Some time ago somebody gave me a rosy apple. I kept it for two days, and then I cut it and found it rotten inside: I tried to find at least one good piece, but there was not a single piece that was good. It looked very nice outside but was rotten inside. I kept on scraping at it with a knife, but there was nothing good in it at all. That is like ourselves. Outwardly we look good but inwardly we are rotten. That is our nature. God has declared that in our flesh there is no good, and therefore our life is defiled, full of shortcomings and failures. God's servant testified: "In my flesh dwelleth no good thing". We are defiled in every way, and cannot depend upon our old nature for anything. It takes many years to learn that lesson, but we have to learn that lesson, for it is only then that divine love can flow freely. Outwardly the family at Bethany were very nice people. They looked after the Lord Jesus and loved Him. They were not like the Pharisees and Sadducees who found fault with Him. This family had great respect for the Lord Jesus Christ and welcomed Him with great joy every time He went in that direction. He must have passed that way many times, because Bethany is on the way to Jericho from Jerusalem, and whenever the Lord Jesus came from Jerusalem, He must have stopped there on the way. Even though His visits are recorded only eight times, He must have gone there many more times than that. The Lord knew very well their condition and it was not because they were perfect that He went there. He knew how much He could accomplish in them by going there so He kept ongoing. The first time He went, it was to show them their true nature and condition, for He only can see our hearts.