Redemption is Waiting

I struggled and struggled with this passage, the resurrection of Lazarus.* Finally I had to accept there was no getting around it: I have really complicated feelings about this story. If I’m honest, what comes first is the hardest to acknowledge: resentment. I seethe as Jesus justifies letting Martha, Mary, and Lazarus suffer “for God’s glory.” Jesus […]

Tears – Jan. 6, 2023

“When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When […]

Tone Matters

When I told a dear female friend of mine that I was writing a reflection on Luke 10:38,* she rolled her eyes. “You mean where he scolds Martha for doing housework?” she asked with a sigh. “C’mon, Jesus. Really?” I’d been turning the Luke passage over in my mind for a week now, looking up […]

Sickness and Sadness Happens

Sickness happens, and sometimes sickness leads to death. This is not how we want life to go. We prefer life, and then more life, and then even more life still, please. We want whatever is good and pleasing to increase daily, hourly, moment by moment—blessed multiplication! Is this not what God intends for us as […]