I Am: The Resurrection and the Life

I am the resurrection and life. Whoever believes in me , though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. John 11: 25-26

This verse is in the middle of a story, which begins when Jesus receives word from Mary and Martha that Lazarus is sick, saying “Lord, the one who you love is ill.” Hearing this news, Jesus does something unexpected…he waits. He WAITS! He tells us why; “This sickness does not end in death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” He knows that he will raise Lazarus from the dead. He knows that it will result in praise and faith and goodness to all, but there is this hard part BEFORE all of that. There is the waiting and the inbetween. Lazarus dies.

It is clear in the text that Martha, Mary and Lazarus are close friends and disciples of Jesus. They love each other. But in the hour of their greatest need, Jesus does not come to them. He waits and when he finally comes on the scene Lazarus has been dead and buried for four days! Martha and Mary are in deep mourning. They are crying their tears of loss over their brother. It is in this grief and loss that Jesus enters and seeks out the two sisters. He engages them each so personally and individually.

Martha, who I always felt like has been compared unfavorably to Mary, comes to Jesus with such hope and faith. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

I can almost sense in this exchange that these words of a future hope in heaven has been repeated as words of comfort to Martha from those around her. How flat they must sound when you are feeling the acute grief of losing a loved one. Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

But then hope! Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and life. Whoever believes in me , though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the word.” Jesus gives Martha hope and builds her faith in his unique power over life and death.

With Mary, there is a different response to the same question. “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.” When he saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved and greatly troubled. Jesus wept. With Mary he felt WITH her. He was sad with her. He cried WITH her. Even knowing he was about to do a miracle, he grieved with her. How much more is he grieving with us who do not see the miraculous resurrection? Those of us who have to wait to be reunited with loved ones who pass too soon?

And here is the thing, the people around Jesus said two things we might hear today. Two different responses to his presence: “See how he loved him!” and “Could he have not kept this man from dying?”. One response sees Jesus’ love as he cries and weeps with the mourning and the other response demands what love looks like: Love means saving and rescuing because he can, whenever he can!

Jesus does save Lazarus. He is taken to the tomb. The tombstone is rolled away. Jesus prays and then calls in a loud voice: Lazarus come out! The man who died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Many there believed in him!

Can you imagine the joy that Martha and Mary must have felt!?! There was rejoicing and praise and God was glorified just as Jesus said he would be as a result of his waiting. But let’s not skip over the in between too quickly. Martha, Mary and Lazarus suffered! And so do we. We do not get to skip over the pains and suffering in our lives. Sometimes we may see miracles. Sometimes we may see how things are working together for God’s glory. And sometimes we may not. What we can be confident of is this: God is with us in all things. He never leaves us or forsakes us. And he DOES have the power of the resurrection! We may see that resurrection power on earth in answered prayer, miraculous healing, and we may rejoice. And if not now, we have a hope in another resurrection. It is the hope of eternal life. “Though he die, yet shall he live .” What Jesus is declaring in this “I AM” statement is this: hope of eternal life is in Him.