How much Faith is Faithful

Hey everyone.

I am on Spring Break this week, so I am going to try to write out some of the thoughts that I just haven't had the time to write recently.  A couple of days ago I wrote about Jesus' statement, "I am the Resurrection."  Today I want to take a look at that same conversation with Martha and the healing of Lazarus from a slightly different perspective.

Going back to John 11,  Martha greets Jesus, by saying, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."  It is clear at this point that Martha has a great deal of faith in Jesus.  She is confident that Jesus could have and would have healed her ailing brother.  She adds that even now God would give Jesus whatever he asked.  As the conversation goes on, Jesus challenges Martha a little, to really believe in him.  He says in verses 25 - 26, "The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die."  He tells that those who live by their faith will really live and never die.  The key, then, to a real life in Christ is our faith.  The greater the Faith, the greater the Life.      

Then he challenges her "Do you believe this?"  Her response is good: "Yes, Lord.  I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is come into the world."  Martha has a pretty strong faith.  But a little later on, we see where she reaches the limit of her faith.  Now she had said earlier, that God would give Jesus whatever he asked.  Perhaps there was some faint hope that Jesus could do something about her brother's condition, but when Jesus asked that the stone be moved away, Martha more practical side came through, and she quickly pointed out that Lazarus had been dead for four days and that at this point there would be a bad odor.  Jesus challenges her again, in verse 40.  He says, "Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?"  Then Jesus raised Lazarus, a man who been dead for four days, from the dead.  Jesus has performed a great miracle and Martha and the others were allowed to witness the glory of God.

Understand this, I am not down on Martha at all, she was a woman of great faith.  Jesus, however, was even greater than her great faith.  He was able to do things that her imagination could only dare to think about.  For us, no matter how great our faith may be, Jesus is greater than that.  He can do far more than we could ever ask or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20)  Martha got to see the glory of God AND got her brother back.

The challenge is there, isn't it?  Imagine your dreams, and imagine Jesus saying to you, "Do you believe I can do this?"  Jesus wants all of us to witness the glory of God as well, and he can do it.  Jesus is greater than whatever it is you just dreamed about.

May we see God's glory together.
Tom