Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died”… Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ~ John 11:21 & 32
Two grieving sisters, two verbatim proclamations. Mourning together after the death of their brother, Lazarus, I’m sure they had wondered why Jesus had not come when they sent for him. After all, hadn’t they demonstrated faith in him by imploring him to come and heal their sick brother? But their faith in Jesus seemingly stopped at the door of death. His great power was for this life only, or so they believed. Jesus intentionally waited for Lazarus to die before he came so that he would be glorified as the Son of God when he raised Lazarus from the dead. This event was a foreshadowing of his own resurrection and a down payment of the resurrection to life of all those who die in Christ.