Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
Martha hastened alone to meet Jesus at a quiet place by the roadside where He waited near the Bethany home He loved, and her lament expressed grief and disappointment with the conviction that His presence would have kept her brother from dying, yet without losing confidence in Him. With conflicting emotions of sorrow that He had not come before and hope that even now He would comfort them, she at once added faith that God would still grant whatever He asked, while He directed her beyond an immediate restoration to the resurrection of the just. Though He loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, He stayed away on purpose by divine wisdom and permitted Lazarus to die and be laid in the tomb, since in His immediate presence disease was always rebuked, so that the resurrection would give the last and crowning evidence that He is the Son of God. Calling Lazarus from the tomb after four days when his body had seen corruption showed Christ's power to raise the dead and stands as a pledge that at His return His voice will call the dead in Christ to immortal life to ever be with the Lord. By that great miracle many were led to believe in Him and glorified God, while those who had again and again rejected light remained hardened in unbelief and aroused anew the hatred of the priests and rulers, and Lazarus himself when returned to life did not become immortal but remained mortal and still subject to death.
Martha's Words and Setting
The words belong to the Bethany home where Jesus had often found rest, a household where Lazarus loved Him with sincere, fervent love and believed Him to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life, where Mary earnestly listened to His words, and where all sympathy was wholly with Him against the enmity and unjust charges of the Pharisees. Martha hastened alone to meet Him at a quiet place by the roadside where He waited to avoid the confusion of mourning at the house, and there told Him of her brother's death. Her utterance expresses grief and disappointment and her conviction that His presence would have kept her brother from dying.
At the same time she had not lost confidence in Him but still trusted Him. She came with conflicting emotions, her confidence unbroken while her heart surged with grief because He had not come before, yet with hope that even now He would do something to comfort them. In His expressive face she read the same tenderness and love that had always been there, and with human and divine pity He looked into her sorrowful, care-worn face.
Without recounting the past her lament expressed everything. It had been repeated over and over by both sisters amid the tumult of the mourners. Spoken in that love it led at once to further faith that God would still grant whatever He asked. He directed her beyond an immediate restoration to the resurrection of the just.
Divine Delay and Purpose
Though He loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, He abode two days still where He was after receiving their message, staying away on purpose under divine wisdom, so that the message met no immediate response. It was God's plan that Lazarus should be permitted to die and be laid in the tomb before the Saviour arrived. Mary and Martha did not demand that He come at once and heal their brother, but had confidence that He would do what was best for them.
He Himself was health and strength, and in His immediate presence disease was always rebuked, for He could not look upon suffering, disease, or death without bringing relief and combating Satan's power. Lazarus was therefore permitted to die so that his resurrection would give the last and crowning evidence that Jesus is the Son of God. That raising testified to His divine power and authority.
He afterward gave Lazarus back to Mary and Martha with unspeakable joy, showing sympathy for their sorrow and care for the bereaved. He wept at the grave at the thought that He could not save everyone whom Satan had laid low in death. Knowing, as He raised Lazarus, that for that life He must pay the ransom on the cross of Calvary, He was to bear greater pain mingled with mockery and the greatest humiliation, and to taste death for every man, giving Himself a ransom for all who would come back to loyalty to God.
The raising became a great and crowning miracle that had a powerful effect on people and drew a large, enthusiastic multitude to Him. By it many were led to believe in Him and many glorified God. Those who had again and again rejected light would not yield even to this overwhelming evidence but remained hardened in unbelief, went at once to tell the priests and rulers what He had done, and aroused anew the hatred and increased jealousy of His bitterest enemies, the Pharisees.
Resurrection Power and Witness
Martha's lament belongs to the account of Lazarus, whom Christ called out of the tomb after he had been dead four days and whose body had seen corruption, and at whose grave Christ had shortly before shown that He was the Saviour and Lifegiver. The raising after four days in the grave was evidence of Christ's authority and Messiahship, though the priests and elders who witnessed it did not recognize that evidence.
The miracle was convincing proof of Christ's divinity and revealed the Father through the works He did, testifying to His divine power and that He is the Son of God. It provided undeniable evidence of His Messiahship, which gave Nicodemus such evidence, while the priests and elders who witnessed it did not recognize it. Lazarus was raised to testify to that divine power.
The account shows that Christ has power to raise the dead, and He just as certainly fulfills His mission as the Pattern Man in raising the dead to life as when He toiled as a carpenter hiding His divine mission, as when He trod the waves of the Sea of Galilee, and as when He died as man's sacrifice on the cross to lift the whole race to a new and perfect life. Lazarus's raising is a pledge that all the righteous dead will rise through the Saviour's power. At His return His voice will call the dead in Christ from their tombs to immortal life, where they will ever be with the Lord.
Lazarus when returned to life during Christ's ministry did not become immortal but remained mortal and still subject to death and decay.
