SCRIPTURE COMMENTARY #405
Jesus said to them: "Lazarus our friend sleepeth: but I go that I may awake him out of sleep." His disciples therefore said: "Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well." But Jesus spoke of his death: and they thought that he spoke of the repose of sleep. Then therefore Jesus said to them plainly: "Lazarus is dead. And I am glad, for your sakes; that I was not there, that you may believe. But, let us go to him." Thomas therefore, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples: "Let us also go, that we may die with him."
Jesus therefore came: and found that he had been four days already in the grave. (Now Bethania was near Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off.) And many of the Jews were come to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. Martha therefore, as soon as she heard that Jesus was come, went to meet him: but Mary sat at home. Martha therefore said to Jesus: "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But now also I know that whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee." Jesus saith to her: "Thy brother shall rise again." Martha saith to him: "I know that he shall rise again, in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her: "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live: And every one that liveth and believeth in me shall not die for ever. Believest thou this?" She saith to him: "Yea, Lord, I have believed that thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, who art come into this world." And when she had said these things, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying: "The master is come and calleth for thee." She, as soon as she heard this, riseth quickly and cometh to him. For Jesus was not yet come into the town: but he was still in that place where Martha had met him. The Jews therefore, who were with her in the house and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up speedily and went out, followed her, saying: "She goeth to the grave to weep there." When Mary therefore was come where Jesus was, seeing him, she fell down at his feet and saith to him. "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." Jesus, therefore, when he saw her weeping, and the Jews that were come with her weeping, groaned in the spirit and troubled himself, And said: "Where have you laid him?" They say to him: "Lord, come and see." And Jesus wept.
The Jews therefore said: "Behold how he loved him." But some of them said: "Could not he that opened the eyes of the man born blind have caused that this man should not die?" Jesus therefore again groaning in himself, cometh to the sepulchre. Now it was a cave; and a stone was laid over it. Jesus saith: "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith to him: "Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he is now of four days." Jesus saith to her: "Did not I say to thee that if thou believe, thou shalt see the glory of God?" They took therefore the stone away. And Jesus lifting up his eyes, said: "Father, I give thee thanks that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people who stand about have I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me." When he had said these things, he cried with a loud voice: "Lazarus, come forth." And presently he that had been dead came forth, bound feet and hands with winding bands. And his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said to them: "Loose him and let him go." Many therefore of the Jews, who were come to Mary and Martha and had seen the things that Jesus did, believed in him. (John 11:11-45)
THE DIVINITY OF OUR LORD JESUS: Throughout all this story our Lord spoke and acted as God.
a) He called Himself the Son of God, and said that He was the (author of the ) resurrection and the life.
b) He solemnly addressed God as His Father, thanking Him for having always heard Him; for the will of God the Father is one with the will of God the Son.
c) He accepted Martha's confession of faith: "I believe that Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God."
d) He manifested His omniscience by knowing that Lazarus was dead, though He was far from Bethania, and no one had brought Him the news of his death.
e) He revealed His omnipotence in the most glorious way, by calling back to life, by His sole word, a man who had been four days in the grave, and whose body was already corrupt. He called Lazarus not only from the grave but from corruption, overcoming death in the very midst of its work of devastation, and thus revealing Himself to all present as the very Lord of life and death--as the resurrection and the life. Our Lord worked this miracle before many witnesses. They had all known Lazarus, and they all knew that he was dead: many of them had seen him laid in the tomb, and the moldering decay of his body was perceptible to their senses, as they stood around the open grave: and, behold, by the mighty power of one omnipotent word he who was dead stood alive and in the full vigor of his manhood in their midst! Not even our Lord's bitterest enemies could deny the miracle!
[From 'A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture' by Bishop Knecht, D.D.]
(1899 Douay-Rheims Bible)
Jesus therefore came: and found that he had been four days already in the grave. (Now Bethania was near Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off.) And many of the Jews were come to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. Martha therefore, as soon as she heard that Jesus was come, went to meet him: but Mary sat at home. Martha therefore said to Jesus: "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But now also I know that whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee." Jesus saith to her: "Thy brother shall rise again." Martha saith to him: "I know that he shall rise again, in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her: "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live: And every one that liveth and believeth in me shall not die for ever. Believest thou this?" She saith to him: "Yea, Lord, I have believed that thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, who art come into this world." And when she had said these things, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying: "The master is come and calleth for thee." She, as soon as she heard this, riseth quickly and cometh to him. For Jesus was not yet come into the town: but he was still in that place where Martha had met him. The Jews therefore, who were with her in the house and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up speedily and went out, followed her, saying: "She goeth to the grave to weep there." When Mary therefore was come where Jesus was, seeing him, she fell down at his feet and saith to him. "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." Jesus, therefore, when he saw her weeping, and the Jews that were come with her weeping, groaned in the spirit and troubled himself, And said: "Where have you laid him?" They say to him: "Lord, come and see." And Jesus wept.
The Jews therefore said: "Behold how he loved him." But some of them said: "Could not he that opened the eyes of the man born blind have caused that this man should not die?" Jesus therefore again groaning in himself, cometh to the sepulchre. Now it was a cave; and a stone was laid over it. Jesus saith: "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith to him: "Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he is now of four days." Jesus saith to her: "Did not I say to thee that if thou believe, thou shalt see the glory of God?" They took therefore the stone away. And Jesus lifting up his eyes, said: "Father, I give thee thanks that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people who stand about have I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me." When he had said these things, he cried with a loud voice: "Lazarus, come forth." And presently he that had been dead came forth, bound feet and hands with winding bands. And his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said to them: "Loose him and let him go." Many therefore of the Jews, who were come to Mary and Martha and had seen the things that Jesus did, believed in him. (John 11:11-45)
THE DIVINITY OF OUR LORD JESUS: Throughout all this story our Lord spoke and acted as God.
a) He called Himself the Son of God, and said that He was the (author of the ) resurrection and the life.
b) He solemnly addressed God as His Father, thanking Him for having always heard Him; for the will of God the Father is one with the will of God the Son.
c) He accepted Martha's confession of faith: "I believe that Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God."
d) He manifested His omniscience by knowing that Lazarus was dead, though He was far from Bethania, and no one had brought Him the news of his death.
e) He revealed His omnipotence in the most glorious way, by calling back to life, by His sole word, a man who had been four days in the grave, and whose body was already corrupt. He called Lazarus not only from the grave but from corruption, overcoming death in the very midst of its work of devastation, and thus revealing Himself to all present as the very Lord of life and death--as the resurrection and the life. Our Lord worked this miracle before many witnesses. They had all known Lazarus, and they all knew that he was dead: many of them had seen him laid in the tomb, and the moldering decay of his body was perceptible to their senses, as they stood around the open grave: and, behold, by the mighty power of one omnipotent word he who was dead stood alive and in the full vigor of his manhood in their midst! Not even our Lord's bitterest enemies could deny the miracle!
[From 'A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture' by Bishop Knecht, D.D.]
(1899 Douay-Rheims Bible)
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