led them out as far as
+to Bethany;" that He there lifted up His hands and blessed them; and was
+from thence taken up to Heaven.[38] Honoured hamlet! thus to be alone
+mentioned in connexion with the closing scene in this mighty drama! He
+selected not _Bethlehem_, where angel hosts had chanted His praise; nor
+_Tabor_, where celestial beings had hovered around Him in homage; nor
+_Calvary_, where riven rocks and bursting grave-stones had proclaimed
+His deity; nor the _Temple-court_, in all its sumptuous glory, where for
+ages His own Shekinah had blazed in mystic splendour; but He hallows
+afresh the name of a lowly _Village_; He consecrates a Home of love.
+BETHANY is the last spot which lingers on His view, as the cloud comes
+down and receives Him out of sight.
+
+Let us gather for a little in imagination on this sacred ground. Let us
+note a few of the interesting thoughts which cluster around it, and
+listen to the Saviour's farewell themes of converse there with His
+beloved disciples.
+
+(1.) He cheers their hearts with the promised baptism of the Holy
+Ghost.--"John," He had said, a few hours before, at His last meeting
+with them in Jerusalem, "truly baptized with water; but ye shall be
+baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."[39] He, moreover,
+enjoined them to linger in the Holy City, and wait this "promise of the
+Father" which "they had heard of Him;" and now, once more, when on the
+eve of Ascension, He speaks of the coming of the same Holy Ghost to
+qualify them for their future work.[40]
+
+This, we know, was the great topic of consolation with which He had
+often before soothed their hearts at the thought of parting. _He_ was to
+leave them;--but an Almighty _Paraclete_ or _Comforter_ was to take His
+place, whose gracious presence would more than compensate for the
+withdrawal of His own. For when, on the intimation of His coming
+departure, He observed that sorrow was filling their hearts--"It is
+expedient," said He, "for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the
+Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto
+you."[41]
+
+Now that the anticipated hour is come, He reverts to the same omnipotent
+ground of comfort;--that this Divine Enlightener, Cheerer, Sanctifier,
+would fill up the gap His own withdrawal would make. They were about to
+enter on a new dispensation--the dispensation of the SPIRIT--and the
+approaching Pentecost was to give them a pledge and earnest of His
+mighty agency in the conversion of souls.
+
+Jesus, our adorable Lord, has ascended to "His Father and our Father--to
+His God and our God!" We, like the disciples, have to mourn the denial
+of His personal presence. His Church is left widowed and lonely by
+reason of His departure. But have we known, in our experience, the
+value of the great compensating boon here spoken of? Have we known, in
+the midst of our weakness and wants, our griefs and sorrows, the power
+and grace of the promised Paraclete? It is to be feared we do not
+realise or value His blessed agency as we ought. To what is much of the
+deadness, and dullness, and languor of our frames to be traced--the
+poverty of our faith, the lukewarmness of our love, the coldness of our
+Sabbath services, the little hold and influence of divine things upon
+us? Is it not to the feeble realisation of the quickening, life-giving
+power of this Divine Agent? "It is the Spirit that quickeneth." Church
+of the living God! if you would awake from your slumber and apathy; if
+you would exhibit among your members more faithfulness, more zeal, more
+love, more unselfishness, more union--if you would buckle on your armour
+for fresh conquests in the outlying wastes of heathenism, it will be by
+a fresh baptism of the Holy Ghost! Another Pentecost will usher in the
+Millennial morning. The showers of His benign influences will form the
+prelude to the world's great Spiritual Harvest. "Pray ye, then, the Lord
+of the Harvest," that His Spirit may "come down like rain upon the mown
+grass, and as showers that water the earth," and that the promise
+regarding the latter-day glory may be fulfilled--"I will pour down My
+Spirit upon all flesh." Or would you have Jesus made more precious to
+your _own_ soul? Would you see more of His matchless excellences,--the
+glories of His person and work,--His suitableness and adaptation to all
+the wants and weaknesses, the sorrows and temptations, of your tried and
+tempted natures. Pray for this gracious Unfolder of the Saviour's
+character. This is one of His most precious offices--as the _Revealer_
+of Jesus. "He shall glorify _Me_; for He shall receive of _Mine_, and
+shall shew it unto you!"[42]
+
+(2.) Another theme of Christ's converse, when within sight of Bethany,
+was _the nature of His Kingdom_--"Lord, wilt thou at this time restore
+again the kingdom of Israel?" was the inquiry of the disciples. "And he
+said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which
+the Father hath put in His own power."[43]
+
+The thoughts of His followers were clinging to the last to the dream of
+earthly sovereignty. How difficult it is to get even the renewed and
+regenerated mind to understand and realise Heavenly things, and to wean
+it from what is of the earth earthy! He checks their presumption--He
+tells them these are questions which they may not pry into. There is to
+be no present fulfilment of these visions of millennial glory. That day
+and that hour are to be wrapt in unrevealed and impenetrable secrecy.
+The Church may not attempt rashly and inquisitively to lift the veil.
+She is not to know the _time_ of the Saviour's appearing, that she may
+live every day in the frame she would wish to be found in when the cry
+shall be heard, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh." The apostolic band are,
+in the first instance, to be cross-bearers, as He their Master
+was,--witnesses to His sufferings, earthen vessels, defamed, persecuted,
+reviled,--before they become partakers of His purchased happiness and
+bliss!
+
+Nevertheless, it was a grand and glorious mission He sketched out for
+them. How worthy of HIMSELF--of his loving, forgiving, unselfish
+Spirit--was the opening clause in that wondrous Missionary Charter He
+then put into their hands. Even at the moment when all the memory of
+Jewish ingratitude was fresh on His heart, He inserts a wondrous
+provision of mercy and grace. They were to proclaim His name through the
+wide world; but was JERUSALEM (the scene of His ignominy) to form an
+exception? Nay, rather they were to _begin there_! The Gospel-Trumpet
+was to be sounded in its streets. The assassins of Gethsemane, the
+murderers of Calvary were to listen to the first offers of pardon and
+reconciliation--"And He said unto them ... that repentance and remission
+of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, _beginning_ at
+_Jerusalem_!" Precious warrant, surely, are these words to "the chief of
+sinners" to repair to this gracious Saviour. If even for "_the Jerusalem
+sinner_" there is mercy, can there be ground for one human being to
+despair?
