I AM- Resurrection and Life

The Real/The Rub

Have I ever told you about our miracle chicken? We used to have chickens. We had 16 at the peak of our chicken farming. We never were able to get many eggs. We were pretty bad chicken farmers. But Maya became the best chicken catcher around.

We had some crazy experiences. One time a bald eagle landed in our pasture and ate one our chickens for lunch. It was pretty cool honestly. I’d never seen one that close up, so it was pretty awesome. The unfortunate side of it is that Maya has very bad feelings about America’s bird.

Anyways, we got down to 3 chickens and I left the door to the chicken cage open one night. The next morning I woke up and looked out my window to find a red-tailed hawk with one of our chickens in its’ talons. And it was pecking at it with his beak to begin eating it.

I hit the window really hard and the hawk flew off without its’ kill. I went out to examine the situation. I found that one of the three was dead on the ground over by the tree. One was alive and was walking around like it had not clue what was going on. And then obviously the one was dead where the hawk left it.

I knew that the hawk would be back so I went to get some chicken food so I could put the one remaining chicken up and lock the cage and protect it from a hawk. When I started shaking the food container to get the chicken to follow me, to my surprise, the dead hawk chicken jumped up and ran to me. He looked terrible. He looked like he’d been attacked by a predator bird.

It was a chicken farm miracle. He had been resurrected! The next day the other chicken died so I took our one final hawk attack surviving miracle chicken to Dan and Launi’s house where it still lives today!

Resurrection is strange concept for us isn’t it. Because we’ve never seen it happen. There’s a lot of it in scripture but we’ve never seen it. Or have we? Let’s look at the next “I AM” statement of Christ.

The Read

For the last several weeks the “I AM” sayings have taken place at some sort of Jewish festival. Jesus surrounded by the Pharisees and the scribes was making the case that he was the Messiah. And they hated it. They hated him.

They knew that Jesus was gaining popularity and they didn’t like it. They were selfish and wanted the power all for themselves. Jesus really spent a good amount of time indicating the difference in the Jewish leaders and himself.

And if you notice when you read the scriptures, they took their methodology from 20th century politicians. They never denied what Jesus was saying. They never came to their own defense to talk good about themselves. They just tried to make everyone around them hate Jesus.

But now the festival is over. Now Jesus had left that place and was with his disciples on other side of the river and we know that people are believing in Jesus because ends by saying that many people believed in him.

John chapter 11 shifts gears a little. This is a lot of scripture and we’re going to be reading most of it so try and keep up.

(NIV)

1 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.”

11 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 lot of people believe that Lazarus was Jesus’ best friend. And Mary and Martha show up on more than one occasion in the gospels. These were people that Jesus knew well and loved.

(NIV)

(NIV)

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.”

I want to point out that right here that sometimes it seems like our prayers are going unanswered.

Jesus knew about Lazarus’ sickness for 2 days before he chose to make a move. And it was all for God’s glory.

Next time you’re in a difficult spot and it seems like you are having to stay there for longer than you want or longer than you think God ought to let you stay there remember that. Remember that God’s plan for your life is best for your life and its the plan that will bring him the most glory.

(NIV)

8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”

9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

The disciples obviously remembered what happened the last time they were there. So they’re like, “What? You want to go back there? They tried to kill you! They hate you there! But you want to go back there?”

And at first glance Jesus’ response sounds a little strange doesn’t it. In the Jewish culture they divided the day up by the time that there was light and the time that there was dark and they did their working and their shopping and their going when it was light outside and then they were home when it was dark. They wouldn’t leave the house again until the next day when the light showed up again because they viewed that as a dangerous time when you may get hurt.

But that doesn’t help this to make any more sense does it? Unless you remember what Jesus said several chapters ago about him being the light of the world. So with Jesus referring back to his statement that he made in what he was saying was that they would be safe because he was the light. He could see things that were going to happen and knew he would be ok.

(NIV)

(NIV)

11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

The disciples were a little confused here. They didn’t gather what Jesus was saying. They thought he had just laid down for a nap and would just sleep it off.

That’s almost always my plan. When I get sick, I lock myself in my room and just sleep. It’s always helpful for me!

So the disciples, who still were probably a little apprehensive about going back to where Jesus was almost killed, just saw this as an opportunity to let Jesus stay where he was and let Lazarus sleep it off. So Jesus had to tell them plainly that Lazarus had was dead.

So Jesus had to tell them plainly that Lazarus had was dead.

When I was about 5 years old we had this chow named baby dog. She got old and had gotten to where she was easily agitated so my parents made the difficult decision to have her put to sleep. My mom took her to the vet while my sister and I were at school and that night she told us that she had to be put to sleep.

