is the
power which can restore by a word the dead body to life, in comparison
with that which is required to restore an unbelieving soul to God? It
was this unbelief, the most terrible spectacle which earth presents to
the eye of a holy and loving Saviour, that made Him weep as He beheld
it for a moment, like a demon-power taking possession of His own best
beloved. And it was this same essential evil, and this alone, which
made Him weep once again as He entered Jerusalem, when He cried, "How
often would I have gathered you, but ye would not!"

In perfect accordance with this view, we read that when some of the
Jews said, as He walked towards the tomb of Lazarus, "Could not this
man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this
man had not died?" "Jesus _therefore again_ groaning in himself,
cometh to the grave." For again the words expressed lost faith in His
power, or in His love to "this man." In like manner, when Martha, as
if to persuade Him not to attempt impossibilities, reminded Him of the
long time in which Lazarus had lain in the grave, saying, "Lord, by
this time he stinketh," Jesus sternly rebukes her, "Said I not unto
thee, _that if thou wouldest believe_, thou shouldest see the glory
of God?" And tell me, is there not inexpressible comfort in this love
which mourns over sin as the greatest loss and the greatest sorrow? I
can get many, as I have said, in the world to understand and to feel
with me in all my sufferings from loss of wealth, of health, of
friends, or of any earthly blessing. Relations, acquaintances,
strangers, even enemies, could be found who would do so. But who
will so love me as to carry my crushing burden of sin? Who can fully
understand its exceeding sinfulness I Who can fathom the depths into
which I have fallen, or enter the body of death which imprisons my
spirit. One only, the truest, the best, the most loving of all, my
Saviour! And His hatred of my sin, and His sorrow for it, is just the
measure of His love to me, and of His desire to deliver me, and to
make me a partaker of His own blessed rest and peace, through faith
and love in His Father and my Father, in His God and my God!

I shall pass by the remaining facts in this narrative, the raising of
Lazarus, and the memorable scene when Jesus sat as a guest with the
family of Bethany, again restored to one another, and to Himself in
love; and when Mary with unutterable thoughts anointed His feet with
ointment, a