John 11:5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

Romans 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Maybe John felt the need of emphasizing the fact that Jesus loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Especially after He decided to wait two more days before He arrived on the scene. It would be easy for Martha and Mary to doubt what they had believed until this point. Namely that Jesus did love them. But after seeing He chose not to come back with the messengers, despite the fact Lazarus was dying could very easily cause them to think He didn’t love them. But the Bible makes it clear that it was not because He didn’t love them, that He delayed his coming.

Sometimes it can be easy to assume Jesus doesn’t love me, when I go through hardship in my life. When the answer seems to delay. When it seems like Jesus doesn’t care about my pain and struggle. But let me remind somebody today: Jesus does love you. Whatever you go through does not mean He doesn’t love you. Hold on to your faith in both His LOVE and His ability to change your situation. Pastor Gøran Andreassen

Additional scriptures for further study: John 11