overhangs the village, He finally withdrew from the eyes of His
disciples, in a seclusion which, perhaps, could nowhere else be found so
near the stir of a mighty city, the long ridge of Olivet screening those
hills, and those hills the village beneath them, from all sight or sound
of the city behind; the view opening only on the wide waste of desert
rocks, and ever-descending valleys, into the depths of the distant
Jordan and its mysterious lake. At this point the last interview took
place. He led them out as far as to Bethany. The appropriateness of the
whole scene presents a singular contrast to the inappropriateness of
that fixed by a later fancy, 'Seeking for a sign' on the broad top of
the mountain, out of sight of Bethany, and in full sight of Jerusalem,
and thus an equal contradiction to the letter and the spirit of the
Gospel narrative."--P. 192.
The same writer, in another place (p. 450), says, "Even if the
evangelist had been less explicit in stating that He led them out 'as
far as to Bethany,' the secluded hills (that especially to which Tobler
assigns the name of Djebel Sajach) which overhang that village on the
eastern slope of Olivet, are evidently as appropriate to the whole tenor
of the narrative, as the startling, the almost offensive publicity of
the traditional spot, in the full view of the whole city of Jerusalem,
is wholly inappropriate, and (in the absence, as it now appears, of even
traditional support) wholly untenable."
[39] Acts i. 5.
[40] Acts i. 8.
[41] John xvi. 7.
[42] John xvi. 14.
[43] Acts i. 6, 7.
[44] Acts i. 8.
[45] Luke xxiv. 50.
[46] Ps. lxviii. 18.
[47] Montgomery.
[48] "Within and Without."
[49] Acts i. 11.
[50] Is it lawful to think of Bethany in connexion with the Church of
the Future? Are there no foreshadowed glories found in the pages of Holy
Writ, which include this lowly village--gilding it with the beams of a
Millennial Sun? Is it destined to remain as it now is--a wreck of
vanished loveliness? and is the crested ridge above it, which was the
scene of the great terminating event of the Incarnation, to be
associated with no other august displays of the Redeemer's power and
majesty? The following remarkable prediction occurs in the prophet
Zechariah:--"_And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of
Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives
shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west,
and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall
remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south._" Zech. xiv.
4. Were we of the number of those--(perhaps some who read these
pages)--who look with firm and joyful confidence to the Personal Reign
of the Redeemer on earth, and who in their code of interpretation
regarding unfulfilled prophecy, espouse the literal in preference to the
spiritual meaning, we might here have an inviting picture presented to
us of the BETHANY of the future. The Mount of Olives, by some great
physical, or rather supernatural agency, is represented as heaving from
its foundations, and parting in twain. The middle summit disappears. The
remaining two form the steep sides of a new Valley, which, as it is
spoken of as opening at Jerusalem (from Gethsemane), eastwards, the
Vista must necessarily terminate with BETHANY; thus connecting the two
most memorable spots associated with our Lord's humiliation. "His feet
shall stand in that day on the _Mount of Olives_."--The once lowly
Saviour again "stands" in power and great glory on the very spot over
Bethany from which He formerly ascended. A new highway from the "Village
of Palms" is made for His triumphal entrance to the Holy City, while the
air resounds with the old welcome--"Rejoice, O daughter of Zion, behold
thy King cometh!" If further we turn with the literalists to the
majestic Temple-Visions of Ezekiel, we find the front of the
newly-erected structure _facing up_ this valley; a new stream--(indeed a
mighty river)--gushes down from the temple-colonnade, flowing through
the same gorge, and discharging its purifying waters into the Dead Sea.
(Verse 8, and Ezekiel xlvii. 1-12; Joel iii. 18. The reader is referred
to these passages in full.) From the geographical position, this river
must needs, in the course assigned to it, flow nigh to the restored
palm-groves of _Bethany_--thus murmuring by scenes consecrated for
centuries by the footsteps and tears of a weeping Saviour.
