I AM - The Resurrection and the Life

I AM – The Resurrection and the Life

John 11:17-27

Series Slide

Good morning and happy Resurrection Day! Yes, culturally we call it Easter, but truly it is our Resurrection Day. In the days when Jesus walked among us, Sunday wasn’t our Sabbath, it wasn’t our day of worship, Saturday was… or if you know Spanish, Sabado, or Latin, Sabbatum. Saturday was and is the Sabbath, the Seventh Day, a day of rest, but in the early years after Jesus resurrection, people began to gather on Sunday to celebrate the resurrection. They met on Saturday as good Jews, but also on Sunday to remember the victory in Jesus. Eventually, worship on Saturday became less and less of a focus and more focus was placed on Sunday. So, Today, we celebrate the Resurrection on what we call Easter Sunday, the Sunday after Passover, but also, we celebrate the Resurrection every Sunday that we gather in worship. We gather to worship because Jesus rose again! We gather to worship because we have been raised to new life!

That’s the big point. What we celebrate today isn’t about what Jesus did… oh, that’s important, don’t get me wrong… but today is about what Jesus DOES… Jesus is in the business of Resurrection – Resurrection from death… Resurrection to life. Not only the physical, but the Spiritual. We’ll get into that in a few minutes, but first, let’s look at our “I Am” Passage for today that comes from John 11.

We have been considering these statements of Jesus where he claims to be God in the flesh. I Am, is the very same name God gave at the Burning Bush with Moses. God’s eternal name is I Am… If you recall several weeks ago, I made the point that we can’t say, “Jesus was a good moral teacher.” Or “Jesus was just a Rabbi and we can follow his teachings.” Jesus didn’t give us those options. When you look at the claims of Jesus, when you look at the teachings of Jesus, there are only 3 options…

1) Jesus was a liar who knew he wasn’t who he claimed to be. I mean, in these 7 statements, Jesus is claiming the eternal name of God as his identity.

2) Jesus is a lunatic who thinks he is something he is not. Or

3) Jesus is Lord. And, based on the physical and written evidence, I believe Jesus is Lord, Jesus was is and ever will be God in the Flesh who came and experienced a horrific death, and rose again.

So, Jesus claimed the name of God as his own, he identified himself as God, then he revealed his character… I am the Bread of Life, I am Living Water, I am the Gate, I am the Good Shepherd… and today, I am the Resurrection and the Life!

Sermon Slide

Jesus has been preaching and teaching “across the Jordon” where many people came and believed in him. Why did he go to the other side of the Jordon? Because the ruling class had picked up stones to kill him for blasphemy…. So, while he was there he received word that his friend Lazarus was very sick. He was likely dying. His close friends, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are dear friends. It’s Mary and Martha that are sending word to Jesus…

So, what did Jesus? Jump up and grab the fastest camel to Bethany?

Take off running like Forrest Gump?

Nope, verse 6 says, “Yet, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.”

Now, when you objectively look at the days, I’m not going to bore you with the details, but it is quite likely that even if Jesus had jumped up and went right that moment, Lazarus would have died before he arrived. It’s even possible that Lazarus was dead by the time Jesus received the message.

From that point on he starts using some kind of cryptic language about this is happening so they will see the Glory of God… and Lazarus is just sleeping… and then after two days he says it’s time to head back to Bethany, near Jerusalem where they were trying to stone him just a few days before!

Finally, Jesus says it, “Lazarus is dead! Now you can see and believe, so, let’s go to him.”

I love Timothy… he says, “Welp, come on guys let’s go and die together!” I always read that with a hint of sarcasm.

Then we pick up at verse 17.

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

John 11:17-27

<Prayer>

Sermon Slide

As we gather on this Resurrection Sunday, we celebrate the fact that Jesus died, but he is not dead. We read story after story of people today who are revived from death. We marvel at their descriptions of what they experienced and what they saw… but these people were only dead for minutes, not days. These people were not placed in a tomb that was sealed and guarded. Lazarus died and was in the tomb for four days. Jesus died and was in the tomb for 3 days. We celebrate Jesus was dead and now he is alive and that is a great thing to celebrate.

