"He told them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead. And for your sakes, I'm glad I wasn't there, for now you will really believe. Come, let's go see him.' …
When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. … Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.'
Jesus told her, 'Your brother will rise again.'
'Yes,' Martha said, 'he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.'
Jesus told her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?'
'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.'"
Martha knew that Jesus could have healed Lazarus. Now she was being asked if she believed he could actually raise him from the dead. Part of his "grander plan" in waiting to come to the sisters was stretching Martha's (and the disciples') faith further, helping them to catch a much deeper glimpse of his identity. His purpose for our lives is always to get us to know him better. When you're faced with suffering, do you primarily seek to gain relief from the suffering or to know Jesus in the suffering?
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