“God’s Law is that we reap what we sow,” “This is fair. Nobody is cheated. It makes much sense. How can you sow something and reap what another person has sown? If you planted cocoyam, that is what you will harvest and not yam”. A man engaged people to make heaps on his farm. Some did so with sticks, some with machetes, some with shovels, and some, with hoes, either small or big. At the end of the day, to pay them, he told each person to pay himself by filling up his working implements with coins he kept on the ground. Imagine the joy and excitement of those with shovels and big hoes and the agony of those who worked with sticks and machetes!
Problems expose what we have sown. Nobody is free from problems, not even God’s children. In John 11:1-3, the Lord Jesus received a message from Mary and Martha that the man He loved was sick. That was Lazarus, their brother. Today, He will be told through prayers. He did not go immediately but said that the sickness would not lead to his death but that in it, God would be glorified. This is also the message for you, no matter what you are passing through, pray and put your trust in Him. It does not matter what doctors have said about it. The solution is at the corner and the Lord Jesus will be glorified in it.
Jesus, we are told, loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus, yet, He did not go immediately. Delay, you should note, is not denial. My daughter had no baby seven years after wedding. When someone ridiculed her, my wife and I changed our prayer pattern. We had to confront God, our Father, on the matter and she became pregnant – a set of twins! When the children were two years old, she gave birth to another set of twins. Jesus told His disciples, two days later, that Lazarus was dead and that He would go to raise him up. Mary and Martha were not told what He would do. We should mind what we do or say when we are confronted with problems since we may not know what God wants to do on the issue. It was after the burial of Lazarus that He went there. I suspect that He did not want any argument, as to whether he died or not, as was the case when He restored the sight of the youth that was born blind. Nothing is late really until it is late!
With this problem, we shall examine how Mary and Martha harvested what they had been sowing all the years. Martha told Jesus, when He arrived, that if He had been present, their brother would not have died. She seemed to be blaming Him for coming late. It might show also the greatness of Jesus who could do what no other man could do. Doctors from renowned hospitals were there, but still, Lazarus died. The Centurion, an unbeliever, however, knew better, telling Jesus that He needed not to come to his house to heal his sick servant: ‘Speak the Word only…’ Matt.8:8.
As if Martha realised her error, she said, ‘I know that even now, whatever You ask God, He will do it’. What a great confession! That would include raising Lazarus, who was stinking in the grave! When Jesus echoed back in response that He would raise him, in a reverse gear, she started talking about Lazarus rising during the rapture. Why? There must be a problem somewhere! Jesus reminded her that He is the resurrection and life. She came alive again, confessing: ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world’. Later, Jesus told the men around to ‘Take away the stone’ that covered the grave of Lazarus for the miraculous. She shifted again, complaining that he had been dead four days and was stinking. And that was the lady who said that anything Jesus asked God to do, He would do it. That was a lady who said that she knew that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. We reap what we sow.
Let us review the Ministry of Mary. In v.28, Martha told her that Jesus was calling her. I am not sure if Jesus did. Some believers tell lies. May God deliver them from this! When Mary went to meet Jesus, all those people who came to commensurate with them followed her. Why did they not follow Martha when she was leaving them to meet Jesus? What you sow is what you reap. I suspect that it was a case of anointing or that those people came to their house because of Mary. You reap what you sow. Mary bowed down when she met Jesus. Why did Aunty Martha not bow before Him? Too much familiarity with God is dangerous. May you not be too familiar with your pastors, leaders, and parents… that you forget that when you are buying a bag of rice, they need also, when you are buying a car, they need also, when you are making the foundation of your house, they need one too… Mary said what Martha said, ‘Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died’, but hers brought results.
Mary wept before Jesus. Why did Martha not weep? The people that followed her also wept. Why did they not weep when Martha met Jesus? Jesus groaned in the spirit and was troubled. Why was the same impact not made when Martha was with Him? May you cause Heaven to make the same impact! Jesus asked, “Where have you buried him?” Action! Mary said what her sister said but hers brought action, not theological exegesis. Jesus groaned in the Spirit. Why did He not groan when Martha was talking with Him? Jesus even wept. His weeping was not that He did not know what to do. It was an expression of deep love. Why did He not weep when Martha was with Him? You reap what you sow. Mary thus shook man and Heaven. This is what anointing does!
Those people who were around the grave said: “See, how He (Jesus) loved him”. A committed child of God will lead people always to appreciate the love of Jesus for them and to other people. The people around wondered why a man, who opened the eyes of the blind, could not have prevented Lazarus from dying. It was Mary who provoked this great testimony. Jesus then told them to take away the stone that covered the grave, which might include unbelief, and they did. With a large voice, so that people around would hear and judge the outcome, He called Lazarus to rise up from the grave. He obeyed! Yes, Lazarus came back to life because of Mary, while Martha would have constituted an obstacle.
There are people in the church like Martha. They will not leave but only stay to cause hindrance to God’s work. Each time new members join the church, they will recite before them the sins of the church, ministers, elders and members.
For further comment, please contact: Osondu Anyalechi: 0909 041 9057; [email protected]