(John 11:21-23 NIV) “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
This morning we continue our new series entitled, “Faith and Patience VOL III – Never Give Up!” by continuing with the story of Mary and Martha. When the sisters received word that Jesus was coming they went out to meet him. Mary and Martha met Jesus at different times, so we get to see how each one responded to and interacted with Jesus. Although WHAT they said to Jesus was identical, HOW that said it was very different and because the HOW was different, the results were different.
Martha left behind a house full of mourning people. I am sure many were still in tears. She came out with her heart hurt and her sleeve and as soon as she saw Jesus she said, “Lord, if you have been here, my brother would not have died.” Martha was open, real, in pain, and she expressed her disappointment. Martha had sent word for Jesus while Lazarus was still alive, but for reasons unbeknownst to her, He had decided to show up after Lazarus had been dead for four days. Her pain and frustration were understandable. Death is never easy to deal with; especially when you believe it should not happened – when the timing was not right. I am sure her pain flowed through the entirely of her person (spirit, soul, and body). I can just imagine her telling Lazarus, while he was on his sick bed, “Don’t worry. We have sent word to Jesus. Jesus is on the way. Jesus will fix it. You will get better. Just hold on.” But then, He didn’t come. Lazarus had not gotten better. As a matter of fact, he had gotten worse. Lazarus died, and her hope died with him.
I believe we can all identify with her pain when she said, “Lord, if you have been here, my brother would not have died.” But she also said, “But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Wait a minute. That sounds like faith. That sounds like hope. That sounds like belief. It sounds like Martha was ready for Jesus to do something about her brother’s situation, even though he had been dead for four days, but was she really? Was she really ready or was she just speaking religious jargon? Was she just saying what sounded good?
From the text we can see that Jesus was ready. Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again!” He was bringing hope into seemingly dead situation. The God of Hope was now on the scene. Beyond the hurt, beyond the pain, beyond the past, HOPE was standing right in front of before her and hope had just said that her brother would rise again! If she were truly in-faith, she would have started praising God right then and there. If she truly believed, she would have told everyone to get ready for a resurrection. But she was not ready. She was not hopeful. We will stop here for today.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. It is OK to be real with God. God is never upset when we express our true feelings to Him. Martha wanted to release her frustration and that was OK with Jesus.
2. Religious jargon gets us nowhere. Martha said the right thing, but we will see that she really did not believe what she said. I run across people all the time that know how to sound “churchy,” but they don’t have any power or true faith behind their façade.
3. God can blow your mind. We serve a God that can do exceedingly and abundantly above anything we can imagine (Eph 3:20). When Jesus told Martha that her brother would rise again, she was not ready for it. Are you? Can you stand for God to do MORE than expect?
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for allowing me to be real with You. I express my whole heart to You. I vent when I need to vent. While I don’t walk by feelings, I am thankful that You allow me to express my emotions to You. I am convinced that You love me and it is Your love that keeps me coming to You. I will say what I mean and mean what I say. I don’t speak empty words to You. My heart is open to receive from You and if You want to BLOW MY MIND by doing WAY MORE than I expect or even imagine, then that is just fine with me. I ask You to move in my life, in the situation I am facing this morning, and I know You can move in such a way that will bless me richly. I welcome You to do it. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
