By Maritza Brunt
Many years ago, in a land far away, there lived a little girl named Mary. Mary lived with her family in a place called Bethany, and more than anything, she loved to play outside. She would run through the dusty streets, all the way to the edge of town, until she reached the olive groves that spread across the gentle slope of the mountain. She could spend all day among those trees!
Some days, her brother Lazarus would join her, and they would make up all kinds of games together. They tried to get their sister Martha to play, too, but Martha much preferred to stay home, following Mother around and learning how to make their house feel like a home. Mary didn’t care much for chores. She took any opportunity she could to escape outdoors where she could feel the warm sunshine and breeze on her cheeks.
As Mary, Martha and Lazarus grew up, they made lots of friends during their years together. But one of their best friends was a man named Jesus. The three siblings loved when Jesus came to visit, and they loved hearing him teach stories from the Bible.
One morning, Mary woke up with a strange feeling. Something isn’t right, she thought to herself as she pulled back her covers. Slipping out of her room, she hurried toward the kitchen where she could hear Martha working.
“Good morning, sister,” she said to Martha, who was kneading dough for bread. “Have you seen Lazarus yet?”
Martha frowned, and wiped a hand covered in flour over her brow.
“Now that you mention it, I haven’t. He must have left for the day already. Where did I put the honey?”
Mary nodded, backing for the doorway. Martha didn’t even notice when she disappeared in the direction of Lazarus’s chamber. Stopping at the door, Mary knocked softly.
“Lazarus?” she called.
There was no answer.
Mary knocked again, louder this time.
“Lazarus?” she called out.
Pressing her ear to the door, Mary thought she heard a faint noise. Pushing the door open, her heart jumped into her throat. There was Lazarus, lying on his pallet, looking sicker than Mary had ever seen him.
“Lazarus!” cried Mary, rushing to him. “What happened?”
Lazarus was so sick he couldn’t even talk. All he could do was cough weakly.
Mary ran to the doorway.
“Martha! MARTHA!” she screamed for her sister.
Martha came running. She took one look at Lazarus and began to give orders.
“Mary, you’ll need to get a basin and fill it with water. Some clean cloths, and some herbs. And quickly!” She began to air out the room and gently moved Lazarus onto his side.
Mary stayed in the doorway, worried for her brother. But then she remembered something!
“Martha, we need to ask Jesus to come! He’ll know what to do!”
“You’re right,” Martha agreed. “Send a message to him now!”
Mary found a messenger boy and asked him to run as fast as he could. Then she went back to Lazarus’s room and sat next to his bed with Martha. The two sisters worried for their brother. But they prayed over and over. They had seen Jesus heal people and they knew He could make Lazarus well again.
Meanwhile, in another town, Jesus was telling a Bible story to a group of people when the messenger boy came running up to him. The poor boy was out of breath when he arrived, because had been running for so long! But in between puffs of air, he managed to get the message out.
“Lord,” he panted. “Your good friend Lazarus is very sick.”
Jesus put his hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“Thank you for delivering this message,” he told him. “Lazarus is sick, but it is going to be for the glory of God.”
The boy was confused. Was Jesus going to heal Lazarus? And what did it mean that Lazarus’s sickness was going to be for God’s glory?
Jesus didn’t give answers to these questions. Instead, he kept on teaching. Even though Lazarus was very sick, Jesus stayed in the town where he was for the next two days.
Back in Bethany, Mary and Martha were beginning to worry.
“Surely Jesus received our message by now,” Martha said to her sister. “What’s taking him so long?”
“I don’t know,” Mary said. “But we have to trust that He will make our brother better again!”
But Lazarus didn’t get better. Not long after Mary had first discovered that he was sick, Lazarus died. Mary and Martha were heartbroken. Why hadn’t Jesus come to make their brother better? They wrapped Lazarus in white bandages, and placed him in a tomb. Then they went home.
In the meantime, Jesus was telling another story to another group of people. When he finished, he turned around to his disciples.
“Okay,” he said to them. “Let’s go back to Bethany to see Mary and Martha. My friend Lazarus has died and I am going to wake him up.”
The disciples were confused. Why would Jesus let his friend Lazarus die? Couldn’t Jesus have healed his friend before he died? Or why didn’t he go right away when He found out Lazarus was sick?
