What do you say if you are late for the funeral of a friend? What do you say if the family of the deceased person asks you why you are late? What do you say if you miss the funeral altogether? You’d better have a really good excuse, right? The funeral and burial of Lazarus occurred four days earlier and Jesus wasn’t present. He and His disciples have been walking all day in the direction of the town of Bethany, and the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus is now in sight. Does He have a good excuse ready? As we study this next passage of Scripture, John 11:17-27, we are going to find that Jesus is too late to heal and too late for the funeral. However, He does not give an excuse, nor is He asked to give one.
I. THE SCENE AT BETHANY (verses 17-19)
Verse 17 says, “So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.” That verse seems to imply that Jesus did not know that information since He found that to be the case after He arrived. Once again, we are reminded that Jesus Christ was not all-knowing while He was on this earth. His Heavenly Father told Jesus that Lazarus had died, but apparently didn’t tell Jesus on what day he died. There is now no question in anyone’s mind that Lazarus was dead. Jesus may have been given that information from someone they met as they approached Bethany. It’s implied that Jesus did not know this information when He left for Bethany earlier that same day.
John gives us a brief geography lesson in verse 18 in order to help explain what follows. The town of Bethany is located very close to the city of Jerusalem. It’s just under two miles away. The reason for verse 18 is found in verse 19, which says, “and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother.” The distance between Bethany and Jerusalem was short enough that many of their friends and acquaintances must have decided to come to the funeral. In first-century Palestine, the Jewish time of mourning was divided into three parts. The first three days were days of weeping. The next four days were days of heavy mourning. Then there was lighter mourning for the rest of the thirty-day mourning period. During the first week, visitors constantly came to their house to console the family. Even though many of these Jews were hostile toward Jesus and His followers, there were those who showed the courtesy of paying a visit and offering comfort. Jesus and His disciples would be coming to a house filled with sympathizers that day.
II. MARTHA’S CONVERSATION WITH JESUS (verses 20-27)
Verse 20 tells us, “So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him, but Mary remained sitting in the house.” From what the Bible says about Martha here and in Luke 10:38-42, she is a take-action person and a take-charge person. She likes to be busy, making sure that everything and everyone is taken care of properly. Someone must have told her or made an announcement that Jesus had arrived in Bethany and was headed in the direction of their home. Martha was quick to her feet and on her way to meet Jesus.
Meanwhile, on the road to Bethany, Jesus and His disciples see a small cloud of dust in the distance. It’s a woman . . . it’s Martha . . . she’s coming in a hurry! If I were in that situation, my first thought would be, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?”, and then, “What am I going to say and do if it does happen?” Can you feel the tension? Have you been in a situation like this before? Were you on the giving end or the receiving end?
In verse 21, Martha’s first recorded words to Jesus are. “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Does that sound like one of those greetings where the person pauses afterward, waiting for you to give your excuse? Did you have one ready in your “bag of excuses” or was there a moment of silence . . . an apology . . . shame?
Martha may have rehearsed those words with her sister because Mary later says the very same words. There may also have been a sense of regret in her words. “If only you had been here, this tragedy would not have occurred.” Martha knew that Jesus could and did heal sick people and wondered why He didn’t arrive in time to heal Lazarus. You might think that Martha considered her brother Lazarus to be beyond hope now that it was four days after his death.
There was no long pause after Martha’s greeting. Immediately after saying those words, we find that Martha makes a profession of faith and hope in Jesus. Despite the “irreversible” condition of her brother in the minds of the people and their leaders, Martha makes a statement of faith in Jesus when she says, “Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you” (verse 22). Even in her desperation, there is a step of faith and there is a ray of hope. After looking into Jesus’ eyes and seeing the humility, gentleness, and love mirrored there, how could Martha keep from growing in faith and from experiencing a greater sense of hope and peace? The saying has been around for a long time and seems so appropriate for this moment: “I can see it in your eyes”.
When Martha made her second statement, she was turning the focus of her attention away from the situation and placing it upon Jesus. Even though she did not yet believe that Jesus was God, she did believe that there was a close relationship between Him and God, so close that God would answer any request Jesus might ask of Him. She was now seeing this situation from a different perspective. I recently read an illustration of another woman whose perspective was changed because of a dramatic incident in her life. Many years ago the inhabitants of a small village were startled by a sudden earthquake. The people were trembling with fear but were surprised at the calmness and apparent joy of an old woman whom they all knew. Finally, one of them addressed the old woman and said, “Mother, are you not afraid?” “No”, said the woman. “I rejoice to know that I have a God who can shake the world!” Has Martha come to the realization that she has a God who could raise the dead, even her own brother, Lazarus?