+
+But "_beginning_" at Jerusalem, the Gospel Commission did not _end_
+there? It was to embrace, first, "Judea," then "Samaria," then "the
+uttermost parts of the earth."[44] The ascending Redeemer's expansive
+heart took in with a vast sweep the wide circle of humanity. From the
+elevated ridge of Olivet, on which He now stood with the arrested group
+around Him, He might tell them to gaze, in thought at least, far north
+beyond the Cedar Heights of Lebanon and Hermon;--Southward to the desert
+and the Isles of the Ocean;--Westward to the fair lands washed by the
+Great Sea;--Eastward across the palm-trees of Bethany and the chain of
+Moabite mountains on unexplored continents, where heathenism still
+revelled in its rites and orgies of impurity and blood. With Palestine
+as their centre and starting-point, the vast World was to be their
+circumference. The Gospel was to be preached "as a witness to all
+nations." The Great Mission-Angel was to "fly through the midst of
+Heaven," having its everlasting truths to "preach to every nation, and
+kindred, and tongue, and people."
+
+Are _we_ faithfully fulfilling our Lord's farewell Apostolic Commission?
+As members of the Church of God, component parts of the Royal
+Priesthood, are we doing what lies in our power, that His name, and
+doctrine, and salvation, be proclaimed to the uttermost parts of the
+earth? Or is it so, that we are looking coldly, suspiciously,
+indifferently on the Church's efforts in the cause of Missions,
+suffering her funds to fail, and her schemes to languish, and her
+devoted servants to sink in discouragement? Or rather, are we prepared
+to incur the responsibility of heathen souls, through our neglect,
+passing hour by hour into eternity, with a Saviour's name unheard of,
+and a Saviour's love unknown? Go to the Rocky ridge above BETHANY, and
+listen to the parting injunction of our Great Master. His last words,
+ere the cloud received Him to glory, were _Missionary_ words, a
+_Missionary_ appeal, a pleading for the Gospel being sent to heathen
+shores. Ah! _our own Britain_ was then among the number! If the
+Apostolic Company had in these days, like many among ourselves, refused,
+on the ground of the _home-heathen_ in Judea, to send any of their band
+abroad, where would _we_ have been at this hour? With our Druids'
+altars, our bloody sacrifices, our cruel rites! But their best and
+noblest were commissioned to speed from port to port in the
+Mediterranean and the Isles of the Gentiles, with the Gospel errand on
+their lips, and the blessing of God on their labours! All honour to
+these leal-hearted men, who, in spite of national and hereditary
+prejudices, implicitly followed the will of their Lord and Master, who
+had given to them, as He has given to us, a great Missionary motto--"THE
+FIELD IS THE WORLD!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And now His themes of instruction and comfort are over--He is about to
+Ascend! The symbolic cloud--(invariable emblem of Deity)--comes down to
+conduct Him to His throne. What a moment was that! Glory in view--the
+hallelujahs of angels floating in His ear--the air thronged with
+celestial hosts waiting as His retinue to bear Him upwards;--all heaven
+in eager expectancy for her returning Lord. And yet--how is He employed?
+Is the world, that had so disowned Him, disowned now in return? Are the
+disciples, who have so oft deserted Him, now deserted in return?--their
+name forgotten in the thought of the loftier spirits who are to gather
+around Him in the skies? Nay, His every thought is centered on the
+weeping band of earth. "He lifted up his hands and blessed them!"[45]
+His last words are those of mercy--His last act is outstretching His
+arms to bless! It was an act replete with meaning to the Church of God
+in every age. Jesus, when He was last seen on earth, wore no terror on
+His lips--but He left our world pouring a benediction on His redeemed
+people.
+
+There is something, moreover, significant in the recorded fact that
+"WHILE He blessed them, He was parted from them!" The Benediction was
+unfinished when the cloud bore Him away! As they gazed upwards and
+upwards till that glorious form was diminishing in the blue sky above,
+still His hands were extended;--the last dim vision which lingered on
+their memories was the True High Priest blessing the representative
+Israel of God! It would seem as if He wished to indicate that the act
+begun on earth was to be carried on and perpetuated in heaven--that
+though parted from them, His outstretched arms would still plead for
+them on the Throne. His _voice_ could no longer be heard--but His
+blessing still would continue to descend till He came again!
+
+Wondrous close to a wondrous life! We have traversed in thought many
+other memorials of Bethany. We have stood by the gate where Martha met
+her Lord--the silent sepulchre which listened to the voice of
+Omnipotence--the holy home where friendship was realised such as earth
+never before or since beheld. But surely not less sacred or hallowed
+than any of these is the scene presented on the green ridge rising to
+the west of the village, overlooking its groves of palm. Before
+superstition ventured to raise its cumbrous monument on the heights of
+Olivet, may we not think of the scene of the Ascension, rather in
+connexion with three _living_ Temples? May we not think of it as oft and
+again visited by Martha, and Mary, and Lazarus? May we not well imagine
+it would form a hallowed retirement for solemn meditation! Amid more
+sorrowful thoughts, connected with their Lord's absence from them, would
+they not there often muse in holy joy over the now fulfilled prophetic
+strains of their minstrel King?--"Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast
+led captivity captive: Thou hast received gifts for men; yea, _for_ the
+rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among _them_."[46]
+
+Do _we_ love also to linger in spirit on that spot, and listen to that
+benediction?--"Blessed," we read, "are they that know the joyful sound."
+In these words there is a beautiful allusion to the sound of the pendant
+bells on the vestment of the High Priest in the Jewish temple of old.
+When the assembled multitudes in the outer court heard their music
+within the holiest of all, it conveyed the assurance that the High
+Priest was there, actively engaged in his official duties--sprinkling
+the Mercy Seat with blood, and pleading for the nation. They felt
+"blessedness" in hearing and _knowing_ "that joyful sound." Beautiful
+type of JESUS the Great High Priest within the veil! We seem, as we
+behold Him standing on the crest of Olivet, to listen to the first note
+of these gladsome chimes. He leaves His Church proclaiming nothing but
+blessings. As He rises upwards, and the diminishing cloud recedes from
+sight, still the music of benediction seems to float on the calm
+morning air. The Golden Bells are sounding--and though the celestial
+notes cease, it is only distance which renders them inaudible. They are
+still pendant at His Royal Priestly robes, telling us that still He
+intercedes! Oh, let us now hear His benediction! Let the comforting
+thought follow us wherever we go--"_Jesus is pleading for me within the
+Veil._" He left this world _blessing_--He is engaged in _blessing_
+still. "HE EVER LIVETH TO MAKE INTERCESSION FOR US."
