We have been looking at the great seven I am statements made by Jesus concerning Himself. We are in John 11 today where Jesus makes a startling statement to Martha of the Mary and Martha sister duo.
In John 11:25 it says, “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.” Jesus claims here to be the resurrection and the life. Death is one of our great enemies. It is the last enemy that will be conquered according to 1 Corinthians 15, but it will ultimately go down, because Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life. In the meanwhile, we sorrow over death. There are very few things, if anything, in life that is more sorrowful than the loss of a loved one, and we grieve over that loss. This story has always intrigued people. Jesus knew that Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, was sick and that his sickness was going to be fatal. Jesus knew that, yet He delayed coming. He could have healed him and been there on the spot, and healed him as He did many others, but He didn’t. So, finally, after Lazarus has already died and been buried and is in the grave for four days, Jesus and His men show up. At that point, a dialogue takes place between Martha and Jesus. Mary stays in her house at this point. Maybe she is mad at Jesus. Maybe she is just so grief stricken she doesn’t want to come out. Martha shows up and she believes in the resurrection as she says in John 11:24, “Martha said to Him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’” The Old Testament doesn’t talk a lot about the resurrection at the end of time, but it does in a few places. Job mentions it, Psalm 16, and especially Daniel 12 which gives a more detailed account of the resurrection at the end times. Mary and Martha believed that. They knew a resurrection was coming and they fully believed that their brother, Lazarus, would resurrect at that time. He was a man who trusted God and Martha had no doubt about his eternal destiny . . .
