Most people grapple with the question, “What happens after we die?” throughout their time on this earth. As followers of Christ, we know that the place to turn to for this answer is Scripture, the word of God. As we discovered in our Bible study yesterday, Scripture teaches that the great hope of followers of Christ is that one day we will spend eternity with Him forever. God will create a new heaven and a new earth where we will dwell with Him forever. As we spend eternity with Him, there will be no place we would rather be. The question is, do we believe this remarkable truth? Do we believe in Jesus and the eternal life He offers?
In John 11, Jesus taught that He is the one who offers eternal life to all who believe in Him. In this passage of Scripture, Lazarus, a friend of Jesus and brother to the women Mary and Martha, was gravely sick. Martha and her sister Mary sent word to Jesus of Lazarus’ illness, but Jesus delayed in going straight to heal Lazarus. By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus had died. In response to what happened, Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died” (verse 21). Jesus replied to her, “Your brother will rise again” (verse 23). Martha misunderstