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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/bruce-rodgers/mary-martha-in-john-11/
Could we look together again, please, in the Gospel of John, Chapter 11. The Gospel of John, Chapter 11. Yesterday, we were speaking a little bit on the first 16 verses about the sickness of Lazarus and his death.
I would like to notice with you the Lord's comfort and his presence with Martha and then with Mary and some of the contrasts that are evident in his dealings with each one. So let's start reading at verse 17.
John Chapter 11 and verse 17. Then when Jesus came, he found that he, that is Lazarus, had lain in the grave four days already. Now, Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about 15 furlongs off, and many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother.
Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him, but Mary sat still in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know that even now whatsoever thou will ask of God, God will give it thee.
Jesus saith unto her, thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection of the last day. 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? She saith unto him, yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
And when she had so said, she went her way and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came unto him. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.
The Jews then which were with her in the house and comforted her when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled, and said, Where have you laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold, how he loved him. And some of them said, Could not this man which opened the eyes of the blind have caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, cometh to the grave.
It was a cave and a stone lay upon it. Now that's all we're going to read for now. I'm not sure if you have thought about this passage and the contrast between the way the Lord deals with Martha and the way he deals with Mary.
Now, most of us are familiar with the contrasting characters of the two sisters. Martha seems to be the more active, acts of service kind of girl, and Mary seems to be the more contemplative. And we seem to have this impression in our minds that Mary's a little more deeply spiritual than Martha is.
That may not be quite a fair assessment. I would suggest that in this passage, Martha shows a deeper faith and a better insight than Mary does. It's not until chapter 12 that we see Mary rising in her spiritual response to the Lord's grace to them as a family.
So I want to think with you about really this stark contrast that we have as the Lord deals with these two sisters. Now, as I mentioned yesterday, their experience is really like a parable, if we could use that term.
It's like a glimpse of this whole era up to the coming of the Lord. The Lord is the good shepherd. We believe his love. We believe his goodness. We believe in his ability, his greatness. And yet our lives are intersected with things in this present experience that seem to contradict this faith in him.
And so we are challenged. Our faith is challenged by what presently goes on. And so their experience, which was just in possibly a few weeks of this sickness and then death, their agonizing, urgent prayer, their urgent message for him to come, and he doesn't come.
And finally, he does come, and it's too late. All of these perplexities, I think, are summarized in Martha's words to him. Lord, it seems like an abrupt way to talk to him. Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died.
What does that suggest to you? Well, it suggests at least to me that there is a deep faith toward him. She was convinced that he could have prevented this. And yet she's also deeply disappointed that he hasn't done so.
And so there is that confusion in her faith. Lord, if you had been here, my brother had not died. Now, Mary says exactly the same thing in our English translation. There's a slight change in the word to die.
That's pointed out in my Newberry Bible margin. And if I were to try to distinguish between dying and dying utterly, can you make a distinction? If you're dead, you're dead, aren't you? But I want to point out something that to me is very significant, that in Mary's words, when she says, my brother wouldn't have died, she uses a slightly stronger term, which has this impression that he has perished, that he has died utterly and perished.
Whereas Martha, very clearly, by her next expression, even though she says, my brother, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died. But then she says, but, but I know that even now, whatever you ask of God, God will give it to you.
This is beautiful. This is wonderful. She has been facing death. Her brother has been dead now for four days. She meets the Lord Jesus. And she says, even now, I know. And it's interesting, in Martha's words, at least twice she says, I know.
I know. And that is one of the great things about true Christianity. It gives us a knowledge that is able to confront the deepest issues of life. In 2 Corinthians 5, we know. We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a house in heaven, eternal in the heavens.
And so what we know today as Christians is extremely important. And she is saying, I know that even now, whatever you ask, God will give it to you. I think it's undeniable that she is still holding out a glimmer of hope that the Lord is going to do something for them.
So this is the contrast that I see with Martha and Mary. With Martha, she's disappointed, but there's a glimmer of hope. Mary is devastated. And her grief is the grief of despair. And so the Lord is able to pick up on her faith.
And he says, your brother is going to rise again. Now, from her response, I would take it that she's not sure what he's promising. He could be saying, I'm going to raise him today. Or he could be assuring her that your brother is going to rise again in that final day of resurrection.
And she responds by saying, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. She is expressing the faith of the common people and of the Pharisees who believed the scriptures. That in the kingdom of God that was coming, there was going to be attending the coming of the kingdom of God, the liberation from the bondage of corruption, the liberation from death.
And to me, this is extremely important in interpreting this passage in what the Lord is going to say next to her. Because he had come announcing the kingdom of God. Now, I think in many ways we have sort of become a little bit distant from the perspective of the kingdom and the great promises that are associated with the kingdom being brought into effect.
