One of the most unsettling aspects of death is that people have no control over it. As the writer of Ecclesiastes said: Just as “no one has authority to restrain the wind,” so also no one has “authority over the day of death” (Eccl. 8:8). When that day comes people are: “torn from the security of their tent, and they march him before the king of terrors”—a poetic reference to death (Job 18:14). The sobering reality that this life could end at any moment only underscores its brevity (cf. Job 14:1-2; Ps. 90:10). The truth expressed in the flippant statement, “You can’t take it with you!” indicates that everything done in this life (apart from serving God) is ultimately meaningless (cf. Eccl. 2:18-19). The Apostle Paul wrote: “For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either” (1 Tim. 6:7). As has been wryly noted, no one ever saw a hearse pulling a trailer. Tragically, people spend their entire lives accumulating possessions, which death snatches from them in an instant.
But the wonderful truth is that death does not have to be the end of all people’s hopes and dreams. For believers, it can be faced with joyous anticipation instead of anxious fear, because Jesus Christ has conquered death. When Jesus arrived at Bethany in John 11, Lazarus had been dead for four days. When Martha expressed regret that Jesus hadn’t arrived in time to heal Lazarus, but confidence that he would one day live again (11:17–24), Jesus (explained exactly how He is the Resurrection and the Life) (Willmington, H. L. (1997). Willmington’s Bible handbook (p. 616). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.).
Death marks the beginning of true life in glorified perfection and perfect fellowship with Christ for those who put their faith in the Lord. He will raise them up on the last day (6:39–40, 44), and they will live forever in His presence. In showing forth the implications of the Resurrection, in John 11:25-27, Jesus explains the 1) Reason (John 11:25) the 2) Reality (John 11:26) calls for a 3) Response (John 11:27) to the fact that He is the Resurrection and the Life.
In showing forth the implications of the Resurrection, Jesus explains the:
1) Reason (John 11:25) that He is the Resurrection and the Life.
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, (ESV)
Martha unhesitatingly takes the words of Christ to refer to the final resurrection at the end of the age. Her words show that she had no idea of an immediate raising of Lazarus to life… Be that as it may, her words open the way for one of the great declarations of Jesus that mark this Gospel Challenging Martha to move beyond an abstract belief in the final resurrection to complete faith in Him, Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.” In other words, eternal life and rescue from the finality of death are not merely gifts obtained by appeal to God; they are aspects of what it means to live a life in association with Jesus.( Burge, G. M. (2000). John (p. 317). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
This is the fifth of the seven “I AM” deity claims in John’s gospel (John 6:35; 8:12; 10:7, 9, 11, 14; 14:6; 15:1, 5). The I AM statements in John’s gospel illuminate the nature of Christ’s deity. Jesus claimed to be the bread of life (6:35), the light of the world (8:12), the door (10:7), the good shepherd (v. 11), the resurrection and the life (v. 25), the way, the truth, and the life (14:6), and the true vine (15:1). As God in human flesh, Jesus rightly pointed to Himself as the source of spiritual life, vitality, growth, and productivity. (Myers, A. C. (1987). In The Eerdmans Bible dictionary (pp. 590–591). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.)
Jesus will raise the dead in the future resurrection of which Martha spoke. But He was also going to raise her brother immediately. The Lord called her to a personal trust in Him as the One who alone has power over death. “First, He calls Himself the resurrection; for restoration from death to life precedes the state of life. But the whole human race is plunged in death. Therefore, no one will possess life unless they are first risen from the dead. Hence Christ teaches that He is the beginning of life (John Calvin as quoted in Morris, L. (1995). The Gospel according to John. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
Please turn back to John 5 (p.890)
Jesus’ next two statements, “everyone who lives and believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live [26] and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall/will never die,” are not redundant. They teach separate, though related, truths. The one who believes in Jesus though he die, physically yet shall he live spiritually, because Christ will raise him on the last day Hence “physical death is not the important thing”: believers “may die in the sense that they pass through the door we call physical death, but they will not die in the fuller sense. Death for them is but the gateway to further life and fellowship with God” (Köstenberger, A. J. (2004). John (p. 336). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.).
Jesus explains this in John 5
John 5:21-29 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. (ESV) (cf. John 6:39–40, 44, 54).
