473. Walking in the Word, Jesus Cares for Martha and Mary

Jesus travels to Bethany to meet with Martha and Mary upon Lazarus’ death. Although the sisters don’t understand Jesus’ plan, they proclaim their faith and trust in Him. And then they learn, as bit by bit, He continues to give them remarkable lessons about who He is. Jesus also wants to meet with you. In today’s study, learn that you can come just as you are, trusting His response. (John 11:17-37)

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Welcome to Walking in the Word, the biblical teaching arm of the Women World Leaders podcast. My name is Julie Jenkins, and it is my honor to walk with you each Wednesday as we open scripture and ask God what He wants us to learn today.

If you are new to Women World Leaders, you can find out more about us at our website, womenworldleaders.com, where you can post on our prayer wall, purchase resources, and get involved in our worldwide ministry.

If you are new to our podcast, this is one of three offerings we have for you each week. On Monday, founder Kimberly Hobbs hosts Empowering Lives with Purpose – a 30-minute interview with a different woman of faith who shares the story of her life, struggles, or ministry. These interviews will inspire you to listen for God’s calling in your life.

On Fridays, we have an amazing team of podcasters who host Celebrating God’s Grace. These Friday episodes are always full of such incredible nuggets of wisdom and revelation about the goodness of God and will fuel you as you launch into the weekend!

And today, you’ve happened on Walking in the Word, where we take time to open God’s Word and learn together from it – verse by verse. We are currently studying the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John chronologically. Today we will be reading and learning from John, chapter 11, verses 17 through 37. Before we begin, let’s pray…

Dear Holy God – thank you in advance for guiding our thoughts and this teaching as we prepare to open your Word. Father, your Word is living and active. It is sharper than any double-edged sword. So we are here to dive in, but we also commit to handling your scripture carefully. Father, we respect the authority of the Bible, and we want to take away from it ONLY what you have intended for us today. Allow us each to focus in on you alone for the next few minutes, and then to walk away with a singular thought that you want to ingrain in us. Thank you for always blessing us with your presence. In Jesus’ name, Amen.  

Last week we met Jesus as He received the message from His friends Martha and Mary that their brother, Jesus’ dear friend Lazarus, was deathly ill. Jesus was with His disciples at the time, and despite the news, he surprisingly remained where He was for the next two days. Then, Jesus announced that although Lazarus had died, He would be traveling back to the dangerous territory near Jerusalem to “wake him up.” The disciples were confused by this statement but resolutely determined to accompany their Lord on the journey.  

Let’s pick up today in John chapter 11, verse 17 from the New Living Translation…

17 When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days.

This information would not have surprised Jesus, who had already announced to the disciples that Lazarus had died. But the fact that Lazarus had been dead for four days is significant.

Jewish sources cite the rabbinic belief that after three days, the dead person was, well, really dead. It’s difficult for us to imagine in this modern day of science how a dead body naturally decomposes. But again, sources cite that because a dead person’s face became unrecognizable after three days, three days was to be the first and most intense phase of mourning a loved one. During that time, the body would be buried. Then, a carefully prescribed time of mourning would follow, which often included the hiring of professional wailers to accompany the women as they reverently visited the tomb.

So Jesus arrived on day 4—after Lazarus was buried and family and friends had already gone through days of grieving.

Let’s continue reading verse 18…

 18 Bethany was only a few miles[a] down the road from Jerusalem, 19 and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. 20 When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house.

We know Martha as the do’er, so it isn’t surprising that she was the one who would be aware that Jesus had arrived and went to greet Him. By Jewish standards, Jesus’ arrival was the fulfillment of an obligatory visit from a respected teacher who had traveled to offer His condolences to the grieving family.

Still, we know the deep relationship Jesus had with this family, so we can imagine the comfort Martha gained from Jesus’ presence as she approached Him…  

 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”

Surely Martha was confused at Jesus’ late arrival as the sisters had called for Him several days earlier.

Perhaps you can relate to Martha’s words. Have you ever been confused by God’s actions? As Christians, we KNOW that God is sovereign—in control of everything. And we know how much He loves us. We believe that He is working all things for the good of all those who love Him. But sometimes, it just doesn’t look like it. Martha pours her heart out – Lord…if you had only been here, my brother would not have died…she says as she proclaims total and complete faith in Jesus’ power.

But because she doesn’t understand Jesus’ plan…Martha states what she does know …I know that God will give you whatever you ask.

Sometimes, all WE can do is proclaim that God IS in control, even when things don't make sense.

