Seven times John records Jesus giving Himself an “I Am” name. Each one describes an aspect of our relationship with Him; how we should view Jesus and relate to Him. Each also provides a glimpse of what Jesus offers to all faithful and obedient believers. May you be enriched and blessed as you study these names and discover what He offers to you each day.
The fifth “I am” name Jesus gave Himself is found in John 11:25; “I am the resurrection and the life.”
Each name Jesus gave Himself indicates a human need He alone can meet. What do you think the human need is that He alone can meet as the “resurrection and the life” for mankind?
As chapter eleven of John’s Gospel begins, a good friend of Jesus’ is sick…very sick. Word of this reaches Jesus: “Lord, the one You love is sick” (vs. 3). How would you expect Jesus to respond to this message? Based upon what Jesus has already done in John’s Gospel, we might expect Him to heal Lazarus from a distance (as He did the Nobleman’s son, see John 4:46-54); or perhaps to go quickly to Lazarus’ side.
But Jesus did neither. Instead, He had a two-part response. First, He gave the reason for Lazarus’ illness: it would be for “the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (vs. 4). This sickness – and Jesus’ actions/response to it – would bring glory to Himself and to the Father.
The second part of His response is puzzling: Jesus waited. “He stayed two more days in the place where He was” (vs. 6). Why wait? If it was us, we would hurry to Lazarus…get on the road…get started…NOW! But not Jesus; He waited. He waited long enough that Lazarus died.
Jesus actually was waiting for His friend to die. He knew what was happening with Lazarus; and this is precisely why He waited. If Jesus had arrived too soon, He would have healed Lazarus. But He already had healed people. In Lazarus’ circumstances, Jesus was going to perform an even more remarkable miracle.
Examine the facts thus far:
1. Jesus knew Lazarus was going to die.
2. He knew the purpose for his death.
3. He knew when Lazarus was dead.
4. He then went to where Lazarus was buried to fulfill His purpose.
And when He arrived, Martha (one of Lazarus’ sisters) was waiting! She first confronted Jesus about taking so long to get there; then confessed her faith that even now He could fix the situation. Jesus comforted her by saying: “Your brother will rise again” (vs. 23). To which Martha responded: “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (vs. 24).
Martha gave the standard Jewish interpretation of the Old Testament view of the resurrection. She, Mary and the Jewish mourners responded to Lazarus’ death with sorrow, defeat and abandonment. According to their words, Jesus should have been there to prevent his death. If He were really God, He would have prevented physical death because that is God’s job. They treated death as the end of life, as the final defeat, a sign that God had deserted them.1
For them, the presence of death meant the absence of God! Little did they realize that here was God in the flesh, among them!
Jesus next spoke these wonderful words: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die – ever. Do you believe this?” (vs. 25-26).
Near the end of his Gospel, John clearly states his purpose for writing this book: “…so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). Two reasons: so that we would believe and have life.
No other portion of the Gospel of John, outside of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Himself, so clearly supports his stated purpose than the events surrounding the death and resurrection of Lazarus. Here, Jesus clearly states, “I am the source/cause for resurrection. And I am the source/wellspring of eternal life.”
This “I am” statement is the foundation for our doctrine of the resurrection and the afterlife. Jesus stated that future resurrection was impossible without Him. He also stated that real life – life that extends beyond death – is possible only through Him. No one attains it in any other way. This life Jesus speaks of comes only to those who believe in Him.
It is interesting to see how the crowd of mourners and supporters responded to what Jesus did when He raised Lazarus from the dead. According to verses 45 and 46, some believed in Jesus; but others went to report Him to the Pharisees. These are the same two responses people have today: some believe and receive eternal life; others go away, thereby forfeiting real and lasting life.
Do you believe Him? Are you trusting Him for your eternity…to give you life that does not end?
1 Parts of this section taken from: Gangel, Kenneth O.; Max Anders, gen. ed. Holman New Testament Commentary: John (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), pg. 197-199.
No comments:
Post a Comment