Rejoice! Jesus is alive! Raised from death, and seated at the right hand of God today!
Jesus’ fifth statement of identity [John 11:25] has the power to radically change our perspective of life and death, as it must have for Martha.
Martha’s beloved brother Lazarus had fallen ill and Jesus was summoned but by the time He arrived, Lazarus had already been dead four days.
John 11:1, 14, 43, as it is written,
“Now a man named Lazarus was sick…Lazarus is dead…Lazarus come out!”
Lazarus being brought back from death was Jesus’ final miracle before His own resurrection – a precursor to The Resurrection.
John 11:1, 14, 43, as it is written,
“Now a man named Lazarus was sick…Lazarus is dead…Lazarus come out!”
Lazarus being brought back from death was Jesus’ final miracle before His own resurrection – a precursor to The Resurrection.
What no-one understood then was, by letting Lazarus die, Jesus was accomplishing something much greater than anyone could have envisioned. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He was, in fact, demonstrating His victory over death. Jesus was giving us all a foretaste of what’s to come for those of us who are in Christ. Death is not the end; there is indeed life after death.
By His own resurrection, Jesus further demonstrated that death is not the ultimate end. Jesus conquered death completely on the cross. When Jesus, from the cross, cried out aloud, “It is finished!”, He was affirming that everything that had been ushered in by Adam’s disobedience was now completely and utterly reversed. And death was included in that.
Jesus came to give us abundant life [John 10:10]. Abundant life is life beyond this earthly existence, beyond what is seen this side of heaven. Understand that we are eternal beings having a brief earthly experience. Jesus came and restored everything that was stolen in the Garden.
Jesus’ fifth “I AM” statement and what follows [John 11:25-26] is another bold declaration of who He is, the Resurrection and the Life, and what it means. By this, Jesus is assuring us that physical death is certainly not the end but merely a transition to a new life in eternity with Him. Our physical death is the beginning of Life.
A heart that grasps and believes this Truth, must live differently because truly understanding Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life gives us an eternal perspective, creates purpose in our lives and drives us to live in a way that causes others to see and know the hope we have in Jesus.
Amen†
“I AM the Resurrection and the Life” [John 11:25] ©2013 Shelley Johnson 30-Apr-13
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