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Gospel: John 11: 19-27
Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary
to comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died].
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
she went to meet him;
but Mary sat at home.
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 of God,
God will give you.”
Jesus said to her,
“Your brother will rise.”
Martha said to him,
“I know he will rise,
in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus told her,
“I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
She said to him, “Yes, Lord.
I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
the one who is coming into the world.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
What makes this Gospel scene so heartbreaking initially is the fact that Jesus knew his friend, Lazarus, was dying. But he waited until Lazarus was dead for four days to visit.
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
A crushing truth spoken by Lazarus’ sister, Martha.
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Is she rebuking Jesus for his delay? Or is she demonstrating her faith in Christ’s power to save?
Probably both.
In that moment, Martha represents so many of us. She’s wavering between certainty and uncertainty, between fear and faith. She knew that Jesus had the power to save her brother physically prior to his death; Jesus healed many others.
But he chose not to.
Now she’s struggling to understand why.
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It’s only with hindsight that we see Christ’s reasoning.
The raising of Lazarus becomes the final miracle that Jesus performs before the Last Supper, leading to his own death and resurrection.
Before being laid in the tomb like Lazarus, the Lord wants to firm up his disciples’ faith, that he has power over life and death.
What the resurrection will teach them is that Jesus can not only bring people back to life physically, but also eternally.
In the words of Saint Paul, “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?”
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When we struggle to understand why things happen in life, or when we stand at the graveside weeping, we’re invited to deeper faith, remembering that Christ has power over all things.
Most importantly, because of him, we shall be raised into life eternal. There, and perhaps only there, will all that’s happened in this life make sense.
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, pray for us.
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Image credits: (1) LDS Blogs (2) First Baptist Thomson (3) Property of Jesus, Blogspot