Now what did Jesus teach these women? He taught that He is the resurrection and the life. The statement is in John 11:25, and it contains two thoughts. First, in Jesus the resurrection is present, for Jesus Himself is life. Martha was thinking in terms of a resurrection at the end of time, a bodily resurrection. Jesus taught that the real resurrection, the one that makes all the difference between real life and real death, is the resurrection that takes place in the individual when he comes face to face with Himself. He is the resurrection. Where He is, there is life.
If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have experienced this resurrection in your life. You were dead in trespasses and sins, and God brought forth life in you by His power as you came in contact with Christ. This is what Jesus meant when He said, “He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (vv. 25-26). He meant that belief in Himself results in a spiritual resurrection, what He elsewhere called the new birth or entrance into everlasting life.
The second great teaching in these verses is that the resurrection at the end of time is also a reality and is also related to one’s relationship with Him. Jesus said, “And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” Do you believe that? Do you believe in Christ? Do you have the assurance that His promise brings? If so, you may take courage from the fact that Jesus came, not only to save your spirit, not only to save your soul and to guide you in this life, but also to give you a new body that you might live with Him forever, redeemed in body, soul, and spirit, participating in the perfect fullness of the final resurrection.
The story now moves to a dramatic conclusion. And this is a foretaste, an illustration if you will, of what Christ was promising. Jesus came to the tomb. The people were standing around to see what would happen. The stone is rolled away. Jesus speaks with authority, “Lazarus, come forth” (v. 43). And Lazarus comes forth bound in the grave clothes.
The second command is to the people that stand by: “Loose him, and let him go” (v. 44). It is done. The grave clothes are removed. And Lazarus is again with his family. Do you see the force of this great illustration? It is proof of Christ’s power over death, certainly. But it is also something more. This is a picture of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. Apart from Him we are dead in our sins. We are dead men living among dead men. But Christ’s voice calls us, bringing life out of death. We hear Him. We emerge from the tomb of a spiritually dead life. Our grave clothes are loosened. And we are sent forth to engage in profitable work for Him.