+
+
+
+
+XXII.
+
+ANGELIC COMFORTERS.
+
+
+The Lord has ascended. The disciples are left alone in wondering
+amazement. The bright cloud which formed His chariot had swept
+majestically upwards--till (dimming on their view) the gates of heaven
+closed on Him, who, a moment before, had been breathing upon them
+farewell benedictions of peace and love. Are they to be left alone?
+Terrible must have been the feeling of solitude on that lone
+mountain-ridge, as the voice of mingled Omnipotence and Love was hushed
+for all time. "Alone, but yet _not_ alone!" While their eyes are still
+directed up to the spot where they got the last glimpse of the vanishing
+cloud--transfixed there in speechless Sorrow, lo! "two men stood by them
+in shining vestures!" The Saviour has departed; the sunshine of His own
+loving presence is gone--but He leaves them not unsolaced. The vision
+of the patriarch is again realised. When, like that weary pilgrim,
+dejected, disconsolate, and sad--a ladder of comfort is stretched down
+from the heaven on which they gaze, and "the Angels of God are ascending
+and descending on it!"
+
+Ah! whenever the Lord removes one comfort, He is ready to supply
+another. He Himself leaves His disciples--but no sooner _does_ He leave,
+than Angels come and minister to them; and this is immediately followed
+by a mightier than Angelic Comforter--even the fulfilled promise of the
+Holy Spirit. "If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you,
+but if I depart, I will send Him unto you." How graciously does Jesus
+thus adapt Himself to the character and trials of His people! What
+compensations He gives when they are suffering tribulation! One blessing
+is taken away--it is only that they may be brought more fully to value
+others which remain. A beloved friend is removed by death--the household
+is saddened at the stroke--its aching hearts are smitten and withered
+like the grass--but new spiritual consolations are imparted, unknown
+before--brighter manifestations of the Saviour's grace and mercy are
+vouchsafed--the Promises of God, like the ministering angels on Mount
+Olivet, are sent to hover around these stricken spirits. They are made
+to sing of "mercy" in the midst of "judgment!"
+
+Is Hagar in the desert? There is a fountain (though at first unseen) at
+her side! Is Elijah trembling in the dark cave of Horeb? There is a
+"still small voice" amid the long-drawn breath of the tempest, and
+earthquake, and storm;--"The Lord is _there_!" Be assured He will never
+leave nor forsake any that truly seek Him. To all desolate ones, who,
+like the Olivet disciples, lift the steadfast eye of faith heavenwards,
+bending like them in the silent attitude of resignation and faith--God
+will send comfort. He will have his angels ready to wipe weeping eyes
+and soothe sorrowful hearts.
+
+We cannot grapple with this doctrine. We who are creatures of sense, who
+are cognisant through a corporeal organism only of what is tangible and
+material, cannot grasp what relates to the immaterial, invisible,
+spiritual. We strive in vain to realise the truth of Angelic Beings
+compassing our earthly path, joying with us in our joys--aiding us in
+our perplexities, and mingling their accents of comfort with us in our
+seasons of sorrow. But though mysteriously invisible, we believe there
+are hosts of these blessed messengers thronging around, profoundly
+interested in all that concerns us--"bearing us up in all our
+ways"--following us, as Jacob saw them, step by step up the ladder of
+salvation, till we reach our thrones and our crowns! Angelic agency is
+no mere gorgeous dream of inspired poetry--no mere symbolic way of
+stating the doctrine of Divine Providence, and the peculiar care which
+God takes of His Church and people. The Bible gives us too many positive
+statements on the subject to permit a figurative interpretation. These
+bright and holy Beings are there represented as having witnessed all
+along with profound interest the gradual unfolding of the plan of
+salvation--from the hour when, at creation's birth, the morning stars
+sang together, and all the Sons of God shouted for joy--onwards to the
+eventful night when they met over the plains of Bethlehem and chanted a
+responsive anthem at the advent of the Prince of Peace! Now that
+Redemption is completed--they have gathered once more on Olivet to form
+a royal retinue to conduct their Lord to His crown--to summon the gates
+of Heaven to "lift up their heads" that "the King of Glory may enter
+in." If God, in bringing in His first-begotten into the world, said,
+"Let all the angels of God worship Him;" much more, when His work is
+done, and the moral Conqueror, laden with the spoils of victory, is
+about to return to His throne, may we expect that "the chariots of God"
+("twenty thousand, even thousands of angels") are waiting to grace His
+triumph.
+
+Nor were they merely employed on earth as His servants and attendants
+during the period of His incarnation--leaving our world, when _He_ left
+it, to "serve him day and night in His heavenly temple." A portion of
+this glorious bodyguard we find now, at the hour of Ascension, left
+behind to certify to the disciples and the Church in every age, that
+Angels were still to continue their loving watchfulness and interest
+over the Pilgrims in a Pilgrim world--still to be sent forth on errands
+of mercy to "minister to them who are heirs of salvation!"
+
+Is it the House of God--the gates of Zion--the Holy place of
+Solemnities? The scene now before us on Mount Olivet forms a miniature
+picture of what takes place Sabbath after Sabbath in every meeting of
+Christian disciples. As we are assembled like the apostles in our
+Sanctuary--looking upwards to Heaven, there are glorious Spirits, we may
+well believe, clustering around us--hovering in silence over our
+assembly--engaged, it may be, in unseen conflict with the emissaries of
+evil--assisting us in our prayers--joining with us in our
+praises--waiting to waft these upwards, and get them perfumed with the
+incense of the Saviour's merits.
+
+Nor is it the Sanctuary alone they overshadow with their wings of light.
+The lowliest homestead of the believer is oftentimes made a MAHANAIM ("a
+Host"). The dwellers in the world's thousand Bethany-homes of simple
+faith and lowly love are "entertaining angels unawares." In the hour of
+sickness they are there unseen to smooth our pillow. In the hour of
+danger they are at hand to "shut the lions' mouths." In the hour of
+bereavement they are employed bringing messages of solace from the
+Intercessor within the veil, and enabling us to "glorify God in the
+fires." In the hour of death they are waiting to lend their wings to the
+Immortal tenant as it bursts its earthly coil. Oh, if the _return_ of
+the Repentant Sinner be to them an hour of joyous jubilee;--if their
+songs of triumph greet the Believer _justified_;--what must it be to
+exult over the gladsome consummation--the Believer _glorified_; to be
+engaged on the Great Day as Reapers at the ingathering of the sheaves
+into the heavenly garner--throwing open, at the bidding of their Great
+Lord, the Golden Portals that the ransomed millions may enter in!
