Make no mistake, when Jesus . . .
Make no
mistake, when Jesus arrives too late to heal her brother Lazarus, Martha is more
than a little upset. After all, she had
sent a message specifically requesting that he come. “Lord, the one whom you love is ill,” the
message read. “Please hurry.” Since Bethany was only twelve miles away from
where Jesus was, there shouldn’t have been any problem with him getting there
in time.
But despite
the urgency of the situation, Jesus is a no-show. Why?
Did he not get the message? Was
he prevented from making the trip? Did
another emergency arise that required his attention? Surprisingly, the answer is “None of the
above.”
According to
John’s Gospel, Jesus is intentionally late.
He receives word that his dear friend is at death’s door and instead of
rushing to his side, Jesus decides to wait.
Indeed, he waits so long that not only does Lazarus die; they have time
to gather the family, conduct a funeral service, and bury him.
When Jesus
finally does show up, Martha charges out to confront him. No cordial greeting or formal pleasantries
here. Martha is upset. The first words out of her mouth are, “If you
had been here, my brother would not have died.”
If only you had come sooner, Jesus … if only you had listened to me … if
only you had appreciated the gravity of the situation—then this whole thing
could have been avoided.
Whenever a
loved one dies, one of the first issues that many of us deal with is
regret. We keep saying to ourselves over
and over again, “If only ….” If only I
had called the doctor sooner. If only we
had discovered the cancer before it spread.
If only he had taken a different way to work that morning. If only she had access to this medication or
that form of treatment.
“Lord, if
only you had been here,” says Martha, filled with regret, “my brother would not
have died.”
It does seem
strange that Jesus would purposely wait while his good friend lay dying. But perhaps Jesus is trying to demonstrate
that Death is no longer in charge. Death
is no longer calling the shots, nor is it setting the agenda. Maybe that’s why Jesus doesn’t jump when
Death says “Jump”—because Jesus knows that Death no longer has the last word!
“I am the
resurrection and the life,” he tells Martha.
“Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who
lives and believes in me will never die.”
1 Comments:
Thank you. I needed to hear this today.
By Anonymous, at 8:14 PM
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