John 11:25-27

Main Thought: This is one of the most familiar passages of Scripture in the Gospels, the account of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead. These three verses are part of a conversation between Jesus and Martha prior to His arrival at the tomb. Prior to these verses, Jesus told Martha in John 11:23: “Your brother will rise again.” Martha, of course not knowing that Jesus was about to display His glory and power over death by raising Lazarus from the dead, reveals her faith by her statement in John 11:24: “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” What faith she reveals, having confidence in God resurrecting those who have believed in Him, even prior to the death and resurrection of Christ. Perhaps she heard of Christ’s teaching in John 5:21, when He said “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.” Or could she have heard Job 19:25-26 read in the synagogue, where Job proclaims “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God.” Her words reveal her faith in Christ, and her trust in the promises found in the Scriptures. The great truth He proclaims, that “I am the resurrection and the life”, reveals that He has authority over both spiritual death and physical death, that when we believe in Him and receive eternal life, we will in essence never die, going immediately into the presence of the Father and the Son upon leaving these mortal bodies. Christ’s resurrection following His crucifixion, and then three days and three nights in the tomb, displays and is a promise of His authority for us, that we will be raised in our glorified bodies when Christ returns in power and glory. Paul gloriously exclaims in 1 Corinthians 15:54 “Death is swallowed up in victory, O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” Christ has won the victory for us, bestowing on us eternal life that cannot be abrogated, and giving us victory over the grave through the demonstration of His own resurrection. Fear not, believer in Christ, for the One who is our Lord and Savior proclaims “I died, and behold I am alive forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” What great, almost inexpressible joy and comfort, to know that we have life everlasting through Christ, the One who lives forevermore and has all authority over death. Surely, everyone who knows Christ should give thanks today for He who is “the resurrection and the life.”