I Am the Resurrection and the Life

John 11:17-27

John 11:17–27 ESV

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “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.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the 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 world.”

PRAY

Hey party people!

Its a great day to be in the house of the Lord, Amen?

So thankful to Pastor Mark for giving me another opportunity to share the word of God with you all.

We are continuing the I Am Series

Today as you have no doubt put together with your incredible detective skills… we are talking about when Jesus says I Am The Resurrection and The Life

If you have a Bible turn to John 11:17-27

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PRAY

If you grew up in church at all… even if you haven’t, you probably know the story of Lazarus

at least you know that Jesus raised him from the dead

But that doesn’t mean that you get to tune out today.

I want to hit you all with 2 main points today.

And i’m sorry theres no study guide or slides… but I’ll repeat them enough I hope you’ll get em.

There is no resurrection without death

Nothing is ever too dead for Jesus to bring life

There is no resurrection without death

Earlier in the chapter in a portion that we didn’t read v 5-6

we see that Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus… and so after he heard that Lazarus was sick he stayed for 2 more days before going to him

And then we see in v15 that he was glad that he wasn’t there

Jesus knew that in order to bring Lazarus back from the dead… he had to be dead.

There is no resurrection without death

I know that sounds like a duh statement, but its something that we struggle to fully embrace as followers of Jesus in our western context

However, Jesus didn’t mince words

He said that whoever would come after him must pick up his cross and die to self in order to have new life in Christ

There is a misunderstanding that the Gospel comes into our life in the form of helping us become better people.

The Gospel is that you cannot become a better person until you learn to crucify the flesh and live in Christ

Paul tells us In 2 Corinthians

that if you are in Christ, you are a new creation. the old has died.. the old you is dead

Jesus doesn’t come into your sick life and try to nurse you back to health so that you can be the best you that you can be

Jesus is not the resuscitation he is the resurrection.

Even the best you is terrible

The flesh and every desire belonging to it must die

We have to die to our selfish ambitions, die to our self-righteousness, we have to die to biggotry, we have to die to our comfort, we have to die to our rights to our own way, we have to die to sin

Only in that death do we actually get to live life in Jesus Christ

C.S. Lewis said If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.

Its not comfortable to die to self

Its is not natural to say, Not my will, but yours

You can’t continue to nurse an ego that’s leading you to death, you can’t continue to foster and incubate the illness and hope that Jesus would come to put a bandaid on it and help you look better all the while you are rotting inside

That means that the old phrase “That’s just how I am” has to die, that heart of bitterness has to go,

There can not be new life in Jesus unless there is death

this means some old friendships will have to die, this means some old habits will have to die, this means old ways of thinking are going to have to die

so that Christ can be born anew inside you and resurrect new life in you

bringing new ways of thinking new desires, new habits, new passions, new life

Romans 8 reminds us that The things of the flesh bring death

only by allowing Jesus into your life in order for those things to die in our life will he resurrect us not as polished versions of our old selves but as little versions of him

That’s what being a christian is

It doesn’t mean good person, it doesn’t mean kind, it doesn’t mean wealthy, it doesn’t mean poor, it doesn’t mean republican or democrat… Christian, when they were first called that at Antioch… means little christ

That means that when you die to self you are living as a little Jesus. A new creation

This means the old you, whoever people thought you were… is gone. You are new in Jesus Once you die to self. Once you lay to rest the old things the old ways.

Point 2: Nothing is ever too dead for Jesus to bring life

Jesus knew that unless the people where sure of the death of Lazarus, they wouldn’t believe in the power and authority that is in him

Jesus not only wanted people to know that he has authority over death but he wanted to show them this sign in a way that was unmistakeable.

He wanted people to know that Lazarus wasn’t just dead… he was dead dead!

In fact I learned something in preparing for this message today…

According to rabbinical traditions, the spirit of the deceased wanders around the tomb or hangs out around the body for 3 days seeking an opportunity to return into the body, But once decay starts to set in the spirit leaves. The family and freinds of the dead would visit the tomb or wherever the body was for the first 3 days. Then on the 4th day they began what they called the days of lamentations.

This is highlited by v 21 when Martha tells Jesus, If you had been here my brother would not have died

Not only before he died but all the way up to the third day after he died

But Jesus wanted to emphasize the fact that Nothing is ever too dead for Jesus to bring life

When he goes to the tomb and asks them to roll the stone away, Martha tells him.. look he’s been decomposing in there for 4 days.. its nasty. There are smells and other stuff that you don’t want any parts of

Jesus wasn’t deterred by the human standards of difficulty

Death is death is death and if Jesus has authority over death, then it doesn’t matter if someone was dead a day or a thousand years. If Jesus calls them back to life they are living!

Nothing is ever too dead for Jesus to bring life

Some of you have been so far from Jesus for so long that it seems like its impossible for there to be new life breathed into your bones.

SOme of you have been fighting sins for so long that the death in your life seems essential. Meaning it is who you are

But I want you to know that there is no depth that you could ever stoop to that Jesus could not revive you

The pslamist says in 139 that even if we would go down to the depths of the ocean you could not get away from the love of God.

It doesn’t matter the level of death that you have stooped to… Jesus can still call you out of that darkness into his marvelous light

Because Jesus is the resurrection

This miracle isn’t about a type of resurrection it’s about the fact that Jesus is the Resurrection and the life. It is only in Christ that life is found. He called Lazarus out of the putrid stench of death apart from Lazarus having to work his way back to life

We have a faith that is not about making the sick well, its about making the dead alive.

Truly think about that.

Jesus is the resurrection meaning that if you’re dead… there’s no effort you can make on your own to make yourself alive.

It takes simply letting God be God and surrendering to what he wants to do in your life which is bring the breath of life!

Nothing is ever too dead for Jesus to bring life

He proved again that he was the resurrection by resurrecting himself! 2000 years ago, Jesus was dead in the tomb for 3 days

He got out of the grave and shook off the stench of death in order to bring you new life

His death was for your sins. He was pierced for your transgressions and bruised for your inequities. The weight of your sin held him on that Cross.

And not only did he take it to the grave and bury your sin, but to prove that his offering was acceptable, HE CAME BACK!!!

He did all this so that whoever believes in him though he die, yet shall he live and everyone who lives and believes in him shall never die.

Because Jesus is the life

This means that the only way to experience life and that to the full is die to self and allow Jesus to live in you

It is in dying to all the wickedness and deceit that comes from our emotions and our heart that we actually live in the true nature of who we were created to be

Here in a little bit we are going to actually join in and participate in a sign o the death and resurrection of Jesus

GO into communion