Today I had the thought: What if Martha kept asserting?
What if Martha refused to have the stone rolled away from her brother’s tomb instead of giving in to Jesus’ command?
John 11 is the account of Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, and his sickness, death, and Jesus’ miraculously raising him to life.
There came a point where Jesus says, “Take away the stone.” But, at first, Martha refused by saying, “But, Lord, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
The Bible doesn’t say what was going on in her mind, but I think it might have gone along the vein of:
“I don’t want to revisit my brother’s dead body. I’m sorry, Jesus that You didn’t get a chance to say good-bye, but let’s keep the tomb sealed.
“It was hard enough to watch him suffer and die the first time.
“I can’t see him after being dead for four days—I won’t be able to bear it!
“Please, please, I don’t want to go there, to the pain and horror and sadness of when my brother died. Please, Jesus, I can’t do this.”
Of course, we know that Jesus wasn’t opening the tomb to reopen her wounds (although I’m certain He knew the wounds would be opened).
And Jesus wasn’t opening the tomb to say His respects.
Really, Jesus could have left Martha and Mary at home while Jesus had the stone rolled away and gone ahead and raised Lazarus from the dead without them there.
And yet, He didn’t. In fact, Jesus did this intentionally. He had Martha stand there with Him. He even gave her the opportunity to object to His command, just so He could say. “See? You don’t really believe in Me.” (I paraphrased … What Jesus actually says is, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”)
I think Jesus brought her to the painful moment, so she would be stripped bare. Just her and her fears. Her unbelief. Her need to be in control—and for once, not be.
While meditating on this part, I thought to myself, What if Martha continued to refuse? What if she kept the stone sealed over the tomb?
And then my next thought: How often have I kept the stone sealed over the tomb when Jesus requested it to be rolled away?
The answer, of course, would be: Martha would not smell that horrible odor of rotting flesh, not have to revisit the moment Lazarus took his final breath and left her family forever, the worst moment of her life when her most horrible nightmare came true.
True. Keeping the stone where it was prevented the memories … but would have also prevented God from doing His work.
If Martha had kept the stone over the tomb Lazarus would have stayed dead.
You may or may not know this about me, but I work overnight twice a week. And I hate it. I feel sick half the week and my productivity goes to nil.
And I shake my fist at God and asked, “Why?!”
In other words, “No, Jesus, I won’t let You roll the stone away from the tomb. I won’t let You do that to me!”
This week, I decide to let the stone be rolled away. To let the odor seep out of the tomb, let Jesus have His way.
Tomorrow night I’ll go to work with thanksgiving on my lips and keep my eyes open to how God is working.
Because I know God is working. He has a glorious plan in mind, greater than the raising of Lazarus, greater than comforting the sisters. He says so over and over again …
John 11:4, “ … so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
John 11:15, “ … so that you may believe.”
John 11:26, “And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:40, “ … if you believe …”
John 11:42, “ … they may believe …”
Believe in God’s Son. Believe and see the glory of God. Believe and receive eternal life.
Believe.
Believe.
Believe.
I ask you: what is your stone? What has God asked you to move that you find too painful to obey?
May God be with you today! (Even if you are standing outside a tomb.)
“Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” John 11:40
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