Jesus – the Resurrection and the Life

John 11:21-27

 

‘Choosing to die’ was the title of a BBC Documentary aired last week. Introduced by Sir Terry Pratchett, ‘Choosing to die’ followed the last few days of people who were determined to end their lives at the Dignitas Clinic in Switzerland. Now any fair reading of the Bible leads us to conclude that Euthanasia, or the taking of one’s own life – literally, a ‘good death’ – is wrong. But the point is that millions of normal people tuned in to watch a retired hotelier drink a potion of poisons which killed him. Even though terrified of it, people are morbidly fascinated by death. Like rabbits caught in the headlights of car, we stare into the face of death and, like the famous painting by Edvard Munch, issue a silent, terrified scream.

 

It is for people who hate and fear death but are also morbidly fascinated by it Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” In John 11, Jesus is confronted by the worst of situations – two sisters have lost their brother Lazarus. He became ill and died. Here we have the ultimate wall, the ultimate barrier – human death – what can Jesus do about it? The Dignitas Clinic inSwitzerland doesn’t give life, but takes it away. Can Jesus give life? Can Jesus raise the dead? Does He have the answers to the human fixation and fear of death? In this fifth of the ‘I am’ sayings of Jesus, He says to us, “I am the resurrection and the life.” I want to look at three things concerning the truth of Jesus being the resurrection and the life: first, this is a truth for us; secondly, this is a truth for life and lastly, this is a truth for faith.

 

[A] A Truth for Us

We can easily fall into the trap of thinking that Christianity is for people living in ivory towers; people who aren’t suffering the things we are. People like Martha in this story, are all too often pictured as angel-like and wearing shining halos. The reality is very different. Here’s someone just like us – wading through the problems, hurts and fears of life – sometimes falling down under the pressure; sometimes just treading water; and sometimes, but very rarely, making progress. When Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life’ he was speaking to someone just like us. As we think about the Martha to whom Jesus spoke these words, there are four attitudes which sum her up: first, she is anxious; secondly, she is grieving; thirdly, she is questioning and lastly, she is believing. If you can identify with any of these attitudes, then what Jesus says isn’t just for Martha, but for you also.

 

1. Anxious – this isn’t the first time we encounter Martha, her sister Mary and their brother Lazarus in the Bible. In Luke 10 we learn that on a previous occasion, Martha had invited Jesus to stay with them. But at that time, Mary had sat listening to Jesus but Martha had been running about dealing with catering and hospitality. She was that type of person – so busy serving Jesus that she never had time to sit with Jesus. She was what we would call, ‘hyper’. She was the anxious sort – a worrier always thinking about making sure everything was right. And it was to her, this hyper-worrier, Jesus spoke these words saying, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Jesus is for anxious people who can’t seem to find a minute out of the day to rest and be at peace. If we are at all like that, this is a truth for us.

 

2. Grieving – Martha’s brother Lazarus got sick and died. It had all happened so quickly and now Martha was left mourning. We learn from vs. 33-35 of how she and her sister cried tears of grief. The man of the house was gone and the sisters were now worried about what the future held for them. Perhaps that’s where you are today – mourning and grieving for those you have loved and lost. Your heart is broken in two. It is to people with heavy hearts Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life”. If we are at all like that today, this is a truth for us.

 

3. Questioning – when Lazarus became unwell, Martha sent for Jesus. But Jesus didn’t come – rather, He waited three days. By that time, Lazarus was dead. Martha and Mary didn’t understand Jesus’ timing in it all and in vs. 21 and 32 say, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Here we have people with questions – why didn’t Jesus come quicker; why didn’t Jesus heal their brother. When we are confronted by life’s big issues, we too have questions. We ask God questions like, ‘if you are a God of love, why has this happened’, or ‘if you have power to heal the sick, why didn’t you heal my brother’? There are a lot of questions and not many answers. But it is to people like us – people who ask the ‘why’ questions Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life”. If we are at all like that today, this is a truth for us.

