John 11:17-22 (NIV)
On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
Jesus entered a very sad scene. Lazarus had been dead and buried for four days, and his family, surrounded by sympathizers from Jerusalem and the surrounding area, were still in the depths of their seven-day intense grieving period. The four days that had passed since Lazarus had died were very significant. Some rabbis taught that after three days in the cool grave, visible decay would begin to occur, and after that point the soul would depart the area, and resurrection was no longer possible.
So, when Jesus send a messenger ahead of Him to announce His arrival to Lazarus’ sisters, their first thought was simply that He had come too late. Mary was so consumed by grief that she wouldn’t even go to meet Jesus. But Martha, ever the practical one, got up at once and went to the edge of the village where Jesus had paused with His disciples.
Martha’s first words to Jesus were tinged with accusation: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” She knew beyond any doubt that Jesus could heal any disease; she had heard the testimony of many witnesses to that fact.
Her next words, however, were loaded with hope: “But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Martha knew the teachings of the rabbis that, on this fourth day, Lazarus was beyond all hope of a cure, or even of resurrection. But she held onto the hope that there was still something that Jesus could do in this situation, something that might restore what had been lost in this great tragedy.
Martha’s faith was far from complete. When Jesus later commanded that the stone be rolled away from the mouth of the tomb, she was the one who warned that there would be a bad odor due to the decay (verses 38-39). But her faith in Jesus reached far enough at this moment to spark a dim light in the inky blackness of the current events. And Jesus honored that faint light of faith and pulled off one of the greatest miracles in history.
Father, it is easy, when things are at their darkest, to simply give ourselves over to the grief, to turn away from seeking Your will in a situation, and just start to move through the process of dealing with the realities. And this goes far beyond just death. It includes things like loss of a job, receiving divorce papers, or a diagnosis of a terminal illness. But, Lord, we need to remember that You have no limitations; it’s not over until YOU say that it’s over. It is clearly not Your will to fix every problem we face, or to stop every tragedy in its tracks. But we need to not decide ourselves when, where, and how You will choose to move, or even IF you will choose to act. Help us, Lord, to keep our eyes and our hearts focused on You, no matter what we’re facing, until we hear positively from You what Your will is. And then, once we know, help us to move forward in faith. Amen.