Martha’s brother Lazarus was dead.
• Jesus said to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believers in me will never die.” (John 11:25)
Martha sees God’s answer as something that can happen only in the future.
• Her first response was: “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” (v.24)
• In a sense, she was right. This is what will really happen at Second Coming of Christ. The dead in Christ will be resurrected - 1 Thess 4:16-17
• But her faith only allows God to do that IN THE FUTURE.
• And so Lazarus has to remain dead, and wait for that day to come.
Jesus is always the “I AM” in your life.
• Whatever the situation, He is the ‘I AM’ in the situation you are facing.
• To Martha, who has just seen death, Jesus said “I am the resurrection & the life.”
• To those who walk in darkness, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12)
• To those who are hungry, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35)
He is not the “I was” nor “I am going to be, or I will be” but the “I AM” in our lives.
Jesus’ answer was insightful.
• He said, “I am the resurrection AND the life.”
• He did not say “I am the resurrection” or “I am the life” but BOTH.
• If he has already died, then I will raise him up. I am the resurrection. If he has not, then he will never die. I am the life.
In order words, whether death has occurred or not, does not concern Jesus.
• If he is dead, I am his resurrection. If he is not dead, I am his life.
• Either way, he will live on.
Jesus wanted to stretch her faith, and those who were there mourning the death.
• When Jesus prayed outside the tomb - John 11:41-42
41So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42I 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."
• Jesus comes to us, in the present tense so to speak, to address a present need.
• He can bring life to the dead, right there and then.
• He can bring hope in a hopeless situation, right there and then.
• He can bring joy to the mourning, right there and then.
• He is and will always be the “I AM” in our situation.
That was how God introduced Himself to Moses.
• Moses was asked to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
• But what should I tell them, if they asked, “Who sent you?”
• Exo 3:14 “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: `I AM has sent me to you.’”
He will always be the ‘I AM’ in our lives.
• Jesus says, I am the light of the world, I am the bread of life, and I am way, the truth and the life. Always the present tense.
• In times of darkness He is your light, in times of need He is your bread of life, in times of weakness He is your vine, when you are lost He is your way, when you are confused, He is your truth.
In order words, if we felt that He is not doing what we expect Him to, it is because He has chosen NOT to.
• Because He is never late (even with Lazarus in the tomb for 4 days)
• And He is not confined to make things right only at some point in the future.
• Nothing limits Him. Sometimes we feel that God will work, when the situation is better, or when I get my act together… always under certain conditions.
• Martha came to know that Jesus can intervene and change a situation completely.
IF only you believe. “Do you believe this?” Jesus asked (v.26).
• What a question. It sounded too simplistic.
• Do you believe I can, even if I did not come on time to heal your brother?
• Do you believe I can, even if your brother has been dead for 4 days?
• Do you believe I can turn your mourning into joy?
• Martha, do you believe I am the resurrection and the life?
Believe is such an odd word – it is abstract; it is unseen, and action-less.
• Yet it is the key to seeing life in death, seeing light in darkness, seeing hope in despair, experiencing joy in sorrow.
• And the key to unlock all these is FAITH.
Faith is so important in our relationship with God.
• A few Sundays ago we see how Gideon struggled to trust God’s Word.
• He wanted signs. The Pharisees and the scribes wanted to see signs.
• Actually, there is never enough proof where there is no faith.
• In order words, if you have no faith, no amount of proof can cause you to trust God. With an angel standing before you, you can still doubt God.
God operates in response to our faith.
• Do you believe this? Sound so simple and yet so crucial.
• Jesus’ final words to His disciples in John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.”
To be fair, Martha did have faith, to a certain extent.
• When Jesus was at the edge of town, Martha heard of Jesus’ arrival and went to greet him.
1.And the first words out of her mouth were (v. 21) “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
That’s faith! She has faith in Jesus’ ability to heal.
• The fact that Lazarus died so quickly gave us a hint that he was critically ill.
• Yet she believed that Jesus could have healed him.
• But He was late, and she didn’t expect that. Lazarus has been a good friend of Jesus. He should not have been so late.
We can easily identify with her. We too have faith in God.
• But sometimes things just don’t happen the way we expected it.
• There were times when I too question the ‘wisdom’ of His ways.
• Why did you allow this to happen? Why can’t He act earlier?
• Sometimes it really feels as though God has let you down.
God doesn’t always respond in the way we expect.
• We are too caught up by our own way and our own time.
• Such expectation causes us to misread God’s good intention.
• If wrong expectations can cause misunderstanding and quarrel among friends – then we can see how our wrong expectation of God’s ways can cause us to misunderstand Him and doubt His goodness.
2. Then in verse 27 we see Martha saying, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God..."
That was quite a statement of faith. Few of her contemporaries could say that.
• Yet that wasn’t really what Jesus wanted her to believe. The devil believes that too.
• Jesus wants her to believe He is the resurrection and the life. That with Him, even something as hopeless as this, can be changed.
• Can she really believe that Jesus could do something about her brother, who has now been dead for four days?
Today we are just like her. We believe Jesus is God. He’s alive and He is with us today. But that isn’t really what we need to believe.
• Jesus wants us to believe that He can do something to our situation.
• I think we all understand that, right? It is one thing to know that Jesus is God, it is quite another to trust Him in the midst of a difficult situation.
• Can we believe He will make a way when there seems to be no way?
• Can we believe that He can work wonders and bring hope in a hopeless situation?
To know with our mind is one thing, to know it in our heart, with a deep conviction, under harsh circumstances, is quite another thing altogether.
• God wants us to trust Him in the thick of things.
• We pray that God will continue to strengthen us that way – we want a tough faith.
We know the end of the story. Jesus proved His words.
• Martha saw what she heard a while ago – resurrection and life.
• Today, we can expect to SEE what we HEAR about in sermons; we can expect to SEE what we READ about in this book.
• She did not see it coming, but Jesus brought her hope and joy despite the difficult situation.
• God’s plan was good, although she did not feel it that way just a while ago.
In fact, God planned something better.
• Through this encounter, God revealed His glory and many who visited Mary (relatives and friends) were saved (John 11:45).
• More were blessed ultimately, because of one “misfortune”.
• This will always be true in our lives, because “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)
In the movie the Passion of Christ, one scene shows Jesus carrying the cross on the way to Golgotha (Calvary) and he stumbles. His mother, Mary, comes before him, and holds him. And there is a flashback to his childhood when Mary picked him up after he had fallen, and he says to his mother, "I make all things new."
This event is not recorded in the Bible, but the words he said are true, Jesus brings hope in even the bleakest situation because he makes all things new.
All of the power to resurrect, to bring back to life the dead, to transform and to make new is in the hands of Christ.
• Jesus’ last words to His disciples were: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” (Mt 28:18-19a)
• What more do we need.
Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life…”
• There is only one condition to receiving this promise - believe.
Believe He is the one who gives life to what you see is dead.
Believe He can bring hope, who what you see as hopeless.
Believe He is the one who gives eternal life, so you will never die.
I read this devotional – a letter from God:
Good morning! I am the Lord your God. Today I will be handling all of your problems. Please remember that I do not need your help.
If the devil happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, DO NOT attempt to resolve it. Kindly put it in the SFJTD (something for Jesus to do) box. It will be addressed in MY time, not yours.
Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold on to it or attempt to remove it. Holding on or removal will delay the resolution of your problem. Because I do not sleep nor do I slumber, there is no need for you to lose any sleep.
Rest my child. If you need to contact me, I am only a prayer away.
Signed, Love eternally, the Lord your God.
