Conversations in John: Martha
July 28, 2024 Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church
Psalm 121 John 11:17-27
“Conversations in John: Martha”
Melissa K. Smith
He is Risen! He is risen indeed.
We say this every Easter and usually even when it is said at an unexpected time, brothers and sisters in Christ cannot help but respond and say, “He is risen indeed.” The crux of our faith rests on this very fact – on the truth of the resurrection. For our Lord and Savior was crucified, he died, and he was buried. But death could not hold him. On the third day he rose from the grave – he defeated death. He defeated sin.
Jesus is the resurrection – do you believe this?
Over the past few weeks, we have been looking at Jesus’s conversations in the book of John. Throughout his conversations with Nicodemus, Pilate, the woman at the well, and as we will see today, Martha, there is something in common: misunderstanding about who Jesus is and what that means for them and us. Today’s misunderstanding is centered around the resurrection and Jesus’s question to Martha is the same for each of us – Do you believe this?
Martha’s conversation with Jesus takes place just after Lazarus has died but before he is raised from the dead.
Have you ever been late before? What were the consequences? I can’t stand the idea of being late. For me, being on time is late and being early is on time. But I have been late before – late to a visit, late to a meeting, late to an appointment. But… what if you being late meant someone’s life was on the line?
Jesus was late, and the consequence was Lazarus dying.
For four days Lazarus laid in the tomb. He should not be dead. Lazarus and his family were friends with Jesus, and they knew that Jesus could heal people. They had seen Jesus heal the sick, mend the broken, and restore life to those who were on the brink of death. Lazarus’ family wrote to Jesus as he was deathly ill but Jesus received this letter and turned to his disciples saying, “He’s not at risk of dying. He is just going to sleep.” And yet, Lazarus died. By the time Jesus came to Bethany, four days had passed. Four days was one day too long in the pharisaic Jewish understanding at the time of what was possible. Pharisaic teaching at the time believed that a person’s soul remained near the body in the days immediately following death.
The soul did not move on until the body began to decompose – which could take up to three days. Within those first three days of death, life can still be hoped for. But in Lazarus’s case, four days have gone by. Now, not only had Lazarus’s soul departed, according to this belief, but his body was decomposing. Martha’s brother was truly dead. Yes, Jesus made it to Bethany, but by arriving after the body has already begun to break down, there is a finality in Lazarus’s death. It is expected that all Jesus can do is join Lazarus’s sisters as they mourn.
This is the context of our passage – context that helps us understand that Lazarus’s death felt as final to Martha and Mary as the death of a loved one feels to us today. For those of you who have lost a loved one – perhaps a sibling, a parent, a child, a friend – you know what a natural reaction to severe loss is: shock. Shock can look different from person to person, but it can be described as feeling numb, like you are in a fog, or even disbelief and denial. Shock is a natural response to the unthinkable. After the loss of their brother, it is safe to assume that Mary and Martha are in shock.
Jesus comes to Bethany in the midst of this overwhelming sense of grief. As we read in scripture, upon Jesus’s arrival, Mary stays in the house, but Martha goes out to meet Jesus. Martha says to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus, a close family friend, has finally arrived. Martha could let down her guard and truly be herself with a dear friend. In a sense, Martha is saying, “Jesus, my brother is dead – and it’s frustrating that you weren’t here because I believe, I know, that you are the only one who could have stood between Lazarus and death.” She continues to say, “Even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”
Even now, even on the day where hope for life is gone, Martha believes that God is all-powerful. In her shock and overwhelming grief, Martha has faith. Martha asked for Jesus to come while Lazarus was alive in the hopes that he would stand between her brother and death. And even though Jesus did not arrive before Lazarus died, Martha’s faith in God never wavered. Notice too that she does not request for Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead. She believes that God will give whatever is asked but she did not ask for life because it was out of the realm of possibility! She is reasserting her faith that Jesus is the Son of God – while understanding that death has claimed her brother’s life.
After Martha expresses the depth of her faith, Jesus says, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha responds, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Both Jesus and Martha are speaking about resurrection, but they are not discussing the same thing. Martha is describing the resurrection of the last day – a belief strongly held and taught by the Pharisees. The resurrection she is talking about is real and true. She believes…but does not see how her belief affects her life in this moment.
