This past summer, I attended the SING! Conference, hosted by Keith and Kristyn Getty. While there, I heard Joni Eareckson Tada cast a vision for what the resurrection must mean for the physically and mentally disabled. She shared how the first thing she hoped to do in heaven after regaining the use of her legs was to kneel before God. This was because, growing up in church traditions that made space for confessional kneeling, she was not able to participate in this part of the liturgy, although her confidence in God’s goodness was obvious. I believe the resurrection, which means a literal “raising up,” has a secondary layer of beauty for those who cannot raise themselves physically now.
When Martha confesses belief that her brother Lazarus will rise again on the last day, Jesus tells her that He is “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). Although Martha already believed in the coming resurrection, she didn’t appear to fully understand that Christ Himself was the embodiment of it. I imagine this is why Jesus explains how those who believe in Him will live on even after death and asks her: “Do you believe this?” (v.26).
The idea of Jesus raising her brother from the dead that day was almost too good to be true for Martha. It was a big ask. Her cheeks still wet with tears of grief, she knew that she would see her brother again, but it felt like hoping against hope that Jesus would revive his breath when so many others didn’t get that privilege. Four days in, surely Lazarus was gone (v.17).
To Martha, the resurrection at the end of history was a detached concept. It provided her with hope, but only a futuristic hope that barely touched her present grief. Jesus surprised her by bringing her brother back to life with the simple command of “Lazarus, come out!” (v.44).
One of my best friends told me once that “Truth is a Man.” It’s always stuck with me. Although, for some, Christianity may just be a system of strung together theological concepts (our human attempt to understand God), the center of the gospel is the person of Jesus Christ—who has skin and bones. Our whole faith history, before and after the incarnation, must now be interpreted through that earth-shattering event. This Man, who is also fully God, has the power to resurrect all things—our physical bodies and hearts and even the empty places that don’t have a name.
Whether, like Joni Earechson Tada, you’re one of the walking wounded who feel stuck or held back by physical and mental disadvantages, or you simply feel the toll of being human, the hope of the resurrection is that it is here, now—because He is here, now. Because Christ is in us, the same Spirit’s power that raised Him from the dead is in us, too (Romans 8:11). What a crazy and humbling thought that is.
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43 thoughts on "I Am the Resurrection and the Life"
Holy Spirit burn within me and renee my faith and hope. Jesus, I want to know you even more and have faith that moves mountains. Forgive my doubt. Amen.
“Truth is a Man”. Jesus is a person. I can relate to Him, I can talk to Him. My belief is not in a lot of Theological concepts strung together. I need a Man of Truth to believe in. How awesome of God to come to earth as a man to show us Himself. When I made the shift from trying to follow the law to having a relationship with God, it transformed me.
John 11:5-6 — [5] Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. [6] So, when Jesus heard that Lazarus was ill, He stayed two days longer in the place where He was.” WHAT? WHY? I thought that when you love someone you show them your love for them by being there and helping out in any way you could? This was exactly Martha’s and Mary’s expectations also (see verses 21 and 32). So, why did Jesus stay longer when He heard a close friend was sick. Because He wanted to grow faith. Usually the best way for our faith to grow is in the situations that seem hopeless and cause much suffering. If Jesus has immediately gone to them to heal Lazarus, their faith in Him would have remained as it was because they would have seen what He had done before, but He did something that no one else had witnessed before and it grew the faith of those who witnessed it and chose to trust Jesus. So, when going through a hopeless situation, or a time of delayed expectation, remember God had a greater purpose in mind. He loves you so much that He wants to grow the faith that you have. He wants to take your small seed of faith and grow it into a tree, large and mighty (Luke 13:18-19).
Thank you for this Angie. Brought tears to my eyes ❤️
Sat here sobbing as I read Joni Eareckson Tada’s hope of her first thing to do in heaven when her body is made whole again … to kneel before God. Wow … that totally threw me. Physically healthy, when did I last kneel? Overwhelmed by that conviction.
