Bible in a Year - Women’s Thematic Reading Plan | Day 76

Day 76 of the Women’s Bible Plan: Read John 11:17-27 and reflect on Martha, who met Jesus in the grief of her brother Lazarus’s death and confessed her faith in Him. Through Martha’s encounter with the Lord, this devotional helps women learn how to confess Christ in the face of death, loss, unanswered questions, and delayed hope. 

🌸  Dear Sister, welcome to Day 76 of our reading journey. 

Some faith is not revealed when the sun is bright and everything is going smoothly. Some faith is refined beside a tomb, in tears, when answers seem late. We may believe that God is able, and yet still ask, “Lord, why did You not come sooner?” We may know the promises of Scripture, yet when someone we love is gone, when hope feels broken, or when something can no longer be undone, our hearts may still feel torn open.

Martha met Jesus in exactly that kind of moment. Her brother Lazarus had been sick, and the sisters had sent word to Jesus, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.” Yet Jesus did not arrive immediately. By the time He came to Bethany, Lazarus had already been in the grave four days.

Martha did not hide her grief. When she heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him and said, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” In that sentence, there is faith, but also pain. There is knowledge of Jesus’ power, but also confusion over His delay. It was in this honest conversation that Jesus declared to her, “I am the resurrection, and the life.”

A Minute of Grace

John 11:17-27 tells us that when Jesus came to Bethany, Lazarus had already been in the grave four days. Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. This family was facing real death, grief, and loss. In the midst of that sorrow, Martha heard that Jesus was coming and went out to meet Him.

Martha is often remembered because of the story in Luke 10, where she was “cumbered about much serving.” But in John 11, we see a deep and precious faith in her. She did not deny her disappointment: “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Yet she also did not lose all hope: “But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.”

Jesus said to Martha, “Thy brother shall rise again.” Martha answered, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” She believed in the future resurrection, and that was true faith. But Jesus was leading her deeper—not only to believe that there would be resurrection one day, but to know that the One standing before her was Himself the resurrection and the life.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” He then asked Martha, “Believest thou this?” Martha’s answer is deeply precious: “Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.”

This passage shows us that Martha’s faith was not faith without tears, nor faith without questions. In the face of death, she still came to Jesus. She brought her real disappointment to Him, yet also placed her remaining trust before Him. Her confession did not come after the miracle. It came while Lazarus was still in the grave, before anything outward had changed.

Today’s theme, “Martha: Believing in the Lord of Resurrection,” invites us to reflect: When death, loss, endings, and irreversible grief enter our lives, are we still willing to come to Jesus? Do we believe not only that He can solve our problems, but that He is the Christ who has authority over death, holds life in His hands, and gives eternal hope?

Whispers for the Heart

1 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Have you ever asked the Lord something similar in your pain: Lord, why did You not come sooner? Why did You allow things to reach this point? Are you willing, like Martha, to bring your honest grief to Jesus instead of pretending that you have no questions?

2 Martha said, “But I know, that even now…” These are words of faith spoken in disappointment. Is there an “even now” situation in your life—something that has not gone as you hoped, something broken, something delayed, something that feels too late—yet where you are still willing to say, “Even now, Lord, I still believe You”?

3 Jesus asked Martha, “Believest thou this?” In the face of death, loss, fear, or the unknown, how would you answer the Lord? Are you willing not only to believe a doctrine or a future hope, but to know Jesus Himself more deeply as the resurrection and the life?

As you read John 11:17-27 today, do not remember Martha only as a woman who was once anxious and busy. See her also as a woman who, in one of the saddest moments of her life, made a clear and courageous confession of faith. Her story reminds us that faith does not always come without tears, but true faith brings those tears to the Lord of resurrection.

Take a quiet breath before you begin. Bring your losses, regrets, irreversible sorrows, and fears about the future before the Lord, and let His Word meet you there.

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John 11:17-27 (KJV) 

17 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.

18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:

19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.

21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.

23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.

24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

💡 Closing Thought · Confessing Christ Through Tears 

After reading John 11:17-27, we see that Martha did not confess Jesus when everything was easy. She confessed Him after her brother had died, after the tomb had been sealed, and while many were still weeping. Standing before the Lord, she said, “I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God.” This was not an easy faith. It was faith that still held on to the Lord through tears.

As we close this page and return to our own lives, perhaps you are facing a kind of loss, or weeping over something that cannot be undone. Perhaps you still do not understand why the Lord seemed delayed, or why things have come to this point. Remember this: Jesus is not a Lord who explains pain from a distance. He is the Lord who comes to the tomb and enters human tears. He does not only give the promise of resurrection. He Himself is the resurrection and the life.

May today’s Scripture remind you that tears do not mean faith is absent, and questions do not mean you have left the Lord. May you still dare to come before Jesus in sorrow, confess Christ in the face of death and loss, and receive in the risen Lord a hope that death cannot take away.

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