How are we like Martha? …knowing the scripture but not allowing Jesus to take it a step further with faith and displays of his will in our lives? How often do we believe that God can deliver the Israelites from Egypt but our situation is untouchable? Or that God cares for the birds of the field but could not bother to care for what we are navigating?
Jesus pivots from Martha’s “almost-there” answer about resurrection to beautifully proclaim, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Jesus redefined the belief of “resurrection” according to who he is and what he is about to do that will change the course of human history. He says that those who have died will live if they believe in Jesus. This is fascinating to see after Martha and Mary have just lost their brother and Lazarus has been dead one day too long to hope for life to be restored. But yet, those who die, live? How can that be? Jesus is saying that the only path to life is by the very one who is life: Jesus.
When we read this passage today, we know what Jesus means. As Christians on this side of the cross – living in a world where Jesus died on the cross and defeated sin and death through his resurrection – we can believe that Jesus is who he says he is, that he is the resurrection and the life. We benefit from knowing the whole story. But Martha does not – she is on the other side of the cross, the side where Jesus’s definition of resurrection makes no sense. She is on the side where believing that ‘Jesus is life’ is hard because there is no ‘proof’. Jesus is promising life to a woman who is engulfed in death and sorrow. And instead of explaining what he can possibly mean by offering himself to be the new definition of resurrection and life he turns to Martha and asks, “Do you believe this?”
Martha’s response is her testimony of faith. She says, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” Jesus has just revealed himself to Martha in as clear a way as he can before the cross. And her answer is articulated by a Johannine scholar, as being “the most complete Christological confession in the entire gospel.”
The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) also share a similar testimony from a follower of Christ. This powerful testimony comes from Peter. Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do the people say that I am?” and ultimately he turns to them and asks, “Who do you say that I am?” it is Peter who boldly proclaims, “You are the Messiah.”
This testimony is not present in the Gospel of John. The person bestowed with such a testimony and proclamation about the identity of Jesus is Martha. Martha does not answer the question, “Who do you say that I am?” But rather answers the question, “Do you believe?”
As I draw out this distinction, that Martha’s testimony is a confession of faith and identification of who Jesus Christ is, I want to highlight Martha’s contribution to how we as believers in Christ can turn towards God. Martha is one example of many women who have served as disciples of Christ. When we call ourselves followers of Christ, not only are we walking in the footsteps of the twelve disciples – we are also walking along a path made by our Church foremothers who testified and bore witness to Jesus’s identity. Women have always been a critical part of Jesus’s ministry. In today’s passage we see a woman recognizing exactly who Christ is in the midst of anguish and grief.
As Martha is processing her grief for her brother, she is able to rightly and profoundly name that Jesus is who he says he is – he is the Messiah, the anointed one, the Christ. He is the Son of God, a title reserved for kings and a title that radically changes how we perceive God as being triune – in other words, the notion that Jesus is the Son of God gives us a window to see how Jesus is God, and Martha names that Jesus is the one who came into the world. This last proclamation affirms what Martin Luther is considered to have called “the mini-gospel” – John 3:16 which reads, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
Jesus is the very one who came into this world and he not only promises life but is life.
Martha’s faith is even more exceptional when we recognize that she answered Jesus’s question prior to Lazarus’s resurrection. She does not have any “proof” that Jesus is who he says he is, other than the other miracles he has performed. She has not witnessed him defeat death. And she is answering this question in the midst of grief, trauma, and sorrow – a difficult time no matter what. Martha says “yes, Lord” as the weight of mortality lies heavy on her heart. Martha gets it.
One feature of the Gospel of John is that it has a thesis-statement, or a purpose statement. John 20:31 explains why the gospel was written. It says, “But these [signs and miracles] are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” Martha has rightly put her finger on the purpose of the gospel, and the purpose of God’s very incarnation before she witnessed the miracle of resurrection.
Jesus Christ is the resurrection – do you believe this?
Jesus Christ is the life – do you believe this?
