A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; NEW TESTAMENT STORIES

                                                A FAVOURED HOME PART XII

"I, Martha, am the sister of Mary and the now deceased Lazarus.... We live in Bethany.... Our good Friend Jesus has come to us with His twelve disciples... We are happy that He is here with us... But we are sad that He did not come any earlier.... He could have prevented the death of our brother Lazarus if He had come earlier.... But He did not.... We have now all gathered around the tomb where we have laid Lazarus.... Many of our friends and neighbours are here with us... We do not quite know why Jesus wanted to go to the tomb.... Perhaps He wants to mourn the loss of Lazarus with us.... It seems He has something else in mind.... For He has told us to remove the stone in front of the tomb.... However, that is not a good idea.... Lazarus ha been in this tomb for four days already... I better explain to Jesus certain facts since He has never been around a person who has been dead for such a long time."... Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn why Martha decides she needs to explain some facts to Jesus....

                 ATTACHMENT A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; NEW TESTAMENT STORIES

                                               A FAVOURED HOME PART XII

Once again, the ever practical Martha speaks up as you can read in John 11:39b

"But Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odour, for her has been there for four days."

Martha knows that the body of a person who has been dead for four days has decomposed already to such a degree that it will give off a terrible smell. Perhaps, Jesus does not realise that. After all, He has never been around a person who has been dead for such a long time. Every time that He has been around a dead peron that person had only been dead for a few hours and, in each case, He had brought that person back to life as Martha remembers from the stories she has heard.