According to Martha’s calendar, Jesus was four days late. I don’t want to be irreverent, but I understand how Martha felt. I’ve often felt the same way, and probably you have, too.

            Let me tell you the story, by reviewing our Scripture lesson of the day. Long ago, a family lived in Bethany, a village near the city of Jerusalem. It was the kind of family we rarely see today but that was fairly common — especially in small towns and rural communities — a generation or two ago, a family made up of unmarried or perhaps widowed siblings; in this case, a brother and two sisters. You probably know their names: Lazarus, Martha and Mary.

            It was a family that was especially dear to Jesus. Our scripture reading speaks twice of Jesus’ love for members of the family. We’re told that Jesus spent one or more nights in their home the week before his crucifixion. We call that week “Holy Week,” and I think it would be appropriate to call their home the “Holy Home,” since Jesus chose to spend time there at such a sensitive point in his life.

The crisis at Bethany

            This morning’s story happened a few weeks earlie

...approximately 1,187 words remaining. You are not logged in. Please see options at the top of this page to view complete sermon.