…and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
”Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
Jesus said to her, ”Your brother will rise again.”
Martha answered, ”I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Martha is the practical one. She and her sister, Mary, are often contrasted as two very common archetypes; the one with her feet solidly planted in this world’s work, the other with her head and heart on other matters.
In this conversation Martha comes very close to chastising Jesus; “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” And then she adds, almost as an aside, “But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
In response, Jesus speaks comfort to her: “Your brother will rise again.”
Continue reading “Conversation – John 11: 19 – 24”