Two Kinds of Death

But, Jesus talks of another type of death that we are to resurrected from.

Just a few weeks ago we read this passage as a part of our Big But sermon series… you know, all those passages that say, “But God…” this one comes from Ephesians.

Ephesians 2:1-6

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus…

This is a spiritual death. Paul wasn’t talking about a physical death here. Jesus wasn’t talking about a physical death when he told the church at Sardis: “You have a reputation of being alive, but you are really dead. Wake Up!” Rev. 3:1

This is a different kind of death. It’s like the Walking Dead… we stand, we walk, we breath… but really, we are dead. Dead in our sin. Dead in our cravings. Dead in our transgressions. But God, who loves us so much and is so rich in mercy has made you alive in Christ! Amen!

That brings us to our next point.

Two Kinds of Life

Yes, we are breathing. Yes we are walking and talking… But, as John Wesley might have asked us, “Are we yet alive?”

Jesus prayed for his followers in the Upper Room before he was betrayed, beaten, and berated on his way to the Cross of Calvary. What was Jesus prayer for Peter, James, John, Matthew, Judas, you, me…

John 17:1-3

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

There is life we live… walking around, breathing, existing… Then there is the life we were created for… Abundant Life, Eternal Life, true life lived as a Child of God the way we were created to live.

In November 1849, Fyodor Dostoevsky was sentenced to death by firing squad. The execution was carried out December 22. The day of his execution, he was shackled and chained and carried out in front of the crowds. He was blind folded, chained to a pole, and awaited the end of his life. He heard the commands, he heard the gunshots, but he felt nothing.

His execution had been commuted, but in a cruel joke, they paraded each prisoner out before the firing squad who fired blanks in the air rather than bullets into their bodies.

“The whole experience had a profound effect on Dostoevsky. He describes waking up the morning of his mock execution, knowing that it would be the last day of his life. As he ate his last meal, he savored every bite. Every breath he took was breathed with an awareness of how precious it was. Every face he saw that day he studied with intensity. He wanted every experience to be etched in his mind. As they marched him to the courtyard he felt the warmth of the sun on his back as never before. Everything around him, every blade of grass, had a magical quality about it. He was seeing the world as he had never seen it before. All of his senses were heightened—he was fully alive!

“After the experience of fake execution, his life was never the same. He became grateful to people he had previously hated. He became thankful for everything about life, but especially for life itself. He was born again.”

The four years following, as he labored in Siberia, he gave his life to Christ and lived the rest of his life as a follower of Jesus and an advocate for the poor and marginalized.

Being truly alive changed the way he lived!

Sermon Slide

Martha tells Jesus, “If you had been here, my brother would be alive.” Mary says the same to him. They had faith in him. They trusted him. They knew what he could do. He told them their brother would rise again, and they responded with some “Pie in the sky, bye and bye, when we die” Theology. But Jesus sets the record straight. He say, “I AM the Resurrection and the Life; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”

You know the story… Jesus has the stone removed, he calls Lazarus to come forth, and when he walks out Jesus says, “unwrap him and let him live.”

Easter Sunday isn’t about our life after our physical death… yes, biologically speaking, Jesus came back to life… that was a big part of the importance, but that wasn’t all. The big things about Easter, the real meaning of Easter is that God’s New Creation can begin right now.

You can experience the power of living a resurrected life when you recognize that you are dead in your sins and transgressions and you are alive in Christ!

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone and the new is here!

Romans 6:4

Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.

The story of God is the story of renewal… it is the story of the dead things coming to life… it is the story of death no longer having the final victory… it is the story of you and I finding real, abundant, full, complete life… the life we were created for.

Just as this symbol of torture and pain has become a symbol of joy and beauty, Easter is just a reminder, that God is still in the renewal business, and you are the recipient of that renewal!

Now, my invitation to you is to go and live the resurrection life! Go and live.

Let us sing!