“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” (John 11:22-27)
We are looking at the seven “I am…” statements made by Jesus recorded in the Gospel of John. Last week we pondered the Good Shepherd walking with us as we traveled through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. This week we dig deeper into that promise.
First we look at the context of the quote. We often find Jesus with Mary and Martha, two sisters who lived in Bethany, outside Jerusalem. Their brother was Lazarus. Lazarus became ill and a message was sent to Jesus who did not quickly go to heal his friend but continued doing his thing, to the surprise of the disciples. There were no ERs or zoom meetings with doctors. The sisters were not seeking a second opinion as we are prone to do today. Jesus was the only sure answer and he did not respond to their crisis.
Does that sound a bit familiar? How easy it is to think Jesus is MIA when our crisis comes and our world is caving in. The Evil one loves to taunt us with doubts about the Lord’s concern. So four days after Lazarus had died and been buried, Jesus appears and Martha runs to him and blurts out, “If you had been here.” She went straight to the point. Crises often call forth direct and blunt statements from us.
Martha believed Jesus would receive whatever he asked for from God. She is so close but had not totally grasped the truth yet. Jesus was not a messenger who speaks to God. He is God. He is not interceding for us to be resurrected. He is the resurrection. There is only life as we stand in him. I wonder how many times I need to be reminded that Jesus is the resurrection, the resolution itself of the dilemma I am in. Jesus claims to be resurrection and the life. Let’s do our acrostic on the word “life.” L is for _____, I is for _____, F is for _____, and E is for _____. Blessings.
On the Way to Wonder 