He is Risen! He is risen indeed.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church
Psalm 121 John 11:17-27
“Conversations in John: Martha”
Melissa K. Smith
He is Risen! He is risen indeed.
We say this every Easter and usually even when it is said at an unexpected time, brothers and sisters in Christ cannot help but respond and say, “He is risen indeed.” The crux of our faith rests on this very fact – on the truth of the resurrection. For our Lord and Savior was crucified, he died, and he was buried. But death could not hold him. On the third day he rose from the grave – he defeated death. He defeated sin.
Jesus is the resurrection – do you believe this?
Over the past few weeks, we have been looking at Jesus’s conversations in the book of John. Throughout his conversations with Nicodemus, Pilate, the woman at the well, and as we will see today, Martha, there is something in common: misunderstanding about who Jesus is and what that means for them and us. Today’s misunderstanding is centered around the resurrection and Jesus’s question to Martha is the same for each of us – Do you believe this?
Martha’s conversation with Jesus takes place just after Lazarus has died but before he is raised from the dead.
Have you ever been late before? What were the consequences? I can’t stand the idea of being late. For me, being on time is late and being early is on time. But I have been late before – late to a visit, late to a meeting, late to an appointment. But… what if you being late meant someone’s life was on the line?
Jesus was late, and the consequence was Lazarus dying.
For four days Lazarus laid in the tomb. He should not be dead. Lazarus and his family were friends with Jesus, and they knew that Jesus could heal people. They had seen Jesus heal the sick, mend the broken, and restore life to those who were on the brink of death. Lazarus’ family wrote to Jesus as he was deathly ill but Jesus received this letter and turned to his disciples saying, “He’s not at risk of dying. He is just going to sleep.” And yet, Lazarus died. By the time Jesus came to Bethany, four days had passed. Four days was one day too long in the pharisaic Jewish understanding at the time of what was possible. Pharisaic teaching at the time believed that a person’s soul remained near the body in the days immediately following death.
The soul did not move on until the body began to decompose – which could take up to three days. Within those first three days of death, life can still be hoped for. But in Lazarus’s case, four days have gone by. Now, not only had Lazarus’s soul departed, according to this belief, but his body was decomposing. Martha’s brother was truly dead. Yes, Jesus made it to Bethany, but by arriving after the body has already begun to break down, there is a finality in Lazarus’s death. It is expected that all Jesus can do is join Lazarus’s sisters as they mourn.
This is the context of our passage – context that helps us understand that Lazarus’s death felt as final to Martha and Mary as the death of a loved one feels to us today. For those of you who have lost a loved one – perhaps a sibling, a parent, a child, a friend – you know what a natural reaction to severe loss is: shock. Shock can look different from person to person, but it can be described as feeling numb, like you are in a fog, or even disbelief and denial. Shock is a natural response to the unthinkable. After the loss of their brother, it is safe to assume that Mary and Martha are in shock.
Jesus comes to Bethany in the midst of this overwhelming sense of grief. As we read in scripture, upon Jesus’s arrival, Mary stays in the house, but Martha goes out to meet Jesus. Martha says to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus, a close family friend, has finally arrived. Martha could let down her guard and truly be herself with a dear friend. In a sense, Martha is saying, “Jesus, my brother is dead – and it’s frustrating that you weren’t here because I believe, I know, that you are the only one who could have stood between Lazarus and death.” She continues to say, “Even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”
Even now, even on the day where hope for life is gone, Martha believes that God is all-powerful. In her shock and overwhelming grief, Martha has faith. Martha asked for Jesus to come while Lazarus was alive in the hopes that he would stand between her brother and death. And even though Jesus did not arrive before Lazarus died, Martha’s faith in God never wavered. Notice too that she does not request for Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead. She believes that God will give whatever is asked but she did not ask for life because it was out of the realm of possibility! She is reasserting her faith that Jesus is the Son of God – while understanding that death has claimed her brother’s life.
After Martha expresses the depth of her faith, Jesus says, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha responds, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Both Jesus and Martha are speaking about resurrection, but they are not discussing the same thing. Martha is describing the resurrection of the last day – a belief strongly held and taught by the Pharisees. The resurrection she is talking about is real and true. She believes…but does not see how her belief affects her life in this moment.
