He is Asking for You

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

HE IS ASKING FOR YOU

John 11:28-40

28 And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. "The Teacher is here," she said, "and is asking for you." 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. 32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then 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 have kept this man from dying?" 38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 "Take away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." 40 Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" 

NIV

There are a couple of very interesting truths going on in this portion of the narrative regarding Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Martha had already had an exchange with Jesus about her brother and that if Jesus had come earlier, her brother would not have died. We recall he told her and asked her if she believed the fact that those who believe although they die will live as well as he told her that whoever lives and believes in him will never die. So now Martha full of this knowledge, and perhaps wondering a bit just what he meant, but still somewhat excited at the prospect of never having to die, and that would mean her brother somehow will live again, and not just on the last day at the resurrection. This is easy enough to grasp for great theologians, maybe, but then for a simple Jewish lady living in a small village with little to no education in religious studies other then what she hears Jesus teach, it might be more difficult for her to comprehend the fullness of his words. Nevertheless, she heads back into the house straight to her sister, Mary, then tells her the teaching is here and he is asking for her. Although we are told they were friends of Jesus, and that he had been to their home before, perhaps on several occasions, Martha refers to Jesus as the Teacher and Mary understood exactly who she was speaking of. Her response was immediate and quick. This is the point we need to stop and ponder on. When the Teacher calls an immediate response is an appropriate response. When the Teacher is asking for us, we need to get up quickly and go to him. Certainly, this applies to the call for repentance and accepting him for our salvation. This we did as soon as we recognized who he was. In fact, we were shacking, our knees were buckling beneath us and we were nearly unable to stand. Our heart was pounding so hard within us, we thought it would burst. We were so excited to know we would never die, as death was our formidable enemy. Death for us was the end of existence as we knew not of any way to achieve eternal life, thus escaping the inevitable end of knowing and remembering life. So when the Teacher called we got up immediately and went to him. (Again, I speak regarding my own situation although using the third person). However, this also applies to our daily life in Christ. Whenever the Teacher calls for us, and that would be calling us to a task, to a calling, to a part in the body of Christ, to be a particular living stone in the temple of God, we need to quickly get up and go to him. This is not a case of dragging our feet, fighting and screaming all the way, wanting our own way in the matter, thinking we are better suited for some other task. We know that whatever Jesus calls us to he has also given us the Spirit to empower us to do that which he has called us to. So then, when we hear the Teacher is asking for us, we need to quickly get up and get going.