Martha: I love my brother. My brother isn’t perfect, though. He picked on my sister and me when we were younger. He gave us a hard time, but in a way, I think he was preparing my sister and me for our adulthood. Life in Bethany is all right, but in reality, it’s not all that easy.
I’m sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself here. I should really introduce myself. My name is Martha. I live in the village of Bethany with my sister Mary and my brother Lazarus. I’m very close with my siblings. I love them so much I can’t even begin to tell you.
I love my brother and sister a lot. But something tragic happened to my brother, Lazarus. One day, he suddenly became ill. He was really, really sick. Mary and I cared for him as best we could, but he wasn’t getting better. All three of us were really scared. Our brother Lazarus, who picked on us in hopes we’d be strong adult women… our brother Lazarus, who protected us from the dangers of the world… our brother Lazarus, who loved us and cared for us… was dying. Because he was so, so sick, we didn’t know what to do. We tried all of the remedies we could think of, but nothing worked. We asked for elders to come see him and asked for their help. They couldn’t tell us what to do. We even sent word to my brother’s friend, Jesus; the message we sent was “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” We thought Jesus would know what to do; he’s been traveling throughout the land teaching, preaching, and healing. Surely, if our brother’s friend is healing strangers, he can come and heal our brother, or at least tell us what to do to care for him!
Mary: Well, my sister Martha and I got word back that our brother’s friend said that our brother’s not going to die. We heard he told his disciples, “This illness does not lead to death.” I believed my brother’s friend. I thought Lazarus was going to get better and be healthy again. I thought our brother would get better because his “friend,” Jesus, sure took his sweet time getting here. He didn’t come right away. My sister and I heard he was staying two days longer wherever he was. So my sister, brother, and I figured we didn’t have anything to worry about.
And then. my. brother. died. He died. He was so sick, and my sister and I thought he was going to get better. AND HE DIED. I was so angry, so upset. Jesus, who claimed to be my brother’s friend, who can heal a bunch of other people, let my brother die. How could he let this happen? This friend said my brother’s illness “is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” What? God’s glory? What does that mean when my brother is dead and my sister and I are preparing his body for burial in a tomb?
Martha: I’ll admit I was sad when Lazarus died. I didn’t feel the fury or anger my sister felt, but I was devastated with my brother being gone. I knew Jesus loved my brother, but I was comforted with knowing that Lazarus would rise again on the last day, but I didn’t know when the last day would be. I continued to love and miss my brother immediately following his death. I knew Lazarus would rise… someday. Just not soon. Mary and I cared for my brother when we prepared his body for burial. We carefully bound my brother in fabric strips. We needed help, though, carrying him to and placing him in the tomb. That was a difficult day. He was laying in the tomb, covered entirely by strips of fabric. His body was so still. And inside the tomb was so quiet, so dark, so still. I was so sad leaving Lazarus there, my brother who was full of life, was lying dead on a slab of rock. We found some men in Bethany to roll a large stone in front of the cave. Mary and I cried and cried when the stone was rolled, closing off the cave. We wept for our brother, the life he could have had if he got better. But Mary and I had to realize that once the stone was rolled over the front of the cave, we would never get Lazarus back. Our brother was gone to us until the last day, when he and all of us would rise in the resurrection of that last day.
Mary: But Jesus could have come to heal Lazarus. I kept thinking, “This didn’t have to happen.” I didn’t understand what Jesus meant by my brother’s illness being for the glory of God. I just knew that I was devastated when Lazarus died, and I was really upset with Jesus.
We heard that Jesus said that Lazarus fell asleep. FELL ASLEEP? Are you kidding me? I was there when Lazarus took his last breath! Taking your last breath and dying is not like falling asleep! Yeah, I know Jesus has been traveling around preaching, teaching, and healing, but wow, this was the biggest misdiagnosis ever! And he wasn’t even there to look at Lazarus to see what was wrong with him! I wanted Jesus to come as soon as he could to help my brother, but no, Jesus said that Lazarus was asleep and that this was for God’s glory. I didn’t see it.
Martha: I know that Mary was really affected with Lazarus’s death and Jesus not showing up in time. Mary and I were mourning my brother’s loss. And then I heard that Jesus was coming to Bethany. When he was at the edge of the village, I left my home. I ran to meet him. I wanted Mary to come with me, but she said she couldn’t. She was still upset that Jesus had done nothing for Lazarus. Mary did not want to see Jesus because she said it would hurt her too much. But I had to see Jesus. I had to talk with him. I was still mourning my brother’s death, but I had to meet my brother’s dear friend as soon as I could.
I met Jesus at the edge of the village. I was exhausted, because I ran straight from my house. I was out of breath, but I had to tell Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Yes I was upset with Lazarus dying. But I told Jesus, “But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”
Jesus told me that Lazarus would rise again. Yes, I knew that Lazarus would rise again, on the last day. Lazarus would come back at the end time. But Lazarus was dead; resurrection would happen much, much later.