Jesus heard Martha’s heart…verse 23…

23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24 “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”

25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[b] Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”

27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” 

Martha was holding tight to what she understood. Jesus told her that Lazarus would rise again – she agreed! She knew the teachings from the book of Daniel about the end days which said…

there will be a time [when]… every one of your people whose name is written in the book will be rescued. 2 Many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting disgrace. 3 Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever

Martha knew what she knew…which was a lot! But she still had so much to learn!

Jesus didn’t chastise her for not understanding the full truth of His statement, He simply graciously added to her knowledge. Jesus doesn’t ever expect us to understand His ways completely, but He does expect us to be faithful followers of what we do know even as we open our minds and hearts to learn more.

So Jesus taught her…“I am the resurrection and the life.[b] Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die.

And then he asked her…

Do you believe this, Martha?”

And, although she STILL doesn’t understand that Jesus will soon do the impossible, that is, raise Lazarus who has now been dead and decomposing for four days, she again states what she DOES know…

27 “Yes, Lord,…I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” 

Praise God!! Even GREAT theologians know that they have only scratched the surface when it comes to completely understanding God. But we serve a God who is patient with us and never tires of teaching and guiding us! We don’t ever have to be afraid that we don’t know enough or understand enough, because our God IS enough – and all we have to do is yield to Him, stay alert, and trust that He will guide us with the knowledge we need.

Jesus must have then told Martha to go get Mary…verse 28 continues…

28 Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.” 29 So Mary immediately went to him.

I just love the obedience of these women. Their minds were likely in a fog after their brother’s illness and death and burial, yet they IMMEDIATELY did exactly as Jesus requested…

When Martha whispered to Mary that the Teacher wanted to see her, she went.

As an aside, I want to note that, culturally, women didn’t have teachers. Only men had teachers. Women had husbands, who, if they chose, relayed the teaching. But both Martha and Mary called Jesus their Teacher. And they did this with full confidence that this was the way it should be. Now those are women after MY heart!

Verse 30…

30 Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. 31 When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. 32 When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Do you recognize those words? They were the same words Martha first said to Jesus. But Mary, who every time scripture speaks of her is sitting at Jesus’ feet, makes her declaration while bowing at Jesus’ feet in reverence and honor. Still, she was crying. Mary honored Jesus while, at the same time, baring her heart to Him.

Jesus calls us to come to Him, too. And we should come to Him with reverence and awe. But He also wants us to come with complete transparency. With Martha, we learned that God doesn’t want us to to be afraid to come to Him even when we don’t fully understand. And now with Mary, we learn that God wants us to come to Him with our souls completely open. The takeaway…God LOVES you! And He is calling you to come to Him just as you are.

Verse 33…

33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him,[c] and he was deeply troubled. 34 “Where have you put him?” he asked them.

They told him, “Lord, come and see.” 

Then we read perhaps the most well-known verse in the Bible, John 10:35…

35 Then Jesus wept. 

Why did Jesus weep? We can speculate that Jesus felt empathy for what Mary and Martha and the other mourners were experiencing. Perhaps he was so sad that our sin leads to death. Or, as one theologian suggests, perhaps Jesus was crying for Lazarus, whom He was about to rip from paradise, bringing him back to his stinky, smelly body in this corrupt world.

But perhaps it isn’t as important to know WHY Jesus wept than to understand what it means THAT Jesus wept.

It means that Jesus experienced the pain and heartache of being human. Therefore, WE can call out to Him at any time, trusting that He understands grief.

It means that if it was okay for Jesus to be sad, then it is also okay for us to be sad.

It means that Jesus is full of love and compassion and emotion. Although He is set apart, holy, and perfect, He is still so connected with us that He reaches into the depths of our souls in a way that we cannot fully understand.

And it means that we are valuable to Him. When we weep, He weeps with us.

Some people were shocked by Jesus’ love for Lazarus, saying…

 “See how much he loved him!” 

But others misinterpreted Jesus tears…condemning and judging Him for His lack of timeliness or mismanagement of His power, saying…

“This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”

God’s ways are SO far above our ways!

He calls us to Him, but doesn’t judge us when we don’t understand.

He never ceases to gently teach us.

He offers full rights to His presence to all of us – even women, which was controversial at the time and still is controversial in some cultures.

And He weeps for and with us, even while working out His perfect plan for our salvation and our lives.

In short, we are each called to come to an amazing God who is deeper, more loving, and more patient than we can begin to imagine.

And as YOU listen today, you can be assured that He is calling you. Will you, like Martha and Mary, respond immediately, fully trusting where He will take you?

Let’s pray,

Dear Most Holy Father – thank you for sending your son Jesus to live life as a human being on this messed up earth. Thank you for calling each of us, and for teaching us that you want us to come to you just as we are. Thank you for accepting us and giving us chance after chance to grow and learn and become all you have called us to be. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.