Message
John 11:25
I Am The Resurrection and the Life
In John 11 we read about a man called Lazarus who is dying – so Martha and Mary send a message to Jesus. By this time in His ministry Jesus has given sight to the blind, healed lepers, and removed demons from the possessed. He has even raised a couple of people from the dead. Most of those people Jesus healed were strangers.
But Lazarus is not a stranger. Indeed Lazarus, Martha and Mary were great friends. Jesus had been there for weekends. He had eaten at their table. He was like family. So when the message arrives Lord the one You love is ill (vs.3), I am sure that Martha and Mary expect Jesus to come as soon as He can.
What does Jesus do? He stayed where He was two more days (vs.6). Lazarus got sicker and sicker … Jesus seems to let it all happen – almost deliberately avoiding the situation.
Indeed Jesus doesn’t move on until he knows Lazarus is dead.
Then Jesus heads to Bethany. Let’s read John 11:17-37 to see what happens.
I wonder if Martha and Mary feel …
… confused.
… disappointed.
… a little cheated.
It doesn’t make sense. They hoped Jesus would show up to heal Lazarus. He didn’t. They hoped Jesus would be there for the burial. He wasn’t.
By the time Jesus arrives in Bethany Lazarus has been buried for four-days. A whole week has passed since the message of the illness was received by Jesus.
Timing wise Jesus wouldn’t have physically made it anyway – Jesus was four days away and Lazarus passed away after two days. But that didn’t stop Jesus healing the servant of the Centurion from a distance.
Surely Jesus could have done the same of his good friend Lazarus? Even the bystanders are asking Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?
Jesus doesn’t work as expected. Finally, when Jesus does turn up, Martha expresses the disappointment, confusion and hurt can be found in the words of Martha and Mary Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died (vs.21, 32).
Does that sound familiar?
God if you had been doing your job this situation would not have happened.
If You had used Your power we would not be in this dilemma.
I was in need and You didn’t show up.
We don’t have to be standing around the grave, or witnessing sickness, to have thoughts like this. Disappointment. Confusion. Hurt. It comes in all sorts of forms.
We study hard to reach a certain goal, we feel we have really put in a lot of effort. But then we find our efforts weren’t enough – and our goal has become a mist. Why didn’t God honour the study?
We are in a relationship. Harsh words have been spoken. Mistrust is building. In the middle of it both parties believe in Jesus, yet that belief doesn’t seem to be helping. Where is Jesus when we need Him?
For years we have faithfully taught our children about Jesus. We have prayed with them and for them. Yet 1 out of 3. 2 out of 3. 3 out of 3 … don’t have a living faith relationship. Why didn’t Jesus come to the party?
Health. Expectations. Disappointment. Hopelessness. Confusion. Hurt. It isn’t what we expect. And we are not along. Even the Scriptures have examples.
1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me for ever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?
These words are from Psalm 13:1-2.
The knowledge in our head says, “Jesus will never let us down”, the hurt in our heart says, “I feel let down.”
Martha and Mary were feeling like this.
We can feel like this.
Jesus doesn’t want us to feel like this.
Jesus didn’t delay because He wanted to increase the hurt. Jesus delayed because He is giving a comprehensive answer for the times when we are hurting, and disappointed and confused.
You see bad times don’t disprove God’s love. Difficulties in life don’t disprove that Jesus cares. The issue here is not Jesus’ lack of care. He cares intensely. The very fact that He weeps at the grave proves this intense care. Jesus weeps because He feels our hurt.
When we go through times of confusion, hurt and disappointment let us never think that we are going through it on our own. We’re not. The Son of God weeps with us. He weeps at our pain. He feels our hurt. He is the man of sorrows.
That is at the heart of Jesus. The heart which brought Jesus to the cross. The heart which ultimately enables Jesus to turn death into a portal. To let people know that, even when they die … they still live. To let people see that difficulties, pain, hurt confusion … all of it can be turned around.
