The Exact Same Petition But Different Answers?

¹⁷ Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, ¹⁹ and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. ²⁰ So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

²⁸ When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. ³⁴ And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” ³⁸ Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” - The Bible, English Standard Version

It was the same petition that Martha and Mary presented before Jesus concerning their dead brother Lazarus but only Mary’s was answered. Why? Both of them said to Jesus that if he had been around, their brother would not have died (John 11:21, 32). In fact, it was Martha who went beyond this and even hinted at Jesus resurrecting Lazarus when she said that God grants to Jesus whatever he asks. In Chichewa, we say, wamkulu sauzidwa, that is you don’t have to spell everything out to a mature person because that person, hopefully, understands. On the other hand, Mary does not go beyond the same statement of trust in the fact that had Jesus been present, their brother would not have died.

So what exactly was the difference between Martha and Mary that evoked a different response from Jesus? Martha has her theology right but her expectation low. She rightly says that God hears Jesus’ prayers (11:22). She is on point when she says that Lazarus will be resurrected on the last day (11:24). And, to crown it all, she even believes when Jesus tells her that he is the resurrection and the life, to the point of spelling out his mission in the earth (11:25-27).  Bravo! Great theology! But when Jesus comes to the point of asking people to remove the stone that covered the tomb, Martha, in an act that betrayed her low expectation, protested that after four days there must be an odour. Seriously? Did she really expect Jesus to raise her brother from the dead as he had explicitly stated in their conversation (11:23)? No, she didn’t. She may have the right theology but her faith levels were on the lower side. 

Mary, on the other hand, seems to have this ability to evoke some deep emotions in Jesus that result in the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. When Martha tells her that the Teacher is here, she quickly goes to meet him (11: 29). She falls at his feet, weeping, and makes the same request as Martha (11:32, 33). This is just too much for Jesus who is more than “deeply moved” as the ESV says but is angry (that is the better translation of the word embrimaomai, which may mean to rebuke harshly). Probably he is angry at death and the sorrow he and his friends are experiencing over this death . Ultimately, it is death he came to abolish as he is the resurrection and the life (11:25, 26). So Jesus gives the instruction to take away the stone.

What is it about Mary that moved Jesus like this? I think it is the fact that Mary is a worshiper. She is the one who so worshiped Jesus that she anointed his feet with very expensive perfume (more than a year’s wage for a laborer) and wiped them with her hair (Mark 14:3; John 11:2; 12:1-3). She is the one who preferred to hear Jesus teach with the rest of the disciples to the point of being chided by Martha for not helping with the dishes (Luke 10:38-42). Mary, like all worshipers, seeks the face of God and not simply his hand. Worshipers of God like Mary have an intimacy with God that workers for God like Martha never attain. Worshipers touch the heart of God and release his power over situations that he wants to change in the earth. Indeed, God is looking for worshipers who spend time in his presence so that he can fill them to overflowing with his glory to the end that they can manifest his kingdom purposes in the earth. 

May today be that day that you resolve to move from being a worker for God to being a worshiper of God! May you seek his face and not just his hand today! May you find that secret place of intimacy with the Lover of your soul where it is just you and him in sweet communion! May you find that place tonight where other worshipers are gathering and expressing their love to the Lover of their soul! TGIF!

His Delay is Not His Denial

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³ So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” ⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. – English Standard Bible

Martha and Mary rightly expected that Jesus should do something about their brother Lazarus’ sickness. Mary’s extravagant act of worship was indelibly chiselled into the collective memory of the followers of Jesus. Martha had hosted Jesus and his disciples in their family home, faithfully served them while Mary sat and listened to Jesus’ teaching, much to Martha’s censure but Jesus’ commendation (Luke 10:38-42).

So when their brother was sick, it was only natural to assume that the One who had healed so many, their friend, would quickly heed their cry for help. If they ever needed His help, it was now. However, things didn’t turn out exactly that way. On hearing the message that “the one whom he loved was ill”, Jesus actually delayed another two days before going to attend to Martha and Mary’s request. Of course, by the time Jesus gets to the Bethany, Lazarus is dead, four days dead. 