+
+    "Oh never, till the clouds of time
+       Have vanish'd from the ken of man,
+     And he from yonder heaven sublime
+       Look back where mystic life began,
+     Will gather'd saints in glory know
+     What blessings men to angels owe.
+
+    "This earth is but a thorny wild,
+       A tangled maze where griefs abound,
+     By sorrow vex'd, by sin defiled,
+       Where foes and friends our walk surround;
+     But does not God in mercy say,
+     Angelic guardians line the way?
+
+    "Sickness and woe perchance may have
+       Ethereal hosts whom none perceive,
+     Whose golden wings around us wave
+       When all alone men seem to grieve;
+     But while we sigh or shed the tear,
+     Their sympathies may linger near.
+
+    "When gracious beams of holy light
+       From heaven's half-open'd portals play,
+     And from our scene of suffering night
+       Melts nigh its haunted gloom away;
+     Each doubt perchance some angel sees,
+     And hovers o'er our bended knees!
+
+    "And when at length this wearied life
+       Of toil and danger breathes its last,
+     Or ere the flesh, with parting strife,
+       Is down to clay and coldness cast;
+     The struggling soul can learn the story,
+     How angels waft the blest to glory."[47]
+
+But, after all, can Angels really impart comfort? They cannot. They are
+but servants and delegates of a Mightier than they. Like all ministers
+and messengers, if they can dry a human tear and soothe a human sorrow,
+it is by pointing, not to themselves, but to their glorious and
+glorified Lord. What was their message now? Was it, "We are come to
+supply the place of your Ascended Redeemer--we are henceforth to be your
+appointed helpers--the objects of your faith, and hope, and confidence,
+in the house of your pilgrimage?" No! The eyes of the disciples are
+gazing upwards and heavenwards. The Angels tell them not in anywise to
+alter the direction of their thoughts and affections. They are musing
+(as in vain they still wistfully look for any relic of the
+chariot-cloud) on "_Jesus only_." They are to think of "_Him only_"
+still! The Celestial Visitants seem to say, "Ye men of Galilee, _we_
+cannot comfort you;--_we_ would prove but poor solaces and compensations
+for the Adorable Saviour who has left you. _We_ come not to take His
+place--but to speak to you still regarding Him. He has left you! but it
+is only for a season; and better than this, although He has left you, He
+loves you as much as ever. Even in that distant glory to which He has
+sped His way, His heart is unchanged and unchangeable--His name is
+'Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.'"
+
+Here then was their first theme of comfort. It was the NAME of _Jesus_.
+That "name of their Lord" was still to be their "strong tower!" Oh,
+there is something touchingly beautiful about this angelic address. What
+a simple but sublime antidote for these stricken Spirits, "THAT SAME
+JESUS." "That _same_ Jesus,"--He who laid His infant head on the manger
+at Bethlehem--He who walked on the Sea of Tiberias, and hushed its angry
+waves--He who spoke comfort to a stricken spirit at the well of Sychar,
+and at the gate of Nain--He who, in yonder palm-clad village sleeping in
+quiet loveliness at their feet, soothed the pangs of deeply afflicted
+hearts, and made death itself yield its prey--He who had first
+shed His tears and then His blood over the city He loved--He who
+so freely forgave, so meekly suffered, so willingly died! "THAT
+SAME JESUS" was still on High! The Brother's form was still there! The
+Kinsman-Redeemer's sympathy was still there! Though all heaven was then
+doing Him homage--though He had exchanged the chilling ingratitude of
+earth for the glories of an unsullied world of purity and love--yet
+nothing could blot out from His heart the names of those whom He had
+still left for a little season behind, to be bearers of His cross before
+they became sharers of His crown!
+
+What a comfort, amid all earth's vicissitudes and changes, this
+motto-verse! _Earth may_ change. Since the Lord ascended, earth _has_
+changed! There are "Written rocks"--manifold more than those of
+Sinai--that bear engraven on their furrowed brows, "The world passeth
+away." Ocean's old shores have transgressed their boundaries--kingdoms
+have risen and fallen--thronging cities have sprung up amid desert
+wastes--and proud capitals have been levelled with the dust. _Friends_
+may change; our very lot and circumstances, in spite of ourselves, may
+change. Our fondly planned schemes and cherished hopes may vanish into
+thin air, and the _place_ that now knows us know us no more! But there
+is ONE that changeth not--a Rock which stands immutable amid all the
+ceaseless heavings and commotions of this mortal life--and that Rock is
+Christ!
+
+Has he ever failed us? Ask the _tried_ Christian. Ask the _aged_
+Christian. That gray-haired believer may be like a solitary oak in the
+forest--all his compeers cut down--tempest after tempest has sighed and
+swept amid the branches--tree by tree has succumbed to the blast--there
+may be nothing but wreck and ruin and devastation all around. Friend
+after friend has departed; some have _altered_ towards him; kindness may
+have given way to alien looks and estranged affection; others are
+removed by _distance_--old familiar faces and scenes have given place to
+new ones;--others have been called away to the silent grave--sleeping
+quiet and still in "the narrow house appointed for all living." That
+aged lonely Christian can clasp his withered hands, and exclaim, through
+his tears, "_But_ THOU art the same, and _Thy_ years shall have no end."
+"Heart and flesh do faint and fail, but God is the strength of my heart,
+and my portion for ever."
+
+    "My God, I thank thee, Thou dost care for me;
+     I am content rejoicing to go on,
+     Even when my home seems very far away;
+     And over grief, and aching emptiness,
+     And fading hopes a higher joy ariseth.
+     In nightliest hours one lonely spot is bright,
+     High over head, through folds and folds of space;
+     It is the earnest star of all my heavens,
+     And tremulous in the deep-well of my being,
+     Its image answers. * * * * I WILL THINK OF JESUS."[48]
+
+But, in addition to the name and nature of Jesus--the Angels added a
+promise of comfort regarding Him. "He shall _so come_ in like manner as
+ye have seen Him go into heaven."[49] _Jesus shall come again!_
+
+When a beloved brother or friend whom we love is taken from us by death,
+how cheered we are by the thought of rejoining him in a brighter and
+better world. Even in earthly separations, how cheering the prospect of
+those severed by oceans and continents meeting once more in the
+flesh--the associations of youth renewed and perpetuated--and the
+long-severed links of friendship welded and cemented again! What must
+be, to the bereft and lonely Christian, the thought of being restored,
+and that _for ever_, to his long-absent Saviour? _Jesus shall come
+again_!--it is the Church's "blessed hope"--the day when her weeds and
+robes of ashen sorrow shall be laid for ever aside, and she shall "enter
+into the joy of her Lord?" It is His return, too, in a glorified
+manhood. That _same Jesus shall SO come_! Yes! "_so_ come," in the very
+body with which He bade the sorrowing eleven that sad, farewell! He left
+them with His hands extended, and with blessings on His lips. He will
+return in the same attitude to greet His expectant Church, with the
+words, "Come, _ye blessed_ of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
+for you from the foundation of the world."
+
+And if it be a comforting thought, "Jesus _still_ the _same_, now seated
+on the Mediatorial throne,"--equally comforting surely is the prospect
+that it will be in all the unchanging and undying sympathies of His
+exalted humanity, that He will come again as Judge. "God hath appointed
+a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by _that_ MAN
+whom he hath ordained." He shall come, not arrayed in the stern
+magnificence of Godhead! As we behold Him, we need not crouch in terror
+at His approach. _Humanity_ will soften the awe which Deity would
+inspire. We can rejoice with Job not only that our Kinsman Redeemer
+"_liveth_," but that, _as_ our Kinsman Redeemer, "He shall stand at the
+latter day upon the earth!"
+
+_Would_ that we more constantly lived under the realising power of this
+elevating thought--"Soon my Lord will come!" "Of the times and the
+seasons ye need not that I write unto you." It is not for us to
+dogmatize on the unrevealed period of the "glorious appearing." The
+millennial trumpet may in all probability sound over our slumbering
+dust--the millennial sun shine on the turf which may for centuries have
+covered our graves!--But _who_, on the other hand, dare venture to
+question the _possibility_ of the nearer alternative?--that the Judge
+may be "standing before the door"--the shadow of the Advent Throne even
+now projected on an unthinking and unbelieving world! "He that _shall_
+come _will_ come, and will not tarry!"--Although it be true that
+eighteen hundred years have elapsed since that utterance was made, and
+still no gleam of the coming morning streaks the horizon--although the
+calculations and longing expectations of the Church have hitherto only
+issued in successive disappointments, yet the hour _is_ nearing! As
+grain by grain drops in Time's sand-glass, it gives new significance and
+truthfulness to the Divine monition--"Behold, I come quickly!"
+
+Ah! if He _may_ come _soon_--if He MUST come at some time, how shall I
+meet Him? Will it be with joy? Am I shaping my course in life--my
+plans--my schemes--my wishes with what I feel would be in accordance
+with His will? Am I conscious of doing nothing that would lead me to be
+ashamed before Him at His coming? It would save many a perplexity--it
+would soothe many a heart-ache, and dry many a tear--if we were to make
+this great culminating event in the world's history, with all its
+elevating motives, more our guide and regulator than we do;--living each
+day, and _all_ our days, as if _possibly_ the very next hour might
+disclose "the sign of the Son of Man in the midst of the Heavens!" Not
+building our nests too fondly here--not too anxious to nestle in
+creature comforts, but occupying faithfully the talents to be traded on
+which He has committed to our stewardship; straining the eye of faith,
+like the mother of Sisera, for His approaching chariot; and amid our
+griefs, and separations, and sorrows, listening to the sublime inspired
+antidote--"Stablish your hearts, FOR _the coming of the Lord draweth
+nigh_."
+
+Blessed--glorious--happy day! And as His _first_ coming was terminated
+by His Ascension, so will there be a second Ascension at His _second_
+Advent, with this important difference, however, that, as in the former,
+He left His Church behind Him, orphaned and forlorn, to battle in a
+world of sorrow and sin; in the other, not one unit among the rejoicing
+myriads, bought with His blood, will He debar from sharing in the
+splendour of His final entrance within the celestial gates. "The Lord
+Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout--with the voice of the
+archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise
+first. Then they who are alive and remain, shall be caught up together
+with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we
+ever be with the Lord."
+
+    "We must not stand to gaze too long,
+       Though on unfolding heaven our gaze we bend;
+     When lost behind the bright angelic throng,
+       We see Christ's entering triumph slow ascend.
+
+    "No fear but we shall soon behold,
+       Faster than now it fades, that gleam revive,
+     When issuing from his cloud of fiery gold,
+       Our wasted frames feel the true Sun and live.
+
+    "Then shall we see Thee as Thou art,
+       For ever fix'd in no unfruitful gaze,
+     But such as lifts the new created heart
+       Age after age in worthier love and praise."
+
+
+
+
+XXIII.
+
+THE DISCIPLES' RETURN.
+
+
+The time has come when the disciples must leave the crest of Olivet and
+bend their steps once more to Jerusalem. Ah! most sorrowful
+thought--most sorrowful pilgrimage! Often, often had it been trodden
+before with their Lord's voice of love and power sounding in their ears.
+Often had it proved an Emmaus journey, when their hearts "burned within
+them as He talked to them by the way and opened unto them the
+Scriptures." But He is gone!--that voice is now hushed--the well-loved
+path, worn by His blessed footsteps, and consecrated by His midnight
+prayers, must be trodden by them alone! Willingly, perhaps, like Peter,
+on Tabor, would they have tarried on the spot where they last saw His
+human form, and listened to the music of His voice, just as we still
+love to revisit some haunt of hallowed friendship and associate it with
+the name and words and features of the departed. But they dare not
+linger. As the disciples of this great and good Master, they dare not
+remain to indulge in mere sentimental grief, or in vain hopes and
+expectations of a speedy return. Life is too short--their Apostolic work
+too solemn and momentous, to suffer them to consume their hours in
+unavailing sorrow. We may imagine them taking their last look upwards to
+heaven, and then bending a tearful eye down upon Bethany--its hallowed
+remembrances all the _more_ hallowed, that the vision is now about to
+pass away for ever! The Angels, too, have sped away, and the eleven
+pilgrims begin their solitary return back to the city and temple from
+which the _true_ Glory had indeed departed!