Jesus encourages her faith and seeks to build upon that faith when He says to her, in verse 23, “Your brother shall rise again.” Those words may have been a common phrase that was used during the mourning period to comfort and encourage the family during the mourning period. However, Martha could tell from Jesus’ tone of voice that He was making her a promise. He’s applying her words of faith to her brother’s condition. Now we see that Martha’s words to Jesus, “I know that whatever you ask of God, He will give you”, were not meant to be applied to her brother’s situation. God had never raised a person who had already been dead for four days. The spirit of her brother had already left and his body was decaying. It was too late for a healing miracle.
In an effort to understand Jesus’ words and agree with Him, Martha says, in verse 24, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” That’s what she had been taught from her Jewish upbringing. She believed in a future resurrection of the dead. Her hope for her brother Lazarus was now tied to the future, not to the present.
Do the Old Testament scriptures talk about a bodily resurrection? Yes, they do, in several places. The prophet Daniel said, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:2). The prophet Isaiah said, “Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy” (Isaiah 26:19). There are also many references to the resurrection in the Psalms. Martha’s response to Jesus’ comment was true, but she didn’t understand how He could be referring to the present situation.
With the exception of the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, most Jews during that period of time believed in a resurrection of the dead on the last day. Jesus already said, in John 5:21, “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it.” Now Jesus makes it clearer and more emphatic when He says to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). Once again, Jesus uses God’s special name: “I am.” He’s telling Martha that the resurrection isn’t just a doctrine. It’s a Person, and He is that Person. There is no resurrection and there is no life apart from Him. Jesus is also saying that eternal life begins at the moment when a person believes in Him and follows Him [he who believes in me shall live even if he dies; and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die”]. Physical death has no effect on the life that Jesus gives. Those words of Jesus must have been an encouragement to Martha. He brought her personal understanding of the resurrection out of the future and into the present. He told her that people are saved, not by words written in a book (the Torah), but by Jesus Himself, “the resurrection and the life.”
A nineteenth-century missionary to the South Seas by the name of John G. Paton met opposition to leaving his home in Scotland and going to preach to the cannibalistic peoples of the New Hebrides Islands. A well-meaning church member said to him, “The cannibals, the cannibals! You will be eaten by the cannibals!” Without hesitation, Paton replied, “I confess to you that if I can live and die serving the Lord Jesus Christ, it makes no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms; for in that Great Day of Resurrection, my body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer!” The hope of the resurrection removed Paton’s fears and strengthened his commitment to serve the Lord.
Martha’s response to the claims of Jesus was also based upon genuine faith in Him. In her answer to Jesus’ question, “Do you believe this?”, Martha said “Yes” and used three titles to refer to Him: “Lord”, “the Christ”, and “the Son of God.”
CONCLUSION:
You may remember the famous words of the apostle Peter in Matthew 16:16, where he said to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Let’s also remember the words of Martha, who said to Jesus, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.” They both came to the same conclusion and were encouraged and comforted by that knowledge.
Pastor and evangelist, Dwight L. Moody, told the story of a soldier at the Battle of Inkerman [November 5, 1854] who was just able to crawl to his tent after he was struck down. When found, he was lying upon his face, his open Bible before him, his hand glued fast to one of the pages by his lifeblood which covered it. When his hand was lifted, the letters of the printed page were clearly traced upon it. And such words they were that they decided not to wash them from his palm when they laid him in a soldier’s grave. The promise etched in blood was this: “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” Then Moody said, “I want a religion like that which can comfort even in death, that can unite me with my loved ones. What a gloom and darkness would settle upon this world were it not for the glorious doctrine of the resurrection.”
Do you believe in the resurrection? Do you believe in the One who said, “I am the resurrection and the life?” The Lord Jesus Christ is the only true source of hope, peace, and joy in this life and the next. Don’t let human reasoning keep you from knowing Christ as your Lord and Savior. Take that step of faith by choosing to repent of your sins, believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and follow Him in obedience to His word.
If you have already made that decision, then live in such a way that you never have to give an excuse for your actions but rather, a reason and a motivation. As the apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 3:15-16, “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence, and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”
CONSTRUCTION SITE: COMPLETED
Thank you for visiting this site. In this passage of Scripture, we are taking a closer look at Martha and her understanding of who Jesus is and what He can do. We will be studying a demonstration of Jesus’ claims in the next passage of scripture.