Nathan looked down at her. “Don’t feel badly, Martha. How could you know what he intended to do?”
Tobias came forward and grasped Lazarus’s hand. “Welcome back, my friend.”
Martha turned to Chloe. “Go to our home and bring sandals, a tunic, and cloak for Lazarus.”
His bare feet would be cut on the rocky road and the sun was rising high in the sky. The temperature soared. When the items were brought, Mary stooped to put the sandals on her brother’s feet as he lifted the tunic over his head. Martha placed the cloak about his shoulders. Jesus walked with Lazarus as they slowly made their way back home. The crowd followed as they walked through the village. Some people reached out to touch Lazarus as he passed by. Some women wept, calling out blessings to him. Some smiled and murmured among themselves, and many loudly praised God for the miracle.
They entered the courtyard and as many as could crowded inside. Others stood outside the gate.
Martha saw the weariness on Jesus’s face and turned to Peter who was standing nearby, her eyes pleading with him to do something. Peter’s size could be as intimidating as Nathan’s.
Peter drew himself up and turned to the crowd. “The family is grateful for your support and we rejoice with you at this blessing, but the Master is weary from a long trip, and our friend Lazarus must rest from his ordeal. Return to your homes and share this day’s miracle with others.”
Peter and the other disciples stood near the gate as some of the people reluctantly filed out, calling last-minute words of encouragement to Lazarus and glancing back at the still figure of Jesus, who did not refute Peter’s words.
Some of their close friends and neighbors, including Nathan, stayed. Martha, still numb with shock, suddenly realized she must put together a meal. She glanced up as the men gathered together and caught Nathan’s eyes as he seated Lazarus by Jesus. For the first time she became aware of the gentleness that replaced Nathan’s usual stern countenance. With a sense of wonder, she thought of the many changes in their household and among their friends since Jesus had come.
She gathered bread, cheeses, ripe olives, fruit, and raisin cakes made during the last grape harvest. Mary put bread on the table as Martha stared down at the pot of lentil stew. It would give them something warm to eat, but was there enough to feed all of her guests? With a sigh she determined to serve what she had until it was gone.
She watched the pot as the men dipped their pieces of bread in again and again. When the pot should have been empty, there was still stew left. Shaking her head, she looked at the Master, who merely glanced up with a smile playing around his lips.
Jesus and his disciples remained at Lazarus’s home for two days. From morning to evening, as many villagers as possible crowded into the small courtyard to see the Master and to observe Lazarus. Many still wanted to touch Lazarus and prove to themselves he was alive and well.
As the evening shadows fell the second evening, Jesus turned to Martha. “I must go. There are those who plot against me and I can no longer walk openly among the Jews. We will travel into the country, near Ephraim, and remain there for a while. I will come to you again soon.”
“When, Lord?”
He looked toward Jerusalem. “Six days before the Passover.”
Jesus embraced Lazarus warmly and smiled at the sisters. “Remember this day in the troubled days to come. It gave me joy to restore one I love dearly to his family.”
“We cannot begin to express our gratitude to God for this great gift,” Martha began but choked up with tears again.
Mary could only kiss the Master’s hand and show her gratitude with her eyes.
When all had gone and the courtyard was quiet, Lazarus put an arm around his sisters. “I can hardly believe I am here with you again.”
Mary looked up at his face. “What was it like, brother? Did you feel anything?”
He looked up at the star-glittered sky. “I was in a dark place, a place of silence, yet I felt no fear. Then I heard a voice calling my name and I awoke. I was able to sit up and I felt hands lifting me, moving me toward the entrance of the cave. Then I was standing in the sunshine, and you were unwrapping the cloths that bound me. When Mary took off the veil, I saw all of you, but then I saw the Lord.” Lazarus’s eyes were alight with wonder. “His clothes were shining like the sun itself and he was smiling at me. I knew I was alive and he’d brought me back from the grave.”
Martha shook her head slowly as a sense of shame rose within her heart. “I doubted him. I thought that because he did not come right away, that he was not coming. And I couldn’t understand.”
Mary beamed. “Yet he knew all along what he was going to do.”
Lazarus put a hand on Martha’s shoulder. “I would have felt the same if it were you, dear sister. Do not sorrow for what is past. Let us rejoice in today and be thankful.”
With a yawn, he turned toward his pallet. “I for one feel I have not slept in days. Let us take our rest. There will be more curious visitors tomorrow as word spreads. I feel like a prize ram on exhibit.” He lay down and closed his eyes.
Martha and Mary could not help but stare down at him, reluctant to leave his side. Finally Lazarus opened one eye and looked up at their anxious faces.
“Don’t worry,” he grinned, “I shall still be with you in the morning.”
