“When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home…After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.”
“When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept.”
John 11:20, 28-29, 32-35 NIV
The raising of Lazarus after four days in the tomb…was John’s final sign that Jesus is the Son of God! We know the story well. For centuries, preachers have dissected the miracle from every angle. Therefore, instead of rehashing old ideas, my perspective is a little different.
For me, Lazarus’ death was as much about Martha and Mary as it was about Lazarus. How often Jesus works in ways far different from what we imagine or anticipate. His focus is on building and refining faith in Him. After all, faith is the only link we have with the unseen God. Without faith, we have no connection with Him.
Let’s examine the faith these two sisters had in Jesus, a very unusual man who had come into the world and into their lives. How were they to be convinced that He was the Messiah they hoped would come? What evidence would convince them that Jesus was the one whose coming they anticipated?
They had heard some of His teaching, very different from the teaching of their religious leaders. He focused on hearts, not performance. He represented God as Father, not a strict disciplinarian who judged them for every infringement of the law. He loved the worst of sinners. He spoke and acted to uplift people, not to condemn them. He had no regard for the Pharisees’ interpretation of the law…His authority to speak and teach the truth was unquestionable and He backed up His claims with miracles no one could deny.
Was all this enough to convince them that He was their Messiah, to trust Him in every crisis, no matter how bad it was? This situation was about real-life stuff, not theory.
For them, Martha and Mary, the acid test would be what He would do when Lazarus became deathly sick. This situation was out of their control. They could only call on Jesus in their desperation…and of all things at a time like this, He was out of town and He didn’t come! The worst happened! Lazarus died…and He still didn’t come!
Jesus finally arrived at their home four days late. What was He thinking? Didn’t He realise how desperate the situation was? Martha, the practical one went to face Him.
For Martha, Jesus’ word was enough to convince her.
“Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
John 11:23-27 NIV
Not Mary, the contemplative one. She sat in her home, broken, grief-stricken, as much about her disillusionment with Jesus as her grief over the loss of her brother. “Why didn’t He come? WHY DIDN’T HE COME?” her heart screamed.
When Martha called her, she rushed outside, eager to face Him with her accusation…Her eyes swollen with crying, her body wracked with sobs, she looked up at Him and demanded…
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
John 11:32 NIV
Jesus’ response was both unexpected and yet characteristic…He wept too…not with her but for her! Why? Was He weeping with Mary because Lazarus had died? I don’t think so? After all, He was about to raise him to life again. That was His plan from the start.
Was Jesus weeping for Mary’s pain? Perhaps. The old prophet, Isaiah, predicted that Messiah would carry our sorrows and our pain.
“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.”
Isaiah 53:4 NIV
“When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.”
John 11:33 NIV
The words John used give us a clue to Jesus’ tears…
“embrimaomai”, meaning “to snort with anger” or ”to have indignation”. Two other words, “eautou” and “pneuma” together imply that Jesus’ reaction of anger happened deep inside Himself. His reaction was more than frustration with the situation. Mary’s grief triggered a response from within the depth of His being. Why?
Mary’s tears of disappointment and disillusionment, expressed in her rebuke, were an affront to the very nature of God…an attack on His “chesed”, the depth of His covenant love and faithfulness…the very essence of who He is.
Jesus wept, not for the attack on His character, but for what Mary’s unbelief did to her. Never at any time, did Jesus feel sorry for Himself. His tears, at other times, were for those whose unbelief damaged them.
“As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.”
Luke 19:41-42 NIV
On His way to the cross…
“A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’”
Luke 23:27-29 NIV
Mary’s faith was still in its infancy. Her big lesson, one that would catapult her from theory into reality, lay in this test. She had to learn to let Jesus finish what He started. Truth faith holds steady until its outcome is revealed. It may take time, perhaps even never in this life, but true faith stands firmly on God’s character, His promises, and His supreme authority.
“Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
Hebrews 11:35-40 NIV
This is a profound lesson which many of us have yet to learn. If our faith is tied to sight and circumstances, it will fail when tested. Only when faith stands squarely on God’s character and promises, will it be rock-solid when the trials come.
Did Mary learn her lesson well?
We find the answer, the sequel, in chapter 12.
“Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
John 12:3 NIV
Enough said!
Mary’s lesson is also for us. LET JESUS FINISH WHAT HE STARTED before we crumple into a heap of disillusionment and misery. Faith in His goodness will save us from a huge amount of wasted emotional energy!
To be continued…