"Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus." It is not by accident that Martha's name is put first! If we were going by what we read in Luke 10, we would have expected to read, "Now Jesus loved Mary, and Martha, and Lazarus." But Martha's name comes first. We do not forfeit the Lord's love by our selfishness. We may forfeit the sense of it in our souls, but we cannot forfeit His love. You can sin against the Lord's love, but you cannot sin it away. That is a comfort to the soul. So here the Lord's love is expressed first to Martha and then to her sister and then Lazarus. They were all the subjects of that same gracious affection which filled His heart.
Now an odd thing is noted. After He heard all about the sickness, He waited two days before He made a step to go to the relief of His friends. He abides two days still in the same place.
Verse 11: "These things said He: and after that He saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep." Then said His disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well." They thought he was having a restful sleep, and he would soon be well. "Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that He had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead." He was not in a coma; no, he was dead, as dead as any man ever was. "And I am glad...." Was not that a strange statement? "Lazarus is dead. And I am glad." Why? He has the end in view! and so, beloved, He looks at the circumstances in your life and in mine. We may be down very low and greatly burdened, but perhaps He is saying, "I am glad," because He has the result in view, as He did here. "And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him."
Verse 17: "Then when Jesus came, He found that he had lain in the grave four days already. Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off" (that is about two miles). "And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him." There is busy Martha again-as soon as she heard that He was coming, she went out to meet Him. The affection she showed is not to be discounted. If you heard that Jesus was coming, would you go to meet Him? Her heart must have been warm with affection toward Him. As soon as she hears that He is nearing the city, she wants to meet Him. I think that is in Martha's favor. "But Mary...." We had those words once before. "But Mary sat still in the house." Martha is busy again, and Mary sitting quietly in the house. Should we measure the affection of Mary and Martha by their activity? We are living in a day when the Christian world about us puts the emphasis almost entirely on the activity. How big is it, and what results can it produce? They are interested in the statistics.
When I was quite a young man, I became concerned about the path of testimony. I passed through deep exercise, because at the time I was expecting to go through the regular training and come out eventually an "ordained minister." But God spoke to my soul and gave me to see the truth. So I left the large institution and went to a little meeting in a small hall and identified myself with them. My "pastor," so-called, loved the Lord-we had had some nice fellowship-and he wrote me a letter, the burden of which was, "All I can see is that you are getting out of a great big ship into a very little boat." He then proceeded to list statistics: their membership, the number of missionaries on the foreign field, the number of deaconesses, the number of institutions of learning, Bible seminaries -it was all statistics. Not one verse of Scripture did he quote. You know there was one thing I found in that humble little meeting to which I had transferred my allegiance. What was it? It was the appreciation of the Person of Christ-time to sit down at His feet and to listen to His Word. It was not feverish, restless activity all the time. When I went to that humble little place, I found my soul was fed on the bread convenient. I found Christ ministered to me. They came together to know what God had to say to them in His Word. They sat there and feasted upon it, and their countenances told me that they were enjoying it. I enjoyed it with them. I have never been sorry for the change.
Mary is waiting now, but Martha starts off to meet the Lord. Mary sits quietly at home. It is good to learn to sit still. Exod. 14:1313And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. (Exodus 14:13) says, "Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD." There are times when it is a good thing to "stand still," or "sit still," as Mary did. See also 2 Chron. 20:1717Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you. (2 Chronicles 20:17), where we have another example of it: "Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD." Ah, there is a time to be still, to be quiet. So here Mary is sitting in the house.
"Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." v. 21. I think she was rather complaining in that remark, perhaps intimating that He might have been there sooner. "If Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee." That is nice. That is faith. Thank God for that. "Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again." But she does not seem to take it in. "Martha saith unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Any intelligent, godly Jew knew that much. "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." Oh, yes, when you die and go into the grave, that is not the end; you are not going to stay there, you are going to come out again. "And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?" Why, beloved, think of it-those of us in this room who are alive when Jesus comes back will never, never die! Is not that a marvelous announcement? But if you go out to the poor world around you and announce such a truth, they wonder what is the matter with you. "He thinks he may never die at all!" It is true; do we believe it? It is the Word of God! Is that your hope? Are you looking for it? Would you like Him to come today? We do not know from day to day how soon the Lord is coming; it is so near! "And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?" Do you? Thank God, if you do. Rest in it and let it form your life.
Verse 27: "She saith unto Him, Yea, Lord: I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world." Martha answers Him, but not intelligently. She does give Him His place as the Messiah-the Son of God which was to come into the world. That is good orthodox doctrine. But Martha had a measure of intuition and felt in her heart here was a situation that demanded the help of Mary. She had found fault with Mary for spending her time sitting at the feet of Jesus, but now she feels that Mary knew more about these things than she did, so she hastens away and calls her sister Mary secretly. She said, "The Master is come, and calleth for thee." That is what Mary wanted to hear. "The Master is come, and calleth for thee." I do not think that the Masten had said that, but it was her own heart's interpretation of the heart of Christ. Here was a situation to which she personally was unequal. The need of her soul coupled with the knowledge of Christ amounted in her judgment to a call on the part of Jesus for Mary to come. I think that is very precious, "The Master is come, and calleth for thee."
Verse 29: "As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly...." Do we respond to the Word of God quickly? She went quickly to where Jesus was. "Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met Him." Now verse 32: "Then when Mary was come where Jesus was. and saw Him"-she did not see anyone else; she saw Him- and "she fell down at His feet." There she is again-at His feet. As soon as Martha had heard that He was coming (v. 20). she went out to meet Him; but as soon as Mary got to Him. she uttered the exact words that Martha had said when she met Him: "Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." I am firmly convinced that though the words were identical the intonation was quite different. Perhaps it was something like this: Martha had said to Him, "Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." But Mary said. "Lord, if THOU hadst been here, my brother had not died." Quite different! Oh, how lovely to see her at His feet, owning the glory and dignity of His Person and telling Him that if only He had been there her brother would not have died.
"When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, and said, Where have ye laid Him? They say unto Him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept." Now the 38th verse: "Jesus therefore again groaning in Himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha [here is Martha again], the sister of him that was dead, saith unto Him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days." Poor Martha! Mary did not say anything like that. Martha loved the Lord. Martha loved her brother. But the situation is such that she does not have the acumen of faith to penetrate it. She is only looking at it from a natural point of view. "Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?" Now verse 43: "And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes; and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go."
Now let us go on to the next chapter, chapter 12. "Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom He raised from the dead." Here He is back at that blessed little town again, back at the same house, and here is Lazarus which had been dead. That was a miracle, a stupendous miracle. The Word of God speaks of Christ raising the dead, but only three individual cases are recorded; but I am sure there were many, if we knew of all of them. But of the three cases that are mentioned, the raising of Lazarus was the most wonderful. The other two had riot been dead so long. Here Lazarus was back home again, and Jesus was there. "There they made Him a supper." That was for Jesus, and Martha served. Martha is still the servant, but no criticism is leveled at her service here, for someone had to get the supper. Lazarus was one of them at the table with Him. "Then took Mary [here is dear Mary again] a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly." If we compare other accounts of the same incident we get the value of this ointment, which was worth about two thousand dollars. "And anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair." She is again at the feet of Jesus. It is the third time we find her there. So she is always in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing. That is the result of communion. I have thought that if Mary had been like some of our sisters, she could not have carried out part of this service for Christ very easily. She anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair. In Scripture, a woman's hair is her glory. The Bible says, If a woman have long hair it is a glory to her. So Mary took that which was her glory and wiped the feet of Jesus with it. There is nothing we possess which is too good for Him. All we have and are belongs at the feet of that blessed One. That is where Mary was. Her ointment, her hair, her heart were all at the feet of Jesus; and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. We are still getting the benefit of that odor, still enjoying it. The odor of this lovely act of faith is still filling God's house. When they tried to rebuke her for it, the Lord rebuked them. He said, "Let her alone; she hath wrought a good work," and what she was doing would be told all over the world. That is true, and we are still talking about it. The faith of that dear woman is wonderful. We will see her at the feet of Jesus. The Lord said she had wrought a good work which would abide forever.
Beloved, the life you are living as a Christian-your daily life, your home life, your business life—can you take it to heaven with you? Mary took hers to heaven with her, and some day we will see her enjoying that One at His feet in the glory.
Courtesy of BibleTruthPublishers.com. Most likely this text has not been proofread. Any suggestions for spelling or punctuation corrections would be warmly received. Please email them to: BTPmail@bibletruthpublishers.com.