the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Our Daily Homily - Volume 3
John 11:40—Said I not unto thee, that, if thou believest, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
Yes, we shall see the glory of God. We shall see the graves give up their dead—not only at the last day, but now. Thousands around us are dead in trespasses and sins, in which they walk according to the course of this world. Alas! more than this, they stink in the putridity of their lives and speech. Around their graves gather their friends and relatives, bathed in tears, but unable to arrest the progress of decay. But, if we will believe, we shall see the glory of God.
But how shall we believe for this? It seems easy for some to believe. The Marys who sit at the Lord’s feet, feeding on his words, find the life and light of faith in his beloved presence. But others, like Martha, are distracted with so many things, that faith seems impossible. And this is the very point where this story is so abundantly helpful. Jesus must have the co-operation and sympathy of some one’s faith before this miracle could be wrought—and these He found, not in Mary, as we might have expected, but in Martha, the harassed housewife.
In educating Martha to this stupendous act of faith, (1) The Lord gave her a distinct promise: "Thy brother shall rise again." (2) He drew her attention from his words to Himself, who lay beneath and behind them: "I am the Resurrection and the Life." (3) He forced her to confess her faith. To express it would confirm and increase it: "Believest thou this?" (4) He compelled her to act on the faith, He had created, by allowing the bystanders to remove the stone. All her soul woke up as she remarked these preparations for her brother’s resurrection. She believed; and in her faith gave the Lord the pivot on which his leverage might rest.
