I Am the Resurrection and the Life

Jesus loved his disciple Mary.  He also loved her sister, Martha, and their brother Lazarus (John 11:5).  What existed between them was not a cold, academic relationship dominated by a sole regimen of discipleship. Instead, it was also a friendship. And when Lazarus died, Jesus wept (John 11:32-35). It's a curious behavior on the part of the Lord – to weep – since he was able to raise Lazarus up from the dead (John 11:43-44). That curious emotional behavior challenges one of the common criticisms atheists have about the resurrection of Jesus. I’ve heard them say that the resurrection is no big deal since Jesus didn’t really lose anything. In three days, he was alive again, so nothing was really sacrificed. That understanding misses the point entirely. The weeping Jesus experienced over his friend Lazarus explains why. Death is an enemy of humanity and it can be painful for those who do not recognize just what Jesus saved us from. He saved us from permanent separation from himself as well as those we love. The pain of death is present not only in the person experiencing the process, but also in those who love that person. Jesus wept because death is an ugly separation from life. Jesus felt that pain of separation when his friend died. He also felt that pain when he watched his friends, Mary and Martha, weep over their brother’s death. Just because  his friend could be raised, does not mean that the pain in that moment was not real – especially for Mary and Martha who had no tangible appreciation for resurrection. Consider also that on some level, the pain Jesus experienced on the cross during his own death is likely permanent. Atheists may not realize it, but Jesus – as far as we know – still bears the painful scars of the cross and so also probably the memories that came with those scars (John 20:24-29). He bears them so that we don’t have to. He also bears them so that we do not have to fear the pain of death any longer (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). The Christian celebration of Easter is the celebration of Life’s eternal victory over the enemy of death. The story of Lazarus is our first hint of that.  After Lazarus died, Martha, perhaps with a spirit of grievance and frustration tells Jesus, “If you had been here he would not have died.” Before Jesus resurrects his friend, he famously tells Martha that her brother will rise again.  Perhaps in a tone of exasperation, she replied with, “Yeah I know he’ll rise again on the last day.”  Jesus responded to that with “I am the resurrection and the life … (John 11:17-25).”  We must be gentle with Martha because she could not have known what was about to happen or why.

Enveloped in Christ’s reply to Martha is a truth so profound that you should not ignore it. Jesus is the life right now. Not tomorrow, or next year, or after you die. Right now. He is the resurrection right now. Not after your body dies, but after your sinful selfishness is crucified on the cross with him. You are made new and you arise to a new life. When you are in Jesus, and he is in you, then death no longer has any sting, because you won’t be separated from him (John 10:28), which means that you can’t be separated from life because he is true life (John 14:6). His own resurrection proved that! When Jesus becomes your life, your life is now marked by the qualities of Christ, and you begin to grow toward a maturity that is full of genuine love, genuine joy, genuine peace, genuine patience, genuine kindness, and genuine self-control.  Right now. But you also have a future in which those things are perfected and you are made fully, truly, completely, and eternally whole. So if you understand this truth, then don’t ignore it. Today is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2)!