Where the Lord Speaks

"Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." 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?"" John 11:21-26

Martha is often viewed as the lesser of the two sisters.  In an attempt to perform
needed duties, Martha requested that Jesus instruct her sister to aid in the task.  She was rebuked and culturally she is viewed as lesser than Mary.  Martha did nothing less than what any one of us in a similar situation would do.  I think Martha speaks and acts as many of us in the church would.  Martha, in mourning speaks her troubled thoughts to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

Have you ever thought or yelled, where are You?!  If You had been here my child wouldn't have died!  If You had been here my husband wouldn't have left.  If You had been here my business wouldn't have failed.  I have thought man times, where are You Lord?  I have thought, if You were here this wouldn't have happened.  These troubling times are times of doubt. 

Doubt cripples us.  Doubt covers our ears when the Lord says, "I am the resurrection!"  When the Lord says, "I am the life!"  We can sit in our pity, believe our doubt because we cannot see that life only precedes out of death. On the other side of our doubt covered ears the Lord is yelling by His Spirit, "BELIEVE!  I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE!  BELIEVE!"

As Martha was living in her morning, looking only to the end, the Lord calls her to the present by telling her that the life was before her; the resurrection was present.  Jesus says the same to us today.  We celebrated the resurrection this past Sunday.  Jesus showed Martha and us His words are true.  He is the resurrection.  He is the life.  Nothing is outside His grasp and power.  He showed us that His life precedes out of death.  Death is nothing but a beginning of true life.  To resurrected life.  Our deepest grief, pain, and hopelessness is the point where the Lord speaks clearly that He is the Resurrection.  He is the life.
  1. In what way is doubt covering your ears?
  2. The Lord asked Martha and us, "Do you believe this?"
--Zine Smith

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