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Meditative Reflection
A Deeper Friendship with the Lord

“Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” (Jn. 11:5)

We all know that God loves the world (Jn. 3:16) and that He plays no favorites. Yet the Apostle John tells us that, to Jesus, the sisters of Lazarus referred to him as “the one you love” (11:3) and John also affirms that, “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” (11:5). This obviously speaks of the special relationship that Jesus had with this family while on earth.

We do not know too much about this family, but from all the passages in which the four Gospels have records concerning them, their parents have never been mentioned. Martha, the oldest sister, seems to be in charge of the household. As a result, it is safe to assume that their parents had passed away and they were orphans.

These Gospel accounts also show us that they opened their home to Jesus when He was passing through Bethany and, as a result, they developed a deep friendship. John purposely points out that Mary, “was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped His feet with her hair” (11:2). Although John would record this event in a later chapter, it was obviously an incident well known to the church through the earlier writings of Matthew (26:6-13) and Mark (14:3-9). This incident was significant in that the action of Mary did not only show that she might be one of the few who truly believed in the words of Jesus about His impending death, her pouring of perfume was nothing short of her outpouring of her love to the Lord. In other words, this family had developed a mutual love and friendship with the Lord, to the point that His love for them was special—it speaks of an intimate friendship and knowledge between them!

Yes, we can also develop such an intimate love and friendship with the Lord. I agree with the song writer of a previous generation that,

“Even now, the Lord seeks for someone (like Mary) who truly knows His heart”.

Meditative Reflection
“I am the Resurrection and the Life”

“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...” (Jn. 11:25-26)

It is interesting to note that even though Martha seemed to blame Jesus for His delay and said, “Lord…if you had been here, my brother would not have died " (11:21), it did clearly show that she firmly believed that Jesus had the power to heal whatever sickness Lazarus had. And she was also confident that Jesus would certainly do so, because He loved Lazarus. However, now that Lazarus was dead, she still insisted that God would give Jesus whatever He asked (11:22).

I find this interesting, because

1. it appears that she believed that Jesus could bring Lazarus back to life, and that was not that farfetched, because Jesus revived Jairus’ daughter (Mk. 5:22-43) and raised the son of the widow at Nain (Lk. 7:11-17). I am sure Martha knew about these incidents;
2. she added that “even now God will give you whatever you ask”. This implies that she was not too sure if Jesus would choose to ask God to raise Lazarus.

To this, Jesus replied, “Your brother will rise again” which is quite different from saying that He will make him come alive. The wording was such that Martha immediately associated them with the resurrection of the Last Day. I believe Jesus purposely set Martha up to think only of the resurrection of the Last Day, so that He could show Martha once-for-all who He is, and how much He loved them.

Without denying the truth that Lazarus (and thus all who belong to God) will rise on the Last Day, He powerfully asserts, “I AM the Resurrection and the Life”. As previously mentioned, this “I AM” once again makes it plain who Jesus is. He is the “Yahweh” — God Himself. As a result, He is not only the source of resurrection and life, He is! And such is the mystery which they could only comprehend after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because He is resurrected, all who believe in Him will be so united with Him that they will be resurrected in the Last Day; and since He is life itself (1:4), they too will have life, and that is life eternal!

As much as Jesus did demonstrate His love for them by raising Lazarus from the dead, the fact remains: Lazarus will die again physically eventually. So, “the life” can only refer to eternal life, and “to live” also means to live eternally (11:25-26).

This powerful statement serves to reiterate and explain what He said earlier and that was, “I and the Father are one” (10:30).

As much as Martha still did not understand that Jesus would be willing to raise her brother from the dead even in the here and now, she had come to fully believe who Jesus is — the Christ, the Son of God who was to come into the world (11:27).

We too, may not comprehend the way of the Lord all the time; sometimes we may have too little faith in His healing in the here and now; other times we may be too presumptuous to think that He would definitely answer our prayers in some miraculous way. In the final analysis, it is not important; the most important thing is that no matter what, we hold on to our belief that He is the Christ, the Son of God who has come into the world!