I was overwhelmed by that as well. Thank you for sharing
I was overwhelmed by that post as well. Thank you for sharing so that I might not feel so alone.
Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life,
yesterday,
tomorrow,
every present moment.
The six months of my mother-in-laws deadly cancer was a thin time
a time when we believed God could heal her if He chose to,
recognizing also that sometimes His best is to take us home.
The dailyness of our lives melded away while the moments stretched into magnitude.
She is wholely healthy and in the presence of Jesus now.
There is a statue in a museum of an elderly woman preparing to walk through a door.
Jesus is on the other side. The statue has her in this present state – wrinkled, bent, and weary.
But as her hand passes through the door the other side is different, totally different
She is young, vibrant, joyful, full of life and strength as she reaches Jesus.
Death does not hold the same weight upon us as the unbelieving.
Jesus has made a way.
We have been resurrected into new life
When he opened our tombs we were just as stinky as Lazarus.
But we have been given new life.
The harder question is, do I live it?
Jesus, I have been resurrected to live this life for you.
May I live and breath in thin places, guided by the Holy Spirit, empowered by the blood of Jesus Christ and his resurrection from the dead. May I live, alive in Christ, bringing honor and glory to the Father, for that is what matters in this day and, you have already got this. I believe.
Love this! Thanks Angie!
Amen, Angie, amen!
Beautiful- & true!
This morning I am fixated on Lazarus coming out of the to,b wrapped in strips of linen. He heard Jesus’s voice calling him from the darkness of death. He obeyed His command to come out into the light but he still needed to be loosed layer by layer in order to see Jesus fully revealed standing before him. I am Lazarus! I heard his precious voice call me in the darkness of my sin years ago as a child. I obeyed His command and came into His light. Now He continues to be revealed to me as His Word, prayer, worship, and fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ remove the strips of my human attitudes, desires, and motivations so that I can not only see Jesus more clearly, but He can be seen in me more clearly with each layer removed until I stand in His glory and see Him face to face! He is my resurrection! Thank you, Lord, for calling me from the darkness into your light!
The question Jesus asks in John 11:26 hits me hard every time I read it. “Do you believe this?” I can come to Jesus confidently with my own “big ask” because I know Who He is and what He has done and can do. I know His great love. But there have been times when I’m wobbly in my faith and confused about the purpose of my circumstances. I come back to the question of do I believe. Some days my answer is a strong “Yes!” and sometimes it’s a whispered “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” I have dry bones days and I’m grateful I can call out to the Holy Spirit. I ask Him to keep on breathing through me even as He did when first I believed. Holy Spirit, fall fresh on me. Give me renewed life and stand me on my feet. Settle my soul as I place my trust once again in You. Amen.
Yes, Churchmouse, I have had the same experience in my walk. In fact, this am, before reading the scripture for today, I breathed the prayer, please help my unbelief. Of course today’s reading proceeded to do just that. Beautiful, immediate answer from His word. The answers don’t always come so quickly, but when they do….let’s just say it’s a great way to start the day!
Amen
Thank you for sharing the reality of those dry bone days, contrasting with the greatest reality of the power of His Spirit and His love.
37But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” 36So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” Both groups communicated in a way that indicated that they think Jesus could raise Lazarus. Although one group appeared to be sympathizers and another critic. Even, enthusiastic Martha didn’t believe he could raise Lazarus neither did laid back Mary. Once when I was reading Ezekiel to my 5-year-old, she didn’t question me why the person was speaking to bones but rather she said ” can bones hear? Hmmm, this got me. What these scriptures are saying that it doesn’t matter the situation, how dead the situation is ”God has said it, so He would do ”. The miracle does not end there, the bones became an army! Mind you Jesus risked his life to go to Judea because he was at risk of being stoned. He has already died for us. Let’s walk into it.