GR.

JOHN XI. 21-26.

Εἶπεν οὖν ἡ Μάρθα πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν· κύριε, εἰ ἧς ὧδε, ὁ ἀδελφός μου οὐκ ἂν ἐτεθνή

κει.

̓Αλλὰ καί νῦν οἶδα, ὅτι, ὅσα ἂν αἰτήσῃ τὸν θεὸν δώσει σοι ὁ Θεός.

Λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἀναστήσεται ὁ ἀδελφός σου.

Λέγει αὐτῷ Μάρθα· οἶδα,

ENG. VERS.

Then Martha said unto Je

sus, 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, 1

ὅτι ἀναστήσεται ἐν τῇ ἀνα- know that he shall rise again στάσει ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ.

Εἶπεν αὐτῇ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἀνάστασις καὶ ἡ ζωή· ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμέ, κἂν ἀποθάνα ζήσεται.

in the resurrection at the last day.

Jesus saith 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

Καὶ πᾶς ὁ ζῶν καὶ πιστεύ ων εἰς ἐμὲ οὐ μὴ ἀποθάνῃ εἰς believeth in me, shall never die. τὸν αἰῶνα. πιστεύεις τοῦτο;

Believest thou this?

This is a passage of similar import with the preceding, and is to be construed on the same principle. The words of Martha evince that she merely echoed the general sentiment of the age, and perhaps of former ages, in declaring the expectation that her brother would rise at the last day. Our Lord does not, indeed, in so many words assure her that her belief was founded upon an incorrect view of the truth; at the same time, upon a closer view of the Saviour's language, we cannot easily resist the impression, that he actually designed to correct something that was erroneous, or at least inadequate, in her belief. On any other supposition let us see how the discourse proceeds. Martha tells Jesus that she has no doubt that her brother will rise at the last day; and he, admitting and approving the sentiment, replies, 'I am the resurrection and the life,' intimating, on this construction, that what she said was very true, that at

the last day he should raise her brother to an immortal life. He then proceeds, advancing in some way upon what he had just said, and informs her that all dead Christians shall live again, and that no living Christian shall die forever. But upon this view of the passage, what has he said but what Martha had already told him that she knew? For surely, if she knew that Lazarus should rise again at the last day, she must, upon the same grounds, have known that every deceased Christian would also rise at the last day, and that no living Christian would die forever. This sense seems, in fact, to be precluded by the question which Christ immediately proposes, Believest thou this?' Can we suppose he would spend so many words to tell Martha what she already knew, and then, after all, ask her whether she believed this?

The following, then, we conceive to be a much juster interpretation. Our Lord really designs, by imparting to her the true nature of the resurrection, to inform her also that that 'last day,' which she was expecting, had even now in effect come, and therefore that there was no reason why she should give way to sorrow, or even despair of having her brother restored to her. He tells her, 'He that believeth in me, though he should die, as your brother now seems to have done, yet, in fact, it is little more than an illusion on the senses; he still lives to every high and real purpose of existence. Nor is this all; every living man that believes in me shall, in fact, never die. Although, indeed, he may be called in God's time to put off the mortal body, and though you may call this death, yet, in truth, it is a change scarcely worth the name. Of his conscious, active, and happy being there is no interruption at all for ever. If such, then, be the true state of the case in regard to departed believers-if they really emerge in full life and consciousness from the dying body into the resurrection-state-why imagine the resurrection to be deferred to some distant future period called 'the last day?' Believest thou, Martha, what I say? If so, you perceive you have little occasion to grieve for your deceased

brother; nevertheless, as the mere reanimation of the lifeless corpse is a comparatively trifling work of Omnipotence, your brother shall even now rise again." Here, doubtless, was much new and important doctrine, in regard to which it might very properly be asked of Martha, Believest thou this?'*

* The following paraphrase expresses so happily and, as we conceive, so correctly, the drift of our Lord's conversation with Martha, that we give it in this connexion:

