John 11:25-48

25 The striking phrase "and the Life" is the clue to the great truth here unfolded by our Lord. To His assertion that "Your brother will be rising" Martha assents, for she knew that all would rise "at the last day". But this falls far short of the truth. There are two resurrections. One He called "the resurrection of life:' the other "the resurrection of judgment" (Joh_5:29). As resurrection necessarily implies life, it will be seen that the word "life" is used in an intensified sense. The "resurrection of life" imparts eonian life, while the resurrection of judgment leads to eonian death. Our Lord is seeking to comfort Martha by that best of all consolations, the vivification of all His own at His presence, long before "the last day:' at the very commencement of the millennial eon. Seventy-five days after His glorious epiphany He will rouse the saints in Israel and commence their righteous reign over the earth. "Happy and holy is he who is having part in the former resurrection: over these the second death has no jurisdiction, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will be reigning with Him the thousand years" (Rev_20:6). The saints of this present economy of transcendent grace will be given life even before this, as explained in 1Th_4:13-18; 1Co_15:51-55; Eph_1:12; Php_3:20. The presence, or parousia, of Christ spreads over a period of time, in which all His own are called out of death to eonian life. Only three resurrections lead to immortality. First, that of Christ Himself, second, that at

His future "presence" including those who are His, and, lastly, all mankind, at the consummation, when all will be made alive (1Co_15:22-28). This great truth is the only real comfort in the presence of bereavement. Christ never stood in the presence of death without vanquishing it. He is the Life! Since this life beyond the reach of death is imparted only on these three occasions, it follows that every other resurrection is not a "resurrection of life". Those raised in the past and those at the great white throne are still subject to death. They are not made immortal until the consummation, when death is abolished, and life is the portion of all.

35 What tender compassion His tears reveal! He could deliberately remain away so that Lazarus should die and by his death prepare for the revelation of God's glory in his resurrection. He could comfort the sisters with the great truth that He is the Life. But with Him truth was not the stern, heartless dogma that overrides all natural feelings and condemns all sorrow as unbelief. His heart was moved with pity and compassion and He stops to mingle His tears with theirs ere He wipes them away by His marvelous miracle. So we, too, are not charged by the apostle to refrain from all sorrow as sinful, but not to sorrow as others who have no blessed expectation to anticipate (1Th_4:13). We have here a touching example of the experience recorded by the apostle Paul: ''as sorrowing, yet ever rejoicing" (2Co_6:10). Or, in our Lord's case, we should reverse it, for He rejoiced first of all, yet felt for His friends who had not His faith. It is a mistake to suppose that confidence in the ultimate benefits of sorrow will put us out of sympathy with it. It is intended to stir our emotions. It is designed to touch us to tears. Otherwise, it would fail to accomplish the object for which it exists. Our sorrows and heartaches are none the less real because we know their glorious outcome. All their ultimate value lies in their contrast with the tearless felicity for which they are a preparation.

39 Of the three who were raised from the dead by our Lord, Jairus' daughter had scarcely started to go to corruption (Mar_5:35-42), the widow of Nain's son was on the way to his burial (Luk_7:11-16), but Lazarus had been dead long enough to be offensive to smell and to sight. No wonder Martha objected. Who wishes to see the gruesome spectacle of a corrupting corpse? How their hearts must have marveled at His words "you should be seeing the glory of God." The glory of God in such ghastly association! Yet such is the only place its full effulgence can be manifested. This is one of many examples which are given us in the Scriptures, which illustrate the essential and beneficial function of evil in the universe. It reveals God. All those deepest and most precious excellences which spring from love would be buried within His breast, unknown and unappreciated, if evil did not force it to the front. If Lazarus had not died, we would not have known of Christ's compassion and His tears. Even Mary had not learned this lesson yet, though she had sat at His feet and listened to His teachings. His heart was most touched by her complaint "Lord, if Thou wert here, my brother would not have died!" Did she know that He had delayed His coming? It is the great problem that baffles men today put into a simple simile. Why does God allow evil? Why does He not hasten to remove it? All that is needed is His presence. But He delays. His delay confirms the great truth that evil as well as good is from Him (Isa_45:7). It is the necessary foil for the display of His glory. It is the essential ingredient of future bliss. Good cannot be known and appreciated except in the presence of evil. It needs a dead, loathsome, fetid corpse to flash forth the effulgent love of God.