John 11:20Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Why, then, when Martha goes out to meet Christ, does she not take her sister with her? She wishes to see Him alone and tell Him what has happened.

When He raised good hopes in her, she went away and called Mary. Mary also went out to meet Christ, though her grief was still in full force.

Do you see how ardent her love was? This is the very one of whom He said: "Mary has chosen the good part" (Lk 10:42).

But how, you will say, did Martha now appear more zealous? She was not more zealous. Mary did not come out because she had not yet heard of His arrival.

On the contrary, Martha was weaker. Even after she had heard so much, she still says: "He already stinks, for he has been in the tomb four days" (Jn 11:39).

Mary, though she had heard nothing, said nothing of the kind. She believed at once and said: "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died" (Jn 11:32).

Martha alone goes ahead to meet Him and does not take her sister with her, because she wanted to see Him privately and tell Him what had happened. When the Lord had awakened in her a good hope, she went away and called her sister.

Before this she had not told her sister Mary of the Lord's arrival, in order to hide it from those who were with her. If Mary had heard that Jesus was coming, she would at once have gone to meet Him. The Jews who had come would have followed her, but Martha did not want them to know of Jesus' coming.

Martha was probably more fervent in fulfilling her duty, and therefore she was the first to meet Him. Mary was more reflective. Possessing a more sensitive and tender soul, she remained at home, receiving comfort from those around her.

Martha, being simpler, ran out. Though she too was overcome by grief, she bore it much more courageously.

Martha heard by herself alone and did not even tell her sister. She feared that those who had come to comfort them would be disturbed if Mary also left the house.

Mary did not know that Jesus was coming. Otherwise she would not have remained at home. Yet even if she had known, propriety required her to remain at home, so as to receive consolation from the visitors.

But Martha was livelier in character, simpler, and more openhearted. Therefore she ran to meet Him, to show the importance of His presence and to report the death of His friend.

In Bethany Martha met them, always occupied with household cares. As soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, she went out of the house to Him, even out of the village.

From this it was clear that her faith and love for Jesus had not disappeared. This remained true even after Jesus' word concerning Lazarus' illness had apparently not been fulfilled.

Meanwhile Mary, plunged into her sorrow and noticing nothing that was happening around her, remained at home.

As soon as Martha saw Jesus, the sight of Him stirred two thoughts in her soul. One was the loss of her brother. The other was the power of Jesus to preserve his life, which He nevertheless had not wished to show.

"If You had been here, my brother would not have died," she said with grief.

When Jesus Christ came to Bethany, Lazarus had already been four days in the tomb. At that time the customary seven-day mourning for the dead was still continuing among the Hebrews.

In the house of Martha and Mary there were many acquaintances and relatives. Among them were many who had come from Jerusalem, since Bethany was not far from Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away.

When Martha heard that Jesus Christ was approaching their village, she went out to meet Him. Mary continued to remain at home, among the relatives and acquaintances who shared her grief over her dead brother.

Meeting the Lord, Martha expressed her sorrow before Him that He had not been there earlier. "For," she said, "then my brother would not have died."

The dead man's sister, Martha, came out to meet Him. With sorrow she said that if Jesus had not delayed His coming, and if He had found her brother alive, he would not have died.

Having traveled the road before them, the Savior and His disciples drew near to Bethany. Yet He did not at once enter the hospitable house, but stopped at some distance from the village.

Its nearness to Jerusalem, from which it was only about two and a half miles away, had attracted many notable Jews. So had the exceptional wealth and prominence of the family.

They had come to comfort the orphaned sisters and mourn with them. Among such determined enemies, it was plainly necessary to act with caution.

Meanwhile Mary, faithful to her contemplative nature and her love of solitude, sat at home, unaware of the Savior's approach. Martha, the more active of the two, had already learned of His arrival and immediately went to meet Him.

"Martha, when she heard," and so on. In the few Gospel accounts concerning this family, Martha appears as the mistress of the house and the one who manages it (Lk 10:40; Jn 12:2).

She was the first of the sisters to hear that the Lord was approaching the village. Perhaps she heard because, in managing the household, she had more dealings with those around her.

Mary, quiet and immersed in her deep sorrow in the inner rooms, had fewer such dealings.

"She went to meet Him": she did not even tell her sister, so greatly did she rejoice at the Lord's arrival.

Or perhaps she did not wish to tell her sister because she wanted to see Him alone and tell Him what had happened. She wished to conceal this from those who were with her (Chrysostom and Theophylact).

"Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him. But Mary sat in the house." Those who mourned the dead usually sat on the ground, covered with ashes (Job 2:8; Ezek 8:14; 2 Kgs 12:16; Neh 1:6).

Mary was in this state, immersed in her grief. Martha, probably because of household concerns (Lk 10:38), went out of the house and heard in the street that Jesus was coming. Without telling her sister of the report, she hastened to meet the exalted visitor.

Why was Martha outside the house, able to hear before Mary the news of the Lord's arrival and hasten to meet Him?

By comparing this passage with Lk 10:38, 40, one may think that Martha was the elder sister and mistress of the house. Or at least she managed the whole household.

This explains how Martha, busy with household matters in the courtyard, could hear of the Lord's approach.

In the East it is obligatory to provide a meal for all who come to honor the memory of the deceased. Sometimes this ruinous custom extends for forty days.

Mary, meanwhile, was surrounded by guests and seated inside the house in the reception room. In the East this is now called the mandara, or divan. She did not yet know of His approach.