John 11:17-36
Mary and Martha Lose Their Brother
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles[b] from Jerusalem,19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
28 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.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32 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.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
When Mary and Martha lost their brother, they were at a loss...They believed in Jesus, and this helped them...Still they had lost a family member and brother whom they loved...And they mourned and were deeply hurt...
When a friend or family member dies the words that come to my mind are at a loss...Suffering is painful, when we lose a family member...We cry, we weep...Even Jesus cried, when He lost His friend Lazarus...And maybe the loss of someone we love is supposed to be that way, because love makes us vulnerable, and part of that vulnerability is the uncertainty of life...To love someone, you have to put yourself out there, and be willing to be vulnerable, and be willing to be hurt...
The death of a loved one leaves us with an emptiness...And the emptiness may never be filled, while we are on earth...The death of a loved gives us painful memories, but these memories are something that will last...These memories are something that will remain with us...These past memories is our connection with the one we lost and loved...
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said this about the death of a loved one, “There is nothing that can replace the absence of someone dear to us, and one should not even attempt to do so...One must simply hold out and endure it...At first that sounds very hard, but at the same time it is also a great comfort...For to the extent the emptiness truly remains unfilled one remains connected to the other person through it...It is wrong to say that God fills the emptiness...God in no way fills it but much more leaves it precisely unfilled and thus helps us preserve -- even in pain -- the authentic relationship...Further more, the more beautiful and full the remembrances, the more difficult the separation...But gratitude transforms the torment of memory into silent joy...One bears what was lovely in the past not as a thorn but as a precious gift deep within, a hidden treasure of which one can always be certain.”...