by Dennis Gladden, By Green Pastures, ©2025
(Feb. 18, 2025) — There was more to Jesus than His dearest friends knew, but how could He tell them?
They might nod and whisper uh-huh when He said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” But Jesus didn’t seek assent; He wanted them to believe. Sincerely.
A stark utterance of such truth would stun them. Jesus needed another way for them to see Him in a new light and made a living parable of a common experience.
Jesus was good friends with a family from Bethany, a small town two miles east of Jerusalem. The two sisters, Martha and Mary, had hosted Jesus and even became a lesson themselves when He compared the hustle of Martha to the attentiveness of Mary.
“Martha, Martha,” Jesus said. “You are worried and troubled about many things. “One thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part.”1
The two sisters had a brother, Lazarus, who fell ill—sick enough that Martha had a legitimate worry. They sent word to Jesus, “Lord, he whom You love is sick.” 2
Any other time—and there were many—Jesus would have set out with the messengers or spoken the word of healing from where He was. Not this time.
Jesus stayed.
He said nothing.
He waited.
And Lazarus died.
Two days after learning of the illness, Jesus said to His disciples, “Let’s go. Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” 3
Even then, in those days of unsophisticated medicine, the disciples knew sleep helped recovery. Jesus had to clarify and told them, “Lazarus is dead.”
The living parable had begun. Lazarus was sleeping—Jesus would wake him up. Lazarus was dead—Jesus would renew his life.
The thing with parables drawn from life is they may be troublesome. The greater the truth, the harder to endure the teaching.
The lesson didn’t sit well with the two sisters. Each accosted Jesus separately.
“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died,” Martha spoke first when Jesus arrived. Mary said the same when she met Him at the grave.
Now the teaching began. It was more like a revelation.
“Your brother will rise again,” Jesus said. 4
Throughout this encounter, Martha responds with a statement of faith that would rival any Christian church today.
Read the rest here.