When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.  Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.  When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home.  Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him."  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.  Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?"  She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world."

Jesus perfects our faith.  Martha goes to Jesus and tells him she is certain that he could have prevented the death of Lazarus because he was a healer.  But then she takes it a step further and boldly proclaims "but even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him."  Holy Martha!  How beautiful and lively your faith.  By saying "even now" you are boldly expressing your belief that Lazarus could come back from the dead if Jesus but asked the Father.  This utterance must have astonished some of the onlookers and raised some eyebrows.  "She is still in the grip of her grief and doesn't know what she is saying," perhaps some of them thought.

Jesus rewards Martha's act of faith by reassuring her that Lazarus will rise again.  Martha responds with another expression of faith - her faith in the future resurrection.  So Jesus draws Martha along, first to express her belief in the relationship Jesus has with the Father and then in the future resurrection of the dead.  Then he moves quickly to bring her faith to perfection.  "I am the resurrection.  I am the life.  The one who believes in me enters into life, even now."  That is the teaching.  But see, it does not necessarily result in fruit - that is up to the soil in the listener's heart.  Martha has good soil.  Jesus checks for fruit.  "Do you believe this Martha?"  The crucial time has come for a radical alteration in how Martha sees Jesus.  But the soil is fertile and the Word has found a home.  "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Son of God."  Her new life begins.

A prayer -

O Jesus, perfect our faith.  Take our limited vision and in your great mercy teach us more of who you are.  Expand our vision, place your seed into our hungry hearts.  May it germinate there and grow into a beautiful garden full of expressions of truer, deeper, livelier believe in you and the Father, with the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  Holy Martha, please pray for us, that our faith may deepen like yours did.  With you we repeat: "Yes, Lord, we believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world."