Mary and Martha (11:17-40) - part 2 of 2

Jesus may have changed the idea of resurrection from the future to the present. Martha was thinking about the future and how she would see Lazarus again when he came back to life. Her friends were looking back and saying, "He could have stopped Lazarus from dying" (John 11:37). But Jesus wanted them to focus on the present: God's power to raise the dead is available now, no matter where He is (Rom. 6:4; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 3:10).

Jesus said that people who believe in Him will one day rise from the dead (John 11:25). Then He quickly told them the extra truth that some believers would never die (and it is a double negative, "never never die!"—see John 11:26). How can this be? The answer is in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, 18. When Jesus Christ comes back in the air to take His people home, the people who are alive at that time will never die. They will be changed and taken up to meet Him in the air!

Martha didn't think twice about saying she had faith. She called Jesus by three different names: Lord, Christ (Messiah), and Son of God. The phrase "I believe" is in the perfect tense, which means that faith is firm and settled. "I have believed and I will keep believing!"

The Lord took care of Martha's faith; now He had to help Mary. What did Martha mean by "secretly" when she called Mary? They might have been scared because they knew that the Jewish leaders were looking for Jesus to arrest Him. Her friends thought she was going to the tomb to cry when she got up to meet Jesus. They followed her because they wanted to cry with her. They must have been shocked when they met Jesus!

The gospel mentions Mary three times, and each time she is at Jesus' feet (Luke 10:39; John 11:32; 12:3). She sat at His feet and listened to His word; she fell at His feet and cried out her sadness; and she came to His feet to praise and worship Him. Mary's only recorded words in the Gospels are in John 11:32, the same as Martha's in John 11:21.

Mary didn't say much because she was so sad that she started to cry. Her friends started to cry too, which is what Jewish people do. The word means "a loud crying, a lamentation." Our Lord's answer was to groan inside and "be moved with anger." What made Him angry? At the destruction that sin has caused in the world He made. Death is an enemy, and Satan uses the fear of death as a terrible weapon (Heb. 2:14–18). It's no surprise that Jesus was angry!

His question in John 11:34 shows how mysterious it is that our Lord became a man. Jesus knew that Lazarus had died (John 11:11), but He still had to ask where he was buried. Our Lord never used His divine powers when ordinary human means would do.

The verse "Jesus wept" is the shortest and most profound in the English Bible. His weeping was silent (the Greek word is not used anywhere else in the New Testament) and not the loud crying of the mourners. But why did He cry? He knew that He would bring Lazarus back to life (John 11:11). The fact that our Lord cried shows that He was human and Savior at the same time. He has been a part of everything we've been through and understands how we feel. Being the perfect God is actually Man, Jesus went through these things in a more profound way than we do. His tears also assure us of His sympathy; He is indeed “a man of sorrows and acquainted with sadness" (Isa. 53:3). He is our merciful and faithful High Priest today, and we can go to the throne of grace to get all the help we need (Heb. 4:14–16).

His tears show us how sad sin is and how beautiful heaven is. Jesus may have been crying for Lazarus and with the sisters because He knew He was calling His friend back to a sinful world where he would have to die again. Jesus had come down from heaven, so He knew what Lazarus was leaving behind.

The people watching saw His tears as proof of His love. But a few of them asked, "If Jesus loved Lazarus so much, why didn't He stop him from dying?" They might have thought, "Jesus is crying because He couldn't do anything." These are tears of deep sadness. In other words, no one there really thought a miracle would happen! Because of this, no one could say that Jesus "planned" this event or was working with the two sisters and their friends. The disciples didn't even think Jesus could bring Lazarus back to life!

Martha was the only one who said she believed (John 11:27), but she failed at the last minute. "Open the tomb?" He smells bad by now! Jesus softly reminded her of the message He had sent her at least three days earlier (John 11:4) and told her to believe it. Faith that is real depends on God's promises, which lets God's power flow. Martha gave in, and the stone was moved.