=23-24. Thy brother shall rise again.= Evidently these words were not understood by Martha to contain a promise of immediate resurrection, and therefore we are not justified in saying that they were so intended by Jesus. They are vague, and are intended to be vague and suggestive, in order to lead on the mind of Martha, and to evoke an expression of her faith. This method of calling out the experience of his pupil was a customary one with Jesus in all his instruction.--=I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.= This statement of Martha’s faith is to be interpreted by the belief of the orthodox Jews. This was that all the dead departed to Hades or the Under-world, where they dwelt in a shadowy prison-house; the righteous in Paradise; the wicked in Hell; and awaited the coming of the Messiah, who would call all the righteous from the Under-world, while the wicked would be thrust back into it again. Martha believed that her brother had gone to this abode of the dead, and there was awaiting a day of judgment and of resurrection; but she found in this faith very little consolation. Her brother, to her thought, was as if he were not, and dwelt among the dead. A vague hope of a far-distant revival did not comfort her. It is in contrast to, and in correction of this creed, that Christ utters the declaration of verses 25, 26. 25 Jesus said unto her, I am the[437] resurrection, and the life;[438] he that believeth in me, though[439] he were dead, yet shall he live; [437] ch. 6:40, 44. [438] ch. 14:6; Isa. 38:16; 1 John 1:2. [439] Job 19:26; Isa. 26:19; Rom. 4:17. 26 And whosoever[440] liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? [440] chaps. 3:15; 4:14.