• The resurrection of Jesus Christ has past, present and future implications. The past reality is the resurrection itself, explained in vv. 21, and following. Jesus states His ability to give life, raise people from the dead, execute eternal judgement, and be honored/worshipped, which are only prerogatives of God.
• Presently, from vv. 24 and following, whoever hears the words of Christ, and believes in His existence, deity, truthfulness and sacrificial atonement for their personal sin, and repents of that sin, has (present tense) eternal life. They can be assured of their rising from the dead, foreshadowed in Christ’s rising from the dead and His promise (1 Cor. 15) to raise them at their death or when He returns.
• The Future implications of the resurrection, in vv. 27 and following, echoing the words of Daniel 12:2, Jesus affirms the resurrection on the Last Day. All those who truly believe will be brought “from death to life” (v. 24) and as a consequence will do good and will therefore enjoy the resurrection of life.( Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2032). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
Illustration:
“Colonel Sanders, was so ubiquitous by the 1950s you could have well-imagined Colonel Sanders saying, “I am Kentucky Fried Chicken.” Naturally, that would not have been an ontological statement. That is, he is not claiming to be a chicken.… Kentucky Fried or otherwise, complete with wings that flap. What he means by that is simply, “Kentucky Fried Chicken is so bound up with my operation and what I do that there is no Kentucky Fried Chicken that is worthy of the name apart from me. I am Kentucky Fried Chicken.”
When Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” It’s not an ontological statement. He is saying, “The truths are right to believe there is resurrection on the last day. There is such a thing as eternal life.” But now he is saying, “I am that resurrection and life. That is, apart from me there is no resurrection and life. I’m the one who gives it, bound up with me. Do you believe this?” (Carson, D. A. (2016). The Resurrection before the Resurrection. In D. A. Carson Sermon Library (Jn 11). Bellingham, WA: Faithlife.)
This is the question that Jesus puts forth in showing the implications of the Resurrection, He explains the:
2) Reality (John 11:26) of who He is and the requirement of belief.
John 11:26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (ESV)
Please turn to John 6 (p.892)
Everyone who lives and believes in Christ has eternal life (John 3:36; 5:24; 6:47, 54), they shall/will never die. Lazarus was dead even then, and millions of Jesus’ followers have died since. He means rather that believers will not die in the sense in which death has eternal significance. They will not die in the age to come. They have eternal life, the life of the age to come (Morris, L. (1995). The Gospel according to John (p. 489). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
Jesus explained this truth in John 6
John 6:41-54 41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day (ESV)
• V.44 Jesus links faith in Him with resurrection. He clarifies how one comes to faith, For those who believe, their resurrection on ‘the last day’ is the consummation of the eternal life they experience now (39, 40, 44, 54; 11:24), but for those who do not accept his word it is a day of reckoning (12:48). (Kruse, C. G. (2003). John: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 4, p. 173). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
• Vv. 48-50 Jesus contrasts how the Jews who ate the daily manna and eventually died; but when you receive Jesus Christ within, you live forever. When God gave the manna, He gave only a gift; but when Jesus came, He gave Himself. There was no cost to God in sending the manna each day, but He gave His Son at great cost. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Jn 6:22). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.). For the believer, Even if one will die physically, the body will be raised at the last day, and the believer can be assured to spend eternity with the Lord (MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments (A. Farstad, Ed.) (Jn 6:50). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.).
• Finally His resurrection power is noted in v.54. how Christ will raise up on the last day all who believe in Him. The resurrection to everlasting life is the believer’s great hope (Acts 23:6; 24:15; cf. Titus 2:13; 1 Peter 1:3); apart from it, the Christian gospel is meaningless.
