I AM the Resurrection

Today Mother church celebrates the Feast of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus. They were the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ and believed in the resurrection even before Jesus’ resurrection. There are no details found in the Bible about of their family, it seems they lived alone in Bethany. As per Luke’s gospel, Martha met Jesus on the way as he was doing his mission work. She was the first person in her family to accept Jesus and gave Him place to stay in their home and hearts. She served Jesus throughout her life time. Whenever Jesus during His ministry was near Bethany he made it a point to stay in Martha’s home, which shows that this family had good relationship with Jesus. They welcomed him not as a guest but as a family member.

Martha and Mary had only one sole earner in their family, i.e. Lazarus. Suddenly he lay sick and they sent messengers to Jesus to come and heal him, but Jesus reached Bethany post Lazarus’ death. With heavy hearts Martha expressed her grief saying, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” This made Jesus to weep and lead him to do miracle. Martha believed in the resurrection and life. Jesus saw her faith and helped her see the true nature of himself, by declaring Himself as Resurrection and giving new life to Lazarus. 

Friends, Many of us may have had similar experiences to Martha’s in our life. ie Jesus purposely delaying to answer our prayer or delaying to give our hearts desire. Sometimes this drives us to despair and run away from him. If we have a relationship with Jesus and love Him, then we still cling to Jesus, despite our non-understanding of the situation. In my life too I underwent a similar experience.  Out of the blue I lost my younger sister and my heart and mind was unable to accept this. Many friends and relatives consoled me. At the same time many expressed their confusion over me being a prayerful person and as yet why did God allowed such a painful thing in my life. I was in depression for nearly 6 months, but never did I asked any question of Jesus, instead I placed my trust in His resurrection and eternal life. After 6 months at a retreat while praying, the Lord Jesus showed me a vision in which I saw my sister with a choir of angels praising and singing in heaven. After that vision, my depression completely vanished, and I am very grateful to God for taking my sister at very young age to be with Him.

From Martha’s family we learnt that we should have a strong relationship with Jesus. We should welcome Jesus not only into our home but also into our heart. We should believe Jesus the Resurrection and Life. And we should love and serve Jesus throughout all our life.

“I am the resurrection and life!”