“Lazarus, Come Forth”
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plan the death of Him who was the resurrection and the life. But how
unable were the unbelieving Jews rightly to interpret His tears! Some,
who could see nothing more than the outward circumstances of the
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scene before Him as a cause for His grief, said softly, “Behold how
He loved him!” Others, seeking to drop the seed of unbelief into the
hearts of those present, said derisively, “Could not this Man, which
opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should
not have died?” If it were in Christ’s power to save Lazarus, why then
did He suffer him to die?
With prophetic eye Christ saw the enmity of the Pharisees and the
Sadducees. He knew that they were premeditating His death. He knew
that some of those now apparently so sympathetic would soon close
against themselves the door of hope and the gates of the city of God.
A scene was about to take place, in His humiliation and crucifixion,
that would result in the destruction of Jerusalem, and at that time none
would make lamentation for the dead. The retribution that was coming
upon Jerusalem was plainly portrayed before Him. He saw Jerusalem
compassed by the Roman legions. He knew that many now weeping
for Lazarus would die in the siege of the city, and in their death there
would be no hope.
It was not only because of the scene before Him that Christ wept.
The weight of the grief of ages was upon Him. He saw the terrible
effects of the transgression of God’s law. He saw that in the history
of the world, beginning with the death of Abel, the conflict between
good and evil had been unceasing. Looking down the years to come,
He saw the suffering and sorrow, tears and death, that were to be the
lot of men. His heart was pierced with the pain of the human family of
all ages and in all lands. The woes of the sinful race were heavy upon
His soul, and the fountain of His tears was broken up as He longed to
relieve all their distress.
“Jesus therefore again groaning in Himself cometh to the grave.”
Lazarus had been laid in a cave in a rock, and a massive stone had
been placed before the entrance. “Take ye away the stone,” Christ said.
Thinking that He only wished to look upon the dead, Martha objected,
saying that the body had been buried four days, and corruption had
already begun its work. This statement, made before the raising of
Lazarus, left no room for Christ’s enemies to say that a deception
had been practiced. In the past the Pharisees had circulated false