I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)

This sermon was preached on Sunday, 2/1/2011

Mary and Martha were concerned about the illness that their brother Lazarus had, so the sisters sent a message to Jesus and informed him that their brother was ill. His response was that Lazarus’ illness would not end in his death. It is not clear to whom Jesus said these words. If he said them to the messenger, then his comments would have been reported to Martha and Mary. In this scenario, in addition to their grief there would be a sense of surprise and disappointment because it would have seemed that Jesus had got it wrong. Even if he only said his response to his disciples, they too would have this sense of surprise and disappointment when they heard that Lazarus had died.

The message that Jesus gave is the key to the story: ‘This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’ Something was going to happen that would increase the renown of Jesus. We, because we know the story, are aware of what occurred. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and showed his authority over the power of death and revealed his ability to perform great miracles.

When Jesus reached the home in Bethany four days after Lazarus had died, he found a family deep in mourning. Of course, he knew what he was going to do – raise Lazarus from the dead, but Mary and Martha did not know that. Therefore he had to prepare them for his miracle as well as comfort them in their sorrow. No doubt he aimed to increase their faith by the miracle, just as he planned for the disciples that were with him. But he was not indifferent to their feelings of loss.

There are lessons that we can take from the Master’s method – after all we are meant to imitate him. We should learn from his approach that it is very important that we avoid clinical applications. Jesus could have said, ‘Stop crying. I’m about to raise Lazarus from the dead.’ But he did not say this initially. Instead he took his time with each of the sisters, and he dealt with each individually because they had different reactions to what had happened to Lazarus. Instead of ignoring their sorrow, Jesus comforted them. And he comforted Martha not by directing her to an isolated doctrinal truth, but by pointing her to himself. This is when he informed her that he is ‘the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.’

What was Martha’s problem?

Her words indicate that she had a limited view of Jesus, and that in two ways. First, she seems to have thought that he had to be physically present before he could work a miracle. That seems to be the implication of her statement, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ Why would she have thought in this way?

It was probably common knowledge that Jesus had raised some people from the dead. We can deduce this from his message to John the Baptist when he had enquired of Jesus if he was the Messiah. Among the several details that Jesus mentioned was the fact that in his ministry he had raised some from the dead.

We are given details about two other individuals whom Jesus raised from the dead – the daughter of Jairus and the son of the widow of Nain – and each of them had been raised on the day they died (it was customary to bury persons on the same day as their deaths: the daughter of Jairus had been raised in her home before the burial party could be arranged whereas the son of the widow of Nain was raised on the way to the burial site). Lazarus, however, had been buried and maybe the sisters assumed that it was too late to raise him for life in this world. In any case, Martha’s words clearly indicate that she thought that Jesus could have prevented the death if he had been present.

A second defect in Martha’s understanding is seen in the remainder of her response: ‘But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.’ Her words indicate that she had been very impressed by the prayer life of Jesus and recognised that he had power with God. Yet her response also suggests that she did not think that Jesus could do the action himself, that he did not possess inherent power to deal with her situation. Of course, we are not pointing the finger at Martha, merely noting what her personal difficulties were that Jesus wanted to deal with. She is a reminder that a person may have a true faith, yet have a faith with many defects.

It may have been the case that the root of her problem could be ignorance due to lack of information. We recall the vivid contrast that Luke makes between Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42). Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to him and learning from him, whereas Martha was stressed, all worked-up, by issues of a practical nature. From the reply that Jesus gave on that occasion, it seems that Martha should have done what Mary did, and if she had done so, perhaps she would not have made the mistakes when Jesus came after Lazarus died. We must make every effort to learn in the present because we never know when we will need it in the future.

Yet there was more than ignorance at fault in her faith. Despite her inadequate knowledge of him, Jesus gives her a marvellous promise, ‘Your brother shall rise again’ (v. 23). It is not clear whether Jesus is speaking about the imminent raising of Lazarus or the future raising of Lazarus. Martha, however, both generalises the particular promise and distances its fulfilment from her. Her words, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day’ (v. 24), make that clear. Instead of thinking about the rising of Lazarus, she almost turns it into a mundane event that will involve everyone. So instead of living presently in the good of the promise she puts it far away from her. Are we not often liable to do something similar? We don’t apply God’s promises to ourselves individually.

As we consider Martha here, we realise that her faith was not as strong as her words. Her statements were true, but her truthful statements were hiding her lack of faith. Even after Jesus gives her a further word of encouragement when he says he is the resurrection and the life, she still responds with a statement that is accurate but which puts Jesus at a distance from her (v. 27). She does not address him as her Saviour, but as a Saviour in general terms. Someone once said that the strength of faith can be seen in the use of personal pronouns such as ‘my’.

The word of assurance

Jesus knows that what Martha needed was further insight into his capabilities and purposes. So he told her that he was ‘the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.’

This statement has been interpreted in three ways. Some regard it as a description of the last day which Martha had mentioned. So ‘whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live’ describes believers who shall die and therefore require resurrection; and ‘everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die’ describes those who will be alive when Jesus returns. Of course, the matter described by the interpretation is true, but I don’t think it is the truth that the words are about.

Second, some take it to be all about eternal life, with no reference to the resurrection that has just been mentioned. Again, the matter described by this interpretation is true, but again I don’t think it is what Jesus meant here.

Third, the statement explains what Jesus meant by resurrection and life, so includes a reference to physical resurrection and a reference to spiritual life. Jesus is informing Martha that he is the source of both. Just as in the future, he will give physical life at the resurrection, so in the present he gives spiritual life. In other words, the quality of life is important.

Jesus is giving two details to Martha. He informs her that she needs him for her resurrection after she dies and she needs him for spiritual life before and after she dies. He does not want her focus on resurrection to obscure the necessity of looking to him alone for spiritual life. Both are miracles. So the Saviour is revealing his deity because God is the only one who can give both kinds of life.

Jesus is offering a comprehensive package to Martha. Regarding her spiritual life, Jesus informs her that he commences it when she was born again, that he continues it throughout her earthly journey, and that he will carry on providing it in the eternal world (there he will lead all his people to the fountains of the water of life). The life of the age to come will be far greater than what is experienced here, but Jesus will give a resurrection body suitable for it.

Paul enlarges on what this means when he writes about the resurrection body in 1 Corinthians 15. God’s people will each receive one because Jesus is the life-giver, and what a body he will provide, one that is imperishable, glorious and powerful. He will not only raise one individual, but he will raise the redeemed race. What an amazing sight that will be.

Martha was in the valley because of her brother’s death, but Jesus led her to look to him and see what a mountain-top he would give her. Martha had not developed spiritually as she should have done, but Jesus graciously informed her about what he would do for all his people, even for those who at stages of their journey lag behind for a while.

The message is simple. Wherever you are, whatever you are, whoever you are, look to Jesus, the life-giver.