Jesus then said something amazing, as Jesus usually does. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” He said that all who believe in him and die will live, and everyone who lives and believes in him will never die. Will never die. Will never die. Mary had to hear this. Mary, who was so devastated when Lazarus died, needed to hear that all who believe in Jesus will live even if they die. Mary needed to hear this from Jesus. I ran back to the house to find Mary. I found her sitting on the floor, weeping. People were surrounding her, trying to comfort her. I went up to her and told her that Teacher was in the village. Jesus was there, and he wanted to speak with her. Mary was resistant.
Mary: You bet I was resistant. Jesus, who took his sweet time getting here, well after Lazarus died. Jesus, this preacher, teacher, and healer couldn’t come heal his own friend Lazarus. I wanted Jesus to see my tears. I got up off the floor and didn’t bother wiping off my face. I got up and ran away from the house, away from those trying to comfort me. I wasn’t at a place where I could be consoled. I cried for days straight. I couldn’t stop crying. I missed my brother so much, I felt like part of my soul had been ripped away, taken away from me, something I would never get back. So I ran. Maybe to run away from my pain. Maybe to tell Jesus what I thought.
When I saw Jesus, I stopped. Here was my brother’s friend who arrived too late. Too late to save my dear brother. I was exhausted when I saw Jesus. I was exhausted from running. I was exhausted from my grief. I was exhausted from my anger. I was so exhausted, I went up to him, knelt in front of him. I was at a loss for words. I had so much to tell Jesus, how he was wrong for not coming sooner. How he could have done something if he got here in time. How Lazarus could still be alive and with us, if Jesus got here when we sent that message. But the only thing that could come out of my mouth was, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” I could hear the words echo in my ears, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” My brother would not have died. And as I knelt at Jesus’s feet, I wept. I wept for Lazarus, and all of the incredible things his life could have been if Jesus got here in time. I wept for my sister and me, because I didn’t know what we were going to do without Lazarus. I wept because I was selfish, I wanted Jesus to heal my brother. Instead, I thought Jesus let my brother die.
Jesus was silent as I wept before him. Everyone around us cried. He looked disturbed. Maybe he was feeling grief for Lazarus’s death. Jesus then asked where we lard Lazarus. I was so emotional, crying and mourning, that I could not answer Jesus. The Jews who were with us, weeping with us took Jesus to the tomb. I got up off the ground to follow.
We all stopped in front of the cave where we left Lazarus. Jesus, the Jews with us, Martha, and me. We all stood and stared at that great rock which covered the entrance to the cave. It was so silent. I wanted to place my hand on the rock that covered the entrance to the cave to remember my brother, but I couldn’t. I just stared at the giant rock that separated me from my brother.
Then Jesus did something amazing. He wept. He began to cry. The Jews around Jesus noticed this. I heard someone say, “See how he loved him.” See how he loved him? If Jesus loved my brother, Jesus would have been here earlier. Jesus would have healed Lazarus. Someone else in the crowd said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man kept this man from dying?”
Jesus then went to the large stone covering the entrance of the cave. Jesus leaned up against the stone. Maybe he was trying to remember Lazarus, connect to Lazarus the way that I wanted to? But then Jesus asked for the stone to be rolled away. What??? Martha was really shocked, she told Jesus that Lazarus has been dead in the tomb for days, once the stone was moved, we would be overwhelmed with the smell of death. But then Jesus looked at Martha and said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
Glory of God? I wondered to myself, what does Jesus mean by this? It was because of the glory of God he said my brother was ill, then asleep. I wondered if Jesus knew what he was talking about… Some of the men of the village rolled the stone away. Jesus looked to the sky, spoke to his Father, and Jesus wanted us to believe His Father sent him to us. All fell silent. Suddenly, Jesus cried, “LAZARUS, COME OUT!” I didn’t understand what was going on. I had been mourning for days. I was consumed with grief and anger. I was devastated that Lazarus was gone. But Jesus cried, “LAZARUS, COME OUT!”
Lazarus was leaning up against the wall of the cave. The cloths that Martha and I used to bind him were not letting him walk out to us. I stood in shock. I mourned Lazarus, I was devastated by his death, but before me, coming out of the cave, was my brother, alive and breathing. I was in shock, I couldn’t think to move to unbind Lazarus. Jesus then asked for others to unbind Lazarus to set him free.
Set him free. Lazarus was set free. Not just from the strips of fabric that bound him, but Lazarus was freed from death. Jesus did come to heal Lazarus. It didn’t happen the way I wanted it to, I didn’t want Lazarus to die, but I believe. I believe in Jesus, who said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” I believe that from this whole experience, we are freed from death, but not on our own time, and not on our own terms. I know that now. we are freed from death by a loving God, but we are freed from death on God’s time and on God’s terms. My brother did rise again. I saw what Jesus did, and I believe.
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