 

4. Believing – for all Martha’s questions, anxiety and grief, she still believed in Jesus. Even though she didn’t have all the answers, she clung onto faith in Jesus. This was faith walking in the darkness of human experience. We know this because of her faith in Jesus expressed in vs. 22 – “but I know even now, God will give you whatever you ask.” Her faith was imperfect, but it was faith. Today, for all that we fear death and grieve over the death of loved ones, we still have faith in Jesus. We might ask difficult questions, but in our heart of hearts, we know He knows what He is doing and that He loves us deeply. It is to people like us – people who are clinging onto faith by our fingertips, Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life”. If we are at all like that today, this is a truth for us.

 

You see, faith in Jesus isn’t for ivory towered, sugar-coated, insulated people – but for ordinary people who go through troubles and hardships. Are you an ordinary person – are you going through any of the troubles of Martha? Then what Jesus says is for you, “I am the resurrection and the life.” This is a truth for us.

 

[B] A Truth for Life

So many people are paralysed by the fear of death that they never really begin to live. When Jesus stands at the graveside of His friend Lazarus, comforting a grieving sister, He’s not just talking about how to die well, but more importantly, to live well. He says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” This is a truth for death, yes, but even more so for life. Jesus is making reference to two things about Himself here: first, Jesus the Resurrection and secondly, Jesus the Life.

 

1. Jesus the Resurrection – in vs. 25 Jesus says, “I am the resurrection”. Later in the verse He expands on what He means by saying, “He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.” People will go to extraordinary lengths to prolong their lives. A recent scientific study has concluded that people who live at high altitudes tend to live longer than those who live at sea level. Men living at 6,000 feet live as much as 3 and ½ years longer than those living at 0 feet. And so, once people hear this new study, they’ll build themselves cabins in the Himalayas and become hermits – just to scratch another couple of years out of life. But Jesus is totally realistic – He says, ‘even though he dies’. He recognises that all men die. It doesn’t matter whether it’s today or in three years time; by the beach at Bognor Regis or on the peaks ofMount Everest, every one will die.

 

What is our human reaction to this? It is one of a number of things: first, as I’ve said, we’ll invest all our money to find ways to live longer and try not to die. But whilst we may be able to put death off, it is coming to all of us and there’s not enough money in the world to stop it. Secondly, we throw up our hands and say, ‘If I’m going to die, then it doesn’t matter how I live’, and so we make sure we have as much carnal pleasure here and now before age and frailty become the party poopers. Thirdly, we don’t talk about death and by sticking our heads in the sand, perhaps it won’t happen to us. Thinking about it is too painful and so we’ll empty our minds of it completely – except when death approaches and we start to panic because we’re not prepared for it. Lastly, we can become so fearful of death that we become fascinated by it. It paralyses us and we can’t stop thinking about it. Every beautiful view is dominated by the spectre of death. Gothika takes over and even if we don’t wear black on the outside, our hearts are darkened by death.

 

Jesus is standing by the graveside of a man who had just died and says, ‘I am the resurrection … He who believes in me will live.’ A bit later, Jesus will raise Lazarus from the dead. He will perform a dramatic parable of how, at the very last day, He will raise all those who believe in Him from their mortal remains lie. In John 6:40 Jesus says, “This is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise Him up at the last day.” Jesus as the resurrection is telling us that even though we will die here, yet on the very last day, He will raise us to new life. He will resurrect our bodies and they shall be like His glorious body. How do we know that what Jesus says is true? Many have prophesied that they would rise from the dead, but only Jesus has. On the third day after the crucifixion, Jesus left the tomb empty was raised to glorious new life. Jesus means what He says – and this opens up a new possibility for how we are to approach death. Namely, death is not the end – rather, as Jesus calls it in vs. 11 – it is the long sleep of our bodies. These bodies of ours will sleep in the grave as they wait for Jesus to fulfil His promise on the last day to be our resurrection. The Christian can face death with confidence because to her, it is like falling asleep. She doesn’t need be afraid of sleeping in Jesus; she doesn’t fear it – rather, she can truly live in confidence that Jesus shall be her resurrection on the last day.

