Francis Schaeffer helped me to see God’s empathy in Christ’s tears. Geography does not hamper the exercise of divine prerogative.Īnd, of course, there are the tears of Jesus. She knew if the Lord had been present her brother would not have died. She seems to apprehend the meaning of the catechism. He is worth more than the costliest perfume.
She knows where to fix her eyes in the storm. Perhaps we might describe it like this, there is form without power in her confession.Īnd then there was Mary. She knew the right answer and she even recognized that Jesus was the Son of God who was coming into the world. But it’s Martha that reminds me of a woman who might fit well into one of the mainline liberal congregations today! Jesus says, “Your brother will rise again” to which she responds, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Martha had been catechized.
Scripture provides a glimpse into this family that we all ought to cherish. For example, it’s in this story that Thomas deserves better than that moniker, “doubting.” Knowing that Jerusalem could end in death for Christ as well as them he said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Or how could we pass over the sisters. I’m not sure who said it but someone somewhere once said, “Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb by name lest all the dead arise!” And I can imagine George Whitfield in my mind’s eye summoning his congregation to draw nigh unto him with almost a whisper saying with increasing intensity, “Yes, Lazarus was in the tomb for four days but he doesn’t smell nearly as bad as you!” It must have been wonderful to sit under such godly expositors who could provide such rich and colorful applications with the power to cut to the quick and in an instant set our eye on Christ as the only hope.Īnd there are many things in the story that are rich. The raising of Lazarus from the dead in John 11 always elicits memories of what older preachers have said as they thundered through the text.
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