Waiting For a Miracle

A Reflection on the Gospel for March 29th, 2020:
Fifth Sunday of Lent

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JOHN 11

1Now a certain man was ill, Laz'arus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Laz'arus was ill. 3So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." 4But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it." 5Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Laz'arus. 6So when he heard that he was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go into Judea again." 8The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were but now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?" 9Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any one walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10But if any one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." 11Thus he spoke, and then he said to them, "Our friend Laz'arus has fallen asleep, but I go to awake him out of sleep." 12The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." 13Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14Then Jesus told them plainly, "Laz'arus is dead; 15and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." 16Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." 17Now when Jesus came, he found that Laz'arus had already been in the tomb four days. 18Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary sat in the house. 21Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." 23Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" 27She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world." 28When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying quietly, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." 29And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32Then Mary, when she came where Jesus was and saw him, fell at his feet, saying 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 deeply moved in spirit and troubled; 34and he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." 35Jesus wept. 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?" 38Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb; it was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. 39Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." 40Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. 42I knew that thou hearest me always, but I have said this on account of the people standing by, that they may believe that thou didst send me." 43When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Laz'arus, come out." 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." 45Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him;

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Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

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I feel the pain of Lazarus’ sisters in this reading. They called for Jesus to come and save their brother Lazarus, full of belief that He could and would heal their brother. His death meant a lot to them — as unmarried women at that time, they would be entirely alone in the world. But beyond material concerns, they were clearly a close-knit family and losing a sibling would be an unimaginable blow.


So when Jesus didn’t show up in their time of need, I can imagine how they must have felt. Both sisters greet Jesus with the words, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Is it reproach? Is it grief? Is it an appeal? Martha gives us a clue when she follows up with the statement, “I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” A normal part of grief is denial and bargaining. A grabbing at straws and vain attempt to deny or reverse our loss. Martha turns to her belief in Jesus and her words sound in many ways like bargaining. She believes Jesus is the Son of God and that God will listen to Him. But how far will God go? Will He raise a man from the dead? We know the answer because we know the story, but Martha and Mary walked to that tomb to grieve their brother alongside their friend, Jesus.


I wonder what that felt like, that moment between things. I feel like we’re in that place right now. There’s fear and death around the world. Many of us are raising our hands in prayer and trust, but right now we have to wait for that moment of miracle. Jesus isn’t necessarily going to answer our prayers the way we want, just as He didn’t save Lazarus from His illness. But I trust Jesus when He intervenes in visible ways and when He doesn’t. So I’m going to sit with the thought of Mary and Martha, walking to the tomb of their brother, trusting without even knowing what to ask for anymore or what God will supply.


God is in this space. God is in this time of waiting. Our faith in Him has to be watchful and trusting. We can pour our hearts out to Him and share our pain. He will weep with us in these days. But His salvation is coming.

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Stephanie Potter

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

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