If
We always miss the tone when we read. We have to fill it in whenever we read words on a page. It’s another reason we can’t read the Bible without the Spirit. What did Martha really say? We have the words but we don’t know. Was this an accusation? Where were you? Was it a flat statement of fact - like a statement of faith? I am fully convinced you were able to heal my brother if you’d have been here. Was it a cry of anguish? I’m undone because my brother is dead. Angry? Sorrowful? Maybe it was even full of hope and possibilities. This is fascinating because here we have someone Jesus loved and knew and who loved and knew him. This is no Pharisee or scribe coming to him with another test. This is someone who is as aware of Jesus’s true identity as anyone on earth. And she’s a doer. I’m almost sure the tone here must be a challenge at least. Possibly angry but also asking. Is this it? Are you going to let this be the end of the story?
Martha and Mary after her both level this accusation at Jesus. They know him. They love him. But they don’t know how well he knows them and loves them. A centurion has more raw faith in Jesus than these two sisters. His servant is sick, suffering, and about to die (Matthew 8 and Luke 7) and he sends for Jesus like the sisters. But he believes something they fail to grasp. He says Jesus doesn’t need to move a muscle to heal. Just say the word from right where you are and it will be done. Jesus says this faith is unlike any he’s seen in Israel and here is evidence of that statement. It’s actually always been this way. The pagans are more likely to throw their faith upon Jesus. Those how know God struggle with what God is (or is not) doing. The name Israel itself means “struggles with God.” Jesus is here now to blow up what Martha and Israel believe about God. To show them they think too small. To call them into pagan faith; cut loose from their too small expectations of who God is and what he can do.
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