He Wept

John 11: 17-44

“Jesus wept.” 11:35 – from my sister-in-law, Amaris

Oh, Martha, Martha, Martha.  Here we see a second interaction with Jesus and the sisters Mary and Martha.  The first time they welcomed Him into their home, Martha busied herself making preparations and getting everything ready, while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus to listen to Him teach.  When Martha was exasperated because Mary wouldn’t help her, she asked Jesus to intervene and get Mary to help (sounding like a child claiming, “It’s not fair!”). Jesus let her know that Mary was the one receiving the blessing and He was not going to take that away from her.  

Now, we see Martha again. This time her brother, Lazarus, has died and been dead for 4 days before Jesus came to see them. She is the first one to see Him and immediately rebukes Him for not being there to save him. Can you believe that?! Martha rebukes Jesus! (That hits really close to home for me.)  Jesus is gentle with her because He knows she is in pain and promises that Lazarus will live again. “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will love, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She proclaims, “Yes,” but she immediately leaves Him to go get Mary.  

Mary! The one who knows what a gift Jesus is.  The one who jumps up and runs to Him when she finds out He has come.  She proclaims the same thing as Martha, “If you had been here, he wouldn’t have died,” but instead of Jesus needing to teach her, He cries with her.  She knew, with all her heart, that Jesus has the power to save. He saw into her heart and could see that she truly grieved and truly believed.  Jesus found out then and there what grief is.

It didn’t happen with Martha, she was still trying to fix things, trying to run the show, trying to take matters into her own hands and do what she thought needed to be done.  It happened with Mary, who knew the only answer was Him, who trusted Him completely, and knew she could weep at His feet and He would make everything ok.

I think when any woman reads this, she wants to be like Mary.  Yet, we turn into Martha in our everyday lives. But Jesus wept with Mary, not Martha.  The one who KNEW who He is and would learn from Him instead of trying to tell Him what to do.  When I get so caught up in my everyday and forget to rest in His arms, I don’t feel comforted. I don’t feel His presence surrounding me.  It is when I get still and cry out to Him and wait for Him to teach me that I feel comforted. I am trying to grow closer and closer to that being of stillness and listening daily.  There are so many distractions but none of those distractions are more important than spending time with Him.

Dear God,

Help me to remember to come to You first.  To listen when You are trying to reach out to me and to let things go that are getting in the way of my relationship with You.  I want to be like Mary. Please, God, help me to depend on You completely.

In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen