John 11:17-29 – Real Believers
The hearts of true believers are filled with a lot of grace and a lot of weakness. Martha and Mary are perfect examples. Both of these women believe that Jesus has the power to stop their brother from dying. But neither of them understand that Christ does not have to be physically present in order to help. Jesus can prevent Lazarus’ death without ever coming to Bethany. Both Martha and Mary’s belief is mixed up with a lot of unbelief, but both are genuine children of God and true Christians. It’s good for us to remember what true Christians really are. We can fall into the trap of expecting out of ourselves and others behaviour and attitudes we’ll not see till heaven. We are sinners, changed and growing in our faith, but still sinners and will be till we die. Like Mary and Martha our faith is often mixed up with a lot of unbelief.
A clear view of who Christ is and what He has the power to do can give us much comfort and peace. The more we understand about Christ’s love and power toward them that believe and the riches He has, the greater will be our faith. We are too often like Martha. A little general knowledge of Christ as the only Saviour is often all that we possess. But of the fullness we can have in Him, of His resurrection, His prayers on our behalf, His unfailing compassion, we have tasted little or nothing at all. We should be ashamed that we’ve called ourselves Christians for so long and yet know so little about Christ. No wonder we don’t get much comfort out of our Christianity. Let us work hard at knowing more and more about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We will soon discover that there is more of heaven to be enjoyed on earth than we have ever thought possible.
Questions
- What does Martha not understand?
- What is the key to finding comfort in our faith?
Prayer Points
- Pray that we would discover more and more about who Jesus is.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.