Don't give up on Jesus!

Last year I had a professor named Allen Tennison. He is probably my favorite professor I have had through out my college career and he taught my Systematic Theology 3 class. Full of wisdom and insight, today I had the pleasure of hearing him speak again in chapel. He shared portions of his testimony, probably one of the most powerful testimonies I had ever heard (Which means you should probably keep checking  to see if you can listen to the whole sermon online). However, it was all to point to the story of Mary and Martha. Not the one we see in Luke 10 where we see Martha as the work-a-holic and Mary as the one who "gets" rest. Instead, he focused on John 11. Reads here:

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³ So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Listen to the Sermon

⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when he heard that Lazarus^[a] was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷ Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” ¹¹ After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” ¹² The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” ¹³ Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. ¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, ¹⁵ and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶ So Thomas, called the Twin,^[b] said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷ Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles^[c] off, ¹⁹ and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. ²⁰ So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.^[d] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Jesus Weeps

²⁸ When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When 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. ³² 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.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved^[e] in his spirit and greatly troubled. ³⁴ And he said, “Where have you laid him?”They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus

³⁸ Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.³⁹ Jesus 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.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” ⁴⁴ The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

For too long, I feel like Martha has gotten too much of the brunt for not following her sister's example to rest. Maybe this is the inner busy-body that needs to be slain coming out in me. However, I believe if we let Martha's story end in the kitchen, we truly miss the point of why this women was included in the Bible. 

Though Martha had a bad day when Jesus came, I feel like that moment is totally redeemed in this moment. When Jesus says, "Lazarus isn't going to die," and then he dies, this is a little disheartening to the story. People's disbelief is aroused. If he were really the Son of God, the Christ, Lazarus would not have died. However, then Martha takes the stage. Martha says, "Jesus, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died. However, I know you are the Christ. I know you are the Son of God. I know that even now, you can raise my brother. If you ask the Father he will give it to you." 

Then Jesus finds Mary. Mary had been in the house, giving up like the rest, and she confronts Jesus when she sees him, saying "Jesus if you would have been here he wouldn't have died." And Jesus wept.

Then he asked to go to the grave. It was time for God's glory to be revealed, as Jesus did promise would happen. And Jesus said, "Take away the Stone." 

Martha argued, about ready to give up on this divine hour. She uses a cop out. "It smells." 

But Jesus stops her, "Hey, don't give up on me."

So they pushed back the stone. Martha was the one about to put the breaks on. In this story, there is undertones to shed light that Martha appears to have a little human authority in this situation, even if she is a woman in those times. Therefore, she makes the decisions on who sees the body and who doesn't. She makes the rules about pulling back the stone or not. 

And Martha had them roll away the stone. 

Martha didn't give up. She believed and the glory of God was revealed as Lazarus was raised from the dead. 

Little known fact: this is Jesus' last miracle before his crucifixion, and it is actually the reasoning the leaders gave for his crucifixion. Because of Lazarus resurrection, Jesus had gained so much popularity that he had to be stopped or who knew what was going to happen. Therefore, they ordered Jesus to be crucified. This is the beauty, Jesus had to be crucified and die in order to be raised back to life and complete the glory of the Father in humanity. In Lazarus' resurrection was birthed the climax of God's glory to unfold, and that never would have happened if Martha didn't roll away the stone. 

Sometimes we have situations in our lives that seem like the worst thing imaginable. I have a little brother and I can not comprehend having to put him in the grave before it was his time. There are other issues in our lives, that though maybe not as significant in comparison, still seem like the worst possible scenario. However, Jesus is calling, let my glory be revealed. Don't give up on me. This is my prayer and my aim, that I would not give up on Jesus. The totality of his glory is yet to be revealed in my life, so until it is, I will not give up. I will continue to obey. I will continue to pursue. I will continue to press in, because he is the resurrection and the life which are my only hope in eternity. Therefore, I will not give up on Jesus.