Three Siblings Who Loved Jesus
May 2nd 2009 05:49
“All right, Sis,” chimed the cheerful sister. She was three years younger than Martha, which entitled Martha to ownership of the humble house after their father had died. I am well able to work and sing at the same time, though.” She picked up a cloth for dusting the sand and dust from some shelves in the house as she more quietly went over the words in Psalm 75. Sometimes, as she was doing now, she changed some words in the Psalms to make it more personal. “Unto thee do I give thanks,” she began.
Martha, a slight scowl on her face, reprimanded her sister. “Martha, you should not desecrate the Scriptures by changing the words.”
“I’m not desecrating the Psalm. I’m making it my own testimony by saying ‘I’ instead of ‘we’”, Mary responded.
Shaking her head in mild disgust, Martha seemed intent on having a neat and clean abode in which to receive guests. While Mary did some dusting inside the house, Martha went to the flat-topped roof to put it in order.
Although Mary and Martha appeared to be in their late thirties, their brother, Lazarus, had the appearance of a physically weak man in his mid twenties. Lazarus was born sometime after the death of his father, whom he never got to see. Their mother died during the birth of Lazarus. The baby was a weakling from the beginning of his life and often had to choose begging on the street for enough income.
The family had never been wealthy. In fact, most of the neighboring families tended to look down on them. Their parents had managed to put together the house they now lived in. It was given to the oldest child, which was Martha, as soon as their father died a few months before Lazarus’ birth. Since the mother had experienced several problems with the pregnancy, hardly anyone had expected the baby to be born alive.
The house in Bethany, on the slopes of Mount Olivet, was the only home the three siblings had ever known. Being somewhat near to Jerusalem, they often had guests drop in. Thus, Martha wanted the house to always be as clean as conditions allowed. Martha was always telling Lazarus and Mary that the house reflected on all three of them, even though it was her house legally.
“You should always expect visitors to drop in,” Martha repeated again today. “Maybe even Jesus will come to see us again.”
“Not very probably,” Mary countered. “Nazareth is several days’ journey from here, you know.”
“But He travels all over our country,” Martha reprimanded. “He does not always warn us before He comes south to Jerusalem and our little town. His birthplace is not so far from Bethany. He may visit there again.”
“All right, Sis, I get the point,” said Mary with a smile. “We will work and sing and worship, all at the same time.”
“You talk like a ten-year old girl rather than the thirty year old maiden lady that you are,” Martha scolded.
That was when their younger brother came home.
Martha showed concern for Lazarus since he always seemed sickly. “Are you hungry, Lazarus?” she asked. “I have been stewing some mutton. It is probably tender by now. I’ll dish some up for you.”
“No need to, Martha,” said Lazarus as he pleasantly rubbed his stomach. “I already ate.”
Martha’s expression became motherly toward her brother. “I’ve told you to not buy food with the money you beg. Bring it home so we all three can enjoy meat and fruit instead of only you.”
“No, I didn’t buy anything. Here is the money I collected so far today,” said the young man offering a few coins to Martha.
“Then, tell me why you are not hungry, young man,” ordered Martha in her most motherly fashion.
Noticing the expression on her brother’s face, Mary guessed, “Jesus is here again, right?”
“You always seem to read my thoughts, Mary,” he answered.
“Is he in Bethany now?” Martha asked, looking around the house as if inspecting for any undone condition.
“He was here for a while, but He moved on,” Lazarus told them. “However, I suspect He will be back soon. I talked with Him and some disciples. They said He had recently provided food for more than 5000 people when he was up north.”
“That sounds like His nature,” Mary offered.
Lazarus continued, “There were not that many here today, but after a long talk to the crowd, He asked for fish and bread. Then, He prayed and began dividing the food. It seemed to become much more than He had started with.”
Martha guessed the truth. “So you ate with that crowd?”
A gleeful smile on his face and his patting of his stomach satisfied his sister’s curiosity.
