“I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25)
The shadow of death loomed large and dark over the scene. Lazarus had died. The whole town had gathered to his sisters, Mary and Martha, to grieve with them. That’s all they could do.
Jesus arrived on the scene. Martha rushed to meet Him and poured out her heart of faith to Him. She knew that He could have kept her brother from dying.
But Jesus did not offer comfort. He announced hope. “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live’” (John 11:25).
Jesus did not merely promise future life. He promised present life with future hope. That life was bound up in Him because He is the resurrection and the life. Faith that rests in Him shares in His resurrection victory over death. “Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:26).
Then Jesus looked Martha in the eye and pressed the question: “Do you believe this?” Martha answered with the anthem of redemptive history. “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world” (John 11:27).
- Why does Jesus offer life by declaring Himself the resurrection?
- How would you answer Jesus’ question?