Martha hastened alone to meet Jesus at a quiet place by the roadside where He waited near the Bethany home He loved, and her lament expressed grief and disappointment with the conviction that His presence would have kept her brother from dying, yet without losing confidence in Him. With conflicting emotions of sorrow that He had not come before and hope that even now He would comfort them, she at once added faith that God would still grant whatever He asked, while He directed her beyond an immediate restoration to the resurrection of the just. Though He loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, He stayed away on purpose by divine wisdom and permitted Lazarus to die and be laid in the tomb, since in His immediate presence disease was always rebuked, so that the resurrection would give the last and crowning evidence that He is the Son of God. Calling Lazarus from the tomb after four days when his body had seen corruption showed Christ's power to raise the dead and stands as a pledge that at His return His voice will call the dead in Christ to immortal life to ever be with the Lord. By that great miracle many were led to believe in Him and glorified God, while those who had again and again rejected light remained hardened in unbelief and aroused anew the hatred of the priests and rulers, and Lazarus himself when returned to life did not become immortal but remained mortal and still subject to death.
Martha's Words and Setting
The words belong to the Bethany home where Jesus had often found rest, a household where Lazarus loved Him with sincere, fervent love and believed Him to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life, where Mary earnestly listened to His words, and where all sympathy was wholly with Him against the enmity and unjust charges of the Pharisees. Martha hastened alone to meet Him at a quiet place by the roadside where He waited to avoid the confusion of mourning at the house, and there told Him of her brother's death. Her utterance expresses grief and disappointment and her conviction that His presence would have kept her brother from dying.
At the same time she had not lost confidence in Him but still trusted Him. She came with conflicting emotions, her confidence unbroken while her heart surged with grief because He had not come before, yet with hope that even now He would do something to comfort them. In His expressive face she read the same tenderness and love that had always been there, and with human and divine pity He looked into her sorrowful, care-worn face.
Without recounting the past her lament expressed everything. It had been repeated over and over by both sisters amid the tumult of the mourners. Spoken in that love it led at once to further faith that God would still grant whatever He asked. He directed her beyond an immediate restoration to the resurrection of the just.
Divine Delay and Purpose
Though He loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, He abode two days still where He was after receiving their message, staying away on purpose under divine wisdom, so that the message met no immediate response. It was God's plan that Lazarus should be permitted to die and be laid in the tomb before the Saviour arrived. Mary and Martha did not demand that He come at once and heal their brother, but had confidence that He would do what was best for them.
He Himself was health and strength, and in His immediate presence disease was always rebuked, for He could not look upon suffering, disease, or death without bringing relief and combating Satan's power. Lazarus was therefore permitted to die so that his resurrection would give the last and crowning evidence that Jesus is the Son of God. That raising testified to His divine power and authority.
He afterward gave Lazarus back to Mary and Martha with unspeakable joy, showing sympathy for their sorrow and care for the bereaved. He wept at the grave at the thought that He could not save everyone whom Satan had laid low in death. Knowing, as He raised Lazarus, that for that life He must pay the ransom on the cross of Calvary, He was to bear greater pain mingled with mockery and the greatest humiliation, and to taste death for every man, giving Himself a ransom for all who would come back to loyalty to God.
The raising became a great and crowning miracle that had a powerful effect on people and drew a large, enthusiastic multitude to Him. By it many were led to believe in Him and many glorified God. Those who had again and again rejected light would not yield even to this overwhelming evidence but remained hardened in unbelief, went at once to tell the priests and rulers what He had done, and aroused anew the hatred and increased jealousy of His bitterest enemies, the Pharisees.
Resurrection Power and Witness
Martha's lament belongs to the account of Lazarus, whom Christ called out of the tomb after he had been dead four days and whose body had seen corruption, and at whose grave Christ had shortly before shown that He was the Saviour and Lifegiver. The raising after four days in the grave was evidence of Christ's authority and Messiahship, though the priests and elders who witnessed it did not recognize that evidence.
The miracle was convincing proof of Christ's divinity and revealed the Father through the works He did, testifying to His divine power and that He is the Son of God. It provided undeniable evidence of His Messiahship, which gave Nicodemus such evidence, while the priests and elders who witnessed it did not recognize it. Lazarus was raised to testify to that divine power.
The account shows that Christ has power to raise the dead, and He just as certainly fulfills His mission as the Pattern Man in raising the dead to life as when He toiled as a carpenter hiding His divine mission, as when He trod the waves of the Sea of Galilee, and as when He died as man's sacrifice on the cross to lift the whole race to a new and perfect life. Lazarus's raising is a pledge that all the righteous dead will rise through the Saviour's power. At His return His voice will call the dead in Christ from their tombs to immortal life, where they will ever be with the Lord.
Lazarus when returned to life during Christ's ministry did not become immortal but remained mortal and still subject to death and decay.