John 11:18-26,38-44

What do you believe? Not just what you think you believe or what you say you believe. What do you believe in your heart about Christ?

This story is one that hit me like a ton of bricks. I had been struggling in conversations with a friend who had decided that God wasn’t for her anymore. She had a lot to say about everything that was going on in the government and with the pandemic. Though, I had noticed her behavior coming up to this confrontation, it seemed like she wasn’t living as she believed it for a long time. It began with head knowledge and never seeped into her heart.

John 11:23-27

 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at 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, 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.

If you read these words at a glance, you would think that she agreed with Him. Look closely though. She did not agree with what He said He was, she agreed with what she thought He was.

This is our struggle. This is a real thing. WE put it in our heads what we think He is saying instead of reading the words and meditating and believing. We move forward with our heads in our Christian walk instead of it manifesting in our hearts and then when things do not work out the way we believe they should (our perception or expectation fails) we doubt God’s goodness.

John 11:38-39

Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

 

Jesus knows what He is going to do. He knows what He is capable of and though Martha is right there in the presence of the Lord her gaze is not on Him it is on the physical things of this world. Her words betray her thoughts. The physical death of her brother and even the smell are her focus. They are very real things yes but they are the things of this world, not the things of eternity and the miracles of God.

 

Though in verse 40 Jesus says to her Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

He gently reminds her that she has to believe to be able to see it. Not just in her head but in her heart. And though we continue to doubt and forget, our God is still good and still providing though we are not looking at it and watching for it. Do we believe it?

John 11:41-44 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with gravesclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

Jesus even says in His prayer to the Father – He knows His Father hears Him always but because of the people who are standing by He said it so that they would believe. Even with Martha, though she was caught up in the here and now, in today’s moments and drudgeries- He showed her a miracle still.

I don’t know if Martha ever saw the miracle through the circumstances of her “now’s.: She isn’t mentioned past this passage. I do know that my friend –‘my Martha’ – gained a new view and started looking for them.

 

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

 

O soul are you weary and troubled

No light in the darkness you see

There's light for a look at the Savior

And life more abundant and free

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in his wonderful face

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of his glory and grace

His word shall not fail you he promised

Believe him and all will be well

Then go to a world that is dying

His perfect salvation to tell

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in his wonderful face

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of his glory and grace

O soul are you weary and troubled

No light in the darkness you see

There's light for a look at the Savior

And life more abundant and free

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in his wonderful face

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of his glory and grace