Theme of the Week: Who Is Jesus?
Bible Verse: Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. John 11:25-25
Scripture Reading: John 11:17-27
There are a few stories in the Gospels that make me scratch my head. Okay more than a few. From this side as a reader and knowing what will happen, I get it, theologically. But when I try to imagine what it must have been for the people involved in those stories, I have to just shake my head. John the Baptist is one of them. The man whose son was demon-possessed is another. Lazarus is a third.
Many of us know what it is like to be Mary and Martha. To know the one who can heal and give life to our brother (blood or otherwise), to know that He has healed so many others, to ask for Him to come attend to the one he loves. Waiting, hoping, wondering what is keeping Jesus. Why doesn’t He come?
And when he does come, it’s too late. There is no explanation as to why (of course we know from the previous verses that Jesus is up to something, but Mary and Martha had no idea) He delayed coming. When Jesus finally addresses the issue, He tells the grieving sister that He is the resurrection and the life.
I wonder if Martha understood what Jesus meant. That here, standing in front of her was the source of life, both spiritually and physically. She says that she believes that Jesus is the Messiah come into the world. She’d seen many incredible things Jesus had done. Perhaps she had heard the story of the raising of the widow’s son or of Jairus’s daughter.
We know what happened. Lazarus, called by the resurrection and the life, came out of the tomb.
Sometimes I forget that Jesus is the resurrection. I just want the life. Resurrection requires death. We have to go through the worst to be able to rely on a savior who is the resurrection. We have to lose those we love, perhaps ourselves to experience Jesus as the resurrection. We want what Mary and Martha wanted, for the Lord of life to come to our aid before we need to call on the Resurrection.
But sometimes Jesus is doing something we are not aware of. And we have to ask ourselves if we believe in him. We will probably not experience the same miracle the sisters did. We may find that we get more of the answer John the Baptist got—even if you don’t get your miracle, I’m still the Messiah. The question for us when we are faced with our losses and questions is what Jesus asked Martha, “Do you believe?”
Prayer: Jesus, life throws so many things at us that we want you to intervene in. It’s easy to convince ourselves that you should come to our rescue, that you should aid us and our loved ones in our moments of need. Help us to understand that sometimes you are doing something different. Help me to believe even when I don’t get what I want.
Reflection: What events in life have tested your faith? When have you deeply expected Jesus to show up and He didn’t? How did that impact your faith?
Copyright © 2023 Impactus | Promise Keepers Canada. All rights reserved.
About
