A Meditation for Lent: Jesus, Thomas & Martha.

Scripture Reading: The Gospel According to St. John, 1:1-27 (NIV)

The Death of Lazarus

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair). So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”

Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Then Thomas said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.   But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Reflection:

I was 19 years old & had only been on campus for a few days when an elderly professor gave me this warning:

"Be careful. A Christian college is the easiest place to lose your faith."

I did not know what he meant but I nodded my head & smiled, pretending to understand. My journey of faith has been quite complicated over a period of about 40 years. I was raised by a clergy family and grew up in the church. I was always encouraged to read Bible stories & frequently attended the various churches that my friends belonged to. At the age of 16 I was "Born Again", as they say. Even though I was in high school, I made it a point to stand out & expressed my faith with enthusiasm.

But the truth is that belief never did come easy for me. When it was time to look at colleges, I convinced my parents to consider private Christian schools instead of state universities or community colleges. At the time, a Christian college just seemed like the safer bet.

Sure enough, I was soon confused by conflicting theologies and when I struggled with my own belief, I was stunned by the lack of empathy that was given to me by fellow students & so-called friends.

That professor was right. After a few semesters, like poor Lazarus, my faith was stone-cold dead.

So I can understand that the disciples are confused about what's going on here. There is a lot of conflicting information flying around. Is Lazarus sick? Is he dying? Is he going to get better? Is he dead already? Or is he just sleeping? And on top of all that, the idea of physical resurrection was a controversial topic. The Pharisees & Sadducees - united in their opposition to Jesus - strongly disagreed on this theological issue. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection. The Sadducees did not. [Dad joke & feel free to skip this part: "The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, so they were sad, you see?" ~ Stolen from Keith Drury, ca. 1996]

What IS clear is that Jesus is going to Bethany. His disciples immediately attempt an intervention: a few months ago they went to Jerusalem to celebrate Hanukkah & some very literal-minded people tried to stone Jesus for blasphemy (Lev. 24:16, John 10: 33). Because Bethany is less than two miles from Jerusalem those same people will surely find out if Jesus comes back, so the disciples know full well that Jesus is risking his life. And Jesus knows that raising a person from the dead will put him one step closer to Golgotha but he is going, no matter what. His friends continue to protest but Christ is firm: there is work to be done and he is going to do it.

Thomas is the only one who steps up and says, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” This is quite a difference from the story we usually hear about Thomas around Easter time (John 20: 24-29). Our pop-culture caricature of "Doubting Thomas" conveys the message that doubt is bad. It also leaves out the part about how loyal Thomas could really be. Was Thomas being fatalistic? Did he mean, "Jesus is going to die, so we might as well die too."... or did he mean, "They may try to kill our friend but they'll have to go through me first."? I like to think he meant the latter.

And then there is Martha, the sister of Lazarus. She is at home mourning her late brother but when she hears that Jesus is on his way, she runs out of the house to meet him. This is very interesting. Of the two sisters, Martha is the practical one & Mary is the free-spirit. It would be more characteristic for Martha to stay indoors, taking care of the friends & family who have come to call on the grieving sisters. It would be more characteristic for Mary to drop whatever she was doing & run to the comfort of her Lord. So Martha is not the task-master that the Gospel of Luke makes her out to be. She also has a spontaneous side. She's not always angry, she can also be quite loving. When she meets Jesus on the road, she makes 5 statements of belief: 

1. Jesus is the miracle-worker who could have healed Lazarus & prevented his death

2. Jesus should have come five days ago, when she sent a message asking for his help

3. God will give Jesus whatever he asks for

4. She believes in the teaching that a physical resurrection will happen some day in the future

5. She already believes that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God*. 

*Martha believes this even before she sees Jesus bring her brother back to life.

[tangent & feel free to skip this part: Compare Saint John's story to Mary & Martha's earlier appearance in The Gospel According to Saint Luke (Luke 10: 38-41). John describes Mary as being more somber. After Lazarus has been resurrected, it is Mary alone who understands the consequences of what Christ has done (John 11: 1- 11). The news spreads fast. It was bad enough when people tried to stone Jesus for blasphemy but now everyone who witnessed Lazarus come forth will proclaim that Jesus is the Messiah. Mary instinctively knows that Jesus has passed the point of no return. The Pharisees, Sadducees, & especially Romans will not allow him to continue. They don't understand his Gospel but they do understand oppression. They are afraid that Jesus will inspire a revolution & they know the majority of people are ready to fight. Mary has been saving all her money to buy a small jar of perfume, because she has known for a long time that Jesus will be executed & she wants to anoint his body in preparation for his burial.]

On Maundy Thursday Thomas is going to chicken out & abandon Jesus. And it will take 7 Days of Easter before Thomas believes that "The Lord has risen indeed. Alleluia!" Thomas is going to epic-fail & struggle but right now, on the way to Bethany, Thomas is Christ's faithful servant.

Martha is devastated by the loss of her brother. And she is very disappointed with Jesus's bad timing. Even when she confesses her faith, she can't help but be a little snarky about the fact that Jesus could have come much sooner, if he wanted. But right now, running out of the house, completely undignified, even through all her misery & anger, Martha still believes that Jesus is the Messiah, The Only Begotten Son of God, let him do as he sees fit.

And let's not forget: between rebuking his disciples & revealing the glory of God, even Christ Jesus wept over the death of his friend.

Doubt does not equal disbelief. Sorrow does not equal sin. Faith is both what we believe and what we do. Christ goes where the work needs done. Thomas follows. Martha runs to meet him.

What about us? What do we do? Twenty years ago, in a Christian college, I was ashamed of my doubt & would constantly beat myself up for it. Back then, I took some comfort (but not enough) in the words of Socrates: "The unexamined life is not worth living." So I questioned my faith in God. I'm happy to say that at some point, the questions & uncertainty became less scary. Our Creator is not impressed by unthinking minds. Our Creator will always welcome a willing soul.

Now I have learned to trust that Our Creator can handle all of our hesitations.

"...continue to work out your salvation with fear & trembling..." ~ Philippians 2: 12.

The universal church has survived for 2000 years because countless people like Saint Martha and Saint Thomas did not give up.

Prayer: 

Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! Prepare me to do good works to the glory of your name. Amen.

~ Originally submitted in condensed form & published in the "2019 Blairsville Area Community Lenten Devotional", by the Blairsville Area Ministerium (Blairsville, Pennsylvania).