|
|
|
Jesus said to Martha: “I am the Resurrection and the Life.1 The person who continues to believe in me, though dying, will live.”2
| 1 | I am the Resurrection and the Life: Compare John 1:4; 5:26-29; 14:6. [Isaiah 9:6, 7] |
| 2 | The person who continues to believe in me, though dying, will live: Or, KJV: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; ASV: though he die, yet shall he live; RHM: even though he died shall live again; WEY: even if he has died, shall live. Like Paul, Jesus uses the word sleep for death, and the words “live again” for resurrection. The Greek is ZESETAI. [Compare notes on Revelation 20:5.] |
Dear Friends of the Nazarene,
We choose John 11:25 as the theme verse of chapter eleven – A Sleep to God’s Glory. News arrives that a friend of the Master has fallen sick. [1-4] However, Jesus states that his friend will die but that God will be glorified by his death. Jesus hesitates a couple of days and teaches about the need to walk in the Light. [5-10] Knowing that Lazarus has died Christ teaches that death is but a sleep. [11-16] When the Master arrives he tells Martha and Mary that he is the resurrection and the life. [17-29] He describes to how both the living and the dead will be blessed by the resurrection. Upon visiting the tomb of Lazarus the Master weeps. [30-37]
Lazarus is resurrected and the people glorify God. [38-44] The Jewish high priest predicts the death of Jesus in behalf of the whole nation of Israel. [45-53] In Jerusalem opinions vary on who Jesus really is. [54-57]
Abba our Father bless those who believe unto everlasting life.
[9 December 2002]
Christ makes the grand, striking declaration that he is the RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE, words that never could have fallen from the lips of a sane mortal. They mean that he is the power which opens every grave, gives life to the sleepers, and calls them forth to a new existence; that the life that endows men with eternal being is in him and proceeds from him. In the light of his own resurrection they mean that when he burst open the tomb he did it for humanity and in him humanity has won the victory over death.