+
+_And how did they return?_ What were their feelings as they rose to
+pursue their way? Had we not been told far otherwise, we should have
+imagined them to have been those of deep dejection. We should have
+pictured to ourselves a weary, weeping, troubled band; their
+countenances shaded with a sorrow too profound for words;--the joyous
+melodies of that morning hour, all in sad contrast with those hearts
+which were bowed down with a bereavement unparalleled in its nature
+since a weeping world was bedewed with tears! They were going too, as
+"lambs in the midst of wolves," to the very city where, a few weeks
+before, their Lord had been crucified,--the disciples of a hated Master,
+"not knowing the things that might befall _them_ there." Could we
+wonder, if for the moment these aching spirits should have surrendered
+themselves to mingled feelings of disconsolate grief and terror. But
+_how different_! Sorrow indeed they _must_ have had; but if so, it was
+counterbalanced and overborne by far other emotions; for of the
+_sorrow_, the Evangelist says _nothing_; the simple record of this
+mournful journey is in these words, "They returned to Jerusalem WITH
+GREAT JOY." Most wonderful, and yet most true! Never did mourner return
+from a funeral scene--(from laying in the grave his nearest and
+dearest)--with a heavier sense of an overwhelming loss than did that
+widowed orphaned band. And yet, lo! they are _joyful_! A sunshine is
+lighting up their faces. The "Sun of their souls" has set behind the
+world's horizon. But though vanished from the eye of sense, His glory
+and radiance seem still to linger on their spirits, just as the orb of
+day gilds the lofty mountain-peaks long after his descent. They tread
+the old footway with elastic step! As Gethsemane, and Kedron, and the
+Temple-path, are in succession skirted, while "_sorrowful_, they are
+alway REJOICING." Why is this? It was God Himself fulfilling in their
+experience His own promise, "_As thy day is, so shall thy strength be._"
+He metes out strength IN the day of trial, and FOR the day of trial.
+When _we_ expect nothing but fainting and trembling, sadness and
+despondency, He whispers His own promise, and makes it good, "My grace
+is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness."
+
+Who so faint as these disciples? Think of them in their by-past history,
+tossed on Gennesaret, cowering with dread in their vessel! Think of them
+in the Judgment-Hall of Pilate; think of them at the cross! Nothing
+there but pusillanimity and cowardice. Nay, when our Lord had spoken to
+them on a former occasion of this same departure, we read that "_sorrow
+had filled their hearts_." They could not bear the thought of so cruel
+a severance from all they held dear: But see them now--when the sad hour
+has come--lonely--unbefriended--their Lord hopelessly removed from the
+_eye of sense_; though but a few days before, they were traitors to
+their trust--unfaithful in their allegiance--bending, like bruised
+reeds, before the storm--behold them now, retraversing their way to
+Jerusalem, not with sorrow, as we might expect, but _with joy_. The
+Evangelist even notes the extent and measure of the emotion. It was not
+a mere effort to overbear their sorrow--an outward semblance of
+reconciliation to their hard fate--but it was a deep fountain of real
+gladness, welling up from their riven spirits. They returned, he tells
+us, with "GREAT JOY!"
+
+Oh! the wonders of the _grace of God_. What grace _has_ done--what grace
+_can_ do! We speak not of it now under its manifold other and
+diversified phases,--_converting_ grace, and _restraining_ grace, and
+_sanctifying_ grace, and _dying_ grace. Here we have to do only with
+_sustaining_ and _supporting_ grace. But how many Christian disciples,
+in their Olivets of sorrow, have been able to tell the same experience?
+How often, when a believer is stricken down with sore affliction--when
+the hand of death enters his family--when the treasured life of the
+dwelling is taken, and he feels in the anticipation of such a blow as if
+it would smite _him_, too, to the dust, and it were impossible to
+survive the prostration of all that links him to life--when the
+tremendous blow _comes_, lo! sustaining grace he never could have
+_dreamed_ of comes along with it. He rises _above_ his trial. Underneath
+him are the Everlasting arms. "The joy of the Lord is his strength!" He
+treads along life's lonely way _sorrowful_, yet with a "song in the
+night." Amid earth's separations and sadness, he hears the voice of
+Jesus, saying, "Lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
+world."
+
+Oh, trust that Grace still! It is the secret of your spiritual strength.
+"Not I, not I, but the grace of God that is with me!" You may have to
+confront "a great fight of afflictions;" but that grace sustaining you,
+you will be made "more than conquerors." "All men forsook me," said the
+great Apostle, "_nevertheless_, the LORD stood with me, and strengthened
+me, and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion." "And God is able
+to make _all_ grace abound toward YOU; that ye, always having
+_all-sufficiency_ in _all things_, may abound to every good work." You
+have found Him faithful in the past;--trust Him in the future. Cast all
+your cares, and each care, as it arises, on Him, saying, in childlike
+faith, "Undertake Thou for me!" Then, then, in your very night-seasons,
+"His song will be with you." The Mount of your trial--the mournful,
+desolate, solitary, rugged path you tread, will be carpeted with love,
+fringed with mercy, and earth's darkest future will grow bright as you
+listen to a voice stealing from the upper sanctuary, "I will come again
+and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
+
+In this scene of the disciples returning to Jerusalem, we are presented
+with the last picture of the Home of BETHANY. Here the earthly vision is
+sealed, and we are only left to imagine Martha, and Mary, and Lazarus,
+when the joyous footfall that had cheered their dwelling could be heard
+no more, living together in sacred harmony, exulting in "the blessed
+hope, even the glorious appearing of the Great God their Saviour."[50]
+
+Did they live to survive the destruction of Jerusalem? Did they live to
+hear the tramp of the Roman legions resounding through their quiet
+hamlet, and "the abomination of desolation," the imperial eagles
+desecrating the hallowed ridges of Olivet? Did they often repair to the
+meetings of the infant Church in Jerusalem, and delight to mingle with
+the _under_ shepherds, when the "_Chief_ Shepherd" had gone? Or did the
+venerable company of Apostles love to resort, as their Lord before them,
+to the old village of palm-trees, whose every memory was fragrant with
+their Master's name? All these, and similar questions, we cannot answer.
+This we know and feel assured of--they are now gathered a holy and happy
+family in the true Bethany above--_there_ never more to listen to the
+voice of weeping, or hear the tread of the funeral crowd, or the wail of
+the Mourner!
+
+And soon, too, shall many of us (let us trust) be _there_, to meet them!
+BETHANY, we have seen, had alike its tears and its joys; so will it be
+with every spot and every scene in this mingled world. But where the
+Family of Bethany _now_ are, the motto is--"NEVER _sorrowful_, ALWAY
+_rejoicing_!" And, better than all, while they never can be severed
+from one another, they never can be separated from their Lord. He is no
+longer now, as formerly at their earthly home, like "a wayfaring man
+that turneth aside to tarry for a night." No Olivet now to remind of
+farewells. They are "_with Him_," "seeing Him as He is," and that "for
+ever and ever!"
