John 11:21--27
"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. He who believes in me will
live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will
never die. Do you believe this?" "Yes Lord," she told Him, "I believe
that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."
NIV
In the name of the One in Whom there is life, amen.
When is the last time you gave thanks to God for letting something bad
happen in your life? We sure don't see it happening in the passage
above. Rather there is a bit of an accusation. The accusation isn't too
bad; it is connected with a hopeful statement of faith--"If you had been
here...but even now..."
Martha had learned her lessons well. She had been concerned about the
things of this world. She was busy entertaining when Mary was learning at
Jesus' feet. It seems obvious from the conversation that takes place
here, after the death of her brother, that she joined her sister at
Jesus' feet. Her confession of faith was very good. It reflects great
faith, but not quite a pure faith. Her faith needed to be clarified a
bit.
Martha confessed that God would give Jesus anything He asks even though
Lazarus was dead. Jesus sharpened her understanding by telling her that
He Himself is the resurrection and the life. There is a difference.
Our faith also needs sharpening, and Jesus is constantly honing it to a
razor sharp edge. Every difficulty we face in life, every problem that
drives us into the Scriptures again, strengthens our faith, makes it
sharper, more clear.
A natural question is why? All true faith in Christ is saving faith
whether weak or strong. Why does it need to be more clear, sharper, and
stronger? There are a number of reasons. Satan and his angels are at
work constantly to destroy our faith. The stronger our faith is, the
safer we are. We live in a world in which the weeds of unbelief threaten
to entangle us. A sharper faith can more easily cut through the unbelief
all around us. Our Old Adam clouds our vision of Christ, and we can
drift off course by placing hope in ourselves. A clearer faith is able
to pierce the fog of evil within ourselves and remain focused on Christ.
At the same time stronger faith burns more brightly to light the path of
salvation for others. A sharper faith cuts through subtle false
doctrine, and teaches others the fine points of the faith. Finally, our
greatest temptation may very well come at the hour of our death when it
is Satan's last chance to cause us to despair. We will need a faith that
can clearly see its Savior at the time when Satan is trying to block our
vision with past sins.
So Jesus places things in our lives and asks us, "Do you believe this?"
Then He takes the opportunity to adjust our understanding so it is a
little bit better each time. He does this out of love for us. He does
this so that even though we may die, we will live. May He open your eyes
to see His concern for you in the difficult times of your life. Amen.
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, our faith is not what it could be, thank You for the
difficulties that You place in our lives to refine our faith. Continue
to increase and sharpen our faith by Your Holy Spirit working in the
difficult times of our life. Help our faith to burn as a bright light in
this dark world, so that many are lead to you through us. Glory be to
Your holy name forever, amen.