"MARTHA'S WHOLEHEARTED BELIEF" (An Article by Christian Henry) ~ 6/4/26

“Jesus said unto her, 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?“ (John 11:25-26)

Lazarus of Bethany, a devout follower of Christ, had fallen sick and was nearing death. His sisters, Mary and Martha, sent word to Jesus and explained how their brother was ill and would pass quickly if He didn’t hurry. They refer to their brother as “he whom thou lovest,” and while some think this hints at a deeper relationship (maybe they were childhood friends), the text doesn’t support this. Instead, he is one that Jesus “lovest” because he was a faithful believer, and that’s all a person needs to be in order to earn Christ’s love. Jesus and His disciples were in Bethabara, which is about 20 miles from Bethany, preaching, when they received word of Lazarus’ condition. The distance between the two places and the wording of the plea meant that Lazarus hadn’t yet died when the letter was sent, or before Jesus’ response. Jesus knew that Lazarus was dying but chooses to tarry in Bethabara for two days before heading back to Bethany. This was likely done in order to create an occasion for raising Lazarus from the dead, and to ensure that it would be one of the last things He did before being crucified.

Despite His disciples’ warnings about returning to Judea (where the town was) because of the stoning threats, Jesus is resolved in His mission. He informs them that their “friend Lazarus” had fallen asleep, confirming his death despite not having received word, and that they needed to go wake him up in resurrection. While sad that His beloved friend had died, Jesus was also glad that He wasn’t there to prevent it, so that people might have further evidence of His Godhood. By the time they arrived in Bethany, they found that he had already been in the tomb for four days. Word of Lazarus’ death had spread even outside of the town, which was probably another reason for the delay in Bethabara. Mary stayed in the house weeping, but Martha, when she had heard that Jesus was drawing near, went to meet Him.

Martha then told Jesus that if He had been in Bethany, her brother wouldn’t have died, and even now she believed that He could restore Lazarus to her. She had no prior evidence that this was a possibility, but wholeheartedly believed in Christ, nonetheless. Amazing! What beautiful faith! What breathtaking belief! She believed that Christ was able to raise Lazarus from the dead.

At the core of this faith was Martha’s assurance that Christ was the Son of God, able to do anything! He is the Father’s only begotten who was able to accomplish so much, even raise her brother from the dead. She knew that Lazarus would rise eventually in the resurrection at the last day, but she was also fully convinced that if anything could be done about his condition now, Jesus could do that thing. We all need to strive to emulate her wholehearted belief, and when our Savior is coming towards us in ways of mercy and comfort, we should, like Martha, go forth to meet Him in faith, hope, and prayer.