Translating Theology Into Life

Yesterday I shared the first part of a three part series, based on my ministry on Sunday morning. These three parts are:

1. Outside of the Box


2. Translating Theology Into Life


3. Entering into a Daily Conversation with God

This morning, I'm going to share the second installment of my Sunday message.

As we saw yesterday in John 11, by the time Jesus finally arrives in Bethany, Lazarus has been dead for four days. Jesus had delayed his return to Bethany on purpose, in order that God's work would take a unique and special turn in the lives of both his disciples and of Lazarus' sisters, Martha and Mary.

Now let's take a closer look at the conversation that takes place between Jesus and Martha. While still outside the village, Martha meets Jesus, obviously wanting to have a private conversation with him. She wanted to say things to Jesus outside the earshot of the crowds of mourners. Her first words in John 11:21 had been, I believe, rehearsed over the last four days as she had waited for Jesus to arrive:

"Lord...if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

There is more than a strong hint of accusation in her words. Essentially, Martha is saying, "You've failed me, Lord. If you had done what I had expected, none of this would have happened."

Martha is often remembered as being the sister who "missed the point" in Luke 10:38-42. Unlike Mary, who prioritised a disciple-like relationship with Jesus by sitting at his feet, Martha had been "distracted by all the preparations that had to be made" (Luke 10:40). She had become "worried and upset about many things" (Luke 10:41) and had thus missed out on the "one thing [that] is needed" (Luke 10:42). Her mistake had been to prioritise doing over being, activity over relationship, ministry over discipleship.

But John 11:21-27 reveals another facet of Martha. It is wrong to say that she didn't have faith, or even had a lower expression of faith than Mary, for this passage reveals that Martha's faith in Jesus was very real. Note even her words in John 11:21:

"Lord...if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

Martha had no question that if Jesus had've come prior to Lazarus' death, he would have been healed. Her faith in the healing ministry of Jesus was absolute, and it is here that we see the beginning glimpse of the reason why Jesus delayed his return. For Jesus wanted to take Martha beyond her present expression of faith into a whole new dimension.

This is the way God works in our lives. He always works from where we are, taking us from the known into the unknown, from one level of faith to the next. He takes us from our present point of faith and begins to stretch that faith, drawing out from us a greater depth of faith. As Romans 1:17 (NKJV) puts it:

"For in [the Gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith."

The Amplified Bible renders Romans 1:17 in this way:

"For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith [disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith]..."

The starting place of the work of God for Martha was where she was in her understanding and faith in Jesus. So let's take a closer look at where she was when Jesus met her on the outskirts of the village.

After making a guarded accusation, which revealed her basic faith in Jesus, Martha goes on in John 11:22 to make this remarkable statement:

"But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."

I'm totally amazed by that sentence. What an incredible declaration of faith in the midst of grief, disappointment and disillusionment! And there we see the seed of faith - that "mustard seed" faith (Matthew 17:20) - which Jesus will begin to massage into something deeper and more profound. This is the starting point of the "from faith to faith" experience for Martha, the "springing from faith and leading to faith" process in her life.

In reply to this simple statement of faith, Jesus makes a counter statement in John 11:23:

"Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.'"

Just five words, but with a profound significance for Martha's situation. We look at those five words, and know, because we know the end of the story, that Jesus is talking about a miracle he is going to perform shortly - the resurrection of Lazarus, the reversal of death, the answer to Martha's deepest cry. But Martha doesn't know that. Those five words are, to her, a general statement, and so she responds in the only way that she knows how. In John 11:24, she answers:

"I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

Martha's reply is 100% theologically correct. No one can fault her theology. As a Jew, influenced by the Pharisaic school (as most of the common people in her day were), she believed in a final resurrection of the dead, which would occur when the Messiah came. This is the theology that Jesus himself taught (see Matthew 22:23-33; Luke 14:13-14) and that the New Testament continues to teach (see 1 Corinthians 15; Philippians 3:20-21; Revelation 20:4-6).

But the coming of Jesus threw a theological spanner into the works. For Jesus' ministry involved taking a hold of the future kingdom of God and bringing it into real life in the here and now. His ministry translated the theology of the future (what is often called "eschatalogical") into a theology of the present. For example, when asked by John the Baptist for reassurance that he indeed was the promised Messiah, Jesus pointed to the miraculous element of his ministry in Luke 7:22-23:

"Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."

Although we cannot fault Martha's theology, without realising it, Martha had used her theology to sidestep Jesus' question. And we too can easily fall into the trap of having a lazy theology - a theology focused on a distant future event rather than the on-going, present work of God in our lives. And so, in reply to Martha's theologically correct but practically irrelevant answer, Jesus begins to redirect her faith. In John 11:25-26, he answers:

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die..."

You will notice that Jesus is no longer talking about an abstract theology of the resurrection; he is talking about an incarnated theology of the resurrection. He has taken a future event and personalised it in himself. He isn't merely saying, "I will initiate the great resurrection of the dead on the last day." He is saying, "I am the core of that resurrection event, and I am standing before you right now."

This is not the first time Jesus had made such a declaration. Earlier in John 5:21, Jesus had said:

"For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it."

And he had taken this a step further in John 5:25-29, when he declared:

"I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself...Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out - those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned."

Did you notice that phrase "and has now come" which Jesus inserted into his declaration? This was no mere "theology of the future" that Jesus was proclaiming; he was introducing a "theology of the present" centred around himself. It is the Son of God who has "life in himself". It is the voice of Jesus which will initiate the resurrection event, not just in the future, but in the here and now.

After Jesus has declared to Martha that he himself is "the resurrection and the life", he finishes his declaration with an all-important question:

"Do you believe this?"

What Jesus is doing is challenging Martha to move beyond general theology to specific theology. It is easy to assert belief in the general. To the question, "Do you believe in God?" the average person will answer, "Yes." But it's an entirely different matter to answer the question, "Do you believe God is personally interested in your life and has specific expectations of you now." It's one thing to answer the question, "Do you believe God is all-powerful?" with a "yes"; it's entirely a different thing to answer the question, "Do you believe God is all-powerful in your situation now?"

Ask the average person on the street, "Do you believe that Jesus died on a cross?" and it would be a rare person to answer with a "no". Yet the question, "Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross for you?" is a question of an entirely different order. This is because we are now moving from generalised theology to personalised theology, from the remote to the intimate, from the undemanding to the demanding. Rather than being an abstract armchair discussion of theology, this personalised theology touches us where we live, and we cannot escape its consequences and implications.

And so to this question, Martha replies in John 11:27:

"Yes, Lord...I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

Once again, Martha's answer is theologically correct, yet now it is focused on the person of Jesus. And here we see once again the germ of Martha's basic faith. She doesn't understand what's going on; she doesn't even fully understand the implications of her theology. All she does understand is that the one standing before her is the promised Messiah, the one to whom "even now God will give you whatever you ask."

I believe that Martha at this point is beginning to express true faith. She's not hiding behind her theology, but facing the implications of her theology in the present situation. For her, all that counts is that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." And this core faith is now enough for Jesus to work on. He is going to help that faith blossom into something new and fresh for Martha. And so tomorrow, we'll explore the actual process and result of this work in Martha's life.