John 11:17-29 – Lessons from Martha’s encounter with Jesus

In John 11:17-18, we are told that Jesus arrived at the home of Lazarus in Bethany, which was approximately two miles from Jerusalem. Lazarus, we are told, had already been laid in the tomb for four days. By that time many Jews had also arrived at the home of Lazarus to console his two sisters, Martha and Mary. When Martha received news of Jesus’ arrival, she slipped quietly to the outskirt of town to meet Him. Meanwhile Mary remained at home. On meeting Jesus, Martha said to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” This must have been both Mary’s and her refrain, countless of times those few days. They must have waited and wondered many a time when would the Lord arrive. Those words were in a way a subtle reproof of Jesus for not being there when they needed Him most. But they were the honest reflection of her heart. She must have realized her rashness and quickly aligned herself to say something acceptable. So she followed with these words saying, “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” 

It is not wrong to tell Jesus exactly how we feel. But please do not take this as a suggestion that we can be irreverent to the Lord. After all, He is still God and He knows best. As His own, we must always bow to Him and accept His will. But He will allow us to tell Him exactly the deep feeling of our experience even if they are not exactly right. He knows perfectly what we are experiencing and where we are coming from. This is borne out by how Jesus responded to her. He patiently said to Martha, “Your brother will rise again.” Jesus meant that literally. But Martha understood it to be referring to the belief of a general resurrection of everyone. So she said to Jesus, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Perhaps in that expression of Martha, she was saying, “I know that day of his resurrection will come, but I am hurting now. What about now? What about this present moment? What about my present hurt?”  

Jesus then make another of His great claims, “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.” Jesus asked Martha, “Do you believe this?” Immediately like Peter’s great confession at Caesarea Philippi, Martha declared, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.” What a confession! What a revelation! God met the hard question of Martha that day and elevated her faith and perspective. In similar ways, when we face our hard questions, Jesus will meet us head on and elevate our perspective. He is still the resurrection and the life.

Meanwhile Mary, unaware of the interchange between Jesus and her sister, was waiting in the house. Martha then quietly went to her and secretly told her that Jesus had arrived. As soon as Mary heard it, she got up quickly and went to meet Him. We can expect this to be her typical response. For she loved Jesus deeply, so she left everything and went to meet the Lord outside the house. Are we like Mary, just as eager to go to Jesus? It is true He awaits our coming to Him every moment of the day. Regardless of the pains, the trials, the doubt, the sorrow, the burden, and etc., we can take all to the Lord in prayer.