+
+And if, meanwhile, regarding ourselves, the journey of life has for a
+little still to be traversed, and the battle of life still to be fought;
+blessed be God, "we go not a warfare on our own charges." The same grace
+vouchsafed to the disciples is promised to _us_. _That grace_ will
+enable us to rise superior to all the vicissitudes and changes of the
+journey. Let us rise from our Olivet-ridge and be going; and though
+traversing different footpaths to the same Home--be it ours, like the
+disciples, to reach at last--a holy and happy company--the true Heavenly
+Jerusalem--"WITH GREAT JOY."
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES
+
+[1] _Bethany_ signifies literally "_The house of dates_."
+
+[2] "The _figs_ of Bethany" are mentioned specially by the Rabbins as
+being subject to tithing.
+
+[3] Stanley's "Sinai and Palestine."
+
+[4] Anderson.
+
+[5] Bartlett's "Walks about Jerusalem."
+
+[6] Neander's "Life of Christ."
+
+[7] "What Mary fell short in words she made up in tears. She said less
+than Martha, but wept more; and tears of devout affection have a voice,
+a loud prevailing voice--no rhetoric like that."--MATTHEW HENRY.
+
+[8] _Note_.--See p. 173.
+
+[9] "Within and Without."
+
+[10] John xi. 11.
+
+[11] John xi. 20.
+
+[12] John xi. 21.
+
+[13] John xi. 26.
+
+[14] John xi. 27.
+
+[15] John xi. 39.
+
+[16] John xi. 39.
+
+[17] John xi. 41.
+
+[18] Rev. iii. 5.
+
+[19] Rom. viii. 34.
+
+[20] John v. 29.
+
+[21] As the Jewish sabbath began at six o'clock on Friday evening, and
+lasted till six on Saturday evening, we may infer it was after the close
+of its sacred hours (at "eventide") He reached Bethany.
+
+[22] It is supposed to have been equivalent to L10 of our money.
+
+[23] Tennyson.
+
+[24] An excellent Christian poet has thus amplified this thought:--
+
+    "Thou hast thy record in the monarch's hall,
+       And on the waters of the far mid sea;
+     And where the mighty mountain shadows fall,
+       The Alpine hamlet keeps a thought of thee.
+     Where'er, beneath some Oriental tree,
+       The Christian traveller rests--where'er the child
+     Looks upward from the English mother's knee,
+       With earnest eyes, in wond'ring reverence mild,
+     There art thou known. Where'er the Book of Light
+       Bears hope and healing, there, beyond all blight,
+     Is borne thy memory--and all praise above.
+       Oh! say what deed so lifted thy sweet name,
+     Mary! to that pure, silent place of fame?--
+       One lowly offering of exceeding love."
+
+[25] This was a common opinion among the Fathers of the Church.
+
+[26] Mark xi. 1-12.
+
+[27] Stanley's "Sinai and Palestine," p. 188-191. A work of rare
+interest, which condenses in one volume the literature of the Holy Land.
+
+[28] "Christian Year."
+
+[29] Bethphage, _lit._ "the house of figs."
+
+[30] Stanley, p. 418.
+
+[31] "If the miracles generally have a symbolical import, we have in
+this case one that is _entirely_ symbolical."--NEANDER.
+
+[32] "Trench on the Miracles," p. 444. See a full exposition of the
+design and import of this miracle in this exhaustive and admirable
+dissertation.
+
+[33] "The fig-tree, rich in foliage, but destitute of fruit, represents
+the Jewish people, so abundant in outward shows of piety, but destitute
+of its reality. Their vital sap was squandered upon leaves. And as the
+fruitless tree, failing to realise the aim of its being, was destroyed,
+so the theocratic nation, for the same reason, was to be overtaken,
+after long forbearance, by the judgments of God, and shut out from His
+kingdom."--NEANDER.
+
+[34] Psalm i. 3.
+
+[35] "In that of the devils in the swine there was no punishment, but
+only a permitting of the thing."--See "Stier's Words of the Lord Jesus,"
+vol. iii. p. 100.
+
+[36] Mark xi. 19.
+
+[37] "Sinai and Palestine," p. 165.
+
+[38] "On the wild uplands," says Mr Stanley, "which immediately
+overhangs the village, He finally withdrew from the eyes of His
+disciples, in a seclusion which, perhaps, could nowhere else be found so
+near the stir of a mighty city, the long ridge of Olivet screening those
+hills, and those hills the village beneath them, from all sight or sound
+of the city behind; the view opening only on the wide waste of desert
+rocks, and ever-descending valleys, into the depths of the distant
+Jordan and its mysterious lake. At this point the last interview took
+place. He led them out as far as to Bethany. The appropriateness of the
+whole scene presents a singular contrast to the inappropriateness of
+that fixed by a later fancy, 'Seeking for a sign' on the broad top of
+the mountain, out of sight of Bethany, and in full sight of Jerusalem,
+and thus an equal contradiction to the letter and the spirit of the
+Gospel narrative."--P. 192.
+
+The same writer, in another place (p. 450), says, "Even if the
+evangelist had been less explicit in stating that He led them out 'as
+far as to Bethany,' the secluded hills (that especially to which Tobler
+assigns the name of Djebel Sajach) which overhang that village on the
+eastern slope of Olivet, are evidently as appropriate to the whole tenor
+of the narrative, as the startling, the almost offensive publicity of
+the traditional spot, in the full view of the whole city of Jerusalem,
+is wholly inappropriate, and (in the absence, as it now appears, of even
+traditional support) wholly untenable."
+
+[39] Acts i. 5.
+
+[40] Acts i. 8.
+
+[41] John xvi. 7.
+
+[42] John xvi. 14.
+
+[43] Acts i. 6, 7.
+
+[44] Acts i. 8.
+
+[45] Luke xxiv. 50.
+
+[46] Ps. lxviii. 18.
+
+[47] Montgomery.
+
+[48] "Within and Without."
+
+[49] Acts i. 11.
+
+[50] Is it lawful to think of Bethany in connexion with the Church of
+the Future? Are there no foreshadowed glories found in the pages of Holy
+Writ, which include this lowly village--gilding it with the beams of a
+Millennial Sun? Is it destined to remain as it now is--a wreck of
+vanished loveliness? and is the crested ridge above it, which was the
+scene of the great terminating event of the Incarnation, to be
+associated with no other august displays of the Redeemer's power and
+majesty? The following remarkable prediction occurs in the prophet
+Zechariah:--"_And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of
+Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives
+shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west,
+and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall
+remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south._" Zech. xiv.
