Maranatha

Maranatha is such a portmanteau word, it comes from the Aramaic and is found only once in the bible at the end of Paul's first letter to the  Corinthians when he grabs the stylus from the scribe and writes the word with a flourish. O Lord Come.

It can be a deep cry from the heart in times of weariness and trouble, Come Lord Jesus come into my situation now, I cannot survive without you.

It can be a loud affirmation. Christ has come into history, Christ is here in my heart and Christ will come in His glory at the end of this present creation.

The voice of my beloved!

    Behold, he comes,

leaping over the mountains,

    bounding over the hills.

9 

My beloved is like a gazelle

    or a young stag.

Behold, there he stands

    behind our wall,

gazing through the windows,

    looking through the lattice.

10 

My beloved speaks and says to me:

“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,

    and come away, 

Song of Solomon 2

Or it could be a cry of anguish as illness turns slowly into death and all hope ceases, until, He does come and with one voice of command brings life forth out of the cold tomb.

If only he had come....

If only he had come, she knew he could heal him, but now it was hopeless. With a heavy heart she cut up strips linen which would bind his dead body, ready for the cold stone tomb. They had no ointment to embalm the body, in a fit of extravagance she had broken and poured the contents over the feet of their friend the teacher. People said it was a wicked waste but he had blessed her for it, said her deed would be written down and remembered for centuries to come; but now she was confused, a terrible fit of dereliction was descending upon her. She knew they had to get the body bound and in the tomb quickly, already the flies were buzzing round the body and the smell of putrefaction was beginning to fill the house, already friends and relatives were gathering around the house preparing for the long drawn out funeral ceremony, weeping and wailing filled the air, but her tears did not flow, instead they burned inwardly like acid poison, burning into her heart and stomach. She knew she must rise and join the other mourners but a heavy weariness filled her legs, she dragged herself up and out to greet them, and still he had not come.

Four long days dragged by, Mary wished she was lying on that cold slab instead of her brother, Martha had kept herself busy feeding and organising the mourning party, but she was descending into a leaden trance, doing and feeling nothing.

Then the call came up, “the teacher is coming”, Martha ran off to meet him, but she remained, all energy and will drained from her body. In a while her sister returned, and dragged her out, and she followed reluctantly, to see the teacher.

When she saw his warm, but sad compassionate face, the dam that had held her tears broke, and the tears and heavy sobs flowed, like streams from her eyes. She flung herself at him, her face buried in his chest and Jesus’ tears mingled with her own.


The story finishes with a wonderful note of triumph as Jesus He pre-enacts His own resurrection story with a loud shout; "Lazarus come out."

 “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,