Martha comes to Jesus

Martha comes to Jesus

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. (John 11:5)

Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him. (John 11:20)

She (Martha) said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” (John 11:27)

John chapter 11 teaches us profound and powerful lessons about the ways of God. It does this within the context of a small family.

We often think of Martha as the less spiritual of two very different sisters. But this morning I want to concentrate on Martha’s experience with the Lord. The background of John 11 is family sickness and death. And, right at the beginning, we read that Jesus loved Martha. It is the most powerful thing to know, amid all the testing experiences of life, that the love of Christ is consistent. I cannot explain the suffering so many families have to face. We, as a family, cannot explain nor do we understand why my father died in a hit and run accident, why June’s beloved brother committed suicide, or why our daughter’s happy Christian marriage ended in divorce. But we have come to understand, in all the frailty of our faith, the reality of the love of Christ. Martha may have been weaker in faith than other believers. But she is placed first when Jesus’ love is recorded. The Lord always puts the weakest first.

When the Lord arrived in Bethany, Martha instinctively went to meet Him. In our need, there is no better place to be than in the presence of the Lord. He asks us to come to Him. In the

37 Old Testament, Esther feared to approach her husband, King Ahasuerus, uninvited. Her safety depended upon him stretching out his golden sceptre (Esther 5:2). We are to approach the throne of grace boldly. The Lord’s sceptre is never withdrawn.

The Lord used Martha’s meeting with Him to reveal to her and to us that He is the resurrection and the life. It is in coming to Him that we learn the deep things of Christ.

The Lord asked Martha if she believed. We like to recall Peter declaring to the Lord Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). We don’t often reflect on Martha’s response, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world” (John 11:27). Like Peter, her faith would still stumble, but I believe it was a joy to the Lord’s heart to hear her words and to lead her into a closer relationship with Himself. Our faith may be weak; our Saviour is not.