Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life!

 John 11:1-27

The Death of Lazarus

1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."  4 When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. 7 Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."  8 The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"

9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  12 Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well." 13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.

14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him."  16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. 19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21 Now Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."

23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."  24 Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"  27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."

Jesus is often quoted as being the resurrection and the life.  What does that mean?  For Mary and Martha, they looked forward to the resurrection from the grave on judgment day but seemed to not have that hope in the present time because of the death and loss of Lazarus their beloved brother.  The disciples did not understand at first why Jesus waited two days after receiving news of his illness.  The Lord had already told them that the sickness was not to death, but to the glory of God that the Son od God would be glorified in what was going to happen.  After that waiting time, Jesus told them to pack everything up and go back to Judea with Him to Lazarus who had fallen asleep in his words, even though the Jewish leaders were looking to kill Him there.  Jesus reminded them to walk in the Light while it was still with them and not to be seen by the darkness of the world around them.  The disciples still did not comprehend what Jesus meant when He told them the beloved Lazarus was asleep and that He had to go to wake him up.  He had to skip the allusion of sleeping and sickness and plainly tell them He meant death by slee and left them wondering about the part of the Lord going there to ‘wake’ him up.  He told them further that He was glad they were not there when His beloved friend had died in order to help them believe who He is and what power over death He holds.  A demonstration was to be given to prove His divine power over life and death that they might truly appreciate who Jesus is.  The disciples needed hat because they were so sad and without hope of the reality of death and resurrected life in His hands.  They arrived in Bethany and found Lazarus still laying in a hewn out tomb after four days.  The neighbors of Mary and Martha were grieving with the sisters still when they arrived and Martha ran to meet Jesus while Mary grieved at home.  This seemed a reversal of the account of Mary seeking the words of the Lord while Martha was concerned too much with the worry and troubles of life while serving (Luke 10:39-40, 41-42).  Now Martha was the one seeking to understand the hope of the resurrection on the last day (John 5:29) when all are judged.  She acknowledged by faith in the Lord’s ability and working that Jesus could ask anything from His father and it would be done like the Roman centurion in Luke 7:8-9 who trusted and took the Lord at His word for making body and soul well again.  She responded to the promise of her sibling rising again at the resur as Jesus reminded her by affirming her belief in that promised truth.  Jesus then told her the phrase which still rings in our ears throughout time, “I am the resurrection and the life.”  The promise is the essen of the gospel the good news that if we believe in Him by receiving (John 1:12, 5:24) by absolute trust in the verity of His promise based on who He is that we will never die, but live forever in and with Him.  We are resurrected from being dead in sin () and look for to not only the new life now (Galatians 2:20) but also for eternity in His very pres as we stand before the Father and Son in unending worship.  This is the faith based on a real hope as demonstrated to the Jews then by Jesus raising Lazarus for physical death to real life then and recording this for us that we also may believe (1 John 5:13) and live now and into eternity with Him.  Like Martha, we believe that He is the Christ who is the Son of God promised to come as the Messiah Savior of all who trust in Him and are raised from spiritual death (1 Corinthians 15:21-22) into life now and forever with the certain hope of a bodily resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 42, 51, 54) to follow us from the grave into eternity.  Jesus truly Himself is the resurrection and the life!