Then when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
Read Chapter 11
Cyril of Alexandria
AD 444
Now since Christ was not only God by Nature, but; also Man, He suffers in common with the rest that which is human; and when grief begins somehow to be stirred within Him, and His Holy Flesh now inclines to tears, He does not allow It to indulge in them without restraint, as is the custom with us. But He groans in the spirit, that is, in the power of the Holy Spirit He reproves in some way His Own Flesh: and That, not being able to endure the action of the Godhead united with It, trembles and presents the appearance of trouble. For this I think to be the signification of "He was troubled;" for how otherwise could He endure trouble? Shall that Nature which is ever undisturbed and calm be troubled in any way? The flesh therefore is reproved by the Spirit, being taught to feel things beyond its own nature. For indeed on this account the Almighty Word of Glod was made in Flesh, or rather was made Flesh, that He might strengthen the weaknesses of the flesh by the energies of His own Spirit,...
Certainly Mary says that death had happened to her brother prematurely through the absence of the Lord, and says that He had come to the house, when the time for healing had passed by: and it is possible also from this to conjecture that she said this as to God Himself; although she did not speak accurately, from thinking that He was not present even though absent in the body. But being more accurate and intelligent than Martha, she did not say: Whatsoever Thou shalt ask of God God will give Thee. Wherefore to her the Lord says nothing, whereas to Martha He spake at some length. And Mary intoxicated with her grief, He does not reprove for saying: " If Thou hadst been here" to Him Who fills all creation; doing this also for our example, that we should not reprove those who are in an agony of mourning: and He condescends still further, revealing His human nature, and weeps and is troubled, when He sees her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping.
She is more ardent than her sister. She regarded not the multitude, nor the suspicion which they had concerning Him, for there were many of His enemies, who said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? John 11:37; but cast out all mortal things in the presence of her Master, and was given up to one thing only, the honor of that Master. And what says she?
Lord, if You had been here, my brother had not died.
What does Christ? He converses not at all with her for the present, nor says to her what He said to her sister, (for a great multitude was by, and this was no fit time for such words,) He only acts measurably and condescends; and to prove His human nature, weeps in silence, and defers the miracle for the present. For since that miracle was a great one, and such as He seldom wrought, and since many were to believe by means of it, lest to work it without their presence should prove a stumbling-block to the multitu...
