A story about two sisters
•For emphasis:
Now Jesus loved Martha
and her sister and Lazarus.
•And so the story goes...
Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house.
• Why did Martha go and Mary stay?
One logical explanation could have been that Martha's grief was, for her, handled by being preoccupied while Mary's grief was felt and and acknowledged with honesty of needing to weep and be at sorrow at home. One might want to offer that Mary was so zealous for the Lord's approaching that she immediately went out to see Him. That's possible too. So let's continue with both possibilities in mind...
Martha then said to Jesus,
"Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."
Jesus said to her,
"Your brother will rise again."
Martha said to Him,
"I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."
Jesus said to her,
"I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"
She said to Him,
"Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world."
• Jesus asked Martha if she believed what He said about Himself being the resurrecting life. Meaning He Himself was the one to bring the dead to life, not some Old Testament passage or a promise to come or even faith, but He Himself, right there in the flesh, before Martha's own eyes! He said it in the present tense: "I AM the resurrection and the life."
But Martha used the future perfect tense of the word "believe" when she responded to Him, saying "I have believed" and not "I believe." Meaning she very well had believed in all that He stood for...just not right now. Her belief was based on her expectations. Her brother was dead and that's all she could believe.
Let's read on...
When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly,
"The Teacher is here and is calling for you."
• Perhaps Martha became convicted the moment Jesus asked her "do you believe this?" And instead of replying honestly she used a round about way to respond to Jesus. Nothing is recorded of Jesus responding to her after that. Maybe He said something else or maybe He didn't but the mention of Martha's secrecy in telling Mary that Jesus was calling for her draws attention to Mary's motives. The dialogue between Martha and Jesus had no mention of Mary, it merely ended with Martha's know-it-all cookie-cutter Christian response. I don't mean to bash on Martha, because I am so much like her myself, but I want to try and understand why Jesus responded one way to Martha and another to Mary. So then one might wonder why Martha would secretly tell Mary that Jesus was calling for her? Was it perhaps that she felt the conviction or confusion while trying to hide or cover her shame from Him like Adam and Eve in the garden who hid their nakedness from God? Was it so unbearable for her to say to Jesus that she didn't believe Him right then in the present situation? Or did she go there expecting praise from Him for having gone up to meet Him even though He had not yet reached them? What did she expect from Him when she went out to meet Him? What do I expect from Him when I go out of my way to meet Him? She spoke and did not get a response to her last words--maybe it was there in that lack of response by Jesus that Martha felt ashamed, because that's where I would probably feel it. And in a frenzied attempt to justify her actions or somewhow affirm herself she wants her sister to do the same thing? Maybe. Maybe she wanted wanted Mary to ask Jesus the same question she did and to see what sort of response Jesus would give her. I think it's interesting to consider.
Let's continue reading the story:
And when she (Mary) heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him.
• Jesus was intent on coming to Martha and Mary, but He had not reached them yet. Martha, of her own accord, went and met Jesus before He came to them. Jesus had not called for her and so it seems unlikely that one might suggest that Jesus proceeded to tell Martha to call on Mary to come to Him when He was already going to them. I consider this part with delicate tenderness because I believe Jesus knew that the death of Lazarus was a very sad thing for the sisters. He knew they were hurting, and He was coming to them. He loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus. Martha met Him outside of her village, while Mary was weeping at home fully aware of what had happened and how it hurt. One sister preoccupied herself with doing things and saying things, while the other sister felt things and let others know exactly how she felt as we shall soon see...
Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
• it's here that a vital message is given: Mary was in pain and she was surrounded by people who wept with her and stayed in her house with her. I'm not saying that we should all have sleepovers when something bad happens to us, but the point I see here is that Mary allowed herself to be known by others. Others knew about her pain, and even when she got up they assumed she was going to the tomb of her brother to weep there, and they were going to go with her. I mean, this can either sound stifling or supremely caring. How many times have you invited friends to know your pain and have allowed them to see you at your weakest? That's what Mary did. How she was with people was also how she was with God. Let's read on...
Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
• This is the same first line that Martha also said when she approached Jesus, but Martha added more to it after that, while Mary just left it at that, almost sounding accusing and bitter. One might reconfigure Mary's words to sound like "Lord my brother died because You are late in coming!" To which she proceeds to break down in tears before Him...
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping,
He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled,
-John 11:5, 20-33
• Essentially, Jesus was to Mary what those Jews in her house were: friends. He wasn't primarily the Messiah here, He was very human and very empathetic, feeling Mary's pain and meeting with her in it. He didn't chastise her for her bluntness nor did he get upset that she was crying in front of Him, it says He was deeply moved in Spirit, and troubled. Mary treated Him the same way she was with the Jews who were with her. She allowed Him to know her. To know her pain and to be exposed in her honesty, regardless of how it made her look.
• Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus, but how He dealt with each of them was according to their needs. The thing to consider in this story is how we are maybe approaching Jesus in our relationship to Him and how He might be responding to us according to our approach.
--
• I think it's noteworthy to see how John (the writer) starts out by saying how Jesus loved Martha and then launches into the different responses given to both of them at their brother's death. Martha and Mary both say essentially the same thing:
"Jesus if You had been here, if you came as soon as you got our letter, our brother might still be alive....why did you take so long?"
This was the truth. Because prior to this we know from the previous chapter that Jesus intentionally waited a few extra days before heading toward them, and He did so to use Lazarus's death as a display of God's glory. Let's note one last part of the story...
Jesus said, "Remove the stone."
Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him,
"Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days."
Jesus said to her,
"Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
-John 11:39-40
• You gotta love Martha. (Haha.) We all have some Martha in us, and the thing that really comforts me about this story is that Jesus loved Martha.
"Now Jesus loved Martha
and her sister and Lazarus."
(John 11:5)
Jesus loves you, and His love supersedes your fears, phony acts, and/or suspicions.
Be yourself, and let Him meet you wherever you are,
because He loves you unconditionally.
A good indication that You are letting Him love you, letting Him in, is that you are also letting others in to love you. We love one another, needing one another, there is no more explicit way to know that you believe He loves you than this.
"By this all men will know that you are My disciples,
if you have love for one another."
-John 13:35
Jmegrey
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