"As soon as she heard that Jesus was come, Martha ran out to meet him, and said unto him, Lord, we sent to inform thee that Lazarus was dangerously ill; we thought the intelligence might have reached thee earlier: fluctuating between hope and apprehension, we counted the hours in anxious expectation of thy arrival, till at length Lazarus expired. If thou hadst been here, we had not been afflicted thus; for surely that healing power which we know has so often been employed for strangers in distress, would not have been withheld by thee from the family of thy chosen friend. It is too late to save him from death, but still perhaps not too late to restore him to life; for whatsoever thou shalt ask of God, I am persuaded God will grant it to thee.' Jesus saith unto her, Martha, be composed; thy brother is not lost to thee for ever: though he has fallen under the stroke of death, he will rise again.' Martha saith unto him, Ah, Lord, at the last day, I know; but this was not what I was thinking of and wishing; without thy help he is lost to us till then.' It is true, Martha,' replied Jesus, that there are instances in which the dead have been restored by me ; and if my friendship were to desire the interposition of the Divine Power, you might reasonably expect, perhaps, that such a miracle would be renewed in your behalf; but you know that I have brought light and immortality to light; and had you duly attended to my doctrine on the subject, you could hardly have been so much agitated and so disconsolate as you are. Let me tell you, that he that believeth in me, when he has died, will live; death is no detriment to him; he will not be hurt by that revolution of his being. And let me add, too, however much it may astonish you, and however different it may be from your present apprehensions, that every faithful living Christian in reality shall never die. Did you call these things to mind, Martha, when you were so anxious for my arrival to prevent your brother's death? Do you feel these things as you ought, while you are so earnestly wishing my interposition to raise him out of his grave? You have not understood me, or you have not believed me as you ought: Martha, how is this? Believest thou these things now?" Cappe's Crit. Rem. on N. Test., Vol. II. p. 326.

One thing, we think, is to be admitted as beyond question, that if, as we have endeavored to show, the general tenor of Scripture is adverse to the idea of a resurrection so long delayed, the true sense of the Saviour's language cannot bear that interpretation; for Jerome has well remarked that "the sense of Scripture is the Scripture, and not the mere words," and certainly the true sense of Revelation must accord with the truth of any subject on which it treats.*

GR.

Aces II. 29-35.

"Ανδρες ἀδελφοί, ἐξὸν εἰπεῖν μετὰ παρρησίας πρὸς ὑμᾶς περὶ τοῦ πατριάρχου Δαυίδ, ὅτι καὶ ἐτελεύτησε καὶ ἐτάφη, καὶ τὸ μνῆμα αὐτοῦ ἐστιν ἐν ἡμῖν ἄχρι τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης.

Προφήτης οὖν ὑπάρχων, καὶ εἰδώς, ὅτι ὅρκῳ ὤμοσεν αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς ἐκ καρποῦ τῆς ὀσφύος αὐτοῦ τὸ κατὰ σάρκα ἀναστής σειν τὸν Χριστόν, καθίσαι ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ.

Προϊδὼν ἐλάλησε περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅτι οὐ κατελείφθη ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ εἰς ᾅδου, οὐδὲ ἡ σὰρξ αὐτοῦ εἶδε διαφθοράν.

Τοῦτον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀνέστη

ENG. VERS.

Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.

Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had that of the fruit of his loins, ac sworn with an oath to him, cording to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

He seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither did his fesh see corruption.

This Jesus hath God raised

σεν ὁ Θεός, οὗ πάντες ἡμεῖς up, whereof we are all witἐσμεν μάρτυρες.

nesses.

* It deserves very serious inquiry on the part of philologists whether the clause in the 25th verse should not be translated-" He that believeth in me though he should die (κἂν ἀποθάνῃ), yet shall he live.” Without positively denying the correctness of the present version-" though he were dead "we still think the evidence preponderates in favor of the other. Indeed, we have not been able to find a single instance in the New Testament where the word is otherwise rendered.

Τῇ δεξιᾷ οὖν τοῦ θεοῦ ὑψωθείς, τὴν τε ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος λαβὼν παρὰ τοῦ πατρός, ἐξέχεε τοῦτο, ὃ νῦν ὑμεῖς βλέπετε καὶ ἀκούετε. Οὐ γὰρ Δαυίδ ἀνέβη εἰς τοὺς οὐρανούς, λέγει δὲ αὐτός· εἶπεν ὁ κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου ̇ κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου,

Ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου.

Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye

now see and hear.

For David is not ascended

into the heavens, but he saith of himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,

Until I make thy foes thy footstool.

"do not

On these words Mr. Barnes remarks, that they affirm that David was not saved, or that his spirit had not ascended to heaven, but that he had not been exalted in the heavens, in the sense in which Peter was speaking of the Messiah." This is doubtless a very correct remark. That the word 'ascended,' in this connexion, implies a glorious exaltation, is evident from the ensuing clause, the scope of which is this:-"If David were the real person of whom this resurrection and ascension were predicted, it would follow, as a matter of course, that David would be the person to take his seat at the right hand of God, for the ascension and the session are inseparable prerogatives that must necessarily meet in the same person. But how does this agree with the matter of fact? How does it agree with David's own words in another Psalm? Does he speak of himself as destined to this high pre-eminence? So far from it that he expressly affirms, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand," &c. As, then, the sitting at the right hand of the Majesty on high did not pertain to David, so of course neither could the ascension here spoken of. This is entirely in accordance with our Saviour's words, John 3. 13: "No man hath ascended up into heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man, who is in heaven." That is, no man hath been the subject of such a glorious exaltation as pertains to the Son of man alone.