Jesus the resurrection and the life

 

Dialogue with Martha       v17-27.

There is so much spiritual truth in this exchange it is worth considering it in detail.  Martha lived with her sister Mary and her brother Lazarus in the village of Bethany about 2 miles from Jerusalem.  The family was well known in the city.  Whenever people heard of their distress many came to bring their condolences.  Martha comes to the fore and the difference between the two sisters is marked.  Previously, it was recorded that Martha was the more practical of the sisters and Mary was the more pensive.  This comes out in this extreme event here; when they heard of the arrival of Jesus Martha went immediately to see Him while Mary remained at home.  Her absolute confidence in the Lord comes out.

Martha  “Lord, if thou hadst been here my brother had not died.” She acknowledges His power over all bodily illness.  She addresses Him, not with familiarity, but as Sovereign Lord over every situation.

Martha… she continues, “But I know that even now whatsoever thou wilt ask of God He will give it thee.”  This is amazing faith; she knew of His power to heal the sick, and she knew that whatever He asked, God would give it to Him!  She believed that even in this humanly impossible situation, He could do something.  She recognises His close links with God and her faith in Jesus was unshaken.  Had she heard of the word of John the Baptist who said of Jesus “The Father loveth the Son and giveth all things into His hand?”-John 3v35.  In order to get the force of this we must ask ourselves, what would we do in this situation….how much do we really trust Him in extreme situations?

Jesus  “Thy brother shall rise again.”   

Martha  “I know he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Not everyone in Israel believed that, including the ruling Sadducees.

Jesus  “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.  Believest thou this?”

Jesus declares His Sovereign authority over death, as He makes the ultimate claim to Deity, that the last enemy, which is death, will succumb to His word. This is the first revelation that some will go to heaven without dying and that both dead and living will rise together. This is expanded later in 1^st Corinthians 15 and 1^st Thessalonians 4. The dead shall rise and many of the living shall never die.  Risen and glorified, Jesus now has the keys of death and of hell-Revelation 1v18. Death will yield up the bodies and hell will yield up the souls at His command.  Jesus is indicating here what is later revealed as a doctrine by Paul, namely, that many will go to heaven without dying.  This is imprinted on the sacred pages, and we may well answer the question posed to Martha, do we believe this?  There are those who will die, who will be raised from the dead; there are those living who will never die, of those who believe in Him.

In Genesis 5, concerning those of faith, it is recorded that they died; in the same chapter Enoch was taken to heaven without dying.  On the Mount of Transfiguration, two men appeared speaking with Jesus, Moses who died and was buried; and Elijah who was taken up in the chariot to heaven without dying.  In 1^st Thessalonians 4v14-18, the truth of the secret rapture, when the dead will be raised and the living will be changed, is stated in the context of belief in Jesus-if we believe that Jesus died and rose again…” This truth is pictured in the Old Testament, declared by Jesus in the Gospels and expounded by Paul in the Epistles.  There is nothing clearer, that the faithful dead will be resurrected, and the faithful living will be transformed.  The emphasis is on belief in Him!

Martha then makes the astonishing confession, “Yea Lord. I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God which should come into the world.” In other words she was saying, Yes, Lord because of who you are, I believe that you could do anything. This is one of the great confessions of faith in the whole Bible. Martha understood and accepted what the scribes and Pharisees and lawyers, and elders, and most of the people could not. She knew that here was the long-promised Messiah, the Seed of the woman the rightful King of Israel standing before her-John 4v42; 6v14; 6v69; 1^st John 4v14.  Martha understood more than all her peers including the disciples.  In a situation of deep sorrow she was prepared to believe that He could do anything even for her dead brother.   She had no more questions, just illuminating faith, and she immediately went to find her sister Mary “The Master is come and calleth for thee.”