Lazarus, Part 5 - The Resurrection and the Life

John 11v23-27

18^th November 2022

Lazarus was dead. Jesus hadn't been there to prevent it. Martha was heartbroken and bewildered, yet she looked to Jesus for some sort of comfort. As He was coming to Bethany, she went out to meet Him. She said "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." And (I think) she looked into the face of Jesus, to see how He would respond.

Over the last three years, Martha and Mary would have heard Jesus say many wonderful things. Some of them would have been difficult to understand. All of them would have increased their awareness of His love, wisdom and godliness. Many times, Jesus's words would have changed their understanding of God. Now Martha, and Martha alone, heard some of the most amazing words Jesus ever spoke. First, Jesus assured her:

John 11v23b
"Your brother will rise again."

And Martha replied:

John 11v24b
"I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

Jesus could have rebuked Martha's implied criticism of His choosing to be absent while her brother was dying. He could have given her a theology lesson about the perfect wisdom, love and power of God, which mean that if Jesus should have been there, then He would have been there. He could have reminded her about the story of the centurion's servant, whom Jesus had healed without being in the same place. Instead, He offered her the comfort that comes from hope. In doing so, He demonstrated His perfect wisdom and love.

Martha took the comfort and hope than Jesus offered her, but she thought Jesus was merely assuring her that Lazarus would have a part in the general resurrection that will happen "at the last day". So far as I know, the Old Testament doesn't use the phrase "the last day", so Martha must have been thinking about Jesus's earlier promise that:

John 6v29-40
"... this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."

That is absolutely wonderful, of course. Who are we, and who was Lazarus, that we deserve to be raised to eternal life when Jesus returns? But Jesus meant more than this; He intended to raise Lazarus to life that very day!

Jesus then taught Martha one of the most extraordinary lessons of all. To her, and to her alone, Jesus said:

John 11v25b-26
… "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die."

What a profound revelation! I don't think anybody is fully capable of explaining those words, although all God's people know what they mean. I can see this much:

Jesus said, "I am the resurrection." Without Him there is no resurrection, and with Him there is resurrection. That is, anyone who is resurrected to life is resurrected in Jesus. There is no other way.

Jesus said, "I am... the life." Without Him there is no real spiritual life, no relationship with God, no salvation. With Him there is eternal life. That is, eternal life is only found through Jesus.

Jesus would confirm this to His disciples a few days later when He said:

John 14v6
... "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Jesus said, "He who believes in me will live, even though he dies". One day, Jesus will come to earth a second time to judge the living and the dead, and we who are in Christ will live and reign with Him for ever, whether or not we die physically first. But Jesus was saying more than this. He was also speaking about a spiritual resurrection to spiritual life. For we who believe, that has already happened. Real life is communion with God, and we have been resurrected from spiritual death to spiritual life already through faith in Christ. We call that resurrection from spiritual death to spiritual life, "being born again". Here are some scriptures about this:

John 3v3,5-6
... Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit."

Romans 6v3-4
... all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

2 Corinthians 5v17-18
... if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ...

Ephesians 2v1,4-5
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ... 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...

1 Peter 1v23
... you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

Without Jesus there is no resurrection. Without Jesus there is no escape from the corruption of sin, no justification, no reconciliation with God, no rescue from our fallen state, no new life. Through faith in Jesus, we are born again, we are made alive, we are given communion with God for all eternity. Hallelujah!

We are saved from eternal death to eternal life through faith in the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. This eternal life is only for those who believe in Him. So Jesus asked Martha:

John 11v26c
"Do you believe this?"

And Martha answered,

John 11v27
… "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

Perhaps this was the first time Martha had examined herself to see what she did and did not believe about Jesus. Perhaps she needed this crisis in her family to bring her to the point of confessing that Jesus truly is the Messiah, and understanding that He is the only means of being born again to live a new life in the Spirit.

Have you reached the point when you're prepared to give a definite answer to Jesus's question? There is no more important matter for you to decide than this.