John 11:17-37
Jesus Comforts Lazarus' Sisters
17On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20When 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. 22But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."
23Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
24Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
27"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."
28And 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." 29When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31When 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.
32When 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."
33When 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.
35Jesus wept.
36Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"
37But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
When Jesus goes to Mary and Martha we see and read about the LOVE of God...The family of Lazarus knew Jesus...They loved the Father and the Son...We know the house was blessed, because Jesus LOVED the family...Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus...This word was, the one You love is sick...Jesus went to see them and to comfort the sisters and to show His LOVE for the family...Yet, despite all of this, the family mourned...Lazarus had died, before Jesus had arrived...He had been dead for four days...Jesus did not hurry to save Lazarus from his death...Jesus has power over time, and knows what the perfect time of everything is...He went to see Lazarus and his family at the right time...
Martha heard Jesus was coming and went out to meet Him...Mary stayed at home...It maybe that when Martha heard He was coming, she instinctively went out to see Him, without saying anything to anyone (including her sister)...In Luke 10:38-42, Martha is the worker trying to get Jesus to convince her sister, Mary, to help her...Jesus tells Martha that it is better to listen to the word of God, than to be working...There is a time for work and there is a time for being with God's Word...Especially at the beginning of each day, we need to start our day with the good book, the good news... We also might conclude, that Mary is grieving and just wants to stay at home, because of how she feels...Martha goes out with hope and faith to meet Him...
Martha understands the energy, and the power of faith and the power of Jesus...We can see Martha is full of hope...Martha tells Jesus that had He been there their brother Lazarus would not have died...She also says, she knows even now God will give You whatever You ask...Jesus told her that her brother will rise again...Martha's hope comes out and says, "I know he will rise at the last day."...Jesus tells her, "I AM the resurrection and the life...He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die...Do you believe this?"...Martha answers, "Yes, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who has come into this world."...Martha's confession is similar to Peter's confession, that He is the Christ of God (Luke 9:20)...
After Martha hears Jesus' question about, "Do you believe?"...Martha may not completely understand Jesus' statement about life, death, and eternal life (and may need help in understanding this from her sister)...She goes back to her sister Mary and calls her aside and tells her, the Teacher is here, and is asking for you...Jesus stayed at the place where He was talking to Martha and now both sisters are there...Mary tells Jesus the same thing Martha did, that had He been there, my brother would not be dead...Mary was still weeping and Jesus was moved by her emotions, and He to wept... The Jews at the home of Martha and Mary said they can see how Jesus loved Lazarus...They also wondered if He can open the eyes of a blind man, could He have kept the man from dying?...The emotion of grief was all around the house of Martha and Mary that day of their brother's death...
God gave us emotions...He gave us pleasures and desires...We want to be happy, and search for happiness...But at times, we are troubled and in grief, as the sisters are here...Our emotions are powerful...God does not tell us our raw emotions are bad...But emotions can lock us in a place, and keep us in a specific place for a period of time...We need to understand this about our emotions...At times, we may need to run to Jesus, like Martha does here, when we are full of emotion(s)...We must look to the Father and Son for helping to release some of our emotions...God wants our emotions, our pleasures, our desires, our happiness, all the feelings we have to be guided by faith...God wants our lives to be guided by faith...
Sin brings death to us...Jesus has the power to raise us from death to life...Those who believe in the Father and the Son can be raised from death to eternal life...Jesus has this energy, this divine power that Martha could feel...She felt this through her faith and His presence...Martha believed in the hope of eternal life, she knew Lazarus would be raised on the last day...Today, she learned that Jesus was this resurrection and the life...Whoever lives and believes in Him will never die...