John 11
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
When one reads this dialogue between Jesus and Martha, one cannot remain untouched. Martha and Mary were in a very difficult situation. Their brother had died and the Lord Jesus wasn’t present. However Jesus arrived in the midst of their difficulty, and asked Martha whether she believed on Him. We see in her answer total contentment, rest and peace in the Lord. What Martha confessed here, is the essence of faith. Christians continually strive after so many things. However, to be in Christ and to be content with His will is rare amongst Christians. Faith happens in those moments when you are in fellowship with Christ.
Faith in Jesus is different from faith in facts about Him. Faith in Jesus has implications, not only for this life, but also for eternity. If you believe that Jesus is Who He says He is, then your life will change.
When Jesus asked Martha, “do you believe?”, she did not answer with head knowledge facts, but came with a whole confession from the heart, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world”.
It is easy to say that you are a Christian or to confess that Jesus is the Lord, but unless your whole life testify to the fact that you believe on Him, your confession is worthless.
In about 300AD, emperor Constantine made Christianity the official world religion. That did not change anyone. In a short while, the faith of the Christians were useless. No one can make you a Christian. No one can get you to have saving faith. You must come yourself to the confession and understanding that Jesus Christ is your Saviour and the Son of God.
God revealed His Son to Peter (Matthew 16), Paul (Acts 9), and the blind man whom He had given sight (John 9), and they confessed Him and believed on Him. Their lives were changed by their faith in Jesus, and they were no longer the same.
Jesus is not interested whether you call Him Lord with your lips, do works in His Name or how much money you give to the church. You must have a personal meeting with Christ and confess to Him, “You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is come into the world”.
In our text we read that Jesus commanded them to remove the stone in front of Lazarus’ grave. He could have spoken a word and removed the stone, but He chose to use them as instruments to remove the stone, because it was a hindrance.
We must go and preach to the people of the world to save them from their sin. Jesus can speak a word and save them, but He commands you and me to go and tell them to come out of their life of sin and follow Him.
The Lord wants you to follow Him and remove the stones of stumbling in the lives of people so that they can come to Him. However, before you can reach out to others, Jesus must have reached out to you and changed you. Then His love will constrain you to reach out to others so that they too can find the Lord Jesus Christ. For the Lord is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance”. (2Pet 3:9)