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Lazarus, who could not go about his usual chores without an audience of curious onlookers, was frustrated. People came up with small tasks of brickwork just to watch him. He flung up his hands, facing Martha. “How am I to go into Jerusalem now?”
Hanniel journeyed to Bethany as soon as he heard the news of the miracle and called on the family, embracing Lazarus with joy. Sherah was not with him.
To Martha’s query he replied, “She has been ill and is forced to conserve her strength. She sends her love to all of you.”
As they sat together to eat the evening meal, Lazarus pressed him for news.
“It does not look good,” Hanniel said. “There is word that the leaders have offered a ransom to anyone bringing them word of Jesus’s whereabouts. They seek to arrest him.”
Lazarus huffed. “Jesus called them ‘whitewashed tombs’ full of dead men’s bones. They see but they are blind. They hear but they do not listen.”
“Ah, that is a good description, my young friend, but they have the power and if they find Jesus, who knows what they will do.”
Martha could no longer remain silent. She paused in serving and looked at Hanniel. “He taught in the Temple, in plain sight. If they were going to arrest him, why didn’t they do it then?”
“They are afraid of the people. If they do anything at all, they will do it as secretly as possible.”
Martha was adamant. “If the Master does not want to be found, they will not find him. I’d venture to say he will stay away from Jerusalem.”
“Will he?” Hanniel stroked his beard. “The Scriptures talk of two Messiahs, one the conquering king, and the other a suffering one. Which one is he? Jesus has the support of the people right now and they would gladly crown him their king. What then of the Romans? Would they stand by and allow this? Would they consider it a rebellion against their puppet king, Herod? Pilate would call for more soldiers to protect his post and none of us would be safe from his retribution.”
Lazarus stroked his beard, his brow furrowed. “If what you say is true, what then can we do?”
“We can do nothing but wait.” The old man’s countenance was grieved as he turned to Lazarus. “I do not wish to bring sorrow on this house, but I bring other news. It concerns you, Lazarus.”
Lazarus glanced at his sisters who hovered nearby, listening with growing alarm on their faces. “I believe I know what you wish to tell me. I have a friend who works in the household of Caiphas. They speak against me also, do they not?”
Hanniel nodded. “Many have believed in Jesus because of you. I do not believe there is immediate danger, but you must be careful if you come to Jerus
alem. I will keep my ears open and warn you if I hear anything more.”
Lazarus bowed his head. “I cannot go anywhere outside the house, let alone Jerusalem, without curious onlookers.”
Martha thought of the rugs she wove that Lazarus sold in the marketplace for her. “If Lazarus cannot go into the marketplace, how then can he sell my weavings? That is part of our income.”
Lazarus thought a moment. “Tobias. He would be glad to take them to the marketplace for us.”
Hanniel shook his head. “Selling your sister’s weavings is the least of your troubles, Lazarus. You are a curiosity to the people and a stumbling block to the Jewish leaders. You must be alert and watchful at all times.”
That night, as the others slept, Martha lay awake, pondering Hanniel’s words. Her world was changing rapidly and the unknown frightened her. Would the leaders seek to get rid of her brother? What choices did they have? Were they all in danger? Soft snores came from the pallets of Hanniel and Lazarus. At least they could sleep. She glanced over at Mary and in the dim light saw she was awake. Martha reached out a hand and Mary clasped it tightly with her own.
The next morning as Hanniel prepared to return to his home, Tobias and Nathan came by and the men went to the corner of the courtyard, speaking in low tones so Martha could not understand their words. She felt a growing alarm. What they were discussing was obviously not for her ears. She pursed her lips, determined to ask Lazarus about it later.
When Hanniel had gone, Lazarus went with Tobias and Nathan to Nathan’s blacksmith shop. He was gone most of the day, and she assumed he was helping Nathan with some work. When he finally returned for the evening meal, she started to question him and received no response. Lazarus gave her a look that precluded any more questions. Was there some danger he was trying to keep from her? She bit her lip and said no more.
When she and Mary completed their duties, Martha quietly went up on the roof and fell to her knees to beseech the God Who Sees for the protection of her family. As the soft notes of Mary’s lyre drifted up from the courtyard, in the gathering darkness Martha poured out her heart to the Lord.
20
Lazarus continued to keep a low profile and no longer went into the city. Nathan or Tobias took Martha’s weavings into the marketplace and sold them for her. Lazarus worked their fields. The flax was harvested just after the Festival of Purim, and Martha viewed the approach of Passover with mixed emotions. Jesus said he would return to them six days before Passover. The family had word that Jesus was returning to Judea and was ministering near Jericho. As she thought of her cousin’s words earlier that winter, she feared for Jesus’s safety.
True to his word, Jesus approached Bethany just as he’d told Martha. She welcomed him and his disciples once again into their home.
