An Inevitable Event

Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world." (John 11:23-27)

My older sister is dying. My younger sister called last night with the news that hospice has been called in. It's only a matter of time.

We have known it was coming. She has been in poor health for sometime. The complications of diabetes and liver failure started taking their physical toll on her body for the better part of a year.

The irony is that she will very likely die before our 90 plus year old parents will. In the normal course of providence in a fallen world, we eventually all end up as orphans. Not so with my sister. Providence is dictating otherwise.

She never married, so she will not be leaving any children motherless. Eight nieces and nephews will be bereft of a beloved aunt. Her three siblings will lose a sister. Her aged parents will lose their oldest child. It would take a miricle indeed to reverse the inevitable impact of the fall on her physical body.

That's just what Jesus promises; a total reversal of death. Martha understood that, and in the broader context of the passage, she may have had a better grasp on that then Mary did.

My dying sister is a beleiver. Martha's hope is her hope also. Isaiah 53 says that by His stripes we will be healed, and the day will come when that healing will be total.

Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." She didn't have to wait that long. I know that my sister will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. I am already starting to grieve, but not as those who have no hope.

"I am the resurrection and the life..." ~ Jesus

~ The Billy Goat ~