Remembering Martha’s statement of faith we move on to visit in Mary in John 11:28-37.
28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”
Mary’s Turn
When Martha had finished talking with Jesus she went in and talked with Mary, privately telling her that “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”
Hearing this Mary didn’t stop and wonder, asking questions, instead, she rose quickly and went to find him. She needed to look for him since he hadn’t made it to the house yet. Those visiting saw her get up and thought she was going to the tomb to mourn for Lazarus so they got up to follow her. They wanted to be there to console her.
Watch what happens when Mary sees Jesus. She doesn’t rush him, instead she crumples at his feet. Can you see the pain she must have been in, her plaintive (this is MY read into it) “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Her heartache was real. She had lost a brother, and Jesus could have prevented it.
Her Pain Mattered
And you know what Jesus did? He didn’t ignore her pain. His heart broke for her… troubled in spirit and deeply moved. Her pain mattered.
So he asked the obvious, “Where have you laid him?”
They brought him to the tomb, and there Jesus wept.
I find it interesting, that even here, in this intimate moment there was division over Jesus and abilities. Some of the Jews seeing the love, others wondering why Jesus couldn’t have simply saved him. Always the division eh?
—- As I sit here pondering these words I’m struck again at how Jesus’ heart was moved at Mary’s pain. It reminds me of the book I just finished reading “Grace like Scarlett“. In this book I saw how Jesus walks with a person in their grief over miscarriage and child loss. This is so clearly shown in this passage isn’t it? Jesus walked with Mary to the tomb, he wept there with her, his heart broken by their pain. This is what Jesus does.
Leave a Reply