Back in John 11:26, when Jesus challenged Martha, “Do you believe this?” He was not asking her if she believed that He was about to raise her brother. The Lord was calling her to personally believe that He alone was the source of resurrection power and eternal life To “believe this” is to believe what he says of himself and thus to believe “in him.” It is one thing to hear it, to reason and to argue about it; and quite another thing to believe, embrace, trust it. To believe is to receive, hold, enjoy the reality and the power of it, with all that lies in it of joy, comfort, peace, and hope. The measure of our believing, while it is not the measure of our possessing, since the smallest faith has Jesus, the resurrection and the life, completely, is yet the measure of our enjoyment of it all. (R. C. H. Lenski. The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel [Reprint; Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1998], 803)
Illustration:
John G. Paton, a nineteenth-century missionary to the South Seas, met opposition to leaving his home in Scotland and going to preach to the cannibalistic peoples of the New Hebrides Islands. A well-meaning church member moaned to him, “The cannibals, the cannibals! You will be eaten by the cannibals!” Without hesitation, Paton replied, “I confess to you that if I can live and die serving my Lord Jesus Christ, it makes no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms; for in that Great Day of Resurrection, my body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer!” (Green, M. P. (Ed.). (1989). Illustrations for Biblical Preaching: Over 1500 sermon illustrations arranged by topic and indexed exhaustively (Revised edition of: The expositor’s illustration file). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.)
When a person truly believes in resurrection, there is nothing they can’t accomplish for the cause of Christ. No faithfulness is too costly, or too dangerous. When a person truly acts in such a way that there is a resurrection, the reality of resurrection is most clearly shown.
In showing forth the implications of the Resurrection, Jesus calls for a:
3) Response (John 11:27) to the fact that He is the Resurrection and the Life.
John 11:27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” (ESV)
Because of His infinite love for Martha’s soul, Jesus pointed her to the only source of spiritual life and well-being—Himself. Martha’s affirmation of faith in Jesus in verse 27, stands with the other great confessions of His identity in the gospels (1:49; 6:69; Matt. 14:33; 16:16). It anticipates John’s purpose statement for writing his gospel: “These have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). He affirmation is clear, and emphatic: Yes, Lord; I believe. Linguistically it is expressed in the perfect tense; which emphasizes certainty, “I do believe”) (Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2104). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.)
Faith is not wishful thinking, it has a clear object to which it exclusively trusts. In professing her faith, Martha declared three vital truths about Jesus: Like Andrew (1:41), she confessed that He is the Christ, which means “Messiah,” or “the Anointed One.” So, by saying this, Martha was affirming that Jesus was the one prophesied to appear in the end time as God’s specially appointed servant. Second, Martha called Jesus “the Son of God.” By this she acknowledged his divinity (cf. 1:49; Ps. 2:7). Finally, Martha confessed that Jesus is the one coming into the world—the deliverer sent by God (Luke 7:19–20; cf. John 1:9; 3:31; 6:14). Jesus is the one who had been promised in the various Old Testament Scriptures (cf. Is. 9:6; Mic. 5:2), and who had therefore come to fulfill them. (Boice, J. M. (2005). The Gospel of John: an expositional commentary (p. 859). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.)
Please turn forward to John 16 (p.903)
Christ links the reality of Him coming into the world with where He came from, and through the resurrection, where he went. He is plain in not only what to expect in life after His resurrection, but the Hope to be able to persevere:
John 16:25–33 25 “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” 29 His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! 30 Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (ESV)
• In v. 25, Jesus refers to “the hour is coming” which is the time after Jesus’ resurrection when he would explain much more directly to them the meaning of all that he had done (see Luke 24:27; Acts 1:3). The sequence of events outlined in v. 28 highlighting His ascension into heaven 40 days after his resurrection (Luke 24:50–51; Acts 1:3, 9) (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2057). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
• In the time that we await our ascension, from v. 32-33, we will falter, face tribulation, but we can still be at peace.
The reason for the resurrection, is the acceptance by the Father of Christ’s sufficient atonement for sin for His own. The Reality of the resurrection is attested by Christ’s post-resurrection appearances, the hostile and believing witnesses, and the myriad of changed lives to the reality of this event. The evidence to this is clear, documented and supported from fulfilled prophecy to observable reason. The Response to the resurrection is before you. You can dismiss it as fable without examination, to your peril. If Christ does not pay the penalty of your sin, then God expects you to. There will be an eternity of painful realization, that you cannot. Secondly, you can ignore the imperative, and put the decision off. The fragility of life itself, would show that this is the most dangerous gamble you can make. Finally, you can embrace the truth of the resurrection and be forever changed. God promised in 1 John 1:9, that: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. God would desire nothing more this resurrection Sunday to give you the peace and hope of the resurrection itself. My prayer is that this would be your rebirth too.
(Format Note: Some base commentary from MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). John 1–11. MacArthur New Testament Commentary (458–469). Chicago: Moody Press.)
