Evening star., 1917-04-07
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.

fidence in Him was such that they did
i not question His delay. although they
did not understand it. Christ COM
| forted practical Martha by His teach
| ings concerning the resurrection and
the revelation Of Himself as the source
OF the lifegiving power. When Jesus
demanded Of her a confession OF her
/ faith in Him as the resurrection and
; the life. the brokenhearted so'l af-
frmed her faith and gave an express
sion to her convictions concerning the
Christ who alone can comfort the sor-
rowing soul. 1t is only through spirit
uaI fellowship with the present. divine
Lord that men today cah have hope
and a pledge of both a bodily resur-
rection and an eternal reunion with
| loved ones.
Jesus did not reveal the depths of
His sorrow and heartfelt sympathy
until spiritual-minded Mary came in
response to His request When He saw
| her weeping and unable to speak in
her great grief anything more than her
regret at His absence and faith in His
power, the Master was deeply moved.
His profound indignation, caused by
/ His antagonism to death as the work
of Satan and the fruit of sin. compelled
the Lord to make a heroic effort for
, self-control. His body shook. He burst
into tears. which brought relief. The
to many souls when} they like the
Sisters of Bethany have been called
10 stand with their friends around the
new-made grave; because they have
learned that Jesus sympathizes in their
sorrow. 1t helps them to trust In Him
as the master of death.
Martha protested against removing
the stone from the mouth of the tomb
because the process of decomposition
had commenced. She had no desire to
view her brothers broken-down body.
They believed that a mans spirit how
cred over the tomb for three days to
re-enter the body. The cynical Jews,
who We're watching the proceedings,
therefore sympathiZed with Martha's
views that it was too late for even
Christ TO secure his restoration. Not
so the Lord, for He called for human
help in the performance of The great
est miracle of His life. Those who
opened the tomb would corroborate
Martha's claims and prove conclusively
that lazarus was without doubt dead
when the tomb was opened at the Mas
ter's command
Following His practice of conferring
with the Heavenly Father before un-
dertaking any new work OF impor-
tance. Jesus offered a prayer. not re-
questing help. but of thanks for tho
coming victory. The Masters petition
was offered in this case largely for the
sake of the assembled Jews that thev
might be constrained to believe. His
great desire was to convince men that
He had been sent of God. No impostor
public prayer, calling upon Jehovah to
grant or refuse His cooperation. Jesus
showed His confidence in the outcome
by calling with loud voice. that all
heard. for Lazarus to come forth. The
obedience of the dead to the voice of
Christ proves that death does not end
all. The invitation for them to loose
him from the grave clothes was given
so that they could test the reality of
the miracle.
The popular effect of this manifesto
ton of Christ as the Master of death
and the Giver of Life was the accept
ance of Jesus as the Messiah by many
of the witnesses of the crowning
miracle of the Lords life A crisis was
created that called for the immediate
action of the Sanhedrin, and the deci-
sion of the religious leaders was to put
Christ TO death. In this they secured
the support of the political authori-
ties. They could not deny the raising
of Lazarus but, fearing a popular revo-
luton would deprive them of their
privileges, they determined to CO.
operate in securing the Masters death
The raising of Lazarus demonstrates
that physical death is not an evil. 1t
is only an incident in an endless life TO
those who have faith in Jesus as the
Resurrection and the Life. The life to
which Lazarus was returned was iden-
tical with the life he had lived before
his death. 1t is nevertheless prophetic
Of the coming resurrection when Jesus.
who proved that He was the Master
over death, will compel the grave to
give up its dead even as He compelled
the tomb to give up the body of Laza
rus. 1t is worth while to know that the
grave is not the victor, that men do
not lie down and die like brutes with
out any hope Of a future life. The
voice that spoke at the grave of Laza-
rus has been filing men throughout the
centuries with it's message of life and
hope. Christ confirmed mems faith in
future life when He proved upon the
first Easter morn by His own victory
over the grave that He was the resur-
rection and the life. He also demon
strated that as the Son of God He had
power over death and the grave. All
who trust Him as their Savior will
partake Of His resurrection glory when
He comes.