John 11:21-27 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. 23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. 24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

There’s three kinds of faith that has always been in the world. There is Martha Faith, Mary Faith, and Religious Faith. Everybody in this room has one of these types of faith.

Martha Faith Saves, But Is Weak

Those who have Martha Faith are saved by grace.

The Pharisees that followed and persecuted Jesus were not saved by Grace. They believed that they could be saved by their works, by keeping sacraments, performing blood sacrifices, and by serving the Law faithfully. They dressed in a certain way, and faithfully attended synagogue, keeping the sabbaths that the Law established. God said through the Prophet:

Isaiah 64:6 (ESV) We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

The Bible says that, even on our best days, that

Romans 3:23 (ESV) …. all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God …

and Romans 6:23 (ESV) … For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Salvation is a FREE GIFT OF GOD that is received by faith. We believe that Jesus is THE CHRIST. The word CHRIST – the Greek CHRISTOS – means “MESSIAH, DELIVERER, SAVIOR”. Jesus and Jesus alone is THE Christ, THE Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:16).

The knowledge that Jesus is THE CHRIST only comes to a person through God (Matthew 16:17).

The person who “seeks God with all their heart” (Jeremiah 29:13) will find God. The Pharisees did not seek God, for they thought that the works of the Law saved them, that they were on good terms with God because of their religious efforts. But they did not know Jesus.

Martha knew Jesus. Rather than persecute Jesus as the Pharisees did, Martha ran to Him when hurt. We read:

John 11:20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him …

Martha took her hurt and suffering to Jesus. She tells the Lord:

John 11:27 I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world

Martha believes that Jesus is THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD. She believes Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior, the One Who came to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). But Martha’s faith, though it has saved her, is still in a immature state. Though she is the elder sibling, Mary’s faith is much more mature than hers. Martha tells Jesus:

John 11:21 Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died

Martha thought that DISTANCE limited the power of Jesus. Yet Jesus is God. Jesus said, “I and the Father ARE ONE” (John 10:30). If the Father is everywhere, Jesus is consciously everywhere and all powerful. Jesus could have healed Lazarus from where He was camped, by just a word. Jesus is not just “my LORD”, but He is “my GOD”. We are told that we are to be …

Titus 2:13 (ESV) … waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

Jesus is not limited by distance, for He is God. He healed the Centurion’s servant (Matthew 8:13) from a distance. Jesus Christ is both Savior and Lord of All.

Martha also thought Jesus was limited by power. She said to our Lord:

John 11:22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.

There are people who think that Jesus is a little “g” god, but not GOD. Yet this is not what Jesus said, nor what the Father has said of Jesus. The Father said to Jesus in …

Hebrews 1:8 (ESV) … Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

The Father calls the Son GOD, and says that He has an ETERNAL THRONE. Jesus has the same power that both Father and Spirit have. “In HIM was LIFE, and that LIFE was the LIGHT of man” (John 1:4). Certainly Jesus never stepped outside of the will of God, but He did not need to “ASK OF GOD”. He is God.

Finally, Martha thought Jesus was limited by TIME. When Jesus told her, “Thy brother SHALL RISE AGAIN”, she responded,

John 11:24 … I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

There is a resurrection day coming where “the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). This is the Rapture of the Church, where every believer in Christ will receive a glorified body. But Jesus has the power to raise Lazarus NOW. Jesus tells Martha:

John 11:25-26 … I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?

With these words Jesus declares Himself Lord of both life and death. In “Him is life, life abundantly” (John 10:10).

As we look at these words, and see Martha’s faith, why is her faith less mature than Mary’s?

Mary Faith Listens To The Lord,
Waiting On Him

It is because Martha – though saved – often filled her days with important things, but not the MOST IMPORTANT thing. When Jesus visited this household, Martha ran about waiting on the Lord, while Mary sat at His feet and ABSORBED the Word of God (see Luke 10:41-42). Jesus told Martha, “Mary has chosen the GOOD PART that will not be taken away from her”. Mary gave preeminence to the Word of God in her life. She sat still and listened to Jesus. Martha knew Jesus, and was saved by Jesus. She ran to Jesus. But notice the difference in Mary.

John 11:20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.

John 11:28-29 And when {Martha} had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. 29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.

Martha ran to Jesus for comfort – but Mary waited to be called. Mary trusted that Jesus loved them, and that He had power over whatever might happen. Mary waited on the Lord, and LISTENED to His Word.

Luke 10:39 … Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.