Meditative Reflection
Jesus Wept

“When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” (Jn. 11:33)

Twice the Apostle John describes that Jesus was “moved” before He raised Lazarus from the dead. Each time, the context provides us with the reason:

1. Jesus was deeply moved in spirit and troubled, “When Jesus saw her (i.e. Mary) weeping and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping” (11:33).
2. Jesus, “once more” deeply moved, came to the tomb when the people said, “Could not He…have kept this man from dying?” (11:37-38)

I cannot agree with those who think that Jesus was troubled by the lack of faith of Mary and Martha and the people who had come from Jerusalem to mourn with them. Yes, Jesus did rebuke Martha for her lack of faith when He said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” (11:40). However, this rebuke was so mild.

The two times that He was moved were clearly a result of the weeping of the people, especially that of Mary and Martha, to the point that He wept as well. That fully reveals the humanness of Jesus. No matter how strong a person we might be, we all have experienced the imperceptible emotion of weeping when we see others cry. It is just human to do so. We identify with the sadness of the people, especially those whom we care for. Jesus is the same.

In fact, I believe He was troubled not because of their unbelief, but because for the sake of revealing the glory of God, He had to delay His coming, causing unnecessary grief and struggles to Mary and Martha whom He deeply loved. Imagine what Mary and Martha had gone through during the four days after their brother’s death — the grief of the death of their loved one was coupled with their total bewilderment of why Jesus would not come to them right away: Doesn’t He care? Doesn’t He love us? Are we not important to Him after all?

Irrespective of how we might interpret Jesus’ emotion at the time, the Jews who were there knew very well as they said, “See how He loved him!” (11:36).

Meditative Reflection
An Unfaithful High Priest

“He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation.” (Jn. 11:51)

As we read that God used Caiaphas to prophesy about the death of Jesus and its purpose, we might wonder why God would use such a wicked person to be His mouth-piece.

John explains that he was used by virtue of his position as the high priest, as Lenski adds:

“We must not hastily conclude that every high priest was also a prophet, for this was not the case. No; God took the high priest ‘of that year’…the man who held the notable office which of old in the theocratic order of the first covenant was at times used for decisions vital to the people, and made him serve again, now not through the Urim and Thummim, lost long ago, but through an immediate control of his words to utter a truth absolutely vital not only for the Jewish people but also for all men in the world…His wickedness is left wholly intact, his murderous intent and his cunning way of expressing it in order to bring the Sanhedrin to action…They want to slay Jesus for their purpose, God will let them slay Jesus for His purpose.”
(Lenski, John, 829)

This also reminds me of the wicked Balaam whose tongue was controlled by God to speak blessings instead of curses (Num. 23-24), and yet his wickedness was also left wholly intact and eventually enticed Israel to commit adultery in Peor (Num. 31:16).

It is a fitting reminder to those of us who are God’s servants. While God may use us for a time because of our position as His mouthpiece, however, if we remain unfaithful to Him, we will eventual be a detriment to His Kingdom and His ministry.

Meditative Reflection
Love as Pure as Mary’s

“It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.” (Jn. 12:7)

As we reflect on these words of Jesus and the love that Mary of Bethany expressed to Jesus, I invite you to meditate on the lyrics of this song which have helped me during my formative years as a Christian tremendously and continue to purify my love for Christ to this day:

1
Who has a heart like Mary?
So pure a love for the Lord
Forsaking all things earthly,
for the sake of loving Him only;
Oft’ misunderstood and rebuked,
only draws her closer to God.
Today the Lord is still looking
for love as pure as Mary’s.

2
Lord, give me a heart like Mary’s,
so pure a love for the Lord —
Saving the best for Jesus alone,
as precious as the Nard;
It is enough that He knows her heart,
what fragrance fills the air.
Today the Lord is still looking
for love as pure as Mary’s.

3
Lord, give me a heart like Mary’s,
so pure a love for the Lord —
Seizing the moment of love,
breaking the most precious jar;
Despite men’s mocking, “what a waste!”
all upon Him poured.
Today the Lord is still looking
for love as pure as Mary’s.

