Christological Titles – Resurrection and the Life
Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
John 11:24-27
Presbyterian minister Reverend Benjamin Weir, in his book Hostage Bound, Hostage Free, reveals what it was like to be held hostage in Lebanon. In May 1984, he was captured on the streets of Beirut by a group of Shiite Muslim extremists. He was imprisoned for sixteen months. During those torturous months, he was often chained and held in solitary confinement. Weir’s devout faith and trust in God sustained him during those perilous times.
One routine in particular demonstrates Weir’s reliance on Jesus. He realized that if he dared to stand on the toilet without being caught, he could look out the window. Doing so, he could see beyond the Bekaa Valley to the Lebanon Mountains. The snow-covered mountains and rays of early morning sunlight strengthened his faith. Weir confessed: “That sight, and the memory of it throughout the day, spoke to me of the grandeur of the Creator and his good intensions for the world and its people. This gave me hope and a sense of harmony.”
Many things in life hold us hostage, whether it is an addiction to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, money, sex, television, workaholism, or a hobby out-of-control. In our daily living we feel ourselves bound by pain, health problems, grief, difficult decisions, unruly neighbors, inconsiderate coworkers, and an uncompromising boss. For all these problems and others, each robbing life of joy and satisfaction, we call upon the name of Jesus for deliverance.
During our hour of tribulation one verse of Scripture provides assurance that the Creator will sustain and deliver us. I suggest that you memorize this passage and repeat it to yourself as a daily mantra. Each time you speak its words the power of the living Christ will surge into your soul. The verse is John 11:25-26, when Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
This is one of the “I am” sayings of Jesus. “I am” sayings are used fifty-four times in the Fourth Gospel. In John’s Gospel when Jesus uses “I am,” he is identifying himself with God. The Greek pronoun translated “I” is ego, and the Greek verb translated “am” is eimi. Even without the pronoun, eimi is still translated “I am.” Eimi means “to be” or “to exist eternally” or “to have timeless being.” In the Fourth Gospel, eimi is derived from the Greek verb ginomai, which can also mean “to be,” in an eternal association, not a time-bound temporal association. Thus, the “I am” saying declares the eternal nature of Jesus and his oneness with God.
Jesus’ declaration that “I am the resurrection and the life,” was spoken only once as recorded in the New Testament. It was a part of the story when Jesus learned that his good friend Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, had died. Jesus, on the road, two miles from the city of Bethany, encountered the sisters, and learned of the sad news. The sisters chastised him for not being present to heal the one they so dearly loved.
Approaching the tomb, Jesus was so overcome with grief the Scriptures report, “Jesus began to weep.” Jesus then called forth Lazarus from the tomb
Just a few hours before the resuscitation of Lazarus, standing on the road before the village, this conversation took place between Martha and Jesus: Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” With this encounter on the road to Bethany, Jesus pronounced his most poignant “I am” revelation.
Believe in the power of Jesus. Jesus can and will change your life for the better. With Jesus, life will become a more enriching and rewarding experience. In the name of Jesus, you can surmount the problems of daily living.
According to Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Sorrow makes us all children again – destroys all differences of intellect. The wisest know nothing.”
Life is full of many sorrows. Could there be any more proof of this than Jesus himself wept? We weep in life for many things. Not just over the death of a loved one, but the loss of a job, being passed over for promotion, a dissolved marriage, wayward children, illness, a lack of money, an irreversible decision, guilt. There is an endless list of sorrows along with a daily bombardment of trials and tribulations. Yes, there is joy, a great deal of celebration in life; though, all so often, it is hidden in the fog of despair and disappointment.
This is why the confession “I am the resurrection and the life” is so important for us. It concedes that we have a personal living relationship with Jesus. It does not mean that life will be one of ease and comfort, but it does mean it will be lived in the promise of the everlasting. It is the assurance that nothing can separate us from Jesus in this life, or in the life to come.
Reflecting on this “I am” statement, New Testament and exegetical scholar William Barclay, in his book Jesus As They Saw Him, wrote: “What is the meaning of this? Our relationship with Jesus cannot be broken. He is with us always to the end of time and beyond…Man has become inextricably and indissolubly linked and united with him who conquered death and with him who is the source of all life and being, and a life as that cannot be ended in death.”
In the Fourth Gospel, Jesus is recorded saying: “I am the light of the world.” “I am the good shepherd.” “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” “I am the door.” “I am the true vine.” “I am the resurrection and the life.” These confessions conjoin our temporal earthly life with our perpetual eternal life. This is the assurance that our permanent dwelling will never be the Bethany tomb.
Bob Keeshan entertained children for years as the jovial Captain Kangaroo. In his autobiography Growing Up Happy, Keeshan shared the moment when he realized life would be marvelous. Shortly after the Second World War, Keeshan, an eighteen-year-old Marine, was on board the troopship USS Rockbridge Ranger sailing towards his last duty station in Hawaii. He enjoyed spending the dark nights standing in the forecastle, gazing at the starlit skies. The bow dipped into each succeeding wave and when it raised the heavens shown gloriously overhead. Reflecting on this experience Keeshan wrote, “There was a rhythm to life, I felt at those moments. I didn’t know what was going to happen to me when I was discharged, but I would be nineteen and I was convinced that the world would be wonderful.”
Life is wonderful, even amidst the tears, for we have the assurance that that the man who we encounter on the road to our Bethany is the “I am the resurrection and the life.”