But if we cannot participate in these gorgeous literal picturings, we
are abundantly warranted to take the words of the Prophet as delineating
the glorious results of the future _restoration_ of the Jews to their
own Jerusalem. We can think of the City of the Great King raised from
her desolation, "her walls salvation, and her gates praise." The
Messiah, once rejected, now owned and welcomed--"the children of Zion
joyful in their King." We can think of the valley which is to divide the
Mount of _Olives_--(the mountain bedewed with the memory of the
Saviour's _prayers_)--we can think of _that_ valley, and the stream
which flows through it, as emblematic of spiritual blessings. "Ask of
Me," says God, addressing His adorable Son, "and I will give Thee the
heathen for thine inheritance." Is not the symbolic answer here given?
The Mountain where the Saviour so "oft resorted" to "ask of His Father,"
is rent in sunder--every barrier to the progress of the truth is now
swept away--the living stream of Gospel mercy issues from Zion (or
rather, from Him who is the True Temple), that it may flow to the
remotest nations of the earth! As it enters the bituminous waters of the
Asphaltite Lake, it is represented as curing them of their bitterness
(Ezek. xlvii. 8, 9); descriptive of the power of the Gospel, whose
living streams, like the symbolic "leaves of the tree of life," are for
"the healing of the nations." Then shall the words of Isaiah be
fulfilled, "Every valley shall be exalted, and _every mountain and hill
shall be made low_, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the
rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all
flesh shall see it together." (Isa. xl. 4.) In the prophecy of
Zechariah, to which we have just referred, we are told that in that same
happy millennial period, the representatives of the world's nations will
go up "year by year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep
_the feast of Tabernacles_." (Zech. xiv. 16.) Who can tell but this may
be a literal revival of the old Hebrew festival, only invested with a
new Gospel and Christian meaning. "This feast," says a gifted expositor,
"is the only unfulfilled one of the great feasts of Israel. _Passover_
was fulfilled at Christ's death, and _Pentecost_ at the outpouring of
the Spirit. But this feast represents the LORD _tabernacling with men_,
and is only fulfilled when '_The Lord my God shall come, and all the
saints with Thee_.' On the Transfiguration-Hill, Peter, almost
unwittingly, set forth this truth. He seemed to mean to say, 'Is not
this the true joy of the Feast of Tabernacles? Is not the Lord here?'" If
this be so, we can think of the palm-groves of Bethany again bared of
their branches;--these waved in triumph as a new and nobler "Hosannah"
awakes the ancient echoes of Olivet--"Blessed is He that cometh in the
name of the Lord!" As the regenerated children of Abraham build up the
waste places in and around Zion, which for ages have been "without
inhabitant," and whose names are still dear to them--think we, amid
other scenes of hallowed interest, they will not love oftentimes to take
the old "Sabbath-day's journey" to the site of "the Home of Mary and her
sister Martha." While seated nigh the reputed burial-place, with the
Gospel in their hands, reading, through their tears, the story of their
fathers' impenitency, and of their Saviour's compassion and sympathy at
the grave of His friend, will not a new and impressive truthfulness
invest one of the old Bethany utterances, "THEN said the Jews, Behold
how He loved him!"
But these, after all, are merely speculative thoughts, on which we can
build nothing. We have in these "Memories" to deal with the Bethany of
the _past_, not with the imagined Bethany of the _future_. However
pleasing, in connexion with the Honoured Village, these thoughts of a
Millennial day may be, "nevertheless WE, according to His promise,
rather look for _new_ Heavens and a _new_ Earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness."
* * * * *
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
Page numbers refer to the original text.
Footnote numbers refer to this transcribed version.
Title page: Added missing quotation mark.
p6: Retained spelling of "Perea" in text, and "Peraean" in quotation.
p58: Hyphen added to "death-bed" for consistency.
p119: Replaced "he" (referring to Jesus) with "He" twice.
p188: Hyphen retained in "child-like" in quoted poem.
p220: Inconsistent capitalisation of "Hosannahs" retained.
p248: Used single quotes to clarify quotation within speech.
Footnote 8 (referenced on p24): Missing full stop added.
For consistency, various ellipses have been rendered as "..."
End of Project Gutenberg's Memories of Bethany, by John Ross Macduff