I Am The Resurrection And The Life Series

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• As we are just a couple of weeks from Resurrection Sunday, I want us to take you on a little mental journey before we unfold our text today.

• I want you to imagine that you are a friend of the best Doctor in the country and you have seen Him do some amazing things. One day you find out your brother is ill he has a disease that your good friend specializes in fixing, so what do you do, you send for your Doctor friend, you know if He will come all will be ok.

• When word is sent to your friend but he does not seem to be too concerned and he makes no real effort to rush to your brothers’ side.

• You doctor loves you and your family, but he does not rush to help. As a matter of fact your doctor decides to go visit some friends in other towns as your brother lies dying at home.

• Now your brother has died, it seems like it is over. How disappointed would you be with your doctor friend?

• This is basically the setting for the next “I AM” statement that Jesus is going to make.

• Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus lay dying, Jesus does not drop everything to heal him, and Lazarus dies. As a matter of fact, Jesus FINALLY shows up 4 days AFTER Lazarus dies.

• Turn with me to John 11. I want to read verses 17-24 to set up the verses we will spend our time with this morning.

• SLIDE #2

• John 11:17-24(ESV) 17Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles£ off, 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

• Martha flat out tells Jesus, that if He had come, her brother would be alive NOW!

• Jesus in verse 23 tells Martha that Lazarus will rise again and Martha said yes, but on the last day when the resurrection will happen.

• By the way Martha’s sister Mary also tells Jesus had He come her brother would still be alive in verse 32.

• Well the basis of Martha’s answer to Jesus in verse 24 opens the door for the “I AM” statement from Jesus that we will dive into this morning.

• When Jesus told Martha Lazarus will rise again, He had something more in mind that what Martha and Mary could ever imagine!

• Let’s look at verses 25-26. This is Jesus answering Martha from verse 24.

• SLIDE #3

• John 11:25-26(ESV) 25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.£ Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

• SLIDE #4

SERMON

I. Jesus is the resurrection. (25)

• The sadness, hurt, and disappointment that Martha was facing at that moment was hard for Martha to deal with but even after she told Jesus had he been there her brother would still be alive; she did utter the following words in verse 22.

• 22But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.

• It almost sounds like she is holding out hope that Jesus could and would do something by asking the Father.

• Jesus wanted to get Martha to move beyond some abstract belief in the resurrection to move to a complete faith in Him.

• She knows someday it will happen, but Jesus wants her to embrace the reality that it WILL DEFINITELY happen!

• As Jesus asks the question to Martha concerning the fact that Lazarus was going to rise again, Jesus knew what He was going to do.

• There were a couple of predominate schools of thought concerning the afterlife in the Jewish culture.

• A very quick view of each starts with the one that was help by the Pharisee’s (and was the predominate view) was that Messiah was going to return and those who were dead would be raised. So they, like Martha knew there would be a resurrection on the last day.

• A future resurrection was taught throughout the Old Testament. Psalm 16:9-11; Ezekiel 37:1-14; Isaiah 26:19, etc…