of the
sisters for a time in the love of Jesus.

Martha was the first to meet Him outside of the town, where in quiet,
and undisturbed by the noisy mourners from Jerusalem, and by their
sympathising friends, Jesus desired, with His considerate kindness,
to probe and heal those sorely wounded hearts. And what was her
salutation? "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died!"
What means this? Is it an expression of confidence only in His power?
Is it a confession of faith? Or does it not rather evidence unbelief?
Does it not imply a sorrowing complaint, uttered, indeed, with
reverence, and in such gentle language as was compatible with sincere
faith, but still a complaint from a wondering and disappointed because
wrung spirit, expressed in language which suggested the additional
question asked only in the heart, "_And why wert Thou not here_?"
Jesus reasoned with her. She believes, yet still doubts and questions
why He had not come; she trusts Him, yet sees no light with reference
to His dealings towards themselves. One thing she will do, however,
amidst the darkness--she will cling to Christ as her only hope and
refuge! Mary remains in the house. Why? Was it that she had not heard
of the arrival of Jesus, or of Martha having gone to meet Him? Or is
her heart so torn by distracting thoughts, that for a moment she knows
not what to do? She dare not say to Him all she feels. Her keen and
sensitive heart is agonised by entertaining for a moment even the bare
suspicion of unkindness on His part. She fights against the horrid
thought, which, like a demon, torments her, yet she cannot yet quite
banish it, and meet Him with the full, unreserved, gushing love which
something tells her is His due. But however this may have been, a
message from Himself rouses her: "The Master is come, and calleth for
thee; and as soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came unto
him." But how did she meet Him! Ah! Martha and she have surely been
together pondering over the mystery of His absence, and they have
inwardly come to the same conclusion; and so she too fell at the
Master's feet, with the same wailing cry from her full heart, "Lord,
if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died!" As she uttered
these words, "Jesus wept!" There are expressions and single words in
Scripture which reveal a whole heaven of glory--like the opening in
the telescope, which, though but as a pin-point of light, reveals
the glory of sun, moon, a