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Martha's Rebuke: John 11:21-22
Martha, after losing her brother Lazarus, begins a conversation with Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask” (John 11:21-22). Why does Martha open the conversation with a conditional statement? Here are three perspectives.
Her conditional statement may be serving an informative purpose. As such it would read, “Lord, [do you not KNOW that] if you had been here, my brother….”
Her conditional may be a demonstration of faith. As such it would read, “Lord, [I BELIEVE that] if had you been here, my brother….” The context strengthens this option since Martha shows glimpses of divine perspective mixed with present reality: she believes Lazarus will rise again on the last day (24), Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (27), and Lazarus stinks, it being four days and all (39).
However, in the third perspective, her conditional softens her utterance into a gentle rebuke. As such it draws attention to the Lord’s absence, “Lord, IF YOU HAD BEEN HERE, my brother….” Two points help frame this option. First, the wording itself implies that it is the Lord’s absence that is foremost on her mind. Of all the things she could say, this is what comes out first. From her vantage point, it is the basis for her brother’s death. She, wrapped in grief, cannot keep all that she is thinking from the one she knows could have helped.
Second, I say “softens” because it stands in contrast to other forms of rebuke delivered to the Lord. Peter physically takes the Lord aside, “Never, Lord!” (Matt 16:22). Again, Peter on Passover night, “No, you shall never wash my feet” (John 13:8). Peter’s powerful rebuke stands in contrast to the delicate form in Martha’s speech. Hers is a softer way of saying “Lord, you should have been here!” Now, she may have meant, “Lord, you SHOULD have been here!” but she chose to express it as, “Lord, IF you had been here.” That slight alteration makes the difference.
What beautiful balance. Martha’s mind must have been flooded with emotions due to her brother’s death. Nevertheless, she exemplifies enough mental composure to keep that flood from overriding her speech with Jesus. For us today, we need to balance our emotionally charged expressions to God with language that is sprinkled with propriety due him.
Prof. Tom Dailey
Assistant Professor of
Biblical Theology
and Exegesis
Dr. Windsor's Book Review of: The Lost History of Christianity: the Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-and How it Died
Purchase this book now through Central's Amazon bookstore. Click Here
This book has an amazing blend of church history, missiology, and contemporary cultural analysis. The scope of the historical study surveys the Christian churches that thrived outside of the boundaries of the Roman Empire and survived in time longer than the Roman Empire—whether one dates the "fall of the Roman Empire" with the barbarian invasions of the late fourth century or the capture of Constantinople by the Moslems in 1453.
Historic and non-Catholic versions of Christianity thrived in the Middle East (Mesopotamia, Persia, and as far east as India and China) and in Africa (Egypt, Nubia [now Sudan], and Ethiopia). The historic version of Christianity in the Middle East was Nestorian in doctrine (church history students may need to review their early church history at this point). While Roman Christianity would become the dominant expression of Christianity in Europe, the Nestorian Church (or Syriac Christianity) would minister in a pluralistic world. In the Middle East it would compete first with paganism and Manichaeism and later with Islam. As it moved into India and China it would compete with Buddhism. While Syriac Christianity has largely been eclipsed in the Middle East, Coptic Christianity survives in Egypt, representing about ten percent of the population of Egypt.
The missiological aspect of the book deals both with the history and success of these Christian movements and the ramifications of their subsequent decline. The contemporary cultural analysis deals with Christian-Moslem religious dialogue in our era. The book is thought-provoking and a good corrective to a Euro-centric version of church history.
Dr. Mike Windsor
Professor of Theology and Theological Bibliography
New Interactive
Prayer Column
As we mentioned last month we would like to make our prayer requests column an interactive resource for everyone. Future newsletters will contain a link to prayer requests which will feature requests from faculty, students and alumni. This link will be changed whenever we receive new requests rather than simply monthly. Please email items which you would like to share for prayer and we will post in on this link. Please email requests to acampbell@baptistseminary.edu
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