I am the Resurrection and the Life

We have been in this series “I Am” for the last 6 weeks where we have seen Jesus describe himself. He uses the phrase “I Am” as a direct reference to Exodus 3 where God spoke his name for the first time. So when he is saying, “I Am” he is making two claims. I have been telling our students this every week, this might be new for you. Two things Jesus is saying when he says “I Am” 1: I am God. 2: If you want to know what God is like, look at me. Then Jesus in his genius he relates common day analogies to help us experience what God is like. He is the bread of life, he is the light of the world, he is the gate, he is the good shepherd. If you’ve missed any weeks you can go back on YouTube and catch up later.

So I want to start today by asking you a question. Have you ever been frustrated with God? Have you ever questioned his motives, his timing, his grace, mercy, love or care for you, those around you or those you love the most. It’s in the times in the dr office when it seems like everything is going great, then the cancer diagnosis. When you found out about the affair, the lying about finances, the shock of the addiction or in many cases the sudden and untimely death of a friend or loved one. And you cry out and you ask WHY GOD. WHERE ARE YOU IN ALL OF THIS JESUS? We have prayed and prayed and prayed and fasted and worshiped believing in faith, believing in him for redemption, in healing in wholeness to bring the Holy Spirit to this situation, and yet they still died, they got worse, the marriage ended, they still ran off, your child no longer talks to you. It feels like parts of your life are dead. God…where are you, because surely you are not here. And where is this life and life to the fullest that you have said I would receive? So have you ever been frustrated with God?

In the book of John specially chapter 11 we find characters in moments like this. Lets upon up our bibles to John 11 starting in verse one. Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

A few things to note, John here makes the assumption that the readers already know Martha and Mary most likely because of the circulation of the writings Matthew, Mark and Luke in the church by the time John was written. Martha and Mary are references that can be found in Luke 10, Mark 14 and Matthew 26 in that first verse or two. This is why context is incredibly important when reading and understanding the Bible. Context gives greater insight. There are many lessons that we will learn from this story, first of which, Martha and Mary only send word to Jesus after Lazarus is laying on his deathbed. And they didn't even ask anything from Jesus, just simply informed him of something he already knew. For many of us we do the same thing. We try to control situations until we lose control of situations then go and inform Jesus as if he doesn't already know our situation. It’s a common phrase but one that believers should begin to put into practice. Prayer should be our first response, not our last resort. How many times have we/you held onto situations without inviting God in and then blame him for the outcome?

In Martha and Mary’s case, we see that by the time the messenger reached Jesus Lazarus had already been dead for two days. But Jesus says something incredibly interesting and that does not make sense if you are Martha and you receive this notice back from the messenger. It says, “4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”  We have the privilege of knowin  the end of the story. They didn't. They would have already been Mourning the death of their brother when they got the news. This doesn’t make sense, what happens when what you know to be true about Jesus and his word doesn't match up with the current events in your life? Does that mean Jesus is wrong, no. Jesus is never wrong. Oftentimes our frustrations about Jesus in life, even in the hardest moment of our lives come from the wrong understanding of what Jesus actually came to do in this world and in your life, more on that in a moment…

But look what happens, it says, whatever is about to happen is going to bring glory to God, that Jesus loved Martha, but that Jesus then waited two more days. He was a 12 mile walk from Lazarus and then he waited two more days. This isn't the first time that Jesus has done this. In John 2:1-11 and John 7:1-10 we see two other instances where Jesus refused the initial request, only to then fulfill the request on God's timing. How many times have you been in situations where you feel like God is late, that God has said no. How many times have you cried out to God asking for help only to get the appearance of silence. Only to leave you questioning, friends, I want to tell you that God's delays are not his denials. His timing only ever brings greater glory. It doesn't lessen the pain of what you have experienced, but it can bring greater purpose to the pain. Some might say and I have heard it, “I wouldn’t wish this on anyone, but I thank God I walked through it with him.”We don’t understand that at the moment, but only after the fact that God was working the entire time.

