In the touching scene described in the eleventh chapter of John, we again hear of the two sisters, Martha and Mary. Sickness has ended in death casting its shadow over the home. Their brother has been taken from them.
In their trouble they rightly turn to the Lord as their unfailing resource, and very blessedly they plead His love for their brother, for they say, "He whom thou lovest is sick." This, indeed, was true. The Lord loved Lazarus, but we are also told that "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus." As the story proceeds we are permitted to see the way love takes, in order to declare, on the one hand, the glory of the Son of God and, on the other, the compassions of the heart of Jesus.
Further, we again see the difference between these two devoted women. Martha who, on the former occasion, had been cumbered with her service when the Lord of life and glory had visited her house, is now restless and distracted when death has come into the home. Mary who, in the former day, had listened to His word, can now quietly wait for Him to speak and act. Thus we read, "Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him: but Mary sat still in the house." When, however, she received the word, "The Master is come, and calleth for thee," she at once acts in obedience to the word, for we read, "She arose quickly, and came unto Him."
"Then when Mary had come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet." For the second time this devoted woman is found in the lowly place at the feet of Jesus. The Jews, mistaking her action, say, "She goeth unto the grave to weep there." She was doing that which is far better, that which faith alone can do; she was going to the feet of Jesus to weep there. To weep at the grave of a loved one even the world can do, but it brings no comfort to the sorrowing heart. To weep at the feet of Jesus is to find the comfort of His love, for we weep at the feet of One who, in His own time, can raise our dead and, in the meantime, can comfort our hearts. So it came to pass that Mary, who had been at His feet as a learner, is now found at His feet as a mourner.
It is noticeable that in this touching scene there is no record of any word spoken by the Lord to Mary. This only we learn that, in the presence of her great sorrow, "Jesus wept."
The Jews wrongly interpret these tears as being a token of the Lord's love for Lazarus. He did indeed love Lazarus, but there was no need to weep for one that He was about to raise from the dead. It was the sorrow of the living that drew forth the tears of Jesus, as we read, "When Jesus ... saw her weeping, ... He groaned in the spirit and was troubled" and His trouble found vent in tears, for "Jesus wept."
In the days of old we read of Jehovah that "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds" (Psa. 147:3). In order to heal the broken-hearted He became flesh, and shed His tears to dry ours, and broke His heart to bind up our hearts.
And Jesus is still the same – "The same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." In our sorrows, and when our loved ones are taken from us, we still learn that our only real and lasting comfort is found in bowing at His feet, and pouring out our sorrow in the presence of the One who once wept with these broken-hearted women.