"Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?" John 11:28-37. NKJV
When Mary saw Jesus, she said exactly, word for word, what Martha had said: 'Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.' (11:21) But there was a difference; Martha shot from the hip and said whatever she was thinking. Whereas, Mary was more gentle and knelt before Jesus in tears. It was the same question that Martha had asked, but it was spoken with a deep compassion which demonstrated her pain. It affected Jesus so much that He felt her pain transferred over to Himself and this caused Jesus to weep also. (v35).
This also had an impact on the onlookers who had gathered, an event that they would remember for some time. Seeing this mighty figure weeping, was something they had not expected and it moved them. A few were no different from some people today however; 'Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?' One can almost feel the insincerity in their words. Remember, not all who followed Jesus were committed to Him; and we can meet this type of person today. They are characterised by complaining about everything. We can all act this way every now and again, but these people are more prone to find fault in the majority of things they see and hear about. Criticism is this type of person's forte and their comments can be quite hurtful. You may have met some of them. They usually fall into two categories: they will talk behind your back, or they will say things to your face, possibly loud enough for others to hear, and it can be so humiliating and deskilling. There is constructive criticism and there is destructive criticism. You may well have been the recipient of the latter.
Jesus would have heard them as they spoke in the crowd; there's no doubt about that; and He would have been used to hearing derogatory comments about Him too. Yet, He didn't allow it to stop His work. He refused to be prevented from fulfilling His Father's work. He always gave His best for Him, so don't let anyone or anything stop you. Press on.
You have a calling and the devil doesn't want you achieving it, so he will use people to stop you, humiliate you and convince you that you have it wrong. This just proves that you have it right, so joyfully get on with the job. God's relying on you.
Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard
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