Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, so He waited. This is such a difficult passage to swallow. Like Martha who cries to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died,” we, too, cry out to Jesus when the answers we seek are long in coming.
I found the disciples’ reaction to Jesus’ decision to wait in place, then go back to Judea, to be fascinating. They are concerned for Jesus’ wellbeing as the Jews in Judea had recently tried to stone Jesus. I had to pause and wonder if, perhaps, they had been glad during the two day wait. Perhaps they were sad for Jesus since His friend was sick, but glad for themselves because they weren’t going to go back to a place of danger.
Then, Jesus announces it’s time to go back. The surprise and shock are evident, especially in Thomas’s defeated statement that they are going to their death. It would seem that no one is very pleased with Jesus’ timing.
What do we do when Jesus’ timing is not our own? The Gospel offers us two options. The first is that of the disciples. They are resistant, uncertain, and while they do go along with Jesus, they lack an attitude of trust in His wisdom. Then there is Martha, who also wonders and questions Jesus’ timing. However, she makes a bold statement of faith immediately afterwards, demonstrating that she trusts Jesus knows what He’s doing even if she doesn’t.
“But even now, I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you” (John 11:22).
Martha’s faith is not dependent on her knowledge of Jesus’ plans. The plans and timing aren’t the important thing. Her focus is on the person of Jesus, the Son of God. Nothing is too impossible for Him, even if it seems beyond our measure of understanding.
By Kate Taliaferro, Diocesan Publications
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032226.cfm