On the Eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, on the farther side from Jerusalem, and about two miles from that city, lies the village of Bethany. Today it is known as El Azariyah, the Town of Lazarus; sometimes it is called Betania. A dusty street or two; a few small dwellings; and a fragrance of Christ that lingers still. It was here that loving hearts made room for Him when others had rejected Him. It was here He found fellowship, and love, and appreciation of His Person.
There is a stony path from Bethany over Olivet and down into the city. How well our Lord knew this path. During His last week on earth, He walked it twice every day. In the morning, He came from Bethany over Olivet to Jerusalem. In the evening, He returned to lodge there. In a world that knew Him not, it was there at Bethany that He found a welcome.
Beginning with “Beth,” the name Bethany means “The House of–,” but the full meaning has become obscured. Indeed, there are no less than four suggestions. Some say, “The House of Sweetness.” There are varieties of this, like “House of Dates,” or “House of Figs.” Others say, “The House of Sorrow,” and yet others, “The House of Singing.” Locally, however, it is agreed that the name means “The House of the Poor,” or “The House of Poverty.” In fact, Bethany was all of these.
The House of the Poor
Our Lord had begun His ministry with “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” It is the opposite to pride. It is a man with poor thoughts of himself. How the Lord Jesus had taught His disciples that in the Kingdom things were different from what prevailed in the world. “He that is least among you shall be the greatest.” But they had never learned. Still they disputed as to which of them should be the greatest. But at Bethany He was supreme. In the House of the Poor, He alone was great. The Bethany spirit exalts no one but Him. Men with the Bethany spirit have no rich thoughts of self; they are poor in spirit and have high thoughts of Christ only.
The House of Sweetness
At Bethany an ancient desire of Jehovah’s heart was at last fully met. Centuries earlier, the God of the Hebrews had said, “Let My people go that they may serve Me.” He wanted service. “Let My people go that they may hold a feast to Me.” He wanted fellowship. “Let My people go that they may sacrifice unto Me.” He wanted worship. But redeemed Israel often disappointed Jehovah, and still His heart yearned for a people who serve, fellowship, and worship. Until at last in a home in Bethany that same God of Israel sat incarnate, in the midst of adoring hearts who gave Him all His desire. Martha served; Lazarus sat; Mary worshipped.
Martha’s service was appreciated by the Lord, who never complained about her (as preachers have done). It was just that, like many of us, the bustle of service had distracted her from Him. He showed her gently that there was something more than busy service.
Lazarus sat silent at the table. How he must have adored the Man who had raised him to new life. To sit quietly, meditatively, at the table with the Saviour was Lazarus’ joy–the silence of communion with his Lord. Lazarus never speaks, at least, not in the records; not one word. Of him it is simply said that he sat at the table with Him. This is fellowship indeed.
Mary teaches us how to worship. She breaks her alabaster flask of precious sweetness on the Saviour’s person. With a fragrance which John calls “very costly,” she pours her love upon Him, and fills the house with it too. She must have had it clinging to her own self as well. It is the sacrifice of praise. It is the extravagance of love which does not stay to calculate, but lavishes its store upon the loved ones. In the house of sweetness, our Lord found service, and fellowship, and worship.
The House of Sorrow
Those who love Him are not immune to suffering. The choicest saints have known their share of sorrow, and it was so at Bethany. There was sickness, anxiety, bereavement, and sorrow. In His wisdom, and in the working out of His plan for them, Jesus tarries at Bethabara while they wait for Him at Bethany. They cannot understand His delay. As yet they do not know that it is because He loves them, and that all things work together for good to them that love Him. Lazarus dies. Our Lord’s word to Martha is simple. “If you will believe, you will see the glory.” Trust, and wait, and watch, and eventually see the glory of His purpose for you. And so it was, that out of the sorrow came the Bethany which bore the sweetness that we have seen.
The House of Singing
It is not to be wondered at, that when the Lord Jesus was leaving the earth in the Ascension, He chose to leave from Bethany. It was as if He would linger longest at the spot where He had been made welcome. And from the slopes of Olivet, at Bethany, He went up in glory. He left them with the joy He had promised them, and in that joy they returned from Bethany to Jerusalem. It was a house of singing. The Lord had gone up, and gone in, and He had blessed them as He went up. There was a Man in the Glory, gone up from Bethany, and their hearts were full.
May our hearts, our lives, our homes, our assemblies, be like Bethany. May we give that blessed Man place for whom earth still has no room.