John 11:17-37 – Jesus Grieves

Read John 11:17-37

Jesus has now safely arrived in Bethany. News of his arrival reached Martha and Mary.  Mary stayed behind and Martha rushed to meet Jesus. You can imagine the scene. There are many friends gathered to pay their respects. It would be awkward if both sisters took off at the same time. But why didn’t Jesus just show up at the house, too?

Why? He would have missed this opportunity for an intimate moment with Martha. She and Mary had the identical response, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” How many times have we had “what-ifs” in our own lives? This one was a pretty big one. Little did Martha and Mary know that Jesus’ late arrival was on purpose. It was not about preventing Lazarus’ death, it was about restoring his life. We’ll see that revealed in our next reading.

Jesus uses these moments with Martha to console her with hope for resurrection. Jesus identified himself as the “resurrection and the life”. Jesus said, Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die.” Martha was the first to openly and completely confess her belief in Jesus. It was that day when she began to live eternally. We don’t have to wait until we die. We can begin our forever with Jesus the moment we believe.

Mary has a turn at Jesus, too. It is when Mary arrives that we see some emotions from Jesus we might not expect. Anger, indignation, and frustration overcome Jesus. I had to check several sources to find out what is happening here. Because Jesus was human, it was not surprising he’d have human emotions. The difference between Jesus and us is that he never sinned or let these emotions lead him to sinful behaviors.

He was angry at death. Everyone was seeing this as the final end to Lazarus’ life. Granted, they didn’t know what was going to happen next. They also may not have the belief in Jesus that gives us the ability to live with him forever. It was in this scene we see Jesus overcome with emotion and weeping. The sadness and wailing of others had permeated into his being. Jesus was finally able to let go of the emotions he had been bottling up. Despite his knowledge and the power God was going to give him, he got caught up in the moment and let down his guard. He knew what was to come. His own “time” was also approaching. It was all so very surreal.

Have you committed yourself to Jesus? Have you, like Martha, declared your belief in Jesus and his power over sin and death? Are you truly a disciple living in your eternal life? Take some time to really grasp exactly how big this is and how your future depends on it.

Let’s pray. Father God, I do believe that you sent Jesus into this world to seek and save those who are lost and not on a path toward you. There are many people still today, even those who know the path, but they aren’t on it. Thank you for Martha’s boldness in professing her belief. May I be as brave and may my faith be transparent for the world to see. I am not afraid for I know where I am going. My life eternal has already begun. Thank you. Jesus for what you did for me. In your holy name, Amen.

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