Same Story - Different Characters

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick." When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." 

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." "But Rabbi," they said, "a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?" Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world's light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light." After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up." His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." 

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?" "Yes, Lord," she replied, "I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world." 

After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. "The Teacher is here," she said, "and is asking for you." When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" 

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. "Take away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."  (John 11:1-44 NIV)

I can't begin to count the number times I've either heard this story read or that I've actually read it myself.  Today, though, I found myself seeing the events of those days differently.  The people in the story seem to be changing right before my very eyes.  Look at what I'm seeing...

Thomas -  Poor Thomas gets the "doubting Thomas" label from us all because of the time he required proof that Jesus had actually risen from the dead.  Here, however, I see him differently than a doubter.  Everyone was afraid to go to Judea because they knew Jesus was a "wanted" man.  When Jesus finally decided to go to Judea to help Lazarus, No one wanted  Jesus to go, for fear of his life.  No one wanted to go with him, for fear of their lives...except Thomas.  "If he is going to die, then we should die with him," was Thomas' sentiment.  What a man of faith.  What a man of action.  Suddenly his later doubts don't portray a wimp to me, but a strong man who simply wants proof that he's fighting for the right cause.  Then, watch out.  He won't back down.

Martha - Martha also gets a bad reputation because she was "too busy" to stop and listen to Jesus because of house cleaning and dinner preparation.  As I was reading this account today I kept thinking to myself, "Well, she must have heard something.  Look at her faith!"  Look at her faith, indeed.  She was the only one who expressed the belief that Jesus could raise someone from the dead.  He had not performed this miracle yet.  Lazarus was the first.  Sure, he had healed people who were sick before, but he never brought someone back from four days in the grave.  Martha's faith challenged me.

Mary - Mary is the one portrayed in another story as sitting at Jesus' feet, hanging on his every word.  I'm now seeing how she loved with great emotion as well.  After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, she showed her love and gratitude by pouring expensive perfume on his feet and drying it with her hair.  Earlier, when Lazarus died, she was grieving so greatly that she didn't recognize the arrival of Jesus until Martha pulled her aside to tell her.  Mary's emotions were so strong that Jesus' ministry to her was different than his ministry to Martha.  Martha expressed her faith in words and with questions.  Jesus answered her questions.  Mary expressed her faith with tears.  In ministering to Mary, Jesus wept. 

Their faith in Jesus was expressed quite differently - yet all three of them believed in Him.  I want to enjoy watching people who believe in Jesus express their faith differently.  That's what the Body of Christ should be.