Martha’s Faith

Among the events of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, we find a comment that can be so easily missed. Leading up to Christ’s demand, “Lazarus, come forth,” there is the arrival of Jesus and His disciples at the home of Mary and Martha, the sisters whom He loved.”

We can learn many lessons from this passage of Scripture found in John 1:38-44. We learn about the gentle reprimand Jesus gave Martha (Luke 10:38-42) when she felt put upon by her sister because Mary clung to Him and didn’t help with the traditional meal to welcome guests.

However, the lesson I would like us to learn from today’s passage of God’s Word applies to everyone. It is easily passed over because our focus is usually on the upcoming miracle of Lazarus coming back to life under Jesus’ authority.

Today’s lesson is about Martha’s faith. It is popular among Christians to focus on Mary because when she rushed out to welcome Jesus, she remained with Him and worshiped Him. However, Martha was the first to run to Jesus. Mary remained in their home (John 11:20). When Martha met Jesus, their conversation led Martha to make the same decision about Jesus that the Apostle Peter made: Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”.

We find Martha’s surprising confession in John 11:25-27 ESV:

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.”

How marvelous it is to “listen in” on Jesus’ testimony and Martha’s confession by faith. This seems to be a precursor to Romans 10:9 NLT, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Here, we find Martha making the same declaration by faith that Peter made: You are the Christ, the Son of God.

So, it is true that Mary made the better choice by worshiping Jesus rather than remaining in the Jewish tradition of welcoming visitors with a home-cooked meal. After all, Jesus had proven that He could feed thousands. Nevertheless, it was Martha who first ran to welcome Jesus. It was Martha who had a heart for serving others. It was Martha who believed, by faith, that Jesus could raise Lazarus from the dead. And it was Martha who declared Jesus as the Messiah (i.e., Christ) and believed He was the Son of God.

I love that both Peter, a man, and Martha, a woman, made the same declaration by faith that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. What is now available to us is even greater, because Jesus did died on the cross, was buried, and has arisen back to life on the third day. We can be saved if we openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead*.

Footnotes

• Our salvation comes through our recognition of our reprobate condition, repentance, regeneration, and reciprocity (if possible), which results in our reconciliation to God. We also must obey Christ’s ordinances of water baptism and participate in the Lord’s Supper (i.e., Communion, Eucharist).