Martha Finds Rest: An Easter Story

What if Jesus’s execution wasn’t the end of it? An empty tomb only complicates things. His disciples hide behind locked doors. Only Martha seems to have a plan.

“I had a painful entry into womanhood. Mad Archelaus was on the throne, life was difficult, and births were rare. Is insomnia a path one can choose that early in life? Or is it a role that is thrust upon you by birth order, communal duty, and unfulfilled dreams?”  - Martha

In Martha Finds Rest, Jesus is dead. Everyone is concerned about Martha who seems to have lost her mind. By midday Saturday, however, she has recovered her role as everyone’s protector. She sets to work smuggling Jesus’s accomplices out of the city, when the discovery of an empty tomb upsets her plans. Martha is like an ox, plowing her way through life, until this.

Bethany’s People is a fictional account of real people caught up in some of history’s most significant events. Unfortunately, we only have a few verses about the sisters Mary and Martha and their troubled relationship. Their brother Lazarus is silent in the Bible and best known for dying at an inconvenient time. A novelist has to spin a good deal out of whole cloth. 

Let me make three promises. 

1. The history and culture of ancient Bethany has been thoroughly researched and I do not knowingly write anything false about the settings for my stories.
2. The events which are foundational to the Christian faith are told in a way that honors Jesus Christ and the ongoing mission of his church.
3. I admit to not having met any of Bethany’s people. My over-active imagination  surely misrepresents them. When I get to heaven and Martha sets me straight, I am prepared to accept that what really happened was even more remarkable than my meager fictions.

Thanks,

Bill