After Martha has affirmed to Jesus that he is the Christ, the Messiah, she goes to fetch her sister Mary, telling her:
“’The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’ And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him” (Jn 11:28-29).
Her Jewish friends follow her, guessing that she is hurrying to the tomb to mourn and weep. When she comes to Jesus, she says the same thing her sister did:
“’Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died’” (Jn 11:32).
Then a remarkable moment of unity occurs:
“When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see’” (Jn 11:33-34).
Despite all the confrontations Jesus has had with the Jews, here he sees some humanity in them, and they see in his struggling to control his emotions the same thing in him. It is truly a powerful moment and Jesus sees the power of unconditional love in unity:
“Jesus wept” (Jn 11:35).
This moment of unity is Jesus sealing his unity with us, truly sharing the results of our sinful humanity in death!
The Jews are also moved:
“So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him’” (Jn 11:36)!
Suddenly, Jesus sees some of the Jews who appreciate him for his caring spirit. But this lasts for just a moment:
“But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying’” (Jn 11:37)?
Spoiler alert! Hasn’t Jesus warned his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees? The Pharisees among them cannot stand any unity with Jesus.
In our work to promote answering Jesus’ high priestly prayer for perfect unity in John 17:23, we need to be aware of this ubiquitous pattern of the devil’s opposition – first slight encouragement to get us to let our guard down, but then behind the scenes muttering and spreading dissent among the unbelievers.
Yet note that Jesus is never derailed from obeying his Father’s mission – ever.
May God grant us all the same strength in the presence of evil to endure and to love!
Part 4 of this series is worth the price of admission! See you then!