In the Old Testament, those promises always carried forward into eternity. Isaiah chapter 25 talks about that wonderful day when the veil that is cast over the nations is going to be taken away, when death is going to be swallowed up in victory.
And they're going to say, this is our God. We have waited for him. And he is our salvation. You see, God's glory is in a sense being slandered today in our world by the conditions that exist, by the fact that sickness, suffering, and death pervade.
That gives a confused picture in many minds about God. If he is a God of love, how does he permit this? If he is a God of infinite power, why doesn't he do something about it? And that is the challenge that is in the minds of many people towards God and his character.
And this is coming to a focus because the Lord Jesus has come into the world as the king announcing the kingdom. And these people have put their faith in him. But now they're experiencing the common lot of all men.
Sickness and death has invaded the family. So the Lord Jesus now says to her, I am the resurrection. I am the resurrection and the life. See, the gospel of John is the gospel of the son of God. The manifestation of the son, his glory, his deity, his eternal power.
And this is the climactic sign of the signs of the gospel of John, the sign of resurrection. And surely this should be the undeniable sign that he is the one. If he can raise the dead, he must be the Messiah.
He must be the promised king who has come to deliver mankind. And so he says, not only is there going to be a resurrection, but I am that resurrection. I am the one who is that power, who is that life.
He's really declaring that he is the eternal. Only the eternal can say I am the resurrection and the life. And then he makes these amazing statements. And I'm going to tell you what I believe they mean.
And I place it in the context of not only the immediate situation of the passage of their sickness and death, but also this context of him coming as the Messiah to bring the kingdom of God into effect.
I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Now, I don't think we have any trouble with that. If someone is a believer in him and has died, they're going to live again.
It's physical death, physical resurrection that is being implied. That would fit Lazarus. It's the next expression that gives us more difficulty today in interpretation, because we don't want to say that there's any verse in the Bible that isn't true.
And so we read this, and it says, verse 26, and whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Believest thou this? And so what does this mean? Well, some like to interpret this as spiritual life now.
But I want to say that in the context of what is being looked at, that I believe this is physical. And when he says, whoever is living and believes in me shall never die, he is expressing the promise of the kingdom, the promise of the age to come, that those who are privileged to come into the kingdom of God will never have to experience death.
They will experience that liberation that he had come to bring. You see, he not only has come to deliver us from judgment, he came to deliver us from death as well. You say, but it isn't true. Could I explain it this way?
He was not yet officially rejected as king. That would come momentarily in a few weeks at the Passover time. Messiah would be cut off. Until that time, God's program of the kingdom was in effect. The offer has been made.
The king is here. He has announced the kingdom is at hand. And included in that promise is this wonderful liberation. And I believe that her response confirms not only that interpretation, but her understanding that the coming of the Christ into the world was supposed to bring the kingdom of God into effect.
She says, yes, Lord, I believe you are the Christ, the son of God, which should come into the world. So you say, well, what about us then? And why isn't that in effect now? It's a very simple reality that upon the rejection of the king, this blessing is postponed.
But every generation of Christians from that day until now has lived with exactly the same potential that was there at that moment. We could see our loved ones raised from the dead. We could be changed in a moment and never have to face death.
We believe it, that when the Lord comes, the program of his kingdom will irreversibly move forward. And there will be these blessings of the king, of the kingdom of God, that will be ushered in. Yes, there will be that tremendous valley of the tribulation for the unbelieving world, who will be confronted with the king and all his power, and he will subdue and subjugate all enemies.
But as First Corinthians 15 teaches, the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. So what I'm saying is that in this moment, as the Lord is standing there, it is like a parable of his coming. And all that he is going to bring when he comes in his glory and establishes the kingdom of God in all its power and beauty, then the glory of God is going to be seen.
The true character of God is going to be on full display in a creation set free from the bondage of corruption. Today, we are left in the first part of the chapter, watching loved ones suffer and die, and ourselves facing that possibility until he comes.
And so as Martha embraces the truth of himself, that he is the one who has the resurrection power, the life of eternity, the life of the age to come, and she heads off to talk to her sister. And Mary is invited to come to meet with the Lord privately.
Of course, all the friends, they think that she's going out to the grave, and so they hurry along with her, which is exactly what she didn't want. She needed, Mary needed to meet the Lord personally. She is in a devastated condition, and as we have Mary coming to him, just her actions convey this lack of hope within her heart.
She falls at his feet, and she says, Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have utterly died. And then she's weeping. So why didn't the Lord respond to her like he responded to Martha? Well, I think there's some important lessons for us in trying to comfort people, because not everybody's the same.
Every person who is going through this kind of experience is in their own particular state at that moment. You may be able to speak to them about the scriptures, and they are quick to respond, and they're living in the hope, and they can find comfort.
