The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1905-04-06

the home of comfort and love, but
deeply Swallowed now. Out of that
courtyard lately came funeral train.
The body, carried on d bier, was
swathed in linen bands. There were
the discOrdant notes of flutes and
hired walters. The director had thrice
halted the procession to comfort the
mOurners. An egg had been broken
sign of mortality, and Moses psalm
chanted, and the body laid on the
rocky shelf in the grotto The stone
had been rolled across the mouth of
the sepuIcher, and all whitened to
remind the inadvertent not to ap-
prOach within four cubits on penalty
of ceremonial defilement.
The saddest part of it, the return,
had been accomplished. During the
absence of the mOurners assiduous
hands had overturned the couches
and strewn broken pottery about to
symbolic destruction. The sisters
sit now with yelled faces and dust up
on their heads and unsandled feet,
break their fast with only egg and
lentils, while throngs pay their stiff
visits of coincidence. Every casual
word the bereaved sisters speak makes
Il mournful refrain. Every time they
steal away to the tomb to weep they
are persistently followed by those
who make merchandise of their con-
dOlence. In this instance, as in most,
there is that overcoming ''if - If so
and so, our brother would not have
died. That if is very inquisitors
instrument.
The fourth day had come-that
fatal fourth day after death-when,
according to Jewish notion, the spirit
which unit then hovers about the
corpse, sees the signs of decay in the
face. and takes its final departure.
Only then did Jesus come This de
lay was not, however, at the expense
OF Lazarus and his sisters. The spir-
itual gains to them were incalculable.
At the same time it gave Jesus oppor-
tunitv to work His transcendent mir
acle
Martha goes impetuously to meet
theI Master. and utters her plaintive
eff" Her faith sweeps out to EN- brace
the hope of her brothers immediate
restoration. But when Jesus seems
to confirm the hope it as quickly re-
cedes. We can forgive Martha that,
since it drew from the Savior's lips
that majestic affirmation which has
heartened the dying and bereaved in
every generation since. Now Mary,
summoned, comes with stronger,
though unexpressed, faith. She is
followed by her guests of coincidence.
Thus the miracle is furnished with
witnesses certainly not prejudiced in
favor of the Worker
A great surge of sorrows breaks up
on Jesus heart in the effort to con
troll, which He shakes and groans. 1t
gives place to tenderest sympathy
for the bereaved and that great com
pany of mourners they represent in
each succeeding age. His tears cause
favorable remark. But discordant
note is also struck by those who wish
to discount the recent miracle in Jeru-
salem by Jesus failure to avert this
event Martha's faith also shrinks
back as she protests against uncover
ing the putrescence of the tomb; but
Jesus encourages her to believe and
see the Glory of God.
When the stone is rolled away,
Jesus, with uplifted eyes, joyously
acknowledges the assurance He has
received that what He is bout to do
meets with the Fathers approval.
Both prayer and miracle are designed
to quicken the faith of those who
hear and see.
Then He, who is both Life and Res
direction, in a voice of indisputable
authority, bids the sleeper awake.
He speaks and it is done. Lazarus
Stands forth fresh and free without
a faint upon him of the chill and hor-
rors of the tomb. ~
The Teachers Lantern.
The eleventh chapter of John is not
surpassed in pictorialness. Sixty
years after the evangelists had no
difficulty in reproducing the scene
from the negative plat of memory.
Love caused delay. Jesus loved.
Therefore when He heard He abode
two days STILL Rushing to the rescue
is not always the kindest act, though
it may be harder to stand off and see
suffering. Ct reat were the gains to
Lazarus and his sisters of this apDar-