Again, Jesus didn’t answer their questions. He just started walking. After a little while, Jesus and His disciples reached the town of Bethany where Mary and Martha lived. When they arrived, a lady told him that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
Four days! thought the disciples. That’s a long time. How is Jesus going to wake Lazarus up after four days?
All of the noise from Jesus’s arrival into town eventually reached the sisters. Martha stuck her head out the window.
“Jesus is here,” she said to Mary. “Do you want to go see him?”
Mary looked up at Martha, her eyes red from crying.
“I’ll stay here,” she said. “You go.”
Martha hurried down the road toward Jesus.
“Jesus!” she called out when she saw Him. “If only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
“Don’t worry, Martha,” Jesus said to her. “Lazarus will rise again! Whoever believes in me will live forever, even after they’ve died. Do you believe this, Martha?
Martha thought for a moment. “I do believe, Jesus,” she replied. Then she went back to the house.
“Mary,” she called. “Jesus is here. He wants to see you.”
Mary wiped her nose. She was still very sad that her brother had died. She walked slowly out of the house toward the edge of the town. Jesus had stayed outside the village, and as soon as Mary saw Him, she began to run. Throwing herself down onto the ground at Jesus’s feet, she cried and cried.
“Jesus!” she sobbed. “If only you had been here, my brother would not have died!”
Jesus looked down at Mary, and then around at all the people who were crying with her.
“Where is Lazarus?” he asked.
“Come this way, we’ll show you,” said a man.
Mary, Jesus and the crowd of people went to the tomb where Lazarus was buried. Martha joined them again. Looking at the place where her brother was, Martha couldn’t stop the tears. Mary cried too, quietly drying her eyes with the corner of her tunic.
Jesus looked at Mary and Martha and felt tears spring to His own eyes. He loved these sisters, and he loved Lazarus. Jesus was sad because Mary and Martha were sad, and cried with them.
But then Jesus did something else that instantly stopped the tears from Mary and Martha.
“Roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb,” Jesus told the people.
Mary gasped, and Martha looked horrified.
“But Lord!” she said. “Lazarus has been dead for four days! The smell will be terrible!”
Jesus kept walking towards the tomb.
“Just wait, Martha,” he said. “Remember that I said Lazarus’s sickness would be for God’s glory? Look what happens if you believe.”
Then Jesus stopped at the entrance of the tomb.
“Lazarus!” he shouted. “Come out!”
Martha went still, and Mary clung to her sister, afraid to even breathe. Could it be possible? The seconds ticked by in silence, until suddenly, someone gasped.
“Look” yelled a woman, pointing.
And there, from the shadows, out shuffled Lazarus, still wrapped head to toe in his white bandages!
“Unwrap him!” Jesus told the people closest to Lazarus, and they hurried to strip the bandages off. Stepping forward, Jesus smiled at his friend, and gave him a giant hug.
Out of his bandages, Lazarus looked around for his sisters. Both Mary and Martha still stood in the same spot, glued to the ground, staring in complete disbelief.
“Well?” called Lazarus. “Is this the only greeting I get?”
His words sparked life into Mary. Running to him, she threw her arms around her brother. She could feel Martha’s arms around them, too, as the three siblings cried together. Then she heard Jesus’s voice in the distance.
“Father,” he said “I thank you that you have heard me. I know that you always hear me, but because of these people standing here, I am saying this so that they may believe that You sent Me.”
Mary pulled away. She knew Jesus was talking to God, His Father in heaven. But she still had so many questions. Why would Jesus let her brother die if He was only going to let him live again? Mary watched Jesus walk into town with His disciples.
Maybe there was a lesson here, Mary thought to herself. Hard and bad things happen all the time, and although it felt like Jesus was far away from me, He had a plan all along. And it was a better plan than I could have ever dreamed of! My brother is alive again.
Mary turned back to her brother and sister, and grabbed their hands. They walked all the way back home together, swinging their hands just like they used to when they were little children. Mary, Martha and Lazarus knew now that even when things happened that they didn’t understand, they could always trust their friend Jesus.
PICTURE CREDIT -John Paul Stanley/ Free Bible Images
