His sisters sent to him
saying : Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. John xi. 3.
Three
things here call for thought.
1. God’s friends are from time to time afflicted
in the body. It is not, therefore, in any way a proof that a man is not a
friend of God that he is from time to time sick and ailing. Eliphaz argued
falsely against Job when he said, Remember, I pray thee, whoever perished being
innocent? Or when were the just destroyed? (Job iv. 7). The gospel corrects
this when it says, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick, and the Book of
Proverbs, too, where we read, For whom the Lord loveth, he chastises: just as a
father the son in whom he delights (Prov. iii. 12).
2. The sisters do not say, " Lord, come and
heal him." They merely explain that Lazarus is ill, they say, he is sick.
This is to remind us that, when we are dealing with a friend, it is enough to
make known our necessity, we do not need to add a request. For a friend, since
he wills the welfare of his friend as he wills his own, is as anxious to ward
off evil from his friend as he is to ward it off from himself. This is true
most of all in the case of Him who, of all friends, loves most truly. The Lord
keepeth all them that love him (Ps. cxliv. 20).
3. These two sisters, who so greatly desire the
cure of their sick brother, do not come to Christ personally, as did the
centurion and the man sick of the palsy. From the special love and familiarity
which Christ had shown them, they had a special confidence in Him. And,
possibly, their grief kept them at home, as St. Chrysostom thinks. A friend if
he continues steadfast, shall be to thee as thyself, and shall act with
confidence among them of thy household (Ecclus. vi.)
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