Martha’s Faith

Today's Reflections

 

 

Martha’s Faith

Jn 11:19-27

¹⁹Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. ²⁰When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. ²¹Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²[But] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” ²³Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” ²⁴Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, ²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. The tradition on Martha comes from two sources. In Luke, Martha serves Jesus and his group while on a visit and complains that her sister Mary is quite content with listening to Jesus instead of helping her. She receives a gentle rebuke from Jesus in return (cf Lk 10:38-42). True to character, in John, Martha serves at a dinner given to Jesus in thanksgiving for raising Lazarus back to life (cf Jn 12:2).

The Gospel narrates the event before this. Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, gets ill, and the sisters send word to Jesus. But Jesus purposely tarries and by the time he decides to go back to Judea, Lazarus is already dead. When Martha sees him, she blurts out, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died,” certainly not without a tinge of reproach.

But Jesus moves for a higher purpose. The death of Lazarus is only “sleep,” and does not end in “death,” that is, the “second death” which is the definitive destruction of a human being. Lazarus will then be brought back to life, which will hasten Jesus’ own death. But it is in dying that Jesus will be glorified and will give life to humanity.

“For your faithful,

Lord, life is changed, not ended,

and, when this earthly dwelling turns to dust,

an eternal dwelling is made ready for them

in heaven” (Preface I for the Dead).