Mary Vanishes

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 8
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The remarkable thing is that Mary is no more seen in the narrative. After she had poured out the grief of her laden heart at the feet of Jesus, she disappears from view. But she was there, and she undoubtedly saw His tears; and, moreover, when Jesus, “groaning in Himself,” went to the grave, Mary must have been in His company. (It is not said that the groaning was audible; on the other hand, we read that He groaned in the spirit, and again that it was in Himself; and hence it was not necessarily heard. But His tears were not concealed. The groaning indeed was before God; His tears were the expression of His sympathy with His people.) A reflection or two may be permitted in this connection. From the fact of her not being afterward mentioned in this chapter, it may be concluded that the result of her exercises had been reached when at the feet of Jesus. If so she would have received the consolation of His sympathy through His tears. Then, walking with Him to the grave, she would experience the support of His presence. All now—all in connection with Lazarus—was in His hands, and she could, we may assuredly say, rest in His love without a quiver or a pang. He, she now knew, would do the best possible thing, even if her faith had not, as we think it had, apprehended the coming deliverance. Already, therefore, the clouds which had gathered in her soul were scattered—as the mist before the rising sun—and she would walk to the grave, in the company of her Lord, above and beyond “the power of death,” and the calmest soul in that sorrowing company. Moreover, now from this point the object of the Spirit of God was not Martha nor Mary, but the glory of God, and the testimony to the glory of the Person of Jesus as the Son of God.