Journal: Southeastern Theological Review
Volume: STR 03:2 (Winter 2012)
Article: One More Look at Martha’s “Perfect” Statement in John 11:27
Author: Francis M. Macatangay

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One More Look at Martha’s “Perfect” Statement in John 11:27

Francis M. Macatangay

University of St. Thomas, School of Theology

In the paradigmatic story of the raising of Lazarus, Martha declares that Jesus is “the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” This response concludes the exchange between Jesus and Martha in the context of the death of Lazarus. Earlier on in the proceedings, having heard that Jesus has arrived after some delay, Martha expresses, with some bitterness, her conviction that had Jesus been around when her brother Lazarus was ill, he would not have died. But she slowly enters into the realm of faith by acknowledging that Jesus can do whatever he asks of God. Indeed, Jesus assures her that Lazarus will rise again. Martha however seems to have understood Jesus’ words as referring to the general resurrection on the last day. Jesus clarifies and corrects Martha. He tells her that the life he offers is both a here-and-now and a hereafter reality realized in his own person since he is the resurrection and the life and that anyone who believes in him even if he dies will live and never die.1 Jesus directly asks Martha if she believes this. Martha responds by saying, “Yes Lord, I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world” (11:27).

Some scholars have characterized Martha’s response negatively, claiming that Martha’s confession of belief is inadequate or less than perfect.2 Others

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have claimed that Martha has movingly made a full-blown and complete Johannine Christological confession without necessarily knowing the full implications of her confession.3 Using the perfect tense of the verb πιστεύειν (“to believe”), she demonstrates ideal faith and shows her settled and enduring conviction, thereby giving voice to the theological emphasis of John 11.4 Martha’s words therefore reflect early creedal statements concerning Jesus. Put differently, one interpretation is that her declaration is composed of an ideal language of an in-group, or an “expression of unique information reserved for elites in the group.”5 In any case, belief is pivotal in this encounter between Jesus and Martha.

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