John 11:21 - Exposition

Martha therefore (having met her Lord) said unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here— the εἰ ἦς ὦδε expresses no complaint: "If thou hadst been here," a simple condition of what is now an impossible event— my brother had not died. Meyer says, "If thou weft making thy residence in Bethany rather than in Peraea." This is somewhat unnatural, and would have been a complaint. Her faith had at least ground enough for this assurance, but she mounts above it. The two sisters, with their contrasted natures, had grasped the life-giving, joy-diffusing, heaven-revealing powers of Jesus. They had believed in him, with a gracious abandonment of all prejudice and in the sweeping force of a great illuminating love. They had said often this same thing to one another, and now Martha pours her high persuasion into the ears of her Lord; but she proceeds further.