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The Desire of Ages
Lazarus from the dead He might give to His stubborn, unbelieving
people another evidence that He was indeed “the resurrection, and
the life.” He was loath to give up all hope of the people, the poor,
wandering sheep of the house of Israel. His heart was breaking because
of their impenitence. In His mercy He purposed to give them one more
evidence that He was the Restorer, the One who alone could bring life
and immortality to light. This was to be an evidence that the priests
could not misinterpret. This was the reason of His delay in going to
Bethany. This crowning miracle, the raising of Lazarus, was to set the
seal of God on His work and on His claim to divinity.
On His journey to Bethany, Jesus, according to His custom, min-
istered to the sick and the needy. Upon reaching the town He sent a
messenger to the sisters with the tidings of His arrival. Christ did not
at once enter the house, but remained in a quiet place by the wayside.
The great outward display observed by the Jews at the death of friends
or relatives was not in harmony with the spirit of Christ. He heard
the sound of wailing from the hired mourners, and He did not wish
to meet the sisters in the scene of confusion. Among the mourning
friends were relatives of the family, some of whom held high positions
of responsibility in Jerusalem. Among these were some of Christ’s
bitterest enemies. Christ knew their purposes, and therefore He did
not at once make Himself known.
The message was given to Martha so quietly that others in the
room did not hear. Absorbed in her grief, Mary did not hear the words.
Rising at once, Martha went out to meet her Lord, but thinking that
she had gone to the place where Lazarus was buried, Mary sat still in
her sorrow, making no outcry.
Martha hastened to meet Jesus, her heart agitated by conflicting
emotions. In His expressive face she read the same tenderness and love
that had always been there. Her confidence in Him was unbroken, but
she thought of her dearly loved brother, whom Jesus also had loved.
With grief surging in her heart because Christ had not come before, yet
with hope that even now He would do something to comfort them, she
said, “Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Over
and over again, amid the tumult made by the mourners, the sisters had
repeated these words.
With human and divine pity Jesus looked into her sorrowful, care-
worn face. Martha had no inclination to recount the past; all was
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