Enlightenment:
When the Lord came, Martha was the first one to meet Him (11:20). But before the Lord could say anything, Martha opened her mouth and gave forth another opinion: “Lord, if You were here, my brother would not have died” (11:21). She was complaining that the Lord had come too late. The Lord said to her, “Your brother shall rise again” (11:23). This means that the Lord would raise him immediately. However, Martha said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection in the last day” (11:24). Martha expounded this word of the Lord so as to postpone the present resurrection to the last day. What an expounding of the divine word! What devastating knowledge of fundamental teaching that frustrates people from enjoying the Lord’s present resurrection life! Then the Lord Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, even if he should die, shall live; and every one who lives and believes in Me shall by no means die forever” (11:25-26). The Lord seemed to be telling her, “It is not a matter of time. There is no problem of time with Me. Nothing is too late, and nothing is too early. As long as I am here, everything will be all right, for I will raise up your brother.” Then the Lord asked Martha, “Do you believe this?” Martha replied, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world” (11:27). What she answered absolutely was not what the Lord asked. She was not clear about what the Lord was saying. Her old, preoccupying knowledge prevented her from understanding the Lord’s new word.