Lazarus, Mary, Martha

From these three members of a family, we can learn something about ourselves. 

We are made in the image of GOD. We are spiritual beings, with a soul, and our body houses these eternal and precious parts of ours.

These three individuals who were siblings, had very different personalities.

Luke 10:38-42

38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 

Have you welcomed the LORD JESUS into your life, that He might come and live in you?

17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
John 14:17

23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
John 14:23

20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
Revelation 3:20

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39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. 

Like Mary, our soul must learn to set at the feet of JESUS and hear His word. The mind of our soul must be renewed according to the word of GOD. As we submit ourselves to the word of GOD, our soul will rest in Him.

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40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, 

Like Martha, our bodies are pushed by our carnal mind to be distracted from JESUS, busying ourselves with many things, even in our service for Him!

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and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

When we are distracted with much serving - that extra serving that is not necessary, we get stressed and stress others and find fault even with the LORD.

It is important for our soul to enter into the rest of the LORD by sitting at His feet and listening to Him and simply obeying Him. He gives us sufficient grace for what He requires of us.

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John 11:1-44

1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 

All of us are spiritually sick because of the fallen nature in us.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23

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2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 

The mind depicts our soul which consists of our will, intellect and emotion.

Mary's action speaks of her great love for the LORD JESUS which led her to true worship - meaning the full surrender of her spirit, soul and body!

 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1-2

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3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." 

When we intercede for others, they come to life in JESUS.

 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
James 5:15-16

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4 When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." 

The LORD JESUS heals all our physical sicknesses except the illness that has been appointed to lead us to death at the end of our life.

  Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, "O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!" 2 Kings 13:14

In certain instances the LORD also permits infirmities with a higher purpose, but gives sufficient grace to overcome, and perfects His strength through it.

And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Sin leads to eternal death but salvation through the LORD JESUS gives us eternal life.

 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

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5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 

GOD loves all the people of the world and He loves us wholly and is concerned about our spirit, soul and body.

6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. 7 Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." 

JESUS always comes at the right time.

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, Galatians 4:4

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8 The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought 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 one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up." 12 Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well." 13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him." 16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." 17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. 

Since creation and  the fall of man, it was about 4000 years to the end of the Old Testament.

Then, there is a period of silence from the end of the old Testament to the beginning of the New Testament, stretching 400 years before the birth of CHRIST.

It is as it were, that the world was completely dead in sin with no hope, when the LORD JESUS, the Savior, came into this world!

18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. 19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. 20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21 Then 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 of 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 at the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever 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 to come into the world." 

When we acknowledge the LORD JESUS as the CHRIST and receive Him into our life, our spirit is revived and we experience eternal life here and now.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

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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." 

Basically, all the sadness and brokenness of the soul in the world and distress in the body are the result of spiritual death or sickness of mankind.

33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34 And He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!" 

Observing the emotional and physical suffering of mankind, the LORD JESUS was moved with compassion and reached out to bring relief and healing. The hymn writer describes it beautifully:   O the love that drew salvation's plan

O the grace that brought it down to man
O the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary!

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Matthew 9:35-36

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37 And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?" 

GOD created man with a free will to be able to make decisions. He did not make robots! 

Man gave in to the temptation of Satan and disobeyed GOD thus separating himself from GOD and bringing this curse upon himself.

GOD, in His grace, has reached out to mankind to bring salvation and restoration of this broken relationship, through His Son, our precious LORD JESUS!

When we willingly give ourselves into His keeping, He keeps us by His power.

He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand. Psalm 121:3-5

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38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, 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 him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me." 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."

When we were dead in sin and bound with grave clothes, the LORD called us by name to give us spiritual life. 

Now we must loose ourselves and each other from the bondages of sin and hurt of the soul,  through gracious forgiveness and love.

 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family. Leviticus 25:10

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:30-32

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John 12:1-2

1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.

We are raised up spiritually to be seated in the heavenly places with CHRIST while living on earth! 

 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:1-10

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Knowing that like Lazarus we are seated in the heavenly places with CHRIST, spiritually, let us bring our soul to sit at the feet of the LORD in submission and let our body act in obedience to the Holy Spirit and so serve the LORD with peace and joy!

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; 

and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless 

at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24