It must have been a heart-wrenching realization for Martha and Mary to hear that though Jesus had heard their cry for help, he did not urgently come to their rescue. So much for prophets! They come to you with their whole posse of disciples when they need food but not when you really need them. Of course, Jesus wasn’t just another prophet for the sisters. They had seen his care and love for their family. And that was exactly why his not coming just didn’t make sense. Knowing Jesus, they must have thought, he should have been at their door like yesterday. 

That’s where John, the author of the Gospel, lets us in on what is going on in Jesus’ mind. Jesus already has a purpose for the situation: it’s going to be for God’s glory. He is going to turn this hopeless and helpless situation around by God’s power to show that he is the Sent One of God. And so he delays. Another two days. It’s almost like Jesus is waiting for the situation to get beyond human repair. And he is.

Friend, may be you have been praying and asking Jesus’ help with that seemingly impossible situation yet Jesus is silent. It could be your marriage, your finances, your peace of mind, or whatever abominable combination of these. The great news is that he has heard you and, most important of all, he loves you. “And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28)

May you know that that problem is not the end of you, it’s for God’s glory to be seen. May you realize that the more intense the pressure, the greater the glory. May you know that though it’s beyond human despair it is within divine repair. His delay is not his denial.

You Trust Jesus? Can Jesus Trust You?

Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew human nature. No one needed to tell him what mankind is really like. John 2:23-25, New Living Translation

We live in a day and age when signs and wonders abound in the land. It is exciting to see many people in society embrace the name of Christ and profess faith in Him. It’s just like after Jesus turned water into wine at Cana (John 2:1-12) and attended the Jewish feast of Passover in Jerusalem where He chased out the merchants out of the temple (John 2:13-22) and did so many miraculous signs that many trusted in Him because of the wonders (John 2:23-25). Exciting stuff! If I was Jesus sent on a mission by God the Father to save the world, I would be like, “Yes! It’s happening! That’s what I’m talking about!” But not Jesus. John the Gospel author writes in this chapter that though many trusted in Him because of the miracles He did, He did not trust them (I like the NLT as it clarifies that it’s the very same word translated “trust/believe” in the original Greek of the text of John 2:23, 24). Why not? Because He knew human nature and didn’t need anybody to tell Him what the “trust” in Him was all about. They “trusted” in Him because of what they could benefit from Him so Jesus did not “trust” them.

Here is my point: It is possible to see the miracles that are happening around us – whether genuine or fake, is another story altogether – and trust in Jesus because of them but not be regarded as a believer by Jesus. The key lies in seeing the contrast between these Passover believers and the disciples of Jesus who believed in Him when he performed His first miracle of turning water into wine at Cana (again the issue of the church reversing the miracle is for another post) in John 2:1-12. The disciples of Jesus believed John the Baptizer’s testimony that Jesus was the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29-36), followed Him on that basis (John 1:37-39, 43-44), and invited others to put their faith in Christ as the Saviour of the world (John 1:40-42, 45-51). In other words, the disciples had faith in the person of Jesus Himself. So when the miracle at Cana happened, it was just confirmation of what they had already believed, that He was truly the sacrificial Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.

May we be careful in this day of signs and wonders that our focus is not on the miracles of God but on the God of the miracles who has shown that our greatest problem is not poverty, sickness, generational curses, witchcraft, or indeed any other terrifying thing we can pull out of our cultural backgrounds. Our greatest problem is that of sin which has damned us to hell.  And that sin can only be taken away by our genuine trust in the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of those who trust in Him for eternal life. It is possible to trust in Him because of His miracles but not follow Him even on the path of suffering that He calls all that name His Name to take. Remember He said, “Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:38). So the real issue is not whether you believe in Him because of what He can do but whether you will believe in Him enough to follow Him daily in your life. When that happens, you move from being just another religious junkie looking for the next anointed fix – or perhaps a religious consumer moving from one anointed water factory to another – to being a disciple of Jesus whom He can trust.