Peter, usually opinionated, was silent, and some of the disciples wore worried looks on their faces. Judas Iscariot watched Jesus, but his face was a mask, and Martha wondered what he was thinking. John, James, Matthew, and the others spoke in low tones among themselves, and Martha noted that they glanced at the gate from time to time. Were they expecting trouble? Soldiers? She looked at the face of the Lord and saw sadness there, a sense of resignation. It puzzled her as she and Mary went about their tasks.
Knowing Jesus was there, a great many Jews came to Bethany, not only to see Jesus, but out of curiosity to also see Lazarus. Some of the Pharisees came also. They said little but observed Jesus and Lazarus with narrowed eyes. Martha was fearful of them and cautioned Mary to make every effort to be hospitable. She wanted no trouble at her home, and especially feared for Lazarus. She was aware through other women in the village that many in Bethany had believed in Jesus because of the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. Martha was glad for that, but she carefully observed the leaders as they listened to Jesus speak and felt their animosity toward him. With a start she realized that they were also watching Lazarus, and the look on their faces sent cold chills down her back. When they finally left, she was so relieved she nearly wept.
Mary passed her, carrying a bowl of fruit and, putting a gentle hand on Martha’s arm, murmured, “I am glad they are gone too.”
When at last it was just their family, Jesus, and his disciples, Jesus turned to Lazarus. “On the first day of the week I am entering Jerusalem. Will you join us?”
Martha paled as Lazarus spoke what they had all feared. “Master, it is dangerous to enter the city. The leaders plot against you. Did you not observe their manner when they were here?”
“We must all obey the commandment to observe Passover, my friend. Do not fear for me. I must continue to do my Father’s will.” He turned and looked in the direction of Jerusalem, and Martha was puzzled to once again see the sadness on his face.
News that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem traveled like lightning, and by the time Jesus and his disciples left Bethany, people came from all directions to follow them.
Martha pleaded with Lazarus not to go but, seeing he was determined, decided that she and Mary would go also. Surely there could be no harm done to Jesus with all the people around him.
Looking around her at the happy crowd, Martha forgot her fears and her heart lifted as she too joyfully followed Jesus and his disciples to Jerusalem. As they neared the Mount of Olives, Jesus stopped and called Peter and John to him.
“Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it, and if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it,’ and immediately he will send it here.”
The group waited patiently as Peter and John hurried into the nearby town of Bethphage. People sat down on the grass of the hillside and waited. In a short time the disciples returned, leading a colt just as Jesus had said.
Some of the onlookers threw their cloaks on the back of the colt and Jesus sat on it. Then the people began to spread their clothes on the road while others cut leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road in front of him. Women shook tambourines to add to the joyous sounds. Voices were raised in praise and Martha heard them cry out—
“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest!”
Martha and Mary joined in the praise. Martha looked around her at the faces of the crowd. They were proclaiming Jesus the Messiah who has finally come, she thought to herself. How can they deny him now?
As the noisy procession descended from the Mount of Olives, some of the Pharisees called out to him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”
Jesus answered them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”
As Jesus drew near the city he stopped and those near him, including Martha, saw tears rolling down his face. He looked toward the city, and as he spoke, her heart became fearful again.
“If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Martha gasped at his words. When would this happen? She turned to Mary. “Did you hear what he said?”
“Yes, but I do not understand. Is the Lord speaking of a time to come soon or in the future?”
Lazarus, standing nearby, but careful not to stand with them lest he be recognized, spoke in a whisper from the cloak that hid his face. “I fear for him. I fear for all of us. He does not speak rashly. It is a prophecy.”
With the exuberant crowd following him, Jesus entered the city, riding with his head held high as any king. The people followed him to the Temple, and to the people�
�s surprise and delight, he once again drove out the moneychangers and those who bought and sold animals there. This was the second time Jesus had cleansed the Temple. Martha remembered that first Passover, when Tobias and Lazarus had all but run from the Temple with their slain lamb, fearing the Temple police. Once again there was no action by the leaders, and when the bleating of the lambs and dust of feathers from released doves settled, Jesus began to teach. For some, the show was over. Many people who had not dispersed when the chaos began now began to slip away and the crowd thinned out. Those who remained listened attentively.
Martha stood with Mary behind one of the large pillars where Lazarus had drawn them once before for safety during the confusion. As Martha gazed over the crowd, she was puzzled to see Judas Iscariot glance at Jesus and the other disciples and quickly pull his cloak over his head as he slipped away by himself. He walked to the far side of the courtyard of the Temple and spoke briefly to one of the scribes. Then the two men left together. Judas was the treasurer for Jesus and the other disciples. Perhaps Jesus had instructed him to present a gift to the Temple. She turned back to listen to Jesus.
Jesus looked around at the faces of his listeners and began to tell the people a parable. “A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time. Now at vintage time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him when they see him.’ But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come; let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.”
Martha Page 13
