Mary

Hello there! I’m Stephen.

Well, no more formalities I think I’ll just jump into it.

I’m going to be writing about John 11:28-32. The “Jesus Wept” passage deserves more than I (Or almost anyone) can give it, so I’ll let someone else do that.

But I digress; to the text!

John 11:28–32 (nasb)

²⁸ And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” ²⁹ As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. ³¹ Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.” ³² Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Now, Abbie wrote about the 10 verses preceding this passage on the last study blog so if you want in depth analyzation of those passages I recommend reading that. To provide you with some context though, I’ll give a brief summery of whats going on before this passage.

Lazarus, Mary and Martha’s brother, a man who is identified to Jesus as “He who you love”, has just died and Mary and Martha are mourning him as Jesus approaches them. In the passage right before this one, Martha had words with Jesus and basically showed great faith in Him.

In verse 27 she says, “ Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” We continue into verse 28 and read, “ And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.”

Pretty strait forward verse. You may wonder why it says that she “Secretly called Mary” but it is revealed that there are other people mourning Lazarus, so I think that, most likely, she was called “Secretly” in a whisper as to not draw attention away from the mourning. You know the feeling after someone has died or at a funeral, when you feel like if you breathe too loudly you’re being irreverent.

The other interesting thing about this verse is how after Martha has called Jesus, the Son of God, she refers to Him to Mary as “The Teacher.” Some might argue that Martha doesn’t comprehend what she has just said. I tend to lean in the direction of thinking that she calls Him, “The Teacher” because his speech to her has given her a revelation of the Gospel. Of course, that’s speculation, but I think its slightly more likely.

Verse 29-30 says,

²⁹ “As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him.” (nasb)

This is more significant than you may think. Mary is mourning her brother, she’s unhappy and downhearted. Many of you have dealt with death before and know that directly after the death of a loved one, you don’t feel motivation to say or do anything. Yet when Martha comes to Mary and tells her The Rabbi is calling her, she not only gets up immediately, but she runs out of town to see Him. Its obvious that Mary believes Jesus is something special. Though its not revealed yet, Mary has great faith in Jesus.

Verse 31-32 says,

³¹ “Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”³² Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” (nasb)

Try to picture all these Jews sitting around and mourning Lazarus. Its a solemn picture. There are probably many people weeping and it wasn’t the sort of place where you would want to whip out your favorite “Guy walks into a bar” joke. Mary was so upset that she needed comforting.

vMartha comes in and whispers to her that Jesus wants her and she immediately gets up and leaves. She runs out so quickly that the other Jews say, “ She is going to the tomb to weep there.” They think that she must be having some sort of breakdown and is going to the tomb to mourn some more.

Yet, Mary runs to Jesus.

This is a great picture for believers. Mary is sad, weary, downtrodden and full of remorse.

And Mary runs to the presence of the Lord.

What an outstanding illustration of how the Christian should act when we are in need.

“she fell down at His feet”

She shows faith as she says to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Mary understood that Jesus has power over death.

She is also, clearly upset.

Mary ran to Jesus.