John 11:28-37
Let’s remember to pray for Jim and Marty.
“Notice what you notice.” Yes, I regularly see things in our readings that I had not seen before, but a lot of those items seem too trivial to discuss. But one item stuck out this morning to me: “…secretly…”. When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him. (vv. 28-29) “…secretly…” (NASB and KKJV translations; the ESV says “…in private…”). That one word caught my eye. When Mary then left the house, the Jews followed, thinking Mary was going to the tomb and not knowing that she was going to meet Jesus. So Martha spoke “secretly”, in my mind knowing that the information that Jesus had arrived would have caused turmoil, a rush for others to see Him and that the sisters’ deep personal time with Jesus would not have been possible.
So, “secretly” hit me, but what to make of it? To whom do we go “secretly”? Or who comes to us “secretly”? The first thought on my mind is private confession, one believer to another, confessing his/her deepest thoughts, feelings, hurts, sins. But that doesn’t make us get up and go to Jesus – He is already there with us in that “confessional”.
The second thought on my mind is evangelism. With the exception of large crusades, I daresay most conversions are deeply personal, a believer to a non-believer, with maybe a few others present. Our encouragement to non-believers can certainly be public, as in speaking a personal testimony in front of a small or large group. But that one personal conversion typically is more of the one-to-one variety. After that public testimony, someone comes up and wants to talk more. Or after an evangelical sermon, someone meets the speaker afterward and wants to know more. Those meetings are done quietly, more “secretly”, if you will. And therein, folks, is a “go to Jesus” moment. Time for Mary to get up or that non-believer to get off the fence and go to Jesus.
I’ve been dwelling on “secretly” for much of the past eight hours. If any of you can add more or enlighten me/us further, please do so.
Slava Bohu!