Bethany was about 30 miles from where Jesus was in Bethabara. Jesus and his disciples traveled by foot over land, so the distance to Bethany, from where Jesus was staying, would have normally taken him about a day and a half on foot.[1] If all this is correct, then by the time Jesus received the message that Lazarus was very sick (John 11:1-3), he was already dead, making it impossible for Jesus to have traveled there to heal him before his death. This is known in that Jesus delayed two days before he set out for Bethany, and by the time he arrived, Lazarus had been in the grave four days (John 11:17).
It was an ancient Jewish custom to prepare and bury their dead before the sun went down on the day they died (Leviticus 10:4; Deuteronomy 21:23; Acts 5:1-11). So, by the time Jesus received word that Lazarus was ill, he was already dead and would have been buried that day, before sunset (one day in the grave). Jesus delayed traveling to Bethany two days (Lazarus was in the grave for 3 calendar days). It took Jesus about a day and a half to travel to Bethany making it a total of about four days that Lazarus had been dead and buried.
The time for mourning was after the loved one had been buried, as was the case when Jesus arrived just outside the town of Bethany and near to Jerusalem (John 11:17-18). It was Martha who first learned of Jesus’ arrival just outside the city. Probably, it was Simon the zealot, her husband, or Judas Iscariot, her son,[2] who came to inform her (John 11:20). Both men were of the Twelve, and either one or both may have come to Martha to inform her of Jesus’ presence. So, when it became known, Martha left the Jewish authorities and other friends who had come to comfort her and her sister, and she came out to meet Jesus (John 11:19-20). Mary, however, stayed behind, apparently not informed of where her sister was going.
When she came to the place where Jesus waited, she told him: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will grant you” (John 11:21-22), which on the face seems to be saying Martha hoped Jesus would raise him from the dead. However, such an understanding is not only foreign to what folks believed at that time, but it belies what Martha says to Jesus immediately following (John 11:24), and a little later (John 11:39). So, what did Martha mean?
The problem with the text, as I understand it, is that the word but that begins verse-22 was inserted by a copyist. It doesn’t belong in the original. What Martha is doing is reaffirming her faith in Jesus as the Messiah. She expressed her disappointment that he had not been there before her brother died (BECAUSE) she knows that whatever Jesus would have asked of God, God would have granted him (John 11:21-22). Another point is that she used the Greek word for ask (G154) to describe Jesus’ prayer. Jesus never used that word for his communication with the Father. It is only used of men coming to God in prayer (cp. Matthew 7:7). It is difficult understand something you cannot visualize. Neither she, nor any of Jesus’ disciples really understood the idea of his being **one** with the Father (John 10:30).
Then Jesus told her that her brother would rise from the dead, meaning he was about to rise at Jesus’ command (John 11:23), but Martha, without a real understanding of the spiritual Kingdom of God (cp. John 3:3), took Jesus’ words that he would rise from the dead on the last day (John 11:24).
Jesus replied with: “I am the Resurrection and the Life! …do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). But not really understanding his words, all Martha could do was reiterate that she believed Jesus was the Messiah, who was predicted to come into the world (John 11:27). Thus, unless one is born again in the spirit, something which was impossible prior to Jesus’ death and resurrection, one couldn’t perceive or understand the spiritual Kingdom of God (John 3:3).[3].
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[1] A normal adult traveler could walk 15 to 20 miles per day (25 to 30 miles per day on a fresh horse) [James S, Jeffers; The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era; page 37].
[2] See my previous study in the Gospel of Luke: Who Is Simon the Pharisee?
[3] To be clear, some under the Old Covenant did have the Spirit of God within them. In fact, David prayed God wouldn’t take away his Spirit after he had sinned so grievously (Psalm 51:10-11). Peter wrote that the prophets under the Old Covenant also had the Holy Spirit (1Peter 1:10-11). Nevertheless, while Jesus was on earth, the Spirit couldn’t come and be received by anyone into his heart (John 14:16-17; 16:7).
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