+4. Were we of the number of those--(perhaps some who read these
+pages)--who look with firm and joyful confidence to the Personal Reign
+of the Redeemer on earth, and who in their code of interpretation
+regarding unfulfilled prophecy, espouse the literal in preference to the
+spiritual meaning, we might here have an inviting picture presented to
+us of the BETHANY of the future. The Mount of Olives, by some great
+physical, or rather supernatural agency, is represented as heaving from
+its foundations, and parting in twain. The middle summit disappears. The
+remaining two form the steep sides of a new Valley, which, as it is
+spoken of as opening at Jerusalem (from Gethsemane), eastwards, the
+Vista must necessarily terminate with BETHANY; thus connecting the two
+most memorable spots associated with our Lord's humiliation. "His feet
+shall stand in that day on the _Mount of Olives_."--The once lowly
+Saviour again "stands" in power and great glory on the very spot over
+Bethany from which He formerly ascended. A new highway from the "Village
+of Palms" is made for His triumphal entrance to the Holy City, while the
+air resounds with the old welcome--"Rejoice, O daughter of Zion, behold
+thy King cometh!" If further we turn with the literalists to the
+majestic Temple-Visions of Ezekiel, we find the front of the
+newly-erected structure _facing up_ this valley; a new stream--(indeed a
+mighty river)--gushes down from the temple-colonnade, flowing through
+the same gorge, and discharging its purifying waters into the Dead Sea.
+(Verse 8, and Ezekiel xlvii. 1-12; Joel iii. 18. The reader is referred
+to these passages in full.) From the geographical position, this river
+must needs, in the course assigned to it, flow nigh to the restored
+palm-groves of _Bethany_--thus murmuring by scenes consecrated for
+centuries by the footsteps and tears of a weeping Saviour.
+
+But if we cannot participate in these gorgeous literal picturings, we
+are abundantly warranted to take the words of the Prophet as delineating
+the glorious results of the future _restoration_ of the Jews to their
+own Jerusalem. We can think of the City of the Great King raised from
+her desolation, "her walls salvation, and her gates praise." The
+Messiah, once rejected, now owned and welcomed--"the children of Zion
+joyful in their King." We can think of the valley which is to divide the
+Mount of _Olives_--(the mountain bedewed with the memory of the
+Saviour's _prayers_)--we can think of _that_ valley, and the stream
+which flows through it, as emblematic of spiritual blessings. "Ask of
+Me," says God, addressing His adorable Son, "and I will give Thee the
+heathen for thine inheritance." Is not the symbolic answer here given?
+The Mountain where the Saviour so "oft resorted" to "ask of His Father,"
+is rent in sunder--every barrier to the progress of the truth is now
+swept away--the living stream of Gospel mercy issues from Zion (or
+rather, from Him who is the True Temple), that it may flow to the
+remotest nations of the earth! As it enters the bituminous waters of the
+Asphaltite Lake, it is represented as curing them of their bitterness
+(Ezek. xlvii. 8, 9); descriptive of the power of the Gospel, whose
+living streams, like the symbolic "leaves of the tree of life," are for
+"the healing of the nations." Then shall the words of Isaiah be
+fulfilled, "Every valley shall be exalted, and _every mountain and hill
+shall be made low_, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the
+rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all
+flesh shall see it together." (Isa. xl. 4.) In the prophecy of
+Zechariah, to which we have just referred, we are told that in that same
+happy millennial period, the representatives of the world's nations will
+go up "year by year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep
+_the feast of Tabernacles_." (Zech. xiv. 16.) Who can tell but this may
+be a literal revival of the old Hebrew festival, only invested with a
+new Gospel and Christian meaning. "This feast," says a gifted expositor,
+"is the only unfulfilled one of the great feasts of Israel. _Passover_
+was fulfilled at Christ's death, and _Pentecost_ at the outpouring of
+the Spirit. But this feast represents the LORD _tabernacling with men_,
+and is only fulfilled when '_The Lord my God shall come, and all the
+saints with Thee_.' On the Transfiguration-Hill, Peter, almost
+unwittingly, set forth this truth. He seemed to mean to say, 'Is not
+this the true joy of the Feast of Tabernacles? Is not the Lord here?'" If
+this be so, we can think of the palm-groves of Bethany again bared of
+their branches;--these waved in triumph as a new and nobler "Hosannah"
+awakes the ancient echoes of Olivet--"Blessed is He that cometh in the
+name of the Lord!" As the regenerated children of Abraham build up the
+waste places in and around Zion, which for ages have been "without
+inhabitant," and whose names are still dear to them--think we, amid
+other scenes of hallowed interest, they will not love oftentimes to take
+the old "Sabbath-day's journey" to the site of "the Home of Mary and her
+sister Martha." While seated nigh the reputed burial-place, with the
+Gospel in their hands, reading, through their tears, the story of their
+fathers' impenitency, and of their Saviour's compassion and sympathy at
+the grave of His friend, will not a new and impressive truthfulness
+invest one of the old Bethany utterances, "THEN said the Jews, Behold
+how He loved him!"
+
+But these, after all, are merely speculative thoughts, on which we can
+build nothing. We have in these "Memories" to deal with the Bethany of
+the _past_, not with the imagined Bethany of the _future_. However
+pleasing, in connexion with the Honoured Village, these thoughts of a
+Millennial day may be, "nevertheless WE, according to His promise,
+rather look for _new_ Heavens and a _new_ Earth, wherein dwelleth
+righteousness."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
+
+
+Page numbers refer to the original text.
+Footnote numbers refer to this transcribed version.
+
+Title page: Added missing quotation mark.
+
+p6: Retained spelling of "Perea" in text, and "Peraean" in quotation.
+
+p58: Hyphen added to "death-bed" for consistency.
+
+p119: Replaced "he" (referring to Jesus) with "He" twice.
+
+p188: Hyphen retained in "child-like" in quoted poem.
+
+p220: Inconsistent capitalisation of "Hosannahs" retained.
+
+p248: Used single quotes to clarify quotation within speech.
+
+Footnote 8 (referenced on p24): Missing full stop added.
+
+For consistency, various ellipses have been rendered as "..."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Memories of Bethany, by John Ross Macduff
+
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