Abundantly Above All
“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21).
In all honesty, by the time Jesus got to Bethany, Mary and Martha were pretty upset. Martha, specifically, was quite outspoken. And sure enough, there she was to meet the Lord as He came walking into Bethany.
Loose paraphrase: “Lord, with all due respect, You didn’t come through. We told everyone, ‘Jesus is our friend. We will send Him a message, and He will come and heal Lazarus. You watch. He cares about us. He loves us.’ Then You come strolling in here a few days later. Now my brother is beyond sick. He is dead.”
Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again” (v 20).
“I know that, Lord. I know he will rise in the final resurrection,” Martha replied.
He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (v 25–26).
“Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world” (v 27).
Martha wasn’t getting it. She wanted a healing; Jesus wanted resurrection. Yes, He loved Lazarus. But
– He wanted to do something more dramatic.
In the same way, we say, “Lord, you have to do this. . . .” But do we ever stop and think that God may want to do more? Do we ever stop and think that God might want to do abundantly above and beyond that which we could ask or think?
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21).
(PR)