How are we like Martha? …knowing the scripture but not allowing Jesus to take it a step further with faith and displays of his will in our lives? How often do we believe that God can deliver the Israelites from Egypt but our situation is untouchable? Or that God cares for the birds of the field but could not bother to care for what we are navigating?
Jesus pivots from Martha’s “almost-there” answer about resurrection to beautifully proclaim, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Jesus redefined the belief of “resurrection” according to who he is and what he is about to do that will change the course of human history. He says that those who have died will live if they believe in Jesus. This is fascinating to see after Martha and Mary have just lost their brother and Lazarus has been dead one day too long to hope for life to be restored. But yet, those who die, live? How can that be? Jesus is saying that the only path to life is by the very one who is life: Jesus.
When we read this passage today, we know what Jesus means. As Christians on this side of the cross – living in a world where Jesus died on the cross and defeated sin and death through his resurrection – we can believe that Jesus is who he says he is, that he is the resurrection and the life. We benefit from knowing the whole story. But Martha does not – she is on the other side of the cross, the side where Jesus’s definition of resurrection makes no sense. She is on the side where believing that ‘Jesus is life’ is hard because there is no ‘proof’. Jesus is promising life to a woman who is engulfed in death and sorrow. And instead of explaining what he can possibly mean by offering himself to be the new definition of resurrection and life he turns to Martha and asks, “Do you believe this?”
Martha’s response is her testimony of faith. She says, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” Jesus has just revealed himself to Martha in as clear a way as he can before the cross. And her answer is articulated by a Johannine scholar, as being “the most complete Christological confession in the entire gospel.”
The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) also share a similar testimony from a follower of Christ. This powerful testimony comes from Peter. Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do the people say that I am?” and ultimately he turns to them and asks, “Who do you say that I am?” it is Peter who boldly proclaims, “You are the Messiah.”
This testimony is not present in the Gospel of John. The person bestowed with such a testimony and proclamation about the identity of Jesus is Martha. Martha does not answer the question, “Who do you say that I am?” But rather answers the question, “Do you believe?”
As I draw out this distinction, that Martha’s testimony is a confession of faith and identification of who Jesus Christ is, I want to highlight Martha’s contribution to how we as believers in Christ can turn towards God. Martha is one example of many women who have served as disciples of Christ. When we call ourselves followers of Christ, not only are we walking in the footsteps of the twelve disciples – we are also walking along a path made by our Church foremothers who testified and bore witness to Jesus’s identity. Women have always been a critical part of Jesus’s ministry. In today’s passage we see a woman recognizing exactly who Christ is in the midst of anguish and grief.
As Martha is processing her grief for her brother, she is able to rightly and profoundly name that Jesus is who he says he is – he is the Messiah, the anointed one, the Christ. He is the Son of God, a title reserved for kings and a title that radically changes how we perceive God as being triune – in other words, the notion that Jesus is the Son of God gives us a window to see how Jesus is God, and Martha names that Jesus is the one who came into the world. This last proclamation affirms what Martin Luther is considered to have called “the mini-gospel” – John 3:16 which reads, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
Jesus is the very one who came into this world and he not only promises life but is life.
Martha’s faith is even more exceptional when we recognize that she answered Jesus’s question prior to Lazarus’s resurrection. She does not have any “proof” that Jesus is who he says he is, other than the other miracles he has performed. She has not witnessed him defeat death. And she is answering this question in the midst of grief, trauma, and sorrow – a difficult time no matter what. Martha says “yes, Lord” as the weight of mortality lies heavy on her heart. Martha gets it.
One feature of the Gospel of John is that it has a thesis-statement, or a purpose statement. John 20:31 explains why the gospel was written. It says, “But these [signs and miracles] are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” Martha has rightly put her finger on the purpose of the gospel, and the purpose of God’s very incarnation before she witnessed the miracle of resurrection.
Jesus Christ is the resurrection – do you believe this?
Jesus Christ is the life – do you believe this?
He is Risen! He is risen indeed.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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