John 11:26-30
 
John 11:26 (KJB)
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
 
Now Jesus reverses the teaching and states that those who are living and are believers in Him will never die. In the previous verse Jesus was speaking about those Christians who had physically died but were spiritually alive. Now He states that those true Christians who are physically alive will never die. He is referring to spiritually and the fact that they will never face the second death which is eternal damnation. Christians die everyday in this world but here Jesus gives great comfort that those who are alive in Christ right now and physically die, never see a moment of death because they have eternal life. He then turns to Martha and asks her if she believes this?
 
John 11:27 (KJB)
She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
 
Here Martha affirms her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The word “believe” is in the perfect tense making it a past action which has long term effects. This means that Martha was already a believer before this time. Jesus had previously known this family and no doubt they had all become believers. Martha may not know all the particulars about the resurrection but she has a very strong faith in Christ and reveals that she is a believer by making the declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the long awaited Messiah, who was also the Son of God. Peter had made this same declaration.
 
(Mat 16:16-17 KJV) And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. {17} And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
 
This shows the unity of the faith of the disciples and the others who became saved. Martha, like Peter, received that knowledge from the Father. This confirms the fact that Martha was a believer. She also knew that it was the Messiah who was to come into the world as God sent His Son. Martha had a pretty good understanding of spiritual things and it seems the only thing she is remembered by is the fact that she wanted Mary to help her.
 
John 11:28 (KJB)
And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.
 
Martha must have known very well the danger that Jesus was in by returning to Judaea. This is why Martha had told Mary secretly that Jesus has returned. If it would have been made known, then the enemies of Jesus would have swooped down on Him like a pack of vultures and Martha did not want that to happen because He was also their friend. Jesus knew that Mary was also grieving and He called for her to comfort her since He had spent considerable time with Martha. He wanted to spend some time with Mary.
 
John 11:29 (KJB)
As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.
 
Quickly - Without delay or swiftly
 
Mary wasted no time because as soon as she heard that Jesus was approaching, she arose without delay and went to Him. Too bad we Christians do not take a hint from Mary. When Christ gives us a command or a ministry to do that we engage as soon as possible, without delay. I am sure that Mary had probably went to Jesus with great anticipation that He still may be able to do something about the death of their brother.
 
John 11:30 (KJB)
Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.
 
Mary also knew that Jesus was in danger so Mary had gone out to meet Him. It seems He had not entered into the town yet and they may have met Him on the outskirts of Bethany. They were probably near to the tomb of Lazarus. Martha had probably asked Jesus to remain where He was and that she would bring Mary to him. They probably had tried to keep the meeting secret because their home would probably be filled with mourners and no doubt would have attended the temple services. This would mean that someone would probably tell the leaders that Jesus was back in Judaea. They wanted to avoid a confrontation and spend time with Jesus alone.

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