The rejection of the Lord by Judaism was a negative issue. But there was also a positive issue brought forth by the Lord’s being life to people—a home for Him in His rejection, a place where He could rest, feast, dwell, and be satisfied. In chapter twelve we see that the Lord has come out and has hidden Himself from the religion that rejected Him and has come into a home of His Jewish believers in Bethany. By making Himself the resurrection life to His believers, He found a home. This home may be considered a shadow of His church. On the one hand, He was rejected by Judaism and gave it up; on the other hand, He obtained a home where He could stay and rest. He had a place where He could feast and be satisfied. Formerly, the Lord had “nowhere that He may lay His head” (Matt. 8:20). But now, after raising Lazarus from the dead, He obtained a place for resting and feasting. After the Jewish religion had rejected Him, He was no longer willing to stay in Jerusalem. He always went away to stay in Bethany (Matt. 21:17-18). There He could not only stay and rest but also feast and be satisfied. This spiritually signifies that He was absolutely separated from the Jewish religion of the Old Testament and was and still is dwelling in the church as His home wherein He can rest, feast, and be satisfied.
Although there was nothing outwardly attractive about that little house, inwardly it was filled with feasting, resting, and satisfaction. Not only the Lord Jesus was feasting and resting, but so was everyone else who was there. It must be this way in the church life. When you look at the church life outwardly, nothing is attractive. Neither the building nor the chairs nor anything may seem to be very good. Outwardly, everything may be poor; inwardly, however, everything is precious, sweet, and dear. We have the sweet sensation that we are with the Lord and that the Lord is with us. He is feasting with us and we are feasting with Him. Both He and we are resting. Everyone is at rest and everyone is satisfied. This is the church life.
Let us now consider several points concerning the miniature of the church life found in John 12. Firstly, it was produced by resurrection life. Lazarus was present as a sign that the church is produced by resurrection life. The church does not come into being by man’s organization, man’s wisdom, man’s work, or man’s teaching. It comes into being by resurrection life.
Bethany was the place where the Lord accomplished His last sign—the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Therefore, Bethany is the place where the Lord raised up the dead. The believers there issued from the Lord’s resurrection life. This is exactly where the church is—in the place of resurrection where the Lord as resurrection life raises people from the dead. Originally, we were dead, for we were dead in sins (Col. 2:13). But the Lord has raised us up from the dead; He has quickened and regenerated us. The issue of this is that we who have shared in His resurrection life have become the church. The church is the produce of the Lord’s resurrection life. In the natural life there is no church. The church can come into being only through the Lord’s resurrection life. Such a church in resurrection life is the place where the Lord can find rest and satisfaction with us and where we can feast with the Lord.
The church is composed of cleansed sinners as represented by Simon the leper (Mark 14:3). When I was young, I thought that the house there in Bethany where they were feasting with the Lord was the home of Lazarus. Eventually I learned that it was not the home of Lazarus, but the house of a leper who must have been healed by the Lord. According to Mark 14:3 the feast mentioned in John 12:2 was prepared for the Lord in the house of a leper named Simon. The house of Simon, a cleansed leper, became the meeting place of the church. This is very meaningful. On the one hand, we all were dead; on the other hand, we all were lepers. Originally, the members of the church were both dead and leprous (sinful) people. In a sense we, like Lazarus, were dead and have been resurrected. In another sense we, like Simon, were contaminated lepers and have been cleansed. Hallelujah, the Lord has raised us from the dead and cleansed us from our leprosy, our sins! Now where we are becomes the meeting place of the church.
It is very strange that the place where the feast was prepared for the Lord was in the home of Simon the leper, yet John 12 is silent about Simon’s doing anything. The feast was prepared in Simon’s house, but everything was done by two sisters and one brother. In Bethany, in the house of a leper, everything was done by Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Although the church is the place where the Lord quickens and regenerates the dead and cleanses the lepers, the service in the church is not done by the lepers. This is the meaning behind the fact that Simon was absent from serving in John 12.