Meditative Reflection
The Lowly Messiah

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zech. 9:9)

There is no doubt that the rabbis understood that Zechariah 9:9 referred to their Messiah, but how did they reconcile their idea of their triumphant Messiah of Daniel with this lowly Messiah riding on a colt? Lightfoot has this insight to share with us from the Talmud, as he expounds on the entrance of Christ into Jerusalem:

“This triumph of Christ completes a double prophecy: 

1. This prophecy of Zechariah here mentioned. 
2. The taking to themselves the Paschal lamb, for this was the very day on which it was to be taken, according to the command of the law, Exod. XII.3; ‘In the tenth day of the month, they shall take to them every man a lamb.’

“It scarce appears to the Talmudists, how those words of Daniel concerning the Messias, that ‘he comes with the clouds of heaven,’ are consistent with these words of Zechariah, that ‘he comes sitting upon an ass.’ ‘If (say they) the Israelites be good, then he shall come with the clouds of heaven; but if not good, then riding upon an ass.' Thou art much mistaken O Jew: for he comes ‘in the clouds of heaven,’ as judge and revenger, because you are evil and very wicked; but sitting upon an ass, not because you are, but because he is good…King Sapores said to Samuel, ‘You say your Messias will come upon an ass, I will send him a brave horse.’ He answers him, ‘You have not a horse with a hundred spots as is his ass.’ In the greatest humility of the Messias they dream of grandeur even in his very ass.”
(Commentary on the NT from the Talmud and Hebraica, Vol. 2, 270-271)

In other words, the rabbis still could not come to grips with the fact that the power of their Messiah is fully revealed in His lowliness. No wonder they rejected the crucified Christ!

Meditative Reflection
What a Savior!

“Now my heart is troubled and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.” (Jn. 12:27)

Prompted by the visit of the Greeks, the Lord Jesus saw His hour of death drawing near, to the point He seemed to be speaking to Himself in v. 27, "Now my heart is troubled and what shall I say?". With these few words, we gain insight into the struggle of the Son of God. Allow me to share with you Lenski’s thoughts in this respect:

“In the request of the Greeks Jesus sees His own death standing before Him. While He calls it a glorification of the Son of man, in particular as regards the glorious fruit that will result, nevertheless, this impending death stirs the soul of Jesus to its very depth. ‘Now my soul has been troubled. And what shall I say? "Father, deliver me out of this hour"? But no - for this reason I came into this hour’. Jesus is not addressing the disciples and the bystanders. This is a monolog, uttered before a higher presence; yet uttered audibly for those at hand to hear. They are granted a glimpse into what transpires in the soul of Jesus. (It) reveals what Jesus feels in His human soul as the death shadow begins actually to envelop Him. The perfect tense is intensive…for the agitation that is now upon Jesus reaches back, although its present intensity leads Him now to reveal it.

“Not by any means coldly, indifferently, or without feeling is Jesus going into His death. He was perfectly aware of all that His death entailed. His was not to be a death like that of the Christian for whom the terrors of death have been removed by the cancellation of sin and guilt; nor like the death of the unbeliever who is blind or realizes only in part what awaits him. Jesus was to die with all the world’s sin and guilt upon Him. The curse and damnation of that guilt was to strike Him and to crush out His life. All the dreadfulness of this impending death was fully revealed to Him; He saw all that was awaiting Him.

“Moreover, He was going into His death voluntarily. No power compelled Him save His own will, which was one with that of His Father. He was free even now to withdraw from that death. But since the hour has come, the act of sacrifice is about to begin, the frightfulness, the utter horror, the inconceivable dreadfulness of death came over the soul of Jesus. All that was human in Him recoiled from the rending ordeal, just as our body, to use a weak comparison, shrinks from some painful contact and quivers when it begins yet submits and endures, no matter what the pain, held to the agony by the power of the will. The sinless, holy Jesus, God’s only-begotten Son, was to stoop beneath the damning guilt of the world and by His own death as a man to expiate that guilt. Thus was His soul shaken in this hour.”
(Lenski, John, 868-9)

What a Savior we have in Jesus Christ!