"I AM The Resurrection and The Life"
Jesus’ claim, “I am the bread of life,” constitutes the first of seven “I am” sayings recorded in this Gospel (see chart). Apart from these sayings there are also several absolute statements where Jesus refers to himself as “I am” (e.g., v. 20; 8:24, 28, 58; 18:5), in keeping with the reference to God as “I AM” in Ex. 3:14 and the book of Isaiah (e.g., Isa. 41:4; 43:10, 25). Jesus is the “bread of life” in the sense that he nourishes people spiritually and satisfies the deep spiritual longings of their souls. In that sense, those who trust in him shall not hunger; that is, their spiritual longing to know God will be satisfied (cf. John 4:14 for a similar discussion of satisfying people’s spiritual thirst).
What John does tell us in 10:40 was that Jesus had gone from Jerusalem ‘across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptising in the early days’. But when we read 1:28 we find: ‘This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptising.’
So there were two places that had the name Bethany. The trouble is that there is no known Bethany on the east bank, so some commentators have looked around, seen a place called Bethabara, just one day’s journey away, and assumed that was the place being referred to. However, there is better justification for assuming that where Jesus stayed was actually 150 km away in a region called Batanea, which in Aramaic paraphrases can almost be spelt the same as ‘Bethany’. And the journey from Batanea would have taken four days.
This is important information. It helps us work out the timing of events. A messenger is sent from Bethany when Lazarus is seriously ill. He arrives four days later in Batanea and tells Jesus. At that time it seems that Lazarus is still alive (v. 4). However, two days later, Jesus supernaturally knows that Lazarus has died. And so Jesus and the disciples set off on their four-day journey, arriving in Bethany to be told that Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days—which all ties in neatly together.
However, the question must be asked: Why did Jesus delay? Why did he not set off immediately for Bethany to visit the home of his friends? Yes, Lazarus would still have been dead for two days by our reckoning, but why the postponement of the trip? There was a superstitious Jewish belief at that time that the soul of a deceased person hovered over the corpse for three days until decomposition set in. In other words, it was not until the third day that death was considered to be irreversible.
Why did He delay?
The NIV translation gets the connection between verses 5 and 6 badly wrong: ‘Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.’ This suggests a contrast or disconnection between Jesus’s love for the family and how he acted. But when you translate the Greek text literally, it reads like this: ‘Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Therefore when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.’
He delayed because He loved them and wanted them to learn something about himself and the Lord.
Sometimes when He delays in our lives, we need to learn something.
His delay is not the absence of His love.
What do we learn from these passages?
The Disciples learn something.
The were fearful of death and did not need to be.
The needed to walk more fully in the light.
So that you may believe indicates that Jesus knows raising Lazarus from the dead will lead to deeper faith on the part of the disciples who witness this miracle.
Martha and Mary learn something.
Their brother will rise again.
Martha’s affirmation of end-time resurrection was in keeping with the beliefs of the Pharisees (Acts 23:8) and the majority of first-century Jews, as well as the teaching of Jesus (John 5:21, 25–29; 6:39–44, 54). Martha misunderstood the full import of Jesus’ promise (11:23), thinking he was merely speaking of the final resurrection, while Jesus meant much more.
Jesus does not merely say that he will bring about the resurrection or that he will be the cause of the resurrection (both of which are true), but something much stronger: I am the resurrection and the life. Resurrection from the dead and genuine eternal life in fellowship with God are so closely tied to Jesus that they are embodied in him and can be found only in relationship to him. Therefore believes in me implies personal trust in Christ. The preposition translated “in” (Gk. eis) is striking, for eis ordinarily means “into,” giving the sense that genuine faith in Christ in a sense brings people “into” Christ, so that they rest in and become united with Christ. (This same expression is found in 3:16, 18, 36; 6:35; 7:38; 12:44, 46; 14:12; 1 John 5:10.) The “I am” statement here represents a claim to deity.
Death is not the end.
Lives refers to those who have spiritual life now (see note on 3:36). Those who believe shall never die, in that they will ultimately triumph over death.
Deeply Moved (vs. 33)
Greatly troubled/Troubled Heart
11:33 The Greek word underlying deeply moved, embrimaomai (elsewhere in the NT only in v. 38; Matt. 9:30 [“sternly warned”]; Mark 1:43 [“sternly charged”]; and Mark 14:5 [“scolded”]), means to feel something deeply and strongly. Jesus was moved with profound sorrow at the death of his friend and at the grief that his other friends had suffered. In addition, this sorrow was intermixed with anger at the evil of death (the final enemy; see 1 Cor. 15:26; Rev. 21:4), and also with a deep sense of awe at the power of God that was about to flow through him to triumph over death (in anticipation of his voice summoning the whole world to the resurrection on the last day). In his spirit does not refer to the Holy Spirit but to Jesus’ own human spirit.
They believed there was nothing that could now be done.
Notice how Jesus took that general, orthodox response of Martha’s and clarified it with a stunning, specific claim (vv. 25–26). He was saying that it is not enough to have a general idea of life after death; rather, if you want to experience it, you must have a specific belief in him—the only one who can provide it. He is the one who gives that life.
Jesus Wept.
Jesus’ example shows that heartfelt mourning in the face of death does not indicate lack of faith but honest sorrow at the reality of suffering and death.