Do You Believe?
TRANSLATION
(17) When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. (18) Bethany was about two miles from Jerusalem, (19) and many Jews had come to comfort Martha and Mary in the loss of their brother. (20) When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary remained at home. (21) Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. (22) But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” (23) Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” (24) Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” (25) Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, though they die, yet will they live. (26) And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (27) She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
OBSERVATIONS
Upon Jesus’ arrival in Bethany after Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days, Martha went out to meet him to find out why he had not come sooner. In response to her mild rebuke, “If you had been here my brother would not have died,” Jesus offered words of hope and comfort. Repetitions in this segment included several names: “Martha” (four times in vss. 19, 20, 21, & 24), “Mary” (twice in vss. 19 & 20), “Jesus” (four times in vss. 17, 20, 21, 23, & 25). “Lord” appeared twice (vss. 21 & 27). Three times forms of the verb, “to come,” were used (vss. 17, 19, & 20). Both “rise again” (vss. 23 & 24) and “resurrection” appeared twice (vss. 24 & 25). Three forms of “life/live(s)” (vss. 25 & 26) and four occurrences of “believe(s)” (vss. 26 & 27) are also found.
OUTLINE
I. Martha met Jesus and questioned his delay in coming. (17-22)
II. Jesus challenged Martha’s faith by declaring himself to be the resurrection and the life. (23-27)
IDEA STATEMENT
By declaring himself to be the resurrection and the life, Jesus challenged Martha to believe that he could raise Lazarus from the dead.
APPLICATION
When Jesus told Martha, “Your brother will rise again,” Martha responded with an affirmation of faith in the future resurrection “on the last day,” implying that this distant hope would provide little comfort given the huge loss Mary and she had just suffered. Jesus then gave Martha the fifth of the memorable “I AM” statements found in John’s Gospel: “I am the resurrection and the life.” To this affirmation he added an explanation: “Those who believe in me, though they die, yet will they live. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” In other words, Jesus named himself as the one who will conquer death, that which Paul called “our last great enemy.” Moreover, his victory will provide eternal life for all who trust in him. After that Jesus directly challenged Martha with the question, “Do you believe this?”
That monumental challenge is one to which each of us must respond, and the answer we give will determine our eternal destiny. Martha gave Jesus the correct answer by expressing her faith in his power and love, but she was clearly still struggling with Jesus’ failure to come in time to save her brother. She did not yet know what she was about to discover, namely, the encouragement that Jesus had earlier given his disciples: “for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe” (vs. 15). In the same way that the night seems the darkest just before the dawn, so for Martha and Mary the loss of their brother seemed the hardest to accept while they still puzzled over Jesus’ failure to come in time to prevent his death.