Watch this, to Martha and Mary Lazarus their brother the one whom Jesus loved is dead. But this is what Jesus says about the situation in verse 11: Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up. Lazarus is asleep to Jesus because he would soon be awoken by Jesus. This sickness will not end in death, but Lazarus is dead, he has fallen asleep, but even just a few verses later Jesus clearly says in verse 14. Lazarus is dead. To make the situation even worse the text clearly tells us that he had been in the tomb for four days. If you have been in church or know anything about this the Jews had a superstition that for three days the soul of the person hovered over the body of the dead. In that time frame if God was going to do a miracle then he had three days. But Lazarus had been dead for 4 days, rigor mortis had taken its course and in 3-4 days the body would be putrefying. It was over, it was done. They had defined this moment, or this season, they did not believe Jesus, God in form could or would intervene. But what I’ve learned about God in my life is to never define a season until God is done with it.

And then Martha, who has been mourning her brother for 4 days, hears that Jesus is finally in town and the text says that she ran and she says what many of us have said in our grief, in our pain, in our suffering. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Jesus is you would have just been here, how different it would have all gone. Now my brother is dead and it all seems hopeless. I’ll ask the question that I asked at the beginning, have you ever been frustrated with God, or angry with God? Maybe it isn't a person who has died, but you feel like you're in a dead marriage and it feels like there is no hope. You are at a dead end in your life and you know where it went wrong, but you don’t know where to turn to next, you feel like something in you is dead and you are hopeless so you say, Jesus if you were just here.

Martha was able to bring her frustration to Jesus, and then she displays something astonishing even in the pain. She displays her faith. The very next verse says, “22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Two words define her focus, even now, even now my brother is gone, even now in disappointment, even now…do you trust God in the even now moments?

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Once again we see that Martha believes that at some future date, there will be a resurrection. As Christian’s this is a hope and a promise, so even though she had seen Jesus perform miracles, heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind. Yet the dead, that's too far gone, not even you Jesus. She took Jesus figuratively. Jesus was speaking literally. After all she believes that the dead will rise up one day, and a question I would ask Martha is, WHO DO YOU THINK WILL PERFORM THAT ACT? It will be ME who raises anyone who believes in me back from the dead. For then Jesus utters out“I AM” statement this week. When he says, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

I am the resurrection and the life, Jesus is making a point, that nobody rises from the dead unless I say so. There is no hope outside of Jesus, there is no resurrection apart from Jesus. He is not just the giver of life, he is the reviver of life, for he is the essence of life. Death has no power over him, he holds all the power, he has victory over death! And he willingly gives this to you because he is the good shepherd and he laid down his life for you. We live, we die and we live again in the presence of God. How can Jesus say that your brother will rise again, because he himself is the very source that gives that power away. Jesus in this moment wasn’t just professing he is the resurrection and the life, he is about to prove it.

So then Jesus meets Mary and she, like Martha, asks where you were, and he is led to Lazarus’s tomb. And one of the most profound verses in the whole new testament says “Jesus Wept” But this weeping wasn’t just out of sadness, looking at the pain death causes, the hurt the world has on people, and darkness in the world because of sin. He wept. The healer knew what was going to happen next and he Wept. Which means two things, You can have the strongest faith, the type that moves mountains, and still weep for the loss of what you had and still have grief all the time. Second, God sees your tears, God is touched by your tears, God remembers your tears and God moves to dry your tears.

Jesus says for them to remove the stone, and he prays saying, “So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” Jesus prayed for the benefit that others would believe in him, not for the act that was about to happen, for I believe Jesus didn't have to even ask, because he already was the resurrection and the life.

43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” There is an interesting parallel here, it says that Lazarus though resurrected, was still wrapped in his grave clothes. Then in the resurrection of Jesus it says that his grave clothes were folded, he wasn’t bound in them. Two important distinctions to help us understand, Lazarus was wrapped in his grave clothes symbolizes the fact that he would need them again. Lazarus would go on to die again, Jesus’s left in the tomb symbolizes he will never experience death again because he is exactly who he said he was, the resurrection and the life.