Now my sister ran to her room and slammed the door and started boo-hooing inconsolably. Me on the other hand, as a 5 year hold, I had not clue why. I didn’t get the big deal. Why couldn’t she take a nap. I took naps and it never hurt me. So I just went on about my day. A couple days later I asked my mom, “When’s baby dog coming home?” That’s when my mom had to make it a little more clear to me that she was dead.

And Jesus explained again that it was for their benefit and for his glory that this was happening. Could Jesus have done something if he had been there? Absolutely. He could’ve done something from where he was. But he didn’t and he said that it was a good thing and that they may not understand it then but they would when the went to him.

And you can see by Thomas’s response that they still didn’t get the light reference either. He was bold. He was willing to go and die with Jesus. But he still didn’t get the reference.

We transition to Jesus almost to Bethany.

(NIV)

Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus

17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

When Jesus got there, Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for 4 days. In the Jewish culture, day 4 was the day when they would take to really mourn and let it set in that their loved one was gone. This was like the day that they took time to really process and accept the fact that Lazarus was gone and life was going to look very differently.

Another Jewish custom was that other members of the religious community would show up and sit with the family and mourn. No one would say anything.

This isn’t a lot different than what we do. When someone dies we get together and we visit and mourn with them. The difference is that we aren’t typically silent.

They would just sit together and you see that Mary stayed at home. The actual translation in the Greek New Testament is that Mary remained seated.

But Martha broke tradition because she heard that Jesus was near. She believed that Jesus was powerful and that he could do something about it. So instead of sticking with the status quo, she got up and said I’m banking on Jesus right now that he can do something about this.

A lot of people have read verse 21 as Martha condemning Christ for not showing up in time. I read it as Martha saying she believes that he could’ve done something about it, but she also believe that he still can.

(NIV)

23 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.”

So Jesus made this bold prediction that Lazarus would in fact rise again.

But Martha thought he was just talking about a Jewish belief that all the Jews would resurrect when the world ends.

But then Jesus expounded to make sure she understood what he meant.

(NIV)

25 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?”

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

Jesus gave his fifth “I AM” statement here and I think there’s some important things to recognize here.

One being that this is the first “I AM” after the cycle of Jewish festivals. At the Jewish festivals Jesus was making Messianic claims while also defending himself agains the Pharisees and Scribes. Here you notice that there aren’t any members of the Jewish hierarchy present. So Jesus is only appealing to the common members of the Jewish society. And this is big one because he’s claiming that belief in him, is the way to eternal life.

And I think that’s important because most of the people her have been getting conflicting messages about who they should follow in this world. And that’s not unlike you.

You’re getting confliciting messages all the time about who to follow. Do you follow Jesus? Or do you follow the world?

So Jesus is saying here, while getting all of your undivided attention. “Follow Me, I AM the resurrection and the life. Follow me.”

But let’s look at the actual “I AM” claim also. What was Jesus saying?

Jesus was saying something with spiritual meaning that in just a few verses he would demonstrate in a Physical way.

Jesus was also saying something that has implications for right now and for the future.

Jesus said I am the resurrection and the life. These are two separate things. Resurrection is clearly the dead coming back to life and the people present all knew what that meant. Life was what gives us breath. It’s what makes us unique.

Jesus said that whoever believed in him, even though he died, would live. This is the present implication. All people, everywhere, are dead in their sin.

Paul said in that the wages of sin is death. When our life is defined by our sin, we are spiritually dead.

But Jesus said if you believe in him, even though you are dead in your sin, you will be brought to new life in him. You will have new breath in him. You will have a new nature in him. You will have a new name in him. You will have a new identity in him.

And the he goes on and say, “That if you’ve found new life in him and you do believe in him, you will never die.” That’s the future implication.

Spiritually speaking, if you’ve been saved you will never die. All will face a physical death but for Christians our physical death is the best thing that can happen you us.

Listen to these things that Paul wrote.

He finished that verse in Romans by contrasting the wages of sin and the gift of God. He said the gift of God is eternal life.

He wrote in that to die is gain. When we face physical death as Christians, we gain because we start our new, eternal life with Christ in Heaven.

He wrote in that to be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord.

Jesus is the resurrection and the life. If you want new life and eternal life, believe in him.

And Jesus asked Martha if she believed it. And she said yes but she was still only thinking in terms of the resurrection in the end times.

(NIV)

28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

35 Jesus wept.

So Mary is now coming to join Jesus and she’s bringing all of the people who had been there to mourn with her. They think she’s going to the tomb of Lazarus to mourn.

When Mary sees Jesus she responds very much in the same way that Martha did. “Jesus why didn’t you come sooner. If you’d’ve just been here this would all be different.”

And we start to see the human side of Jesus. He’s troubled in his spirit. He asks to go to where Lazarus was. And a very famous verse in scripture that has the notoriety of being the shortest verst in the bible. But I think it demonstrates that Jesus is human. He had emotions.

We don’t always see that in scripture. Most of the time Jesus is pretty calm, cool, and collected. But Jesus identifies with us in this way. He wept. He was sad for the death of his friend.