As her siblings expected, Martha announced that they needed to work to be ready if Jesus should come to their house. “He seems to enjoy spending time with the three of us,” Martha said with a smile.
Soon, the three were visited by the guest. He came with a few of his disciples although most of them went elsewhere, leaving Jesus in the home of His three friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Mary had gone out to meet the group as Martha stayed busy at home.
Mary sat near Jesus while Martha worked on the mutton she had been stewing. A scolding look on her face showed that she had hoped that her sister would at least lend a hand. Finally, Martha suggested, “Jesus, don’t you think that my sister should help me with the dinner rather than make me do it alone?”
With little displeasure evident toward anyone in the house, Jesus replied, “Martha, you tend to be a careful person about many good things. However, your sister here has chosen something better.”
Martha accepted the Lord’s words and thought on them as she finished getting the meal on the table for the four of them.
Later, when Jesus had gone away, Mary tried to be helpful to her sister although she did not apologize for having given Jesus so much attention while He was with them.
A few weeks later, Jesus and His disciples were interrupted in their walking from one place to another. A messenger approached with news for Jesus. He told Jesus that one of His very dear friends from Bethany was quite sick. Although his followers wondered about it, Jesus spent two days in the same area before beginning his journey toward Bethany. At the time, many suspected that Jesus did not immediately go to Bethany because He had been threatened with a stoning if He came around.
As Jesus began walking toward Bethany, he told those who were with him that Lazarus was sleeping. When He suggested the word, they tended to feel that Lazarus would perhaps be better off since sleep would be good for him. Jesus felt the need to tell them that He meant to say that Lazarus had died.
“I am pleased that I was not there in time to keep him from dying,” Jesus told them. “This will be another opportunity for you all to believe in Me.”
One of the more negative of Jesus’ disciples named Thomas said, “I guess we will go and die with Him.”
As they approached Bethany, it was Martha who left the house to meet Jesus while Mary stayed in the house. Martha became bold enough to tell Jesus that if He had been there, Lazarus would still be alive.
“Still,” she said, “I feel sure that if You were to ask God for a miracle, God would give it.”
Bluntly, Jesus remarked, “Your brother will rise again.”
“Of course he will,” she agreed. “I’m not a Sadducee. In the resurrection, Lazarus will live again. That is many years into the future.”
“I am the resurrection, and I am the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even if he appears to be dead,” Jesus told Martha.
“I believe You, Lord,” she said. She asked someone to go tell Mary that Jesus was there, that He had arrived.
When Mary heard the news, she went to meet Martha and Jesus. Several mourners also followed her and witnessed the upcoming events. Mary bowed at the feet of Jesus when she saw Him and repeated the message of Martha, her sister, “If you had been here, Lazarus would not have died.”
Jesus seemed upset and asked where the tomb was. Jesus cried as He walked toward where His friend had been laid to rest. His tears could have been for Lazarus; they could have been for Mary and Martha; He could have been crying for the unbelieving people around the burial site. The Son of God cried.
People around remarked at the tears on the face of Jesus. “He must have loved Lazarus very much,” someone remarked.
A more skeptical person suggested that the healing power of Jesus, which they had seen several times, should have kept Lazarus alive.
A small argument broke out between Jesus and Martha when Jesus asked them to remove the stone which covered the opening of the tomb.
“He’s been dead for four days, Jesus,” objected Martha. “He will be smelling quite bad by now.”
“Did I not tell you to believe?” Jesus responded. “If you believe, you will see God’s glory in all of this.”
After some men finally got the stone moved out of the way, Jesus prayed to His Father in Heaven. He thanked God that God always hears His prayers. Then, in a loud voice, Jesus commanded, “Lazarus, come forth.”
And, it happened.
Lazarus came forth the best he could since he was wrapped in grave clothing. They removed those death rags and rejoiced in the resurrection of the frail young man who had lived longer than most people had expected him to live.
The skeptic who had complained that Jesus had not kept Lazarus from dying was among those who became believers.
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