Day 1059: A crucial question - John 11 vs 11 - 27

11-13 After saying these things, Jesus said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. 15-16 But let us go to him.” So Thomas, called the Twin, [Didymus ] said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

17-20 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

23-26 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” John 11:11-27 English Standard Version

At the start of this chapter we were told that when Jesus heard that Lazarus was ill, He stayed two days longer in the place where He was. The moment comes when He tells the disciples that Lazarus had died, but makes a seemingly strange comment. What was the reason Jesus said to them “for your sake I'm glad that I was not there.” (See vs 14)

Jesus knew what He was going to do. And it would be something so amazing that it would surely strengthen their growing understanding of who He really was, and their faith in Him. At that moment, however, the 'penny had not dropped' and Thomas put into words what many of them may have been fearing. Going back to Jerusalem surely meant arrest and death, and the end of their hopes.

And so follows the scene where Jesus arrives at Bethany and Martha, the sister of Lazarus, goes out to meet Him. She, perhaps tearfully, says: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” What sorrow and sadness there can be in that little word 'if'. How many Christians since then may have sadly thought 'if only God had done something, I would not be experiencing what I'm going through'. But what did Martha then say in faith, that brought a ray of hope into even that bleak situation? (vs 22)

If you are familiar with the Bible, you’ll recall that Jesus once gently chided Martha for being too worried about making sure her guests had a good meal, and neglecting the opportunity to hear God's word. That incident is in Luke 10:38-42. But now she shows a solid confidence and an expectant faith in what Jesus could do in her time of trial. And it led to the the life changing conversation and crucial question we read in vs 23-26. It’s well worth reading those verses again and asking ourself: “Do I truly believe this profound statement that Jesus made?”

Martha, as a Bible taught Jewish woman, believed in a resurrection 'on the last day'. Over a thousand years earlier a God fearing man named Job expressed such a conviction about the resurrection, and said: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God!” (Job 19:25-26) Jesus now brought a whole new dimension to this truth. The resurrection of all who've died will be through Him – and death will not have the final say on those who have believed on Him.

What a wonderful promise that is, what a marvellous hope for men, women and children. What a tender invitation to even the worst of sinners, for Jesus gave such assurance even to the criminal who, sometime later, was crucified alongside Him. But His crucial question is: “Do you believe this?” Oh may we respond to it as Martha did in vs 27.