I Am: The Resurrection and the Life

Happy Easter! Today I want to talk about the most important “I Am” statement that Jesus makes. That statement is: I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.   Simply put, if you believe that Jesus is who he says he is, and he says he is the “resurrection and the life” then you will live even though you die. But I know what you’re asking! How can somebody live even though they die? Logically it doesn’t make sense. Life and death are antonyms! To have life after death is an oxymoron.   On this Sunday, 2000 years ago, Jesus resurrected from the dead. He came back to life. He had life after death. It was amazing. The reason we come to church on Sundays and not on Mondays or Tuesdays or even Saturdays, is because Jesus came back to life on Sunday. And, here’s the wonderful part of Easter and it’s not about eggs or baskets or chocolates—it’s about believing that Jesus died and he came back to life just like he said he would. Let me queue up this story because Jesus wasn’t the first person that came back from the dead. There was somebody whom Jesus raised from the dead prior to his own death when Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” This story is in John chapter 11, so if you want to go later and look at that passage and read it for yourselves and deconstruct it, I want you to do it.   Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” – John 11:1-3.   I want you to think about what is going through Jesus’ mind when he gets word of this. Listen to the way John phrases it: “the one you love is sick.” What if somebody told you that the one you love, whether it’s your girl or your boy or your child or your friend or parents was sick– I’m not talking about has a cold sick, I’m talking about calling the person sick because to say that the person is dying with little chance to live is insensitive. What about perhaps you don’t have people that you love, but a job that you love, or the marriage you dreamed of, or a career you wanted to pursue. How would you feel?   Yes, you would feel horrible and helpless and pathetic and dread. But Jesus didn’t feel that way. In fact, the Bible says in verse 4: When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” John 11:4. So Jesus waits 2 more days after people tell him that the person he loves is going to die. He doesn’t even bother trying to go see him before the person dies. That’s rude! Then Lazarus dies! The Bible says Lazarus fell asleep. And the disciples are confused because they are thinking that Larazus isn’t really going to die and that he’s just going to sleep it off. But Jesus says, “okay, it’s time to go wake him up.” The disciples are like, “why would you wake up somebody who’s sleeping. Jesus then replies, “sigh, he’s not really sleeping, he’s dead, I was being nice because it’s incredibly sad, but since you don’t get, I’m going to go raise him from the dead. The disciples are like, “WHAT!?!?!?!” So they start their travel and that’s where we pick up the story, verse 17.   ¹⁷ On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem,¹⁹ and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. ²⁰ When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. ²¹ “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ “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   When we are confronted with a bad situation that we can’t seem to dig ourselves out of because we have no control over it, whatsoever, we cannot be found DEAD IN YOUR DOUBTS. Look at verse 25-27. The way Martha said it was sardonic at best, and doubtful at worst. You see, most of us, will not have easy lives. Most of us will not be perfect. Most of us will pray and nothing will happen, no matter how hard you believe. Most of us will doubt. I’m going to be honest with you, bad things happen often to good people. BUT, BUT, BUT, that’s not reason to doubt what God will do for you next time. Just because it didn’t work out in the past, doesn’t mean that God will not bring glory to your life the next time. Easter is about not being dead in our doubts. Let’s keep reading.   ²⁸ After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” ²⁹ When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. ³² When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ³⁴ “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” – John 11:28-37   I don’t know if you caught verse 20, but it says that when Martha heard, she went out to meet Jesus, but Mary stayed at home. She was hopeless, she was discouraged. She didn’t see a point. Then look in verse 32 Mary just sits down, in the dirt and says, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” We too, sometimes are found DEAD IN YOUR DISCOURAGEMENT.  Always be depressed. Never good marriage, Always fail as parent. Never really loves me. Always dead end job. Dream is dead. Easter is about not dying in our discouragement. Yeah, of course you can be sad, but you can’t say it’s over. With God, nothing is ever over. Not even when the fat lady sings. That’s when it begins. This story reminds us of that.   The first two situations often cause us to be found DEAD IN THE DELAY. How many times do discouragement and doubt make us give up when there’s a delay? Almost always. These three things are related. These three things are unavoidable in life. That’s the truth of it. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that everything will be my little ponies. But Easter, the reason we come to church on Sundays and the reason we keep believing is because through the doubts, discouragements and the delays, Jesus wants us to believe that there is a plan which we often forget even though it’s the most important thing we should never forget. Jesus calls himself the resurrection and life and all we have to do is believe it to see amazing things. This is what 2000 years of Christians have been doing. This is what 2000 more years of Christians will continue to do. This is what we will live out the rest of our lives. Let’s keep reading.   ³⁸ Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ³⁹ “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” ⁴⁰ Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” – John 11:38-44   THE RESURRECTION IS NOT AN EVENT, IT’S A PERSON. Jesus is the resurrection and the life because he has compassion for us. He is moved by our pain and troubles and lives and he wants to give us new life no matter how bad our life may smell or be like. He wants to bring the glory of God so that you can witness it. Easter is about witnessing that glory and believing that the resurrection is Jesus Christ, and he says that’s who I am. Now, lets fast forward to Easter Sunday in 33AD.   ¹¹ Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹² and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. ¹³ They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”   Isn’t this a familiar setting? Why is she crying? Wasn’t it Mary that witnessed Jesus bring back her brother back to life? Of course it was!  The angels found it strange. She did witness the resurrection and the life Jesus offers when people believe, why didn’t she believe herself? Look at what she says:   “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” ¹⁴ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.   We celebrate Easter to remember and realize who Jesus is to us: He is the resurrection and the life.   ¹⁵ He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic,“Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). ¹⁷ Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”  – John 20:11-17   This is what we celebrate on Easter. I want us to remember this bible passage, not just on Easter but every single day of our lives. Our memory verse for today shows us exactly what the deal is with Easter.   Memory Verse: Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. – John 3:14-15 Can we spend like five minutes praying? I want you, as you pray, to think about how you may have been filled to death because of doubt, discouragement and delays in your life—and I want you to contrast that with how Jesus proves to you, on a daily basis how He is the resurrection and the life. All we need to do is believe. I want you raise your hand if you believe that today. God will bless you and you will be resurrected each and every time you face death.