John 11:1-57
Jesus had a close relationship with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. They lived in Bethany and whenever Jesus passed that way he stopped and stayed at their home. There was history between these friends. But this encounter would be a turning point in their relationship and in Jesus’ ministry. Lazarus was sick. In fact, very sick and Mary and Martha immediately reached out to Jesus. They sent a message to Him saying their brother, the one he loved, was ill. Notice they didn’t ask him to come. They simply let him know the situation. Remember they were close to Jesus, so they knew about his healing powers. They knew about people who had been healed by nothing more than a word from Jesus. Perhaps they just believed that it was implied for Jesus to come. Whatever the message, they knew Jesus could make a difference.
By the time the word got to Jesus, Lazarus would already have been dead. Jesus knew this and yet He delayed two more days before he started the trip to Bethany. He tells his disciples that the sickness would not end in death but bring glory to God. The writer, John, tells us that although Jesus loved this family, he was not ready to leave. Commentator David Guzik writes that we should remember that a testing of our faith is not a denial of the love Christ has for us. Everything should be in God’s timing. So why did Jesus deliberately delay? Lazarus was already dead. What was the point of extending the grief of His beloved friends knowing that He would bring Lazarus back from death? It was tradition in those days to bring the mourning to a peak on the third day. They believed the spirit hovered over the body for three days before departing. By waiting until the fourth day Jesus would be making an even greater statement about the power of God and against tradition. He was demonstrating that delays were not necessarily denials, but God’s timing.
When Jesus arrives outside Bethany, He is met by Martha who expresses her disappointment but follows with a great statement of faith. She says, “Even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” In this, she exemplifies the power of “even now” prayers. Jesus rewards her faith by revealing to her “I am the resurrection and the life.” When Mary comes to meet Jesus, her reaction is the same. We can’t hear the inflection in her voice or see the expression on her face, so we don’t know the intent of what she said. Was it great disappointment or great faith that Jesus could have changed the outcome? Jesus saw her weeping and the scripture says he was moved and groaned. “Groaned” in the Greek means to show anger or frustration. He asks where they have laid the body. And then, Jesus wept. Two seemingly contradicting responses from Jesus - anger and weeping. Or were they? Jesus was witnessing the horror and devastation of the evil one, death. He was seeing the darkness and hopelessness of grief. But He stood there knowing that he was about to crush the head of Satan and defeat death once and for all. He would bring Lazarus back, not to die again, but to live beyond the grave. This miracle would set in motion the beginning of Jesus’s final journey to the cross.
Mary and Martha’s relationship to Jesus was tested in the waiting. Jesus asked them to roll the gravestone back and they were horrified at first. They were on the spot, in front of a crowd, while racked with grief and yet “even then” they trusted and obeyed. They had faith. Jesus was fully capable of bringing Lazarus back from the dead without asking Mary and Martha to believe but “even then” they did. The result of Mary and Martha’s obedience and faith in that moment was a catalyst for so many more to believe. They became players in the story God would write for all time. Their tears were changed to joy.
To us, the resurrection of Lazarus is a validation of faith. Even when your situation is darker than you could have imagined, will you trust Him “even now?”
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