Jesus knew that Lazarus was dead, and also that murderous hostility awaited Him in Judea. Nonetheless, He had the Father’s work to do, and therefore He, followed by His disciples, proceeded to Bethany, the home town of Lazarus, and his sisters Martha and Mary.
It was Martha who first heard that Christ was in the vicinity, and she hastened to Him at once. Martha is frequently criticized, largely because she was a service-oriented person and her love for the Lord Jesus did not match that of her sister, Mary. However, in this 11th chapter of John, we find that Martha, too, was a woman of faith. This sermon shows how that Martha, though Christ had disappointed her hopes to heal her brother, still maintained her faith in the Lord Jesus. This is no small thing, for many have had the faith they claimed utterly shattered when God did not respond to their pleas as they hoped. Martha’s faith was not perfect, was not as strong as it ought to be, and yet it was the genuine article. This gives us hope for ourselves, for we often find ourselves to be like Martha, coming short in many ways, and yet true lovers of, and believers in, Jesus Christ.