The Resurrection and the Life
Jesus lived on earth as a man. He walked on dusty roads. He got thirsty. He went to people’s houses for dinner. He went to weddings. He grieved with the grief-stricken.
In John 11, Jesus arrived at the home of His friends Mary and Martha. Like other friends of these sisters, Jesus grieved with them over the death of their brother Lazarus. When He saw Mary crying and the Jews who were with her crying, He was “deeply moved in spirit and was troubled.” Jesus wept, too (John 11:33).
Jesus loved this family. John 11:5 tells us plainly: “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” Mary and Martha trusted Jesus’ love for their brother. When they had sent word to Jesus a couple of days before, telling Him that Lazarus was sick, the message had been: “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick” (John 11:3). When Jesus talked to His disciples about Lazarus’ illness, He called Lazarus “our friend” (John 11:11).
Jesus provided an amazing, yet temporary, solution for Mary and Martha’s hurt. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. I call it a temporary solution because I assume that Lazarus died again later.
Tomorrow on Good Friday and every Sunday when we gather with fellow believers, we remember the death of Jesus Himself. The One who comforted others in their grief was now the object of grief.
Three days later God gave the world a permanent solution for everyone’s pain of every kind. He raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus’ resurrection was different from Lazarus’. Jesus will never die again.
The truth of Jesus’ resurrection is a present reality in every moment of life — in both its ecstasies and its tragedies. Because He lives, our ecstasies are sweeter. Because He lives, we can see beyond tragedy.
Nothing more tragic than the death of Jesus has ever happened in the history of the world. Because of Jesus’ resurrection, we know that the God who brought triumph out of that tragedy offers triumph in our tragedies, too.
Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He gave Mary a glimpse into what would soon happen to Him and what those events would mean for the world.
Jesus said to her,
“I am the resurrection and the life;
he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,
and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ,
the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”
John 11:25-27