Lenten Reader | Day 28

March 16th, 2024

I Am the Resurrection

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

John 11:17-27

Today we get to look forward to Easter Sunday, the final destination of the Lenten season. Without the resurrection our faith is meaningless. Paul says as much in 1 Corinthians 15:17 when he says, “And if Christ is not raised, your faith is useless; you are still in your sins.” (NET) The resurrection is fundamental to our faith and gives us hope for today and hope for tomorrow.

Sometimes we only see the hope for tomorrow, some far off day. That’s how Martha saw it in verse 24. But Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life.” This is a clear statement of his divinity and a foreshadowing of things to come. But he is also saying that we don’t have to wait for some far-off day. He is here in front of you. Martha was thinking of some future physical event, but Jesus is trying to get her to understand that a spiritual resurrection can happen now for those who believe in Him.

This tension of the now and future hope is explained by Paul in Philippians 3:10-11: “My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (NET) And again when he says, “Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God…for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:1,3 (NET). Paul is talking about a spiritual resurrection now and the physical resurrection later.

The resurrection is not a doctrine. It isn’t just a future fact. It is a person, and he is here right in front of us today inviting us, in our pain and in our sorrow, to join in his life and death and resurrection.

Steve Manchester