The next verse tells us that Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus. This time the word for love is agape. This kind of love is selfless, purposeful, and places value on the person loved. Agape love does not usually stem from emotional feelings, but rather from purposeful action. Jesus therefore had both kinds of love for this family.
The next verse is difficult to follow because it appears to be attached to the verse we just discussed. Verse 6 tells us that for this reason, because of His love for them, He stayed two more days where He was. From our point of view it seems as though love would have driven Him to them sooner rather than later. Jesus seems to explain this somewhat in verse 15 where He tells them that He was glad (happy and rejoicing) for their sakes that He had not been there. Why? So that they might believe. He was more interested in their growth in faith than in the temporary feelings involved with having lost their brother.
Later on when Jesus arrives, (verse 21) Martha says to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” What does this tell us about Martha and her faith? To me it says that she believed that Jesus would have cured her brother if Jesus had been there. It also tells me that she might not be so sure that Jesus could raise Him from the dead. Except, when we continue reading, we see that she says that “even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give You.”
She knew of Jesus’ power and His relationship with the Father and she knew that the Father would honor Jesus’ requests no matter what they were. When Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again.”, it’s almost as though she dared not believe that it was possible right now. She gave the “right” answer that he would rise again in the resurrection. But Jesus wanted her to see that He is the resurrection. He is life and has the power of life in himself. In fact Jesus said that in another passage that He had the power to lay down his life and the power to take it up again. Think about that for a minute. It is one thing to believe that Jesus has the power to raise someone else from the dead. It’s a miracle of an entirely different order to raise oneself from the dead. But that is who Jesus is and what He is capable of. He is the resurrection and the life.
The personal mission which God has given to my wife and me is to glorify God in His Church by ministering to others for their progress and joy in the faith. We will focus on ministry which teaches others so that they may teach others also. This blog provides one forum for helping to accomplish that mission.
