The Resurrection and the Life

Introduction and Setting (v.17-20)

What is the hope that believers have in Christ? The moments of life that cause us to think of the uncomfortable and difficult - the death of a loved one.

What is the hope that the Christian has in Christ? What is the ultimate of all securities that are part of the Christian life? How can we, worried, anxious, followers of Jesus expect the passing of our souls into eternity to be like?

The context of - Jesus has allowed his friend Lazarus to die, the brother of Martha and Mary, disciples that lived in Bethany near Jerusalem. Jesus has specifically waited so that he might demonstrate his glory through Lazarus.

The scene that we find Jesus coming into is that of a Jewish funeral - the Jews that had known Mary, Martha, and Lazarus had come to mourn with them, a process that could last days. And this was no silent time of mourning - there was weeping all around as Jesus will find out after he speaks with Martha.

Martha hears of Jesus’ coming and goes to meet him at the edge of town which was customary in receiving a guest of honor. Here, we find that Martha and Jesus have the conversation where Jesus speaks perhaps the most well known phrase in all of Scripture.

Martha has just lost her brother Lazarus, we know about three days before Jesus arrival. The loss of Lazarus was still fresh in her mind and soul. Lazarus had taken ill, and died rather quickly. He was fine one day, and passed into eternity not soon after. And Martha hears of Jesus’ coming - the coming that they had asked for several days before, and she gets up and runs to meet Christ at the edge of town.

The Mourning Heart of Martha (v.21-24)

The first words of Martha to Jesus are telling of where her heart is at - “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.” The heart of Martha was filled with questions - “why hadn’t Jesus come when we sent for him?” Why did this happen this way? What is Jesus’ desire here?

This reflects the heart of all those who mourn for the loss of a loved one - the heart sits a questions, it attempts to rework reality to see if there was any way that it could have been avoided.

The fundamental issue here is that human hearts were not created to deal with death. That’s why death is so difficult for us - we weren’t meant to handle it. God’s original intention in the garden was for Adam and Eve and all their offspring to live and fill the earth.

As Paul writes, “12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”

The words of Martha almost bring a hint of accusation to Jesus - but we can feel her struggle - she knows that Christ has the power to heal completely, and confesses further that, “I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

What no one understood at this moment is that not even death can overcome the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus responds: “Your brother will rise again” - and we know from having read before that Jesus was referring to the resurrection that he was about to bring forth upon Lazarus that very day. But Martha responds looking to the future, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

What the Holy Spirit is demonstrating to the reader here is that Martha was not on the same line of thinking as Christ. Martha was thinking, “yes, its all over until the final resurrection” but Jesus was referring to his glorious power to resurrect the dead at his command. Martha’s response hints that she still hadn’t understood Christ’s power, although she still believed in him.

Death seems to be the final word - it rules over every creature on this earth, and no one escapes it. And

We see this further in the narrative when Jesus asks them to roll the stone away from Lazarus’ tomb, Martha says to Jesus, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days,” (11:39).

We too find ourselves with the same heart as Martha, often doubting and misunderstanding the power of Christ. Martha hadn’t correlated Jesus with the power of the resurrection yet - and so Christ tells her - this is where we find out next point.

The Resurrection and the Life (v.25-27)

Then Christ says to Martha words that echo throughout history. “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?”

There are several aspects of Christ’s statement here that I want us to look at -

1. The Source

“I am the resurrection and the life.” Christ declares the he is the source of all resurrection and life. Jesus directly identifies himself with the resurrection and life. No one is resurrected or has eternal life unless Christ grants it to them. What Jesus is saying here is that his power is not limited by death - but rather his power overcomes death so much so that the power of resurrection and eternal life lie with with him alone. Death has no power over Jesus Christ.

Christ is the center of the life of believers - eternity will be centered around his glory.

2. The Subjects

“Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” Christ then states that those upon whom he will exercise his resurrection power are those who believe. And although they die physically, they will be alive with him. Death has no power over those who have believed in Jesus Christ. Not that we have any power in ourselves but that Christ Jesus declares over us that we are no longer to be touched by the sting of death. While our bodies might die, we will live with Him. Physical death still occurs because of the effects of sin in this world, but by the power of Christ and the purchase of His blood, all who believe, when they die, will live with Him.

Jesus here states that it is those who believe - not a mental agreement but a heart trusting in Christ for all that he is - Savior and Lord.

3. Eternal Salvation

“and everyone who live and believes in me shall never die.” The life that Christ promises to those who believe in him here is eternal, and it is with him. Believers will live eternally in the presence of Jesus Christ.

Jesus asks then, “Do you believe this?”

And I would ask you all the same question - do you believe this?

What Jesus was pointing Martha to and us to as well is that through the sacrifice of his blood, through his complete and sufficient atonement on the cross, that sin no longer will be able to hold those who believe in Christ in the grave. That through the power and declaration of Jesus Christ all who turn from their sin and trust in him will live eternally with Christ.

Jesus was clear about this glorious hope that all believers have in Him. The moment that we die, as those who are in Christ, we will go to be in His presence.

“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

This is eternal life - to know the Lord Jesus Christ and to continually enjoy him for all of eternity.

Then Jesus

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

The love of Christ for believers is like that of a husband for a wife - deep, affectionate, kind, and far beyond the imagination of the minds of men.

Jesus’ desire is that we be with him - because we belong to him -

“24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Imagine the moment of joy that you see the face of Jesus Christ - the one who loved you and gave himself for you.

The moment we die or Christ returns - his prayer is answered - that the people that he purchased with his very blood would dwell with him forever.

Returning to our passage -

Jesus would prove his power over death to Mary and Martha by literally calling Lazarus back from the dead.

But he would prove his final power over sin and death in his death and resurrection. The grave could not hold Christ. Why? Because in perfect righteousness he sacrificed his life in place of all believers, and resurrected to declare his victory over death.

And now we have this hope of being with Him - because as Christ cried out on the cross - “It is finished”

Take comfort and hope in Christ brothers and sisters because this is not the end.