Mary, Martha and Lazarus, Luke 10:38-42, John 11:1-12:36, written by Michelle Cockerham

Day by Day Devotion

By Michelle Cockerham

Friendship, reliance, trust and devotion. Martha, Mary and Lazarus show us these in their relationship with Jesus on earth. When we first see Mary with Jesus, she is doing what any sort of friend does with another close friend; talking and listening. Jesus is sitting with Mary, telling her about the Lord and she is fully enwrapped in His words, just like when a friend tells a great story or something they learned. Isn’t that what the Lord wants from us anyway? Doesn’t He want our devotion to Him and the time to give it? Wouldn’t that be why we, as Christians, come to church, pray or read the Bible? We need to be devoted like Mary was which is why we try to follow Him, like He wanted.

Now what Martha is doing is something everybody does, even the truest of Christians are guilty of it; getting distracted and forgetting the more important things that need attention. Martha is so distracted and stressed that she forgot about her devotion to the Lord and forgot to relax and listen to what the Lord has to say. Even though Martha was doing a good thing, she needed a friend or someone she relied on to bring her back to the light, which Jesus gladly did. Jesus reminded Martha about the more important thing which is something that everyone needs to remember as well. We may lose ourselves and try to be devoted to our duties like Martha but that is not what is healthy for our soul. We need to be more like Mary and just stop, take a seat and listen to the Lord’s words without any worries about the world’s issues. If we stay devoted to Jesus’ word, why worry about anything else?

Now Lazarus was another devoted believer of Jesus and Jesus loved him very much. So when Lazarus was sick, he probably wanted Jesus by his side in his hour of need, just like any other friend. However, instead Jesus waits so as to raise Lazarus from the dead as a way of proving Himself as The Messiah. Perhaps it was a good thing that Jesus waited to resurrect, besides to make people into believers, but as to also raise a good point. Lazarus was just given a great gift; to have his soul alive more than ever in the Kingdom of God. Don’t pity the dead, for if you truly love them, you will realize they live in an eternity that has no hardships. Jesus tries to remind us this before He raises Lazarus from the dead. For matter what Jesus did for Lazarus, Lazarus was grateful for everything the Lord did for him and didn’t want it any other way.

Lazarus shows us how he truly relied on the Lord and was willing to wait for Him. As Christians, we are expected to wait and rely on what Jesus said was true that He would come for us. Lazarus relied so much on Him, as did his sisters. Martha shows us that very well when Jesus returns after Lazarus is dead and Martha states her utter reliance on the Lord in what He does is best. That is what we as Christians must remember; “Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, ²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die (John 11:25-27)”.

When Jesus finally resurrects Lazarus, more people realize His power and where their true trust should lie. They soon hope to see Him more clearly, love Him more dearly and follow Him more nearly everyday. People truly love Him and are willing to do what He wants or says. The Lord speaks of loving each other as much as loving the Lord and treating them as such. This is why we see Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume; Jesus is a guest in the house of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, He is also someone they love and He is the Son of Man. She is treating Him with high remarks because she is devoted to Him, no matter what people, like Judas, say about what she does for God.

There will be people who doubt the Lord but that cannot ever block us from Him. Judas made a remark about Mary but she continued to do her work and believe in the Lord. We need to be more like Mary and not be afraid to show our devotion proudly. For as Jesus defended Mary in Judas’ remark so will Jesus with all of us.

Jesus will always protect us from harm. He will remind us of our true duties, like with Martha. We will rely on our Lord and be grateful for all that He has done for us, just like Lazarus. We will stay true to our faith and not be afraid when others talk us down, like Mary. We should try to devote, rely and trust Jesus day by day just like Martha, Mary and Lazarus did for the best friend; Jesus, the Son of Man.

Luke 10:38-42

Jesus Visits Martha and Mary

38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. ³⁹She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ ⁴¹But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; ⁴²there is need of only one thing.^* Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’

John 11:1-12:36

The Death of Lazarus

11Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ²Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. ³So the sisters sent a message to Jesus,^* ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’ ⁴But when Jesus heard it, he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’ ⁵Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, ⁶after having heard that Lazarus^* was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

7 Then after this he said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’ ⁸The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?’ ⁹Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. ¹⁰But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.’ ¹¹After saying this, he told them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.’ ¹²The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.’ ¹³Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. ¹⁴Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’ ¹⁶Thomas, who was called the Twin,^* said to his fellow-disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’

Jesus the Resurrection and the Life

17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus^* had already been in the tomb for four days. ¹⁸Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles^* away, ¹⁹and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. ²⁰When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. ²¹Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’ ²³Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ ²⁴Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ ²⁵Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.^* Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, ²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ ²⁷She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah,^* the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’

Jesus Weeps

28 When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’ ²⁹And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³²When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ ³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. ³⁴He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ ³⁵Jesus began to weep. ³⁶So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ ³⁷But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’

Jesus Raises Lazarus to Life

38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. ³⁹Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’ ⁴⁰Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ ⁴¹So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me. ⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’ ⁴³When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ ⁴⁴The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’

The Plot to Kill Jesus

45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. ⁴⁶But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done. ⁴⁷So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, ‘What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. ⁴⁸If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place^* and our nation.’ ⁴⁹But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all! ⁵⁰You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.’ ⁵¹He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, ⁵²and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. ⁵³So from that day on they planned to put him to death.

54 Jesus therefore no longer walked about openly among the Jews, but went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness; and he remained there with the disciples.

55 Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. ⁵⁶They were looking for Jesus and were asking one another as they stood in the temple, ‘What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?’ ⁵⁷Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus^* was should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

Mary Anoints Jesus

12Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ²There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. ³Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them^* with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ⁵‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii^* and the money given to the poor?’ ⁶(He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) ⁷Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it^* so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. ⁸You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

9 When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

12 The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,
‘Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—
the King of Israel!’
¹⁴Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written:
¹⁵ ‘Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.
Look, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!’
¹⁶His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him. ¹⁷So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify.^{* 18}It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him. ¹⁹The Pharisees then said to one another, ‘You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!’

Some Greeks Wish to See Jesus

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. ²¹They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ ²²Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.

Jesus Speaks about His Death

27 ‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. ²⁸Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ ²⁹The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ ³⁰Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. ³¹Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. ³²And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people^* to myself.’ ³³He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. ³⁴The crowd answered him, ‘We have heard from the law that the Messiah^* remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?’ ³⁵Jesus said to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. ³⁶While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’