A Word for Today | John 11:25-26
John 11 tells the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus’ friend Lazarus. The chapter begins by telling us that Jesus, though far away, knew of Lazarus’ death and actually permitted it. His purpose was to use this event to strengthen the faith of Lazarus’ believing sister, Martha. Jesus arrived at their home in Bethany four days after the death, where Martha reproached Him: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (Jn. 11:21). Jesus comforted her, saying: “Your brother will rise again” (Jn. 11:23). Martha answered: “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day” (Jn. 11:24). This was a positive expression of true faith. Yet, Martha’s faith needed to be tied more directly to Jesus, so He answered her with words that have comforted Christians ever since: “I 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” (Jn. 11:25-26).
Here, Jesus first reveals himself as the source of “the resurrection and the life.” We may hope in the resurrection because Jesus Himself has entered death and risen from the grave. “The whole human race is plunged in death,” writes John Calvin. “Therefore, no man will possess life unless he is first risen from the dead. Hence Christ teaches that He is the beginning of life.”[1] To believe in Jesus is to receive the benefit not only of His life and death, but also of His resurrection: “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (Jn. 11:25). Here is the only true answer to the problem of death. By trusting in Jesus, we gain the promise of resurrection life. “Your brother will rise again” (Jn. 11:23), Jesus told Martha, and so He speaks of all who believe.
Second, Jesus speaks of the life that believers gain from Him: “Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (Jn. 11:26). This is not a promise that death will never come to Christians, but rather that the life we possess in Christ will never perish: Jesus says, literally, that we “will never die forever.” In Jesus, believers possess a forever life! No wonder Jesus concluded by asking Martha the all-important question: “Do you believe this?” This is the question that comes to us today, and it is the all-important question that gives the greatest comfort for those who believe.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Phillips
[1] John Calvin, New Testament Commentaries, trans. T.H.L. Parker, 12 vols. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1959), 5:8.