MARTHA: PART 2 (JOHN 11)

The second major episode in which Mary and Martha appear is that recounted in John 11. There we read the important story of the resurrection of their brother Lazarus from the dead about which much has been written. But I would just like to concentrate on the actions and words of Martha, and to a lesser extent, her sister.

Recap of the Episode

First a brief summary of the events: Jesus receives a message from the sisters informing him that their brother is ill (vv. 1-3). He tells his disciples that the illness will not lead to death, but is for God's glory (v. 4). Jesus stays two days longer where he is and then tells his disciples that they will be going to Bethany since Lazarus is dead (vv. 5-16). By the time they arrive, Lazarus has been in the grave for four days (v. 17).

Martha hears that Jesus has arrived, so she goes out to greet him with the words, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you anything you ask for” (vv. 20-22). Jesus' reply is that Lazarus will rise again, to which Martha says that she does believe in the resurrection on the Last Day (vv. 23-24). At this point, Jesus makes one of his great “I AM” pronouncements found in John's Gospel, namely “I am the resurrection and the life” and asks Martha if she believes that (vv. 26-27). At that point, Martha makes a pronouncement of her own – “I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world” (v. 27).

Next, Martha goes into the house and summons Mary to come see Jesus, who has asked for her. Mary kneels at Jesus' feet and makes the identical statement that her sister had said earlier, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (vv. 28-32). Jesus goes to the tomb and orders the stone to be rolled back, but Martha objects that by this time the body will have begun to decompose (vv. 38-39). Jesus' tells her, “Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would seen the glory of God?” (v. 40). He prays to God and commands Lazarus to come out of the tomb, which he does (vv. 41-44).

Relation to Luke 10:38-42

Before getting into some of the individual verses, it is pertinent to point out the relationship between this account of John's and that of Luke 10:38-42 (see my post “Martha: Part 1”). Raymond Brown says, “Taking the Martha and Mary incidents as they now appear in the Gospel [of John], we find that the two women are true to the portrait painted of them in Luke x 38-42.” “Here too Martha appears as the more active and voluble sister.” (Colin Brown)

Donald Guthrie says, “It is characteristic of the Synoptic picture of Martha that she did not wait for Jesus to reach the house. Here was the same bustling, impetuous person whose major interest was action. Mary sitting at home is the same reflective, rather inactive person as in the Synoptic records.”

“Martha again takes the lead in voicing her complaints to Jesus, this time about his tardiness in coming to Lazarus's aid...and his indecorum in requesting the removal of Lazarus's tombstone.” (Spencer)

Blum: “Martha, the activist, went to meet Jesus while Mary, the contemplative sister, waited (Cf. Luke 10:39-42 for a similar portrayal of their personalities).”

In both stories, Mary is found at the feet of Jesus, as she will also be in John 12:3 when she anoints them with perfume.

There is one minor incident in which the roles of the sisters is reversed compared to the earlier event. When Jesus is being entertained at their house, Martha tries to pull Mary away from Jesus whereas in the present story, Martha pulls Mary away from her guests so that she can be with Jesus.

“There is a difference in the attitude of the two sisters; and it is not unlike the difference we see in the incident recorded in Luke 10:38-42...Ryle thinks that Martha comes off best in this incident...There is a time to stir, as well as to sit still; and here, but not stirring, Mary certainly missed hearing our Lord's glorious declaration about Himself...Both these holy women were true disciples; yet if Mary showed more grace on a former occasion than Martha, I think Martha here showed more than Mary.” (Morris)

In rebuttal, it is not at all clear that Martha's actions in the earlier story were being strongly criticized since her service to her guest was expected and necessary. Similarity, in the present episode we should point out that (1) this time it is Mary who holds down the fort at home by acting as hostess to those who are coming to the house to offer their condolences and (2) it is not clear from the text that Mary even knew that Jesus had arrived until Martha came in later to inform her of the fact..

John 11:17 Borchert explains the importance of this verse for the understanding of the story. “The general belief was that the spirit of the deceased hovered around the body for three days in anticipation of some possible means of reentry into the body. But on the third day, it was believed that the body lost its color and the spirit was locked out.”

