What is the significance of Bethany in the Bible?

John 11 and 12, or the Bethany chapters, are complete in themselves; and, if not standing alone, are to be viewed as family paintings, which represent the circle of Christ's social affections, with Lazarus, Martha, and Mary — a home group which had been gathered around Him — a green spot — a miniature representation of what the wilderness is to be when He comes again: and by His abiding presence turns it into a fruitful field, and gives the true length and breadth to Bethany, or the house of song (which its name implies), the house of obedience, and the house of the grace of the Lord. In the light of the past, as John gives it, Bethany and its inmates may well stand as a companion picture with the scene at the mount of transfiguration, where Jesus led others up to be "eye-witnesses of his majesty, when he received from God the Father honour and glory." The one is the circle of the social affections of the Lord — "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus;" and the other is the manifestation of the "Son of man coming in his kingdom." But these two chapters supply their own proofs by which, as we have said, this gospel is occupied.

The 'house of dates,' a village on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, about 2 miles from Jerusalem, near the road to Jericho. It was where Lazarus, Martha, and Mary resided, in whose house the Lord found a resting place, amidst those whom He loved, and who were ever ready to welcome Him, and to devote the best of their substance to Him. It was from or near Bethany that the Lord ascended. Matt. 21:17; Matt. 26:6; Mark 11:1, 11, 12; Mark 14:3; Luke 19:29; Luke 24:50; John 11:1, 18; John 12:1. It is now a ruinous and wretched hamlet called el Azariyeh, or 'Lazariyeh,' from Lazarus, 31 46' N, 35 15' E.

Having given His disciples their commission and promised them the Spirit, Jesus led them out as far as Bethany. Why Bethany? Apparently that was a spot He loved. It was there that He had been received and cared for (Luke 10:38). It was there that Mary sat at His feet and heard His word, and there, when He raised Lazarus, it was the place where His glory was demonstrated as Son of God (John 11:4-40). It was there they made Him a feast, and Mary anointed His feet (John 12:1-3). It was from thence He went to Jerusalem to receive the kingdom and the crown, if His people would give it Him, but they would not, and He went back to Bethany (Mark 11:1-11). It was the spot where He was really appreciated, and where there were hearts that truly loved Him, and He cared for their affection.

Bethany means the "House of Palms," hence is indicative of a place of rest, e.g., an oasis in the desert. There is scriptural evidence that the Lord was wont to resort to Bethany when he was in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. It would not be difficult to arrive at the correct conclusion as to the reason of His doing so. There were loyal hearts there who appreciated his company and prized his love, in contrast to the treachery of Judas, the hatred of the Pharisees, the cruelty of the soldiery and the cold hard fickleness of the people.

It was at Bethany that these loyal friends made the Lord a supper. At which the three essential features of the Christian life in the individual were portrayed in the business of the three members of the family named in the twelfth chapter of John's Gospel. (1) Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead had the privilege of sitting at the table with the Lord, indicating fellowship. (2) Martha served, hence she exhibited the feature of service. (3) Mary, in anointing the feet of her Lord with the treasured ointment, indicated worship.

Bethany appears to be one of the very few places in the whole of Palestine where the Lord could make Himself at home. It was a spot where He found an ear for what He had to say with regard to the Father and where His human affections were drawn out; for we are told: "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus".

The incident at Bethany (John 11) with its touching and pathetic details illustrates how the golden threads of divine purpose are interwoven with the darkest texture of the lives of God's saints. It was undoubtedly written for the comfort of those of His own who are called to face what is perhaps the bitterest of all the sorrows of this vale of tears.

Bethany was a place of particularly sweet and precious associations in the life of our Lord. It was in Bethany, the home of Lazarus and Martha and Mary, that the Lord found a retreat from Jerusalem where He was hated and despised of all. It was there that Blessed One found the excellent of the earth, the saints in whom was all His delight (Ps. 16:3). So that we read "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus" (John 11:5).

Now, when this is finished, and the time of His entire and final rejection is at hand, He finds a home for a little season at Bethany. It is most sweet to follow Jesus into that momentary retreat of love, where His heart, straitened though it ever was till the cross in a world which understood it not and refused it, enjoys the answer which itself had produced.

Bethany (linked in memory with the last moments of peace and tranquillity in the Saviour's life, the place where dwelt Martha and Mary, and Lazarus the risen dead) — Bethany receives Jesus for the last time: the blessed but momentary retreat of a heart which, ever ready to pour itself out in love, was ever straitened in a world of sin, that did not and could not respond to it; yet a heart which has given us, in His relations with this beloved family, the example of an affection perfect, yet human, which found sweetness in being responded to and appreciated. The nearness of the cross, where He would have to set His face as a flint, did not deprive His heart of the joy or the sweetness of this communion, while rendering it solemn and affecting. In doing the work of God He did not cease to be man. In everything He condescended to be ours. He could no longer own Jerusalem, and this sanctuary sheltered Him for a moment from the rude hand of man. Here He could display what He ever was as man. It is with reason, that the act of one who in a certain sense could appreciate what He felt (whose affection instinctively entered into the rising enmity against the object she loved and was drawn out by it), and the act that expressed the estimate her heart had of His preciousness and grace should be told in all the world. This is a scene, a testimony, that brings the Lord sensibly near to us, that awakens a feeling in our hearts which sanctifies by binding them to His beloved Person.

Later on He could say that the foxes had holes, and the birds of the air had roosting-places, but that He had nowhere to lay His head. There was to be no brightening of His circumstances. From a human standpoint the way before Him seemed to darken into impenetrable gloom. The barrenness of desert places, the loneliness of Olivet, the silence of Gethsemane: these all were privileged witnesses of the Man of Sorrows. Bethany alone sought to make up for the carelessness and base ingratitude of a thankless and hypocritical nation; but the very solitariness and extreme isolation of that sweet and hallowed spot became, on this account, the greatest witness of all to the utter poverty of Jesus, for it was all He had down here. And it was all for our sakes

I refer particularly to this verse in John's Gospel, which tells us that Bethany was about two miles from Jerusalem.. Bethany is a wonderful spot in the Scriptures. It is a place of blessing to the lovers of Christ; it is the place where He lifted the shadow of death from spirits that were heavy at the loss of Lazarus; where they made Him a supper in the responsive affections of their hearts. Beloved, it was only two miles from Jerusalem where He was hated!