One of the most memorable sayings of Jesus is “I am the resurrection and the life.” It is a great saying, and it comes with a story that illustrates its truth. It is the story of a tragedy in the little family of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus and how sorrow turned to joy in the little town of Bethany, near Jerusalem.
JOHN 11:17-44: HOW JESUS IS THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE
INTRODUCTION
How often we hear someone make a statement of regret that begins “If only…”
“If only she had gone to the doctor sooner…”
“If only he had studied harder…”
“If only I had listened to my mother…”
“If only they had left two minutes earlier—or two minutes later…”
“If only I had known then what I know now…”
“If only I had kept my mouth shut…”
We hear that regretful remark two times over in one of the most famous stories of Jesus.
First of all I will give you the background to the story.
There was a little family in Bethany that was dear to the Lord Jesus.
It was the family of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus—2 sisters and their brother.
We read more about Martha and Mary than about Lazarus. I picture Lazarus as the younger brother of the two sisters.
There seems to have been no parent in this household because we read in Luke that it was Martha’s house.
It appears that Jesus was often a guest in that home, even up until a few days before his arrest and death on the cross.
This story takes place not long before that event.
Lazarus had fallen deathly ill, and the sisters sent word to Jesus—“Lord, he whom you love is ill”—hoping that he would come and heal their brother.
But Jesus didn’t come…and he didn’t come…and days went by and Lazarus died and was buried.
More days passed, and then Jesus finally showed up.
Read John 11:17-27
I. The sisters had been grieving for four days.
A. We can only imagine how many times Martha and Mary had said to one another and to their friends: “If only Jesus had been here, our brother wouldn’t have died…”
“If only Jesus had been here, he would have healed him.”
When Martha learned that Jesus was finally on the way, she left her sister and the other mourners and ran to meet him.
And those are the first words out of Martha’s mouth when Jesus arrived:
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
And then she added something odd.
She said, “…And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
Why did she say that?
We know that she didn’t expect Jesus to raise her brother from the dead because when later he goes to the tomb, she warns him not to take away the stone because there will be a smell.
I think that somehow those words just bubbled up from Martha’s faith-filled heart.
Martha is a lesson to us about prayer.
The psalmist wrote
“Trust in the Lord at all times, O people.
Pour out your heart before him.
God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8).
Martha knew how to pour out her heart before the Lord.
B. Then Jesus said: “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha naturally took those words only as words of comfort.
Most Jews at that time firmly believed that sometime in the future the righteous dead would rise to live with God in Paradise.
Martha believed in the resurrection, just as we believe in the resurrection. We believe with all out hearts—yet we are sad when a loved one dies, and we may be fearful when our time comes to go through that door that leads to another world.
Then Jesus surprised her with one of the strangest sayings in the gospels:
“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Martha answers, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world.”
C. When Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life…” he puts the matter into a new perspective.
Martha believed the truth of the resurrection, just as we believe the truth of the resurrection.
But Jesus is urging Martha to think of the resurrection to eternal life, not as a doctrine but as a Person…and that Person is standing right in front of her.
Jesus is leading her into a fuller faith, a faith not in doctrines, but a relationship of faithful trust in himself.
Jesus is urging her—and urging us—to think of Jesus himself as the embodiment of Eternal Life.
Someone said, “Jesus is heaven’s bank. If we have him, we have everything.”
D. Let’s look at the rest of the sentence: “…he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.”
Jesus is telling Martha—and us—that to be in relationship with Jesus—to be united to him in love and faith—is to participate in the eternal life that belongs to God alone.
To know Jesus—to cling to Jesus with faith—is to triumph over death.
We will die, in the physical sense, but our true self will never die.
When that time comes to go through that door, my body falls away, but my true self goes right into the arms of Jesus.
And then comes the resurrection into glory.
This is our hope.
This is our confidence.
This is what we have bet our life on.
II. So what happened next? Let’s read vv28-44.
A. Martha doesn’t stand around talking. She runs to her sister Mary, who is at home with their friends grieving.
She tells Mary, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”
Mary runs to Jesus and falls at his feet weeping.
Mary is more emotional, less self-possessed than her sister. She collapses in front of Jesus.
But her speech is the same: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
B. On the way to the tomb we read that Jesus is troubled, and he bursts into tears. Here’s the first Bible verse you learned in Sunday school: “Jesus wept.”
Jesus knew what he was going to do, but he wept anyway. Jesus wept because in the presence of death and all those sorrowing people, he is thinking of the endless sorrow caused by death in our world.
He thinks of the sorrow of all those who have grieved in the presence of death from the beginning of time to the end of time—and his heart is broken.
C. So they all go to the tomb, and Jesus tells them to take away the stone.
Martha objects: “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”
Charlotte and I visited a beautiful old cathedral in Burgundy, in France.
It is the Cathedral of St. Lazarus, in Autun.
At the entrance is a statue of St. Lazarus—with a crown on his head—and at his sides his two lovely sisters.
(I think the cathedral should be the Cathedral of St. Martha.)
At a museum nearby there is a life-sized statue of Martha.
She is pictured at this moment in the story.
How do I know that this is a statue of Martha?
She is holding a handkerchief to her nose.
But when they rolled the stone away from the entrance of the cave—there was no smell!
Lazarus’s body hadn’t decayed after all. It was in there waiting to come to life again.
And Jesus called: “Lazarus, come out!” here came Lazarus, walking—or floating—out of the tomb—his hands and feet were bound with bandages.
And Jesus said to them, “Unbind him and let him go.”
And that is the end of the story.
CONCLUSION
The story is an acted parable of a great truth.
Back in v3 we read that while Jesus was a way across the Jordan the sisters had sent the message: “Lord, the one whom you love is ill.”
In v36, when the visitors see Jesus weeping, they say, “See how he loved him!”
In this story Lazarus stands for you and me, and for everyone who Jesus loves and who loves Jesus.
The resurrection of Lazarus from the dead represents your and my resurrection from the dead—an event we can look forward to with gladness.
Lazarus had to die again—but I don’t think that was a sad time for Lazarus because he knew what was on the other side.
He was glad to get back to Paradise.
Let’s take comfort from Jesus’s words to Martha concerning himself:
“I am the Resurrection and the Life;
those who believe in me, though they die, yet shall they live,
And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.
Do you believe this?”
And everybody said, “Amen! Yes, Lord, we believe.”
Here is a Quote for the Day: “No matter how old you are, your life has scarcely begun; real life begins soon.”
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