That’s comforting to me and its always a good reminder when we’re going through a difficult loss, that Jesus went through a difficult loss also.

(NIV)

36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Some of the Jews recognized that Jesus loved Lazarus and was hurting. But others were stuck on why he didn’t save him. They’d seen Jesus do pretty amazing things. Why hadn’t he done it in this occasion?

(NIV)

Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

41 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.”

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.”

Jesus was about to do something about it. He said to remove the stone and Martha was still thinking about the future. She clearly couldn’t wrap her mind around what Jesus was going to do. I think in her mind, what Jesus is wanting to do is just see the body one last time and she’s still thinking in terms of Jesus resurrecting all people in the last days. Because she says, “Lord he’s been dead 4 days. There’s a bad odor.”

The King James Version is the best. It says he stinketh.

I think that Martha is

But Jesus responds. And he’s speaking to Martha but it’s as if he’s speaking to everyone there who kept questioning why he hadn’t shown up earlier. He said, “Didn’t we go over this. If you believe, God’s glory will be revealed.”

And then they remove the stone. And can you just imagine the stench that came from the tomb. Can you imagine like there had been pressure in there building up. And as soon as they opened it it just hit them in the face. I feel like John left out the part where everyone starting dry heaving because of the smell. He just goes on with the story about Jesus praying for God’s glory to be revealed.

Listen, I get easily distracted, so I’m sure that if I were dealing with that horrible smell I wouldn’t be able to pray. But Jesus could.

And then he gives the command for Lazarus to come out. And the scripture says that the dead man arose and walked out of the tomb.

And suddenly Jesus claim about being the resurrection and the life meant a little more. It had a little more validity to it.

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The Ready

I think within the passage there’s an obvious application that Jesus is our option if we want to experience eternity in Heaven.

But I also think there are some other things that we need to look at.

There’s one theme that follows all throughout the passage is that the people thought Jesus should’ve shown up earlier. But Jesus reassured them all throughout the passage that there was a plan and a purpose for his waiting. And you see at the end that his glory is revealed in a big way. When people get better after they are sick, it can be chalked up to medicine or good luck. When someone comes back from the dead, there’s no other option besides to say that Jesus is all powerful.

Sometimes when you want for God to show up he delays it. And that’s hard. But there’s a plan and a purpose for his waiting and it usually doesn’t make any sense until after the fact.

Another thing that we see in this passage is that the people were putting limits on what Jesus could do in this situation. They thought Jesus could’ve done something if he had shown up earlier. They thought Jesus would show up in the end of days and that Lazarus would be resurrected then. But they didn’t think he could do anything here and in this situation.

I feel like this has shown up alot in the last week with Kanye. I’ve read alot of Christians online who seem to think that this thing with Kanye is fake. That he hasn’t really changed his life. That this is publicity. One person even said that this was just to get the approval of conservatives so he could run for president.

But aren’t people putting limits on who Jesus can give a new life too. Haven’t these people decided that Jesus can’t reach someone who they deem too far gone.

But what if Jesus has really transformed Kanye and given him new life like he’s transformed us and given us new life.

Or maybe there’s someone you know personally who you’ve just written off as a lost cause.

Or maybe it’s you. Maybe you think you’ve sinned far too much for the love of Christ to affect you.

Don’t put limits on what Jesus can do and who he can reach. Keep preaching Jesus to everyone and believe that he can still transform even the worst of sinners.

And I think one more thing that we need to draw out of this passage is that when we’ve been resurrected and been given new life in Christ, your life should be different.

Look again at the very last verse of the passage. They removed the grave clothes from Lazarus. They removed the very part of him that helped to signify his death. What is it that signifies death in your life? Was it old habits? Old thoughts? Old friends? Old hang out places?

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(NIV)

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

We don’t stay in our

If there has been an introduction between you and Christ, there should be a transformation in you life and there should be a break-up between you and your former way of life.

Change out of your grave clothes.

The Response

So how do we respond to the message?

I think the first thing we need to do is ask yourselves a question: Are you dead in your sins? Or have you been made resurrected in the love and power of Christ? Do you have hope for the future? Is death the scariest thing for you to think about or is it the best thing for you to think about?

Because if you haven’t it’s the most important decision you can make. Believe in Christ so that you can have new life with new joy and new peace and new hope.

Believe in Christ so that you can look forward to death because that’s when you will be truly alive!

But if you have been transformed by Christ and have been given new life then you have to ask yourself if you are still in your grave clothes or not.

Are you a new creation? Do you life look distinctly different than it did before you met Christ? Does you life look distinctly different than those who don’t claim faith in Jesus? Do you need to make some changes in you life centered around the places you go, the things you do, and the people you run around with?

Jesus is the Resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in him, though he die, he will live! And whoever believe in him shall not die! Do you believe this?