John 11:21 Most commentators are in agreement here in stating that, unlike the earlier occasion recorded in Luke 10, Martha's comment to Jesus (as well as the similar sentiment by Mary in v. 32) do not imply any sort of criticism of his behavior. Thus, Borchert states, “These words were hardly a condemnation of Jesus for not being present when Lazarus was ill...The words are those of a grieving person who desperately wished it could have been different.” Morris agrees: “Some see an implied rebuke here...On the whole it is more likely that her remark expresses regret rather than rebuke.” And Guthrie points out that her comment “shows a loving faith in Jesus' power to heal.” Finally, Blum points to an obvious fact concerning the situation, namely that it could not very well constitute a criticism of him “since she knew her brother was dead before the messengers got to Jesus.”

John 11:22 Martha's somewhat ambiguous comment in this verse has been understood in different senses. Borchert a little unconvincingly says, “The words 'even now' must not be read as her belief that Jesus could reverse the reality of death (cf. 11:39). Instead, her statement should be understood as indicating a strong confidence in Jesus' relationship with the Father and that in spite of her resignation to Lazarus's death somehow Jesus would understand the plight of the mourning sisters as well as the general nature of Lazarus' future hope.”

“Indeed, v. 22 shows the possibility of a deeper faith...She appears to be reaching out for some ray of hope.” (Guthrie)

“Her words...might imply by themselves that she was confident Lazarus would be resuscitated. But her actions in protest at the tomb (John 11:39) and her words to Jesus (v. 24) contradict that.” (Blum)

“She regards Jesus as an intermediary who is heard by God, but she does not understand that he is life itself.” (R.E. Brown)

John 11:23-24 “Martha's affirmation of end-time resurrection in 11:24 was in keeping with Pharisaic beliefs (cf. Acts 3:8) and those of the majority of first-century Jews as well as Jesus' own teaching on the subject (cf. 5:21,25-29; 6:39-44,54).” (Rostenberger) O.M. Hendricks points also to Daniel 12:1-3 and II Maccabees 7:9 for this common belief.

Guthrie expresses his opinion on the subject with these words: “It is probable that her understanding of resurrection was vague and was certainly not applied by her in any personal way.”

John 11:25 Ellis says, “Martha cannot think much beyond the traditional belief concerning resurrection, taught by the Pharisees and indeed endorsed, so far as it went, by the Lord Himself (cf. 5:28f.; 6:39f.,44,54). But Jesus shows that in Him eschatological hope becomes actual and present.”

Borchert expresses much the same view when he says, “The next response of Jesus ['I am the resurrection and the life'] completely bypassed Martha's understanding in terms of real power. He had been in actuality an unknown person to her...Her brother was dead and even though he had entered Sheol (the four days), he was not beyond the range of Jesus' power. Martha, however, could think only eschatologically about Jesus and thus she was in for a surprise.”

John 11:27 This is the true watershed verse in the passage that divides scholars concerning Martha's true character, and their assessments range from very positive to rather negative. I will list some of these opinions in roughly that same order:

“Martha should be known to us from this moving declaration rather than from her worst moment of criticism and fretfulness.” (Morris)

“This is the confession which in other traditions was made by Peter (cf. Matthew 6:16). Here it is made by a female disciple and tied securely to the Johannine affirmation of Jesus as the resurrection and the life (11:25). Of the two sisters, Martha is the one with discerning faith.” (Culpepper)

“Martha's response bears a striking resemblance to John's statement of purpose (20:31), as if her confession of faith forms the pattern of which the whole Gospel is intended to support. To what extent she understood the Messiahship or Sonship of Jesus it is impossible to say.” (Guthrie)

“Martha...expresses extraordinary faith in Jesus as Lord, Messiah and Son of God who mediates God's blessings of resurrection life. Although more intent on her brother's resurrection 'on the last day' than on Jesus' plan to raise him now, she does affirm Jesus' present and eternal identity ('I AM') as “the resurrection and the life' (Jn 11:22-27).” (Spencer)

Concerning Mary's address to Jesus of “Lord,” Witherington and Yamazaki-Ransom say, “Martha's address to Jesus in John 11:27, uttered together with a christological confession, is probably more than a respectful way of addressing her teacher, but the other uses of kyrie in the chapter (Jn 11:3,12,21,32,39) could be rendered as 'sir.' But even here ambiguity remains: the presence of the christological use of kyrios in John 11:2,27 may force John's readers to see more than a respectful address to a great teacher in this narrative.”

