ISSL Reflections July 24 2022 John 11:17–27, 38–44 Post 3

VII.
Please spend some time with Martha today.

Notice she says, “… I know … I know … I believe …

But first she tells Jesus, “… if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

VIII.
John 11:17-27 (New Revised Standard Version)

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” 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. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

John 11:38-44 (New Revised Standard Version)

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

XI.
Martha appears to have no trouble expressing her disappointment to Jesus.

Is it disappointment in Jesus? That he came too late to help her brother?

I have to wonder if I am as free as Martha in being honest with Jesus no matter how I feel.

I for one am challenged by Martha’s honesty in expressing both her pain and her faith.

How about you?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, deus ibi est}


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