<\/p>\n
\u201cJesus said to her, \u2018I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?\u2019 She said to him, \u2018Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world’\u201d (John 11:25-27).<\/p>\n
LAZARUS HAD DIED SEVERAL DAYS BEFORE, AND MARTHA, ONE OF THE SISTERS OF LAZARUS, RAN TO MEET JESUS WHEN SHE HEARD THAT HE HAD ARRIVED IN THE VILLAGE. \u201cYour brother will rise again\u201d (v.23), Jesus said, and she expressed confidence that he would indeed rise again in the resurrection at the last day.<\/p>\n
But Jesus had something more in mind than what Martha was thinking of. He intended to raise Lazarus from the grave, then and there. But He wanted Martha to understand something. Any resurrection from the dead, now or at the end of time, would always be by His power. \u201cI am the resurrection and the life,\u201d He said. \u201cWhoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.\u201d Jesus\u2019 own resurrection would prove Him to be the Son of God (Romans 1:4) \u2014 and as God, the Giver of life, Jesus held the power of life and death. In John 5:21, He had made this momentous claim, at once sobering and hope-giving: \u201cAs the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martha not only saw the force of what Jesus said; she believed that He was telling the truth. \u201cI believe,\u201d she said, \u201cthat you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.\u201d She saw that the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament was not to be an earthly ruler over a restored kingdom of Israel; He would be nothing less than God Himself, breaking the power of sin and death \u2014 founding a kingdom where the redeemed people of God could enjoy a life that was eternal in every sense of the word.<\/em> This life, then, is our great hope, as Jesus promised: \u201cThis is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day\u201d (John 6:40).<\/p>\n \u201cThe resurrection of Jesus is our hope today. It is our assurance that we have a living Savior to help us live as we should now, and that when, in the end, we set forth on that last great journey, we shall not travel an uncharted course, but rather we shall go on a planned voyage \u2014 life to death to eternal living\u201d (Raymond MacKendree).<\/p>\n Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n