Jesus had many followers but some people in the Gospels were not only his disciples but were his close friends and true companions. Jesus enjoyed a special relationship with Martha and Mary, and their brother Lazarus.
Jesus loved St. Martha, St. Mary, and St. Lazarus, who spent time with Him at their home in the town of Bethany and welcomed Him to experience the spirit of family.
Martha offered hospitality by serving Jesus and making sure that He was comfortable, but she became anxious while Mary listened attentively to Jesus, quietly sitting at his feet.
This conflict between Martha and Mary allowed Jesus the opportunity to teach his friends about the difference between service and contemplation, and the importance of not being pulled away from Him or distracted by activity.
When Lazarus become sick and was in danger of dying, his sisters sent for Jesus to come and save him.
Arriving after Lazarus had already been dead for four days, Jesus wept but still called for his friend to come out of the tomb. After Jesus raised her brother from the dead, Martha professed that He was the Christ, the Son of God.
After Lazarus was restored to life, the siblings entertained Jesus again in their home. While Lazarus sat with Jesus and Mary anointed his feet with expensive perfumed oil, Martha quietly and humbly served.
The Church celebrates the Memorial of St. Martha, St. Mary, and St. Lazarus each year on July 29.
Previously a memorial honoring only St. Martha, this liturgical feast now includes St. Mary and St. Lazarus, emphasizing the importance of friendship and the desire of Jesus to be part of every human family.
Dear friends of Jesus:
Jesus liked spending time with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus:
Friends of Jesus who teach perennial, spiritual truths:
Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus* and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. from her.”
John 12: 1-3
Jesus is invited into the life of this family:
Three holy siblings:
The virtue of chastity blossoms in friendship. It shows the disciple how to follow and imitate Him who has chosen us as his friends, who has given Himself totally to us and allows us to participate in his divine estate. Chastity is a promise of immortality. Chastity is expressed notably in friendship with one’s neighbor. Whether it develops between persons of the same or opposite sex, friendship represents a great good for all. It leads to spiritual communion.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 2347
St. Martha is a model of humble service:
St. Mary simply loves Jesus:
Jesus responds to a conflict between Martha and Mary:
Jesus’ human participation in Lazarus’ case has some special features. His friendship with Lazarus is repeatedly mentioned throughout the account, as well as his relationship with Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus. Jesus Himself says: “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awake him out of sleep”. Jesus’ sincere affection for his friend is also highlighted by Lazarus’ sisters, as well as by the Jews. It is expressed in Jesus’ deep distress at seeing the grief of Martha and Mary and of all Lazarus’ friends and he finds relief by bursting into tears — so profoundly human — on approaching the tomb: “When Jesus saw her [Martha] weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled; and He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’. They said to Him, ‘Lord, come and see’. Jesus wept”. This bond of friendship and Jesus’ participation and distress at the sorrow of Lazarus’ relatives and acquaintances, is connected throughout the narrative to a continuous, intense relationship with the Father. The event, from the outset, is interpreted by Jesus in relation to his own identity and mission and to the glorification that awaits Him. In fact on hearing of Lazarus’ illness He commented: “The illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it”. Jesus also hears the news of his friend’s death with deep human sadness but always with a clear reference to his relationship with God and with the mission that God has entrusted to Him; He says: “Lazarus is dead; and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe”. The moment of Jesus’ explicit prayer to the Father at the tomb was the natural outlet for all that had happened, which took place in the double key of his friendship with Lazarus and his filial relationship with God..
Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, 14 December 2011
Jesus wept at he tomb of St. Lazarus:
The raising Lazarus reveals Jesus’ authority over life and death:
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