The Place Where Martha Met Jesus

This morning I took notice of Jesus' position...

"So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house... " - John 11:20

Martha meets Jesus somewhere outside the village. Then he speaks to Martha but does not move from that spot.

"Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.' Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.' Martha said to him, 'I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.' Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?' She said to him, 'Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.' " - John 11:21-27 ESV

Then Martha leaves the place where she met Jesus and enters the village to speak to Mary.

"When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, 'The Teacher is here and is calling for you.' And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him." - John 11:28-30 ESV

Jesus has not moved. He has not come one inch closer to the village.

"Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.' " - John 11:32 ESV

"And he said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to him, 'Lord, come and see.' Jesus wept." - John 11:34-35 ESV

Jesus weeps right where He Is.

To me, this place outside the village is the incarnation. Jesus meets us in the book and in the place where the truth of His book is being revealed. Martha represents the writers of the new testament. They write and say to me, a person 2,000 years into the future, 'Jesus is here and He Is calling for you.'

You or I might be like Mary. We are stubborn or grieving or just distant because we are occupied in our own matters but it is true. Jesus is here and He Is calling for us. He is just outside the village.

We do what Martha did when we evangelize. We say 'Jesus is here.' and the people might say, 'Listen, It's just you and your ideas.' and we say, 'No, Come where I have been and you will find Him also.'

"Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it." - John 11:38 ESV

Jesus goes straight from that outside place to the tomb. Jesus asks His Father and Lazarus is alive again.

"Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples." - John 11:54 ESV

Jesus never goes into the village. If you missed all these events you would just see Lazarus alive again and grief turned into joy but you wouldn't be able to connect the dots. Jesus might just seem like a ghost or a myth. If asked they would say, 'Jesus never came here. I didn't see Him.' and they would be right to say that.

Is Jesus going with us to work or where ever it is we are going today? Yes and No. We say, 'Jesus is here and He Is calling for you.' but He is doing it from the incarnation. He Is calling from the throne in Heaven. He is just outside the village weeping over the same tragedies that affect the people in that place.

It is very possible that if something shuts our mouth people will miss His visitation. I don't want that to happen.

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