After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. ”The Teacher is here,” she said, ”and is asking for you.” When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, ”Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
We have heard Martha’s statement of faith, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” Now we are hearing Mary’s statement of faith. Mary firmly believes that if Jesus had seen her brother dying he could have stopped it from happening. Jesus would have been able to heal her brother and make everything okay again. Her words are, to my ears, a plaintive cry of lament.
Continue reading “Deep Sorrow – John 11: 28-32”