Jesus is my Resurrection
John 11:24-25 (ESV):
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[a] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Why do we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ? We, as believers in Jesus Christ, do not celebrate it because it is a tradition we must follow in our religion. We cele brate it because it is the culmination of our hope in Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul helps us understand the significance of Christ’s resurrection when he says in 1 Corinthians 1517-19 these words:
17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
The fact is that everything we believe about Jesus Christ, like Him being the Savior who gives us forgiveness for our sins or being the Source of our eternal life who guarantees our security for today and tomorrow, all these are baseless and empty without the resurrec tion of Jesus Christ.
On the other hand, the fact that Jesus Christ resurrected is something we ought to cel ebrate so that we don’t lose sight of our hope in Him. Today, with all the things going on in the world, it is so easy for people to fall into depression and feel hopeless. You see, for peo ple who believe in Jesus Christ, a better tomorrow is guaranteed. Regardless of what’s go ing on in your life right now, the resurrection of Jesus promises a better future, a better to morrow.
Take, for example, this passage we have this morning. Jesus Christ will make a very sig nificant claim of being the resurrection and the life in the midst of Lazarus’s death. Martha did not understand the implications of this claim of Jesus very well, so Jesus showed her firsthand what this claim meant. I want us to revisit this text and see what Jesus wanted to teach us from this story.
Since the first Sunday of February, we have been studying together this theme, “Jesus is the Answer For Me.” The point of this study is to point us to Jesus Christ who can suffi ciently meet our every need in life. This morning, we conclude this series on the claim Jesus
made during the resurrection of Lazarus. Here, He demonstrated what He Himself would do three days after He died on the cross. This is a perfect con clusion since Satan loves to use death as his tool to instill fear in our lives continually. We must constantly remind ourselves about the victory that Je sus gained over death. Examining the story, there are three essential truths about death that we can learn:
I THE DISASTER OF DEATH
When death comes to anyone, it is often perceived as a tragedy or a disaster. If you read the earlier verses of this chapter, the sisters of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, sent a word to Jesus that He should come to Bethany because Lazarus was seriously ill. However, instead of traveling right away, He delayed for two more days before starting to travel to Bethany. He told His disciples these words about the condition of Lazarus in verse 4: 4But when Jesus heard it he said, “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.”
So, when Jesus finally arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had already been dead for four days, and Martha and Mary were disappointed with Him because, had He arrived earlier, they truly believed that this tragic death could not have happened to Lazarus. Both would not hesitate to tell Jesus how they felt about His delay (vs. 21, 32 – “Lord, if you had been here, my broth er would not have died.”).
Let’s be honest. If you and I were in their shoes, we would have said the same thing to Jesus, right? Since we always see death as a tragedy, we don’t want to see it happening to someone we love. Let’s pause here. Listen, Lazarus was a good friend of Jesus, but even he was not exempted from dying. Death is common to all. As George Barnard Shaw has said plainly:
“The statistics on death are quite impressive. One out of one people die.”
Yes, even the friends of Jesus die. So, believers die as well. But, the reality is that for the friends of Jesus, His presence in their lives can make a huge difference. And Jesus will demon strate this very important truth in our passage. One important verse about this truth is in He brews 9:27:
27And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
The truth is that God set your appointment with death. Meaning that He has marked the time and date you and I will meet death. We cannot never skip or avoid this appointment.
We must make sure we are prepared to meet it. Will death come to you as a tragedy? If you know Jesus as your Savior, death will be a blessing to you, not a disaster!
II THE DESPAIR OF DEATH
When Jesus finally arrived in Bethany, Martha and Mary were not thrilled. Both were totally devastated because of the death of their brother. This truth reminds us that death brings so much sorrow to the loved ones of the one who passed away. This sorrow can be seen displayed by Mary, which eventually affected Jesus Christ:
John 11:32-35 (ESV):
32Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved[a]in his spirit and greatly troubled.
34And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept.
Can you imagine Jesus weeping? When Jesus saw Mary and the people who came with her crying, He was affected to the extent that He Himself wept. Many of us can easily memo rize the shortest verse of the Bible, John 11:35, Jesus wept. But I trust we won’t miss the message behind this precious verse that Jesus’ heart would go out to people who are hurting because of a loss of a loved one or a loss of a friend. James Merritt reminds us of this truth, saying,
“The presence of death does not mean the absence of God.”
Yes, the death of a loved one is never easy because death always brings despair and sorrow. But if you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will never be alone in your pains. He can give you the strength you need in the midst of your pains. Let’s remind ourselves about this invitation to take advantage of Jesus as our High Priest:
Hebrews 4:15-16 (ESV):
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
I pray that we will find hope and strength in the midst of all the des
pair and sorrow that death or life, in general, can bring us. We can go to our great High Priest, Jesus Christ, and release all our burdens to Him. He knows exactly what we are going through, and He knows exactly how to minister to us.
III THE DELIVERER FROM DEATH
In our main text this morning, Jesus ends His claim of being the resurrection and the life with a question to Martha, “Do you believe this?” I believe that’s a question we also need to wrestle with – Do we really believe what He said He can do? Well, the great thing about Jesus is that He did not just claim it, He went ahead to prove it by raising Lazarus in John 11:43-44 (ESV):
43When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
I’m sure nobody that day would imagine that Jesus would be able to raise Lazarus, who had been dead for four days. In fact, this miracle was such a big proof of His claim that His enemies wanted to kill Him together with Lazarus:
John 12:9-11 (ESV):
9When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well,
11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
Lazarus practically became a living witness for Jesus Christ. Because of what He did, many believe that He was the Messiah. But we know that Jesus even went further as far as this claim of being the resurrection and the life. He himself resurrected on the third day after He died on the cross. He did not just claim it; He lived it out. He Himself conquered death, and with His resurrection, the apostle Paul can write these words in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 (ESV):
55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the source of our living hope as believers in Jesus Christ. Death has no longer gripped us. It has no more power over us. I love how Dr. David Martyn Lloyd-Jones described our living hope in Christ. He said:
“The living hope not only enables a man to go through the very worst that hell can produce against him. This lively hope also enables him to do so with assur ance and a sense of triumph.”
Indeed, only in Jesus can we have this kind of living hope!