Both Martha and Mary loved Jesus, I am certain. But Mary loved to sit at His feet, and listen to Him. Mary waited on Jesus. When she heard that Jesus called for her, then and only then did Mary(vs 29) “arise quickly, and came unto him”.

John 11:30-32 Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met Him. 31 The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. 32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto Him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

Now Mary says exactly the same thing that Martha says:

Martha in John 11:21 said:

Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

Mary in John 11:32:

Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

Martha is limiting Jesus, but Mary is grieving, questioning why her brother died. Though they are both saying the same thing outwardly, their body position shows that Mary is grieving, but surrendered to Jesus. She falls down at Jesus’ feet. He is Lord, and Mary is submitted to whatever He says – though she grieves.

I have often wondered why these next verses are here – but Mary’s faith explains it. We read:

John 11:33-35 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled. 34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. 35 Jesus wept.

Jesus did not weep when Martha approached Him, but when He “SAW MARY WEEPING” along with the “JEWS WHICH CAME WITH HER”, our Lord wept.

Abraham wept when he buried Sarah.
Jacob wept after he wrestled the Angel of the Lord.
David and his friend Jonathan wept together.
Hezekiah wept when he became sick unto death.
Josiah wept over the sin of Israel.
Nehemiah wept when he heard the walls of Jerusalem were fallen.
The Prophet Jeremiah wept over his unbelieving nation.

As a weeping Jesus moved toward the tomb of Lazarus, the religious questioned Jesus.

John 11:36-37 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! 37 And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?

They knew that Jesus had opened the eyes of the blind. So they questioned Him. “Could not this man” have caused Lazarus to not die? Religious people often question God. “Why did God allow this? If God is a God of love, how could He have let this happen?”

John 11:38-40 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. 39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. 40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

How can the glory of God be seen? Only “if thou wouldest believe”. Jesus has the power to raise Lazarus from the grave. Jesus Christ is the Resurrection and the Life. Oh, how God delights in the life that surrenders to Him.

John 11:41-44 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. 42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. 43 And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. 44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

Lazarus is a picture of what Christ does with every sinner who surrenders to Him by faith.

God is glorified in the sinner, raised by the power of Christ, who leaves the bed clothes of dead works behind in that tomb. Oh, how Christ is glorified and the Father in Him when that which was unworthy such as you and I have been raised to sit with Him by faith.

Sincere faith in Christ will draw Lazarus from the tomb.
Sincere faith in Him will cause the sinner to forsake sin’s pleasure.

A faith in Christ that does not bring an inner change in the heart, a desire to leave the crypt, is no faith at all. This Gospel we stand in is a Glorious Gospel (1 Timothy 1:11; 2 Corinthians 4:4), that is, it takes that which is unworthy and confers the worthiness of Christ on it. Because Christ has raised the believer from spiritual death, we walk in newness of life. John MacArthur said:

“… Christians love Someone they cannot see, hear, or touch. It is a supernatural, God-given love. “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19, KJV). There is no such thing as a Christian who lacks this love. Peter is saying categorically that the essence of what it means to be a Christian is to love Jesus Christ. In fact, perhaps no better way exists to describe the essential expression of the new nature than to say it is continual love for Christ.”

Saving Grace is rooted in a love for Christ and His Word. The Scripture says:

Ephesians 6:24 Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.

Do you love Him? Or do you just love Heaven, or Healing, or Happiness? Some do not love Jesus, but love what Jesus offers.

1 Corinthians 16:22 (ESV) If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!

True Christians love Christ. His love for them, producing their love for Him (1 John 4:19), is one of the guarantees that they will persevere to the end (Romans 8:33-39). Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:23). “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me” (John 14:21). Jesus also said, “He who does not love Me does not keep My words” (John 14:24).

Do you know Jesus? Are you just religious, or are you a Christian, a follower of Him? John MacArthur wrote:

“Those who are devoted to Christ long to promote His glory. They long to serve Him with heart and soul and mind and strength. They delight in His beauty. They love to talk about Him, read about Him, fellowship with Him. They desire to know Him better and to know Him deeper. They are compelled in their hearts to want to be like Him. Like Peter, they may stumble frequently and fail in pathetic ways as sinful flesh assaults holy longings. But like Peter, all true believers will persevere until the goal is ultimately reached. “Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2).”

If you love Jesus, you will persevere in faith. You will overcome. Salvation is all about following Jesus. Are you following Him? May God draw you to the arms of Jesus, to sit at His feet as Mary did, to adore Him both now, and forever. Amen and Amen!