John 11:28Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Philosophy is a great good, I mean the philosophy that is ours. Among the pagans everything is only words and myths. These myths themselves contain no philosophy, because everything among them is done for glory.

Therefore philosophy is a great good. Even here it already rewards us. Thus, he who despises wealth receives benefit even here, because he is freed from excessive and useless cares.

He who tramples upon glory receives his reward even here, because he is no one's slave, but is free with true freedom.

He who desires heavenly goods receives recompense even here, because he counts all present things as nothing and easily overcomes every sorrow.

Martha calls her sister secretly, and she did this very wisely. If the Jews who had come to them had known that Mary was going to meet Christ, they would have departed from them, and the miracle would have remained without witnesses.

But now the Jews thought that Mary was going to the tomb to weep. They went with her, and by necessity became evident witnesses of the miracle.

Martha says to Mary, "The Teacher is calling you." Yet the Evangelist does not note that the Lord called her.

This can be explained in this way: the Evangelist omitted that the Lord commanded Martha to call her sister. Or else Martha considered the Lord's very coming to be an invitation, and said, "The Teacher is calling you."

She "went away" to call "her sister," in order to share with her the joy caused by the expected event. Together with her, she hoped to meet the dead man raised beyond all hope, for she had heard, "Your brother will rise" (Jn 11:23).

She announced the Savior's arrival to her sister "secretly" because certain Jews were with her who envied Christ on account of His miracles.

In the Gospels we do not find that Christ said, "Call your sister to Me." But Martha says this because she took the necessity of fulfilling her duty to meet the Lord in place of Christ's verbal command.

Mary willingly hastened to Him and desired to meet Him. Could she fail to do this, she who greatly grieved over His absence and had fervent reverence and great love for Him?

Let us note how the evangelist did not say where, when, or how the Lord called Mary. For the sake of brevity, he placed this within Martha's words. It should be noticed that the evangelist called a subdued voice silence. For how was she silent if she said, "The Teacher is here and is calling you"? It should also be noted why the evangelist did not say where, or when, or in what manner the Lord called Mary. Because of the brevity of the narrative, this is inferred rather from Martha's words.

Expecting some great blessing on the basis of Jesus Christ's words, Martha runs and calls her sister secretly, so that the Jews present there would not learn of it and betray Him to those plotting against Him. She said, "He calls you," so that Mary would go to meet Him more quickly.

Martha also acted well by not making Christ's promise public. She saw that among the people surrounding and consoling Mary were men who hated Christ for His miracles. "The Teacher has come and is calling you." From His present arrival, she says, infer where the matter is tending. He has not come for consolation or for our comfort. If that were so, He would have come earlier. He has come to give life and to raise our brother.

After this she hastened to her sister and said to her, "The Teacher is asking for you," although He had not asked for her at all.

Mary was immersed in her grief. Only love for Him whose words she was accustomed to receive with calm devotion was strong enough to draw her out of her condition.

She hastened to Jesus, who was still outside the village. Her first words were the same as Martha's. It was clear how much they had occupied themselves with this thought until now.

But these words, pronounced with tears by Mary as she fell at the feet of Jesus, were full of deeper feeling than in Martha's mouth.

There was no reproach in them. Both grief and devotion were expressed more fully than in Martha. Having spoken them, Mary could say no more.

After this conversation with the Lord, Martha went to the house and told Mary secretly, because in the house there were also persons unfavorably disposed toward the Lord, that the Teacher was here and was calling her.

When Mary, rejoicing at this news, quickly rose and went, the Jews who were in her house thought that she had gone to the tomb of Lazarus. They followed her.

When she came to the Lord, Mary fell at His feet and expressed to Him the same regret with which Martha had met Jesus.

When He saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her weeping, He Himself sorrowed in spirit and was troubled.

In response to Mary He asked, "Where have you laid him?" "Come and see, Lord," they answered Him.

The Raising of Lazarus. The greatest miracle was about to be performed. By this miracle Jesus wished to turn toward Himself the hearts of those who had not yet believed in Him, and to give His enemies the possibility of coming to themselves and repenting.

Therefore He not only did not avoid performing it publicly, but even sent Martha for her sister Mary. He remained, awaiting her and her companions, in the very place where Martha had met Him.

Although Martha called Mary secretly, the haste with which Mary rose and went compelled the Jews who were consoling her to follow her.

As the Evangelist explains, they thought she had gone to her brother's tomb to weep. Therefore they also went after her.

This conversation completely encouraged her, and she went for her sister Mary. Secretly she told her the joyful news: "The Teacher is here and is calling you." Mary immediately went at her sister's direction. Seeing her beloved Teacher and Lord, she fell at His feet and said with a crushed heart the same thing as her sister: "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."

"He calls you" indicates that Mary was called by her sister to the Lord at His command. Perhaps Martha, also at His command, called her sister secretly, so that the Jews in the house would not hear what she said to her. He knew, perhaps from Martha, who was in their house. He did not want people ill-disposed toward Him to hear about Him and trouble Mary's heart with any talk. Nor did He want them to plant any doubt in her concerning the Lord's intentions.

Having met the Lord, Martha hastens to her sister to share with her the news that could console her amid grief. Yet she tells her sister only in a whisper that the Lord is here, as if avoiding speaking of it before the Jerusalem Jews.

Mary also apparently does not wish to tell them this news. She probably wants to fall at the Lord's feet and pour out her grief before Him without witnesses.

But the glorious miracle that was impending had to take place before a considerable number of people. Moreover, most of these people were hostile to the Lord.

The Jews, thinking that Mary was going to Lazarus' tomb to weep for her brother, follow her. Unexpectedly for themselves, they meet face to face with the Lord Jesus, whom they were seeking to kill.