John 11:43-44 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.… There was no revelation of the future made by the restoration of Lazarus, and his silence was in perfect keeping with that fact. He was brought back to the old life, with its old relationships to his sisters, his neighbours, and his friends, and he had to die again. When Christ rose from the grave, however, He did not come back, but went forward. His resurrection was not a return but a going on. He saw His followers, indeed, but it was not after the former fashion. There was a complete difference between the nature of His intercourse with them after His resurrection and that of His fellowship with them before His death. He did not come back to His former life; but He went forward to a new and higher human life, and so His resurrection was also a revelation of the nature of the life beyond. He brought life and immortality to light by it, and He did so because He rose not to die again but to pass in spiritual and glorified humanity up to the throne of glory. This is what gives its distinctive feature to His resurrection, as contrasted with all mere restorations to life — such as those effected by prophets and apostles, and even by Christ Himself. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.WEB: When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" |
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