Religious Knowledge versus Relationally Knowing, Part 2: Trust Trumps Truisms
David W Palmer
(John 11:23–25 NKJV) 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.”
Jesus’s trainee leaders were present to witness the raising of Lazarus from the dead. They were learning first hand, and very experientially, the importance of receiving light—or revelation—from heaven before moving forward. In this whole episode, however, we will see that they also witnessed a second life lesson as great if not greater than raising the dead—one that can eternally change any of us who will truly learn the profound miracle that unfolded in the background.
After several serious threats on Jesus’s life, along with him, they had retreated from Jerusalem to the other side of the Jordan. But after Martha and Mary’s urgent request to come to the aid of their ailing brother, Lazarus; and after waiting on God for two days for light, Jesus led them back into the danger zone to imitate what he had seen with his Father.
When they arrived, Lazarus had already died physically:
(John 11:17, 20–21 NLT) When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. ... {20} When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. {21} Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Martha seemed to be saying that if the Lord had done her will, she could have saved the day. In other words, if she were Lord, and Jesus—along with all his infinite power—were under her control, everything in her life would be perfect. This is a serious mistake; Jesus is Lord, and obeying him is the only way for life to work out safely and successfully—both now and eternally:
(Hebrews 5:9 CEV) Suffering made Jesus perfect, and now he can save forever all who obey him.
At least Martha had her basic doctrines right:
(John 11:22–24 NLT) “But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” {23} Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” {24} “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”
Martha believed in the right doctrines, and she seemed to understand them well. However, her response was more like a student writing an exam answer than the profound truth that Jesus wanted her to understand. So, he responded to her statement with an extremely significant and eternally enduring truth:
(John 11:25–26 NLT) Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. {26} Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
Jesus wanted her to see that even the end times belief is relational, not merely religious dogma; it’s about dependent personal relationship with him who is the resurrection, rather than trite truisms based on intellectual doctrines isolated and distilled from God’s living word.
Martha’s response was a little defensive; apparently, she didn’t want to be caught out on questions about doctrinal matters, which she had fully learned and retained so she would know all the answers—thus protecting herself from feeling inferior:
(John 11:27 NLT) “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”
Jesus had light from heaven; Father’s objective was to raise Lazarus from the dead to bring glory to Jesus, but also to do something equally miraculous in Martha’s life. He wanted to take her from a reasoned religious belief in doctrines about Jesus—while keeping herself as Lord, even over him—to a deep personal trust in him to be in control. This is the true miracle that he wants to see take place, not only in Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, but also in his apprentices and us:
(John 11:33–35 NLT) When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. {34} “Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.” {35} Then Jesus wept.
With deep groaning and [apparent] weeping, Jesus interceded for both miracles. Then he began to move lovingly, but confrontingly, against Martha’s religious shell. Like the rock covering the cave where Lazarus’s body lay, she believed her controlling “wisdom,” her correct religious dogma, and her right intellectual answers could protect her from hurt, and replace the need to open her heart in child-like dependent trust upon another.
Sadly, her protective shell cut her off—not just from hurt entering through disappointment or correction—but from God’s life flowing in; like Lazarus, her inner man was dead—locked in behind a stony hard barrier. Thankfully, Jesus had her number; he was ready and able to resurrect her from the spiritual death this had created for her hidden inner man:
(John 11:39 NLT) “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”
Martha’s social defences were now palpable; her focus on her standing and reputation was put in overt conflict with trusting obedience to Jesus. For her it was crunch time; would she yield to his command in submission to him being Lord, or would she deny his right to lordship over her and continue with herself as her own lord? Thankfully, her desire for her brother’s life, and her love for Jesus prevailed; she trusted him and what he said:
(John 11:40 NLT) Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?”
Jesus kept her focused on the real issue. It was like he was saying to her: “Raising the dead is not a dogma; I am the resurrection. Do you trust me? This is about relationally knowing and trusting me; it’s not about trusting truisms and intellectual doctrines.”
(John 11:41–44 NLT) So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. {42} You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” {43} Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” {44} And the dead man came out …
The miracle happened—for Martha as well as for Lazarus. He was alive again; he was able to receive God’s word and to grow in his relationship with Jesus. And maybe one day, he could give his life over to the Lord in absolute trust and submission. But for Martha, an eternal miracle had happened. She had gone from religious doctrines about Jesus to truly trusting him with all of her heart; she relinquished the role of being the lord over her life and family, to trusting him to be Lord. How? by obeying him when it meant denying self, and yielding to defenseless, risky, reliance on his wisdom, love, and leading.
Today, where are you at in this? Do you trust him with all your heart—even when his ideas and instructions seem illogical and extremely risky? Or are you hiding behind a defensive barrier of intellectual reasoning, right doctrines, and dogmatically held viewpoints? I encourage you today; don’t delay any longer on fully surrendering to Jesus. He is love, and he is Lord. When you yield to his wisdom and commands, fully obeying him from the depth of your heart—trusting him with the outcomes—miracles will flow.
Jesus doesn’t want us living in servitude to religion and its dogmas—even though right doctrine is an essential foundation for developing an authentic walk in the spirit with Jesus; he wants us … becoming friends.
