I am the Resurrection and the Life
John 11:17-27
Message:
Disappointment in our relationship with God is something that every Christian has had to deal with. It comes from our failure to understand that God’s ways are not our ways.
Isaiah 55:8-9
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
This failure in understanding causes Christians to lose faith, get angry and sometimes stay angry with God and even go so far as to break off their relationship with God.
Sometimes this hurt and anger can be directed at God and His messenger as it was here.
Mary, Martha and Lazarus were all very good friends of Jesus and were big supporters of His ministry. Yet, all that good will and support suddenly changed when Lazarus took sick and died.
Jesus did not respond to an urgent request to be at Lazarus side while he was sick. Instead Jesus purposely stayed away waiting until Lazarus died and then He waited a further two days before setting out to Lazarus funeral.
Bethany was only a few miles walk from Ephraim where Jesus was staying but Jesus waited and showed up four days late.
Jesus tells us…
“This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
John 11:4
This logic of Jesus makes no sense to the Disciples nor to us but there is eternal purpose in it. Though we cannot see it or understand it there is eternal purpose in our waiting on God as well.
When Jesus did arrive he was met first by Martha’s strange greeting. Mary ignored His arrival entirely and stayed inside the house.
Martha’s greeting to Jesus is almost accusatory… “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.
John 11:21
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.”
Martha knows her Bible and mentions that Lazarus will live again once “The Great Resurrection of the Dead” occurs. But Jesus tells her that day is today for Lazarus. Friends that day is today for each and every one of us.
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?”
John 11:21-26
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” John 11:27
It is at this point that Jesus offers Martha both consolation and comfort as well as an eternal promise.
Having received this affirmation and promise Martha goes back to the house and tells her sister Mary that Jesus wants to see her.
Mary’s hurt and disillusionment seems to have run deeper than Martha’s. Maybe that is why she did not run to meet Jesus when He arrived and instead waited for Him to call to her. She greets Jesus with the same veiled accusation that Martha used but John tells us that Mary falls to Jesus feet as she cries… “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Her statement is almost a regrettable confession as well as a veiled accusation. It is as if Mary now knows her anger and hurt have been misplaced because Jesus is now with her sharing in her grief.
Jesus weeps with her. Friends Jesus weeps with all of us when we experience the death of a loved one. This is the rule rather than the exception.
Our God is not immune or ambivalent about such pain and loss instead He shares it.
God is not a respecter of persons. God grieves over every one that dies. Sinner and Saint alike. John 3:16 bears out this truth.
Saints Jesus arrives in our lives as “The Resurrection and the Life” willing and ready to restore our broken souls and heal our hearts. Jesus walks over to the tomb and orders it opened. Then Jesus calls out “Lazarus come forth”
Saints invite Jesus into the hurt of your life today, let Him order the stones to be rolled away so that you can step out of that place of mourning and death and into His love and light.
Jesus is the only one who can reach deep enough into your soul so as to restore it.
His voice is the voice of life, His voice is the voice that penetrates into the darkest of places in life and draws us towards the life that only He can give us.
A restored life, a new life, a restored hope, a new and eternal faith that leads to eternal life. No it is not an easy life but it is a rewarding life.
Philippians 4:13 King James Version
13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Let Jesus voice strengthen you here and now.
Jesus can bring you back to life right before the eyes of your loved ones and friends. Jesus can restore the relationships that have died and give you back to those who long to embrace you.
Hear His call and be drawn to His gift of everlasting life.
Believe in Jesus today and let Him remove the stones that separate you from the life He gives.
Amen