But His death and resurrection were still to come. So, at this moment, when even His closet friends feel that Jesus doesn’t care as much as they would like, Jesus shows just how much He cares. Jesus shows that He cares enough to come with an answer that points beyond the grave.
People are accusing Him of not turning up.
Jesus comes and says, “Wait a minute – there is much more at stake here. I have turned up in ways you can’t even possibly imagine”. I am the resurrection and the life.
Out of everything in this chapter these words are the most important.
To be the resurrection and the life means that He lives … after having died.
As the sinless Son of God He was nailed to a cruel cross. The death that He died was a necessary death. It is a death which testifies to the gravity of human sin. After Christ had been confirmed dead, the kind hands of His followers laid Him in the tomb – a tomb which was sealed and guarded. But that tomb could not hold such a one as Jesus. Jesus broke the chains of death … He defeated the power of hell … He went forward in victory and in power.
Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Which means that physical death does not have the final say. The pain which death brings will not last. Death is not the end – it’s the gateway to eternal life. That is the bigger perspective. The perspective we have to hold onto in the most difficult of times when we are hurt and confused.
So often we narrow our focus onto the moment.
• We’re get so worried about things like marriage, career, and studying hard to reach a certain goal.
• We become anxious about investment funds, mortgage rates and making ends meet.
• We become emotional wrecks when we have problems with worry about our exams, or a job interview.
• We make so many issues in life our priority … so many things which become important … and they consume us.
But because they consume we can also forget the bigger picture.
God knows what we need.
God promises to meet our needs.
God has the eternal perspective so that He can always bring us closer to Himself.
What that means is, sometimes, our expectations … and what God knows we really need … can be two different outcomes.
God’s agenda and priorities can be quite different from our agenda and priorities. In the middle of those differences. Jesus has come to be that support as no-one else can be. I am the resurrection and the life.
Death is not the end. Difficulties are not the end. Confusion is not the end. Which means that the words of Jesus are also a promise to strengthen us from day to day.
It’s not “I will be the resurrection and the life”
It’s I am the resurrection and the life. My work has application for today. For this moment.
When we trust in Jesus our resurrection will physically take place when Jesus returns. But also, when we believe in Jesus there is a sense where we are resurrected now. We are resurrected from our sin.
Jesus is not just focussing on us overcoming death.
Jesus is showing how we can enjoy life.
Jesus has come to give life. To give us the power we need which is more then adequate to deal with the enemies we face in this life.
Enemies like doubt.
Enemies like confusion and disappointment.
Enemies that try to drag us down and take us away.
But Jesus promises to give us strength over those enemies. It’s because this power of Jesus is ours today that we can say, "We are conquerors". No, Romans 8:37 promises, We are more than conquerors through Him who first loved us.
Again. Such an understanding moves us away from the struggles of life to a much bigger picture. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. Do you believe this?. If, like Martha, you can say "Yes" to that climactic question, then you are in touch with something that gives us peace every day.
When we don’t reach our goals.
When our expectations are not met.
When we find ourselves in that place of disappointment, confusion and “why”.
When that happens it doesn’t mean that Jesus hasn’t turned up. Instead Jesus is showing us how to look past the difficulty to Him who is offering hope and strength in all circumstances.
This is the larger truth to which the story points.
The ministry of Jesus is not about Him going around and resuscitating corpses – for in the end these people still die – Lazarus still dies. So do Martha and Mary.
Jesus has come to give a comprehensive answer – the way to eternal life – the means to life live to the full now.
Which means that Jesus doesn’t have to turn up … Jesus is always there. He is the One who is going to show His intense care – because He weeps with us and with our pain, confusion and disappointment. Jesus is always working to bring us closer … even when it doesn’t feel like it.
Bad times don’t disprove God’s love.
Difficulties in life don’t disprove that Jesus cares.
As the resurrection and the life Jesus is always going to be there for us.
Do you believe this?
Prayer
