What Will It Be?

John 11:^{20 & 32} “When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house.” … “When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Martha and Mary are both Christians but with two very different personalities. Both interacted with Jesus differently and both got different responses from Him, even though Jesus loved them both. When we contrast Martha’s response to Mary’s response from today’s scripture reference, it is very instructive. When Martha heard that Jesus was around, she got up and went to meet Him. Martha was very direct in her conversation with Jesus in John 11:²¹ “Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” In other words, You did not get the instant message we sent, Jesus, but You did not come and he is dead now. In other words, ‘Why are you here now? All this is Your fault. If You had loved us enough, You would have come.’

In your relationships with people, sometimes people will expect you to respond in a certain way. If you do not match their expectation, maybe because God is not leading you to do it or for whatever reason, they will question your love for and relationship with them. ‘If you say I am your friend, then why didn’t you respond?’ Jesus’ response to Martha was also very direct in John 11:²³ “Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” Notice that Martha believed that Jesus could heal and that He could have healed her brother. But interesting, she did not believe He could raise Lazarus from the dead. There are many things we believe God can do for us. But there are things that once they happen, subconsciously we believe it is too much for God. Jesus is telling you and I today that He has power over everything, and nothing is impossible for Him to do. This is so huge, and we need to get it into our core such that it impacts our subconscious.

If you contrast Mary’s response in John 11:³² “When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet...” Note that the first thing Mary did was to fall at Jesus’ feet. Even though Mary and Martha had the same mindset and position, Mary’s approach was totally different from Martha’s approach. Even though Martha and Mary said pretty much the same thing to Jesus, but with different approaches. And their different approaches caused Jesus to respond in different ways. With Mary, the Bible says, “Jesus was vexed in the spirit”, meaning Jesus was moved in His spirit.

Martha’s approach got Jesus on a logical level but Mary’s approach got Jesus on an emotional level. Mary moved Jesus to His core. Please read Luke 10:38-42. As we examine how Mary and Martha individually interacted with Jesus, we can choose how we want to interact with Jesus. Remember Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. How you choose to interact with Jesus does not determine whether Jesus will love you or not. He already loves you. But are you are going to walk up to Him and challenge Him, or are you going to walk up to Him and bow before Him? It is up to you.

Prayer [song]:  I will come and bow down at Your feet Lord Jesus, in Your presence is fullness of joy. There is nothing, there is no one who compares with You. I take pleasure in worshiping You Lord. Amen!