Martha learns the truth! (part 8 in the I AM series)

Martha learns the truth! - the final blog in the eight part I AM series.

“I am the resurrection and the life”.
John 11:25

Martha, with her sister Mary and brother, Lazarus, lived about 2000 years ago, in the small Judean town of Bethany, a few miles from Jerusalem. When Jesus was in the area, He would often stop and pay the trio a visit. They would ask Him to stay the night, and if He had to keep moving on, at least He and His disciples would have a meal. It was a wonderful arrangement.

In John 11, we read that Lazarus, Martha and Mary’s brother, has become ill. They immediately send word to Jesus, asking Him to come, but before He does so, Lazarus dies.

Perhaps you can imagine the emotions and thoughts swirling around Martha’s head when Jesus seemingly chose NOT to come immediately to Bethany - two women would now be left with no male protection, leaving them, in that culture, vulnerable and exposed.  There was no health care, no medicines or clever doctors. With Lazarus that ill, their only hope had been Jesus. Martha had, no doubt, heard about all the wonderful miraculous healings that Jesus had been doing - she knew that He loved them, and yet Lazarus had died with no apparent effort on Jesus’ behalf to turn this awful situation around.

I think she would have been very disappointed.

She might well have been thinking that maybe He didn’t really want to help them -  perhaps He didn't care about them as much as she had thought He did? And actually, He was probably just too busy - what’s one more sick man when so many are in need?

Perhaps you, too, have cried out to Jesus for help and it seems that your pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Perhaps you, too, are feeling very, very disappointed. You know He loves you, you know He can do it, and yet…?

When Jesus finally shows up, the grieving Martha runs out to meet him - she expresses her sadness and confusion at His apparent lack of haste in coming to help the family,

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” John 11:21

Jesus says in response “Your brother will rise again” (v23) to which Martha replies, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” (V 24)

When Jesus speaks of rising again, Martha assumes He is speaking of “the resurrection on the last day.” In both statements, Martha reveals that she considers TIME to be an insurmountable obstacle. In effect, what she is saying is "It's too late now to help Lazarus (i.e. the time for that is past), so we'll just have to wait until ‘the last day’ (more time is needed)”.

Jesus then replies with, “I am the resurrection and the life” (v 25)

He is saying that neither death nor time is an obstacle to Him.  At His command, the dead man walks out of the tomb. It’s one thing to claim to be the resurrection and the life, but Jesus proves it by raising Lazarus, who was four days dead.

Every event that takes place, is used by God for our growth and maturing, so that we may become more like Jesus. During our sojourn on earth, we all come face to face with suffering. Be it great trauma or tragedy, betrayal or disappointment, He is with us in our pain, alive to our vulnerability and confusion.

I believe that if we choose to lean in, rather than withdraw, in our wrestling, we will discover a little more of His outrageous love, His awesome power, His very great wisdom, His unapproachable holiness, and His eternal faithfulness to us who are broken and weak.

Whether it’s financial calamity, a relationship breakdown or health scares, Jesus will, and does, bring resurrection life from what may seem to us, to be dead. He turns all things around for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).

Martha knew this.

She runs to Jesus in her confusion and loss, is utterly vulnerable and open with Him as she shares her sense of betrayal, and yet stands her ground, unwavering in her conviction that He IS good and IS able to do something extraordinary - if not now, then one day.

For sure.

“I am the resurrection and the life”.