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Among our Lord's friends none were more affectionate or more faithful than the favored family of Bethany. That, in the hours of their anxiety and of their mourning, Mary and Martha should have lamented the absence of the Master, is not surprising, nor does it call for any blame. But they did not simply regret that Jesus was not with them; they went further than this, and believed and said that, had he been present, the calamity which befell them would have been averted.

I. THE TEMPER OF MIND WHICH LAMENTED THE BODILY ABSENCE OF JESUS IN AFFLICTION. When this is analyzed, it appears to be mixed.

1. There was faith. In their trouble, the first thought of the sisters was of Jesus. They sent to him an earnest entreaty to come and interpose on their behalf. When he came - as they thought too late - they welcomed and honored him. They threw themselves upon his sympathy, and professed their belief that, even now, their case was not beyond the, reach of his power and compassion. All this implied faith.

2. The faith, however, was imperfect. This appears from their laying undue stress upon Christ's bodily presence. They ought to have been reassured by his language upon receiving tidings of his friend's sickness. They ought to have reflected that his absence was no sign of his want of interest or affection, was no sign of any lapse of power. Their tone of mind evinced the imperfection of their faith.

II. THE REASONS WHICH ACCOUNTED FOR THE BODILY ABSENCE OF JESUS IN THE TIME OF HIS FRIENDS' AFFLICTION.

1. The ultimate reason both for Lazarus's sickness and death, and also for the Lord's delay in visiting Bethany, was a moral reason, relating to his own ministry. The Son of Goal was hereby to be glorified; his mission was to be fulfilled.

2. More particularly, the faith of the disciples was called out and strengthened by this action of the Lord Jesus; it was partly "for their sake," to the end that "they might believe." They had witnessed many instances of his power; they were now to see the crowning proof of the omnipotence of him whom they trusted and honored.

3. The religious confidence of the sisters was to be developed, and a full confession was to be elicited from them. Much as they revered and loved their Lord, Martha and Mary had yet much to learn; and that their conception of Jesus and their faith in Jesus might be perfected, it was necessary that they should see him in a new light, and have a further proof of his Divinity. This end we know from the record to have been answered in their experience.

4. Many unbelieving Jews were convinced. Some such would not, in all likelihood, have been impressed by Christ's sympathetic spirit, had he come to Bethany and pitied the sorrowful family, and saved Lazarus from death. But when they saw their neighbor raised from the dead, these men believed. Thus there was wisdom, there was love, even in that conduct of Jesus which seemed at first sight inconsiderate and unkind. - T.

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KJV: Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

WEB: Therefore Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn't have died.