And there's others who are just overwhelmed by the condition of the obedient. And the Lord, instead of reproving her or trying to enlighten her in this moment, instead he enters into her sorrow. Now, I want also to suggest, and I know I'm being a little bit speculative here, because in a sense, reading between the lines, that if I am correct in seeing that her state was one of hopelessness, she's not thinking either of immediate resurrection, nor is she even at this moment contemplating the long-distance future of the possibility of him being raised from the dead.
The Lord is not only sympathetically entering into her present state, but I believe in the Lord's response when it says he groaned in the spirit and was troubled, that he is also confronting this tremendous reality of the bondage of death that is hanging over the whole human race.
The word groan here is a different word than we find in Romans 8. I'm not sure how much difference is intended by the different term. I was a little bit surprised in learning that the word that is used here is a very strong word that is usually associated with anger, of someone who is deeply agitated and is usually connected with sternly rebuking someone or being indignant.
Now, if that sense is contained in this word here, in this context, who is he angry with? Well, one commentator who points this out suggests that he's angry at Mary and the others for grieving like those with no hope.
Now, I think he has part of the answer, but I don't believe that the Lord was angry with her. I think the answer is found in Hebrews 2 and 1 John 3, where it says that as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he himself likewise also took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil.
And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. And in 1 John 3, it says the Son of God was manifested that he might undo, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
As the Lord Jesus looked upon this dear woman weeping and the others weeping with her in the presence of death, it brought so forcibly to him the very reason for his coming into the world. He was going to confront this very issue.
He himself was going to enter into death in order to overcome its power, to nullify the power of the evil one, to keep us in bondage, to keep us from God's glory and God's blessing. As he thought about the damage in God's creation that the enemy had brought, and even though Mary, if I can say this, was mistaken in her emotional state about her brother, you know and I know that every day there are people perishing who dying and in their death are dying utterly despite the work of Christ.
And it stirred him. He groaned in his spirit and he was troubled. One translation puts it this way, he was deeply agitated and shook with emotion. There's no apathy here. There's no apathetic acceptance of the situation.
He has come to deliver and to rescue. And he says, where have you laid him? And they say unto him, Lord, come and see. You know, I link Romans chapter 8 with this as well. As I mentioned, although the word itself is different for groaning, yet in Romans chapter 8 we have this paradox of the groaning creation in the bondage of corruption.
And we ourselves, though we have the firstfruits of the spirit, we have the foretaste of the life to come. We also groan within ourselves. And there's two aspects to this idea of groaning. I don't know if you've ever been at a bedside when someone is dying and they're groaning.
It can be kind of unnerving, especially to be so helpless. Even the morphine isn't enough to change it. There is something within that person, there's a groaning. When my father passed away two years ago, for the last 24 hours, there was this groaning.
It was hard to listen to. If we could have, we would have alleviated the suffering. But you stand helplessly and watch someone suffer. But Romans chapter 8 teaches us that not only is there the groaning of entering death, but paradoxically it is also a groaning of childbirth, a new creation.
And we groan not only because of the present condition we are in, but because of the anticipation of what we are going to be. And in Romans 8 we have the Holy Spirit who groans within us. He is the one who is going to liberate us in his marvelous power.
And so we have the divine presence, the divine power here with this family, groaning, weeping with them, and then he moves to deliver. And just in noticing what the surrounding group of people say, they correctly perceive his love.
They say, behold how he loved him. And that drew out an admiration and appreciation in their hearts. He loves this man. But then they said, but couldn't he? Couldn't this man who gave sight to the blind, couldn't he have caused that even this man should not have died?
So here again you have this dilemma, this confusion to pierce through, to understand both his love and his goodness and his ability. And that triggers again in verse 38, Jesus therefore again groaning in himself.
You see, the Lord Jesus above all has come to reveal the heart of God and the glory of God. And he longed so much to bring all the blessing of God to us. And I'm sure it must have been very difficult for him to wait for Lazarus to die.
Now, my time is gone. But as you think about the Lord's standing in the presence of death, outside of a grave, he speaks to the Father in the audience of the people. He is conveying for their benefit his dependence upon the invisible God and of that unique relationship which he shares with the Father in heaven.
This is what he has come to prove. This is what he has come to manifest, that he is from God, that he is the Son of God. And then as he speaks, he cries out with a loud voice. There can be no faking this miracle.
He's going to talk to a man who has passed into death. And he's going to do it with a loud voice in front of everyone. This is it. This is either going to prove who he is or it's going to demonstrate that everything he's been saying is false.
This is the climactic sign of the Son of God. And as he speaks, he that was dead came forth. Just a sample, just the smallest sample of the majesty, the glory, and the goodness of God that is waiting to be poured out upon a humanity.
Let's not lose our confidence in him. Let us trust him. And hasten his coming.