So where does that leave us today, how does this relate to you and to us? The resurrection of Jesus proves once and for all that death is not the final word, death does not have the final say, if you are a Jesus follower we serve a living God who defeated death and gives that same hope and power in you. In fact, if you have crossed over that line of faith, you have already experienced the resurrection power of Jesus in your life. Because the Bible says that you were dead in your sin, and anyone who believes in him as Jesus said, will live and be given life, listen, even if they die. If you are a Jesus follower you have been resurrected from the death of sin into a life with Jesus. You have been rescued from a hellish eternity and brought into the heavenly realm. You cannot resurrect yourself, which means that power solely rests on the shoulders of Jesus. Death can not kill a believer, it can only usher them into a freer form of life. That is the hope we have even in the midst of the darkest days, the hope of the coming Resurrection.

But what about this life, many of you hear the story of Lazarus and think, “That's great for him, but Jesus didn't work like that in my life, Jesus isn't working like that in my life.” My mom is still sick, my loved ones have died, my life seems to be in shambles, where’s the life and where is the resurrection. If Jesus truly gives life and life to the fullest, I think I'm getting his empty. Earlier I said we need to understand why Jesus actually came into this world. He arrived because of the sin that causes death and separation. Jesus loves you and cares for you, the great preacher Charles Spurgeon said “ The love of Jesus does not separate us from the common necessities and infirmaries of human life. Men of God are still men. Jesus’s ultimate desire for your life and mine isn't that you would have a comfy life, he greatest desire isn't to make sure you don’t experience pain, suffering, betrayal, or to keep you from experiencing the consequences of your actions. Rather his biggest desire is for you to have a relationship with him, believe in him, so that one day you on the other side of eternity you will experience the full presence of God where there is no pain, there is no death, there is no cancer, there is no sin, there is no hurting, there is no suffering.

This life that Jesus comes to give is for you to be resurrected spiritually, so you will be forgiven of sin. As that happens, we live resurrected lives, with resurrected minds and resurrected actions. The life he gives is for you to live for him and with him not just eternity, but for monday. In this world you will have troubles, take heart for Jesus has overcome the world. You will have testing of your faith, rejoice and find joy. You will have storms, be anchored in the hope of Jesus, you will have pain, persevere in the spirit. You will have questions and frustrations but do as Martha did, bring it to Jesus along with your faith. Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

So as we end our time together I have a few things for you to write down. Resurrection is not an event. Resurrection is a Person. That person is Jesus Christ. Life is not abstract. Life is a relationship. You only find true life when you repent of your sins and follow Jesus. Victory over death is not a future occurrence. Victory over death is a daily reality. Only as we confront the reality of death will we appreciate the hope of resurrection.

I am going to end as I began, by asking you a question. But it is not the same question, rather it is the question Jesus asked Martha before the miracle took place. Before she had true hope. And maybe you find yourself in a similar situation, you know what Martha and Mary were feeling, you know it you feel it, you are frustrated at God. Maybe you realize that you are dead in your sin, and you need to be resurrected, be made alive in Jesus and repent of your sin and believe in Jesus. He is asking all of you this question, “Do you believe this?” Do you believe that Jesus has the power to resurrect and change any situation? I can’t tell you if he will, because I don’t know his will. But know this, there is hope because we know what awaits us on the other side.

For those of you who don’t have a relationship with Jesus, do you believe this? Do you believe that Jesus is the Resurrection and the life? Because Jesus didn't just make this statement about himself he literally pulled it off. When he died on the cross for the sins of the world and 3 days later rose again. You don’t have to have every question answered to begin a relationship, you just have to answer the one…the same question Jesus asked, he is asking you. “Do you believe this.” - Call to salvation

Pray