“She believed that Jesus is the Messiah who came to do God's will, but as yet she had no hint of the coming miracle regarding her brother.” (Blum)

“Throughout the incident involving Martha we see that she believes in Jesus but inadequately. In vs. 27 she addresses him with a lofty title...; yet 39 shows that she does not as yet believe in his power to give life...If we may oversimplify, Martha's difficulty is that she does not realize the full force of the one who is to come into the world'; she does not fully understand that the light and the life have already come into the world.” (R.E. Brown)

“So in response to this revelation, Martha heaps up all the messianic terms she can muster to express her faith in Christ...It becomes clear that Martha's powerful believing confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God at 11:27 later proves to be primarily mere words when she comes with Jesus to the tomb of her brother and warns Jesus that her brother stinks (11:39-40)!” (Borchert)

Elsewhere, Borchert becomes even more skeptical of Martha's understanding: “Martha was full of words; but she completely missed Jesus' message to her...We must all be warned that verbal confessions and life commitments are not always partners with each other...I would argue strongly why John avoided the nouns for belief and knowledge in the Gospel and used only the verb forms for 'believe' and 'know.' He was not interested in mere informational statements about Jesus. Martha is a clear example of the problem which this Gospel seeks to confront.”

John 11:33 After Jesus sees Mary and the mourners weeping, he becomes “angry” (other translations more accurately say that he distressed and moved). Was this in response to Mary's actions? R.E. Brown says that “he was angry because he found himself face to face with the realm of Satan which, in this instance, was represented by death.” The other suggested possibilities are that (1) he was distressed and sympathetic with their tears, (2) he was upset over the exaggerated mourning being put on by the others, or (3) it was worry over his own impending death.

The last possibility is voiced by Borchert: “The pattern of [Jesus'] emotions suggests that it is the approach of his own death rather than death in general or Mary's lack of understanding which moves him so deeply.”

John 11:40 “He reminds Martha of his earlier words. This however introduces a small difficulty for these exact words have not been previously been recorded...Jesus may be referring to a saying uttered on some other occasion and not recorded. The words are not unlike those of v. 4. Jesus may be assuming that they they have been reported to her. Some see a reference to v. 26 but this is improbable for the critical words about 'the glory of God' are absent from that verse.” (Morris)

Kistemaker confidently endorses the supposition that the returning messengers had quoted Jesus' statement in v. 4 to Martha.

Guthrie suggests one more possibility: “It was to the disciples (cf. v. 4) that Jesus had mentioned God's glory, but it was implicit in what he said to Martha [in vv. 25-26].”

And, finally, there is the less likely suggestion made by Ellis who says, “Perhaps we are meant to understand by this that Jesus promised Martha that she would have a vision (suggested by the word for 'see') of the glory of God over and above the physical event to be witnessed by the others.”

Conclusion So where does all this leave Mary in relationship to her older sister?

“Martha manages to hide her grief behind a calm exterior, but Mary weeps until the miracle is performed.” (Guthrie)

“The emphasis on weeping in the Mary story contrasts vividly with the word exchange of the Martha story...Obviously, Mary expressed her loss differently from Martha. Mary's tears have in fact taken the place of most of Martha's words.” (Borchert)

Culpepper puts it this way: “[Mary] represents the response of devotion and uncalculating, extravagant love, and in contrast to her sister never verbalizes her faith in Jesus...Martha represents the ideal of discerning faith and service, Mary unlimited love and devotion, and Lazarus the hope of resurrection life. Together they are almost a Johannine characterization of the Pauline virtues – faith, hope, and love.”