In today’s passage out of John 11, we will see two ladies, Mary and Martha who felt deep grief, some confusion and a little anger. Their brother Lazarus was sick and dying, but Jesus did not go to help. Jesus loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus but did not help them when they expected it. This is an interesting picture of Jesus, someone who doesn’t immediately take us out of our situations. Maybe you’re a little uncomfortable with that image. But there was a reason, which we will see. Jesus eventually came through for Mary, Martha and Lazarus and He will come through for you. Like Mary, Martha and Lazarus we too need to know that life and faith will be difficult. They needed Jesus to help them through difficult times and we will too.
Also, I hope we can see how Jesus deals with each of our needs in very specific ways. According to our personalities and needs Jesus meets us differently. In our passage we see Jesus enter the scene and Martha, the same Martha that we read about in Luke 10 that was too busy to sit down and listen to Jesus rushes out to meet Jesus first. She is a go-getter she goes out to meet Jesus and has questions, she raises theological issues, she needs to vent, and she needs some answers. With Mary it was a different story, she was more emotional, she feels deeply and was a crier.
Jesus arrived in Bethany four days after they’d buried Lazarus. Martha greeted him first, and told him, “Lord, if only you had been here YOU could have saved him. And Jesus said: “Lazarus will rise again.” Martha knew enough about Jewish theology to know that one day, all the graves will open and the dead will rise from them. She said: “I know he will rise again in the resurrection of the dead.”
Martha wouldn’t be comforted, I know about the resurrection — but that’s so far off. Jesus then uttered the basis for all history’s hope and direction – “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE!”
What a claim! Jesus claimed to be in charge of everything: life, death, the afterlife and everything between.
Death is the great equalizer in life. We may all have different lives, come from different backgrounds, experience different joys and sorrows, but the one thing that links all mankind together is death. We are all going to die.
Some of the questions that mankind has tried to answer about death are:
Is death the end? Is there life after death? Why is there death? Will we live again?
With Jesus, Even Death Is Not The End
25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.
What did Jesus mean? How could His words help Martha in her time of loss? How can the words of Jesus help you in your time of loss? What comfort can Jesus’ words give you, even today, as we say goodbye to loved ones?
Martha knew that things would be better someday. The resurrection, that sweet by-and-by, that hope of seeing her loved one again someday. She had a hope that things would be OK someday. Jesus said, “I am that hope. You’re waiting for the resurrection to give you hope? Well, I am the resurrection. I can give you hope now.
Jesus is our hope. He is our only hope of surviving death, because He is in control over it. He is the resurrection. That word means “alive again.” That is, even when life hits us hard, when the scariest thing in the world attacks us, the thing we have no control over, we can trust in Jesus, because He has the power to make us alive again.
And Jesus went on. He said He was the resurrection. Then He said He was the life. What did He mean? By saying that He was the resurrection He meant He is our only hope of surviving death. So, by saying He was the life, He meant that He is our only hope of getting through our days now. He is the hope for tomorrow and the strength for today. He will help us survive death, and He will help us survive life as well. Sometimes life is hard. But Jesus said, “I will help you if you ask.” There is nothing that life throws at you that you and Jesus can’t handle.
To comfort the grieving, hurting Martha, Jesus reminded her that He is the lord of the living and the dead. He is master of death and life. You can commit to Him your eternity and your today’s. He is in control of whatever happens to us. And He also wants to remind you that He can give you strength and hope until the day your name appears in the obituaries.
26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” Jesus is asking her to make a decision, to make a statement of faith. Jesus asks us to make the same decision. “Do you believe in me?”
Martha is best known for being too busy to sit down and talk with Jesus (Luke 10:38-42), but here we see her as a woman of deep faith. When asked if she believed his words about resurrection, she replied, “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” Her statement of faith is exactly the response that Jesus wants from us. In recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, she saw him to be God’s envoy appointed to deliver God’s people; in recognizing Jesus as the Son of God, she saw his divinity.
Now Jesus will interact with Mary.
Jesus Cries With Me And For Me
32 When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell down at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, he was moved with indignation and was deeply troubled. 34 “Where have you put him?” he asked them.
They told him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Then Jesus wept.
Mary fell at the feet of the One she knew held the future and wept! She poured out her heart to the One who could make the difference and moved Jesus to work in her circumstances.
Tears are a language that Jesus understands! Tears speak more about what our hearts feel than any words could ever express. Those tiny drops of humanity that tumble from our eyes, creep down our cheeks and splash on the floor carry the message that our hearts ache and hurt. Tears are the messengers that sometimes substitute for our crippled words. They spill out carrying with them our deepest emotions. A tearstain on a cheek speaks more than words ever could. A tear falling on a casket says what a spoken farewell never could. What gives more support than the tears on the face of a friend as we pour out our troubles to them? What do we do when the words just won’t come out right as all the nouns and verbs and adverbs and adjectives lay deflated at our feet?
The scripture says that Jesus was moved by the heartbreak of their souls and that His Spirit groaned inside him and He was troubled.
How many of us are moved by the heartbreak of our children or some disappointment that crushes their little souls? Won’t we also move to do all within our power to help them and ease the pain? As parents we do all within our power to make it all right.
Why do we think that Jesus doesn’t care about our troubles or the things that trouble us?
John 11: 35, the shortest verse in the entire bible; but man is it powerful! “ JESUS WEPT!” Those two words let us know that God is concerned about the things that break our hearts! God wants so much to be a part of our everyday lives. Did you know that? God is moved by the tears of his children
Jesus not only cries with us, he also cries for us. His heart breaks when we don’t recognize our need for him. His heart breaks from our unbelief. His heart breaks when we don’t live the lives we could. I love the compassion in Jesus in Luke 19:41-42 “ As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace”
Think of all the tears that must be shed in heaven as Jesus who died on the cross NONE might perish but all have everlasting life with him, sees each and every moment some lost soul dies and is separated from Him for all eternity. God created us to fellowship with him and live with him.
You might think that you don’t deserve this kind of love, that you’re unworthy. No one has ever loved me before or I’ve lived such a bad life, surely God only wants to punish me. Jesus loves you just the way you are and he’ll accept you and write your name in His Book of Life if you’ll only respond to Him right now. You may have been abused, mistreated, unloved, made fun of your whole life for the way you look, where you live, the clothes you wear or the things you’ve done but Jesus still died for you that you might have life and have it more abundantly – John 10:10.
You were worth so much, that it took the blood of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the one at whose name every knee will bow and every tongue confess, to purchase your salvation. You’re worth so much Jesus died for you!
Some of you may even at this moment be crying on the inside wondering if all this is really true. God will reach out a nail scarred hand to lift you up and put peace in your heart and joy down deep in your soul if you’ll only let him. Don’t resist Jesus today. Tears are a language that Jesus understands. Jesus called back a man four days dead in the grave, bloated and stinking, and He does the same today for you. Jesus meets us where we are at, answers our questions, cries with us and offers us new life and eternal life. Come to Jesus and see!
Darrell
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