 

2. Jesus the Life – in vs. 25 Jesus says, “I am the resurrection AND the life”. He expands on what He means by saying He is the life in vs. 26 – “whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” What does Jesus mean here? Is He contradicting what He said in the previous verse about people dying? Do people die or don’t they? There is no contradiction – there never is in the Bible – rather, Jesus is referring to the life of the resurrection which we can enjoy before we die, when we die and after we die. He’s speaking of what He calls in other places in this Gospel – ‘eternal life’. Jesus is standing beside the grave of His friend Lazarus and He’s saying of this man that there’s a part of him which isn’t dead at all but lives eternally. Lazarus entered into eternal life the moment he believed in Jesus. That is when he began to live. That’s a life which physical death cannot take away from him. It is life in Jesus – a life which is eternal.

Our Catechisms tell us that ‘the souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory’. Jesus said to the dying thief on the Cross, ‘today you shall be with me in paradise’. Eternal life doesn’t begin when you die; it begins at the moment you believe; but when you die, the teaching of the Bible is that your soul ascends straight into the presence of God Himself. You are joined to Christ – your life is in Him. There was an amazing picture in the papers last week of the Space Shuttle docked to the International Space Station. Taking place hundreds of miles above the earth’s surface, there was a connection between the Space Shuttle and the Space Station. When we believe in Christ, we are connected to Him and that link can never be broken – no not even by death. Death may separate us for a time from our loved ones, but it cannot separate us from Christ. We live now and we shall live hereafter and it is all in Christ. That’s what makes eternal life so full of joy and delight – because it all about Christ.

 

Jesus tells us, “I am the resurrection and the life.” To complete the quotation from the catechism, ‘the souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory, and their bodies, still being united to Christ, do rest in their graves, till the resurrection.’ There is no need to be paralysed by the fear of death when Jesus is our resurrection and our life. We can look forward confidently to Him, in Him and with Him.

 

[C] A Truth for Faith

I want to close by reflecting on the importance of making Jesus our resurrection and life so that the wonderful gifts of eternal life and end-day resurrection become ours; so that we can be rid of the fear of death forever. In both vs. 25 and 26 Jesus tells us how that can happen – through faith in Him; by believing in Him. It is by believing we gain access to last day resurrection and to eternal life. And so Jesus asks in the words of vs. 26, “do you believe this”? We must believe in two things: first, in who Jesus is and secondly, in what Jesus does.

 

1. Believing in Who Jesus Is – what Jesus said had a profound impact upon Martha. Bearing in mind that she had known Jesus for some time by this point; but also bearing in mind that she didn’t have all the answers and was filled with grief, she says in vs. 27, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.” She believed that Jesus was THE ‘special one’ – Christ, the Son of God. Further on in the chapter, we’ll see the great compassion of Jesus in the shortest verse in the Bible, John 11:35 – “Jesus wept”. Later on still we’ll see the great power of Jesus in raising Lazarus from the dead. Jesus is all glorious. As I am fond of saying, “there is a depth of excellencies in Christ such that there is ever room for new discoveries in Him.” Trust and believe in who Jesus is – His glorious love and His loving glory.

 

2. Believing in What Jesus Does – we often make the mistake of thinking that the people of the Bible were saints living in holy bubbles with no trouble and no grief. I hope we’ve seen how false that idea is. But the other mistake we make is to assume that Jesus lived in a spiritual bubble and didn’t know anything about human suffering. Nothing could be further from the truth. See Jesus weeping at this graveside – deeply moved by the grief of Lazarus’ sisters! More than that – Jesus knew that He Himself was shortly going to experience death – the death of the Cross; He knew that He Himself was going to be buried in a grave; and He knew Himself that on the third day He would be raised again. In the front of His mind, He has His own work of redemption on display.

 

And how is it possible that Jesus can promise us resurrection and life? Many make promises, but how do we know that Jesus is genuine? It is because He gave up His life upon the Cross in order that we might have eternal life – He dealt with our sins; the barrier between ourselves and God by bearing our penalty. It is also because on the Third Day He rose from the dead to new, glorious life as the first fruits of all His people. He can promise us resurrection and life because He has died to give us life and He Himself has been raised from the dead. His death is the certainty of our life and His resurrection is the certainty of our resurrection.

 

And so I ask you this afternoon – will you believe in who Jesus is and in what He came to do? Will you take your fear of death and give it to Him; trusting Him to replace your anxieties with His peace; your grief with His glory and your pain with His delights? Will you believe in Him, for it is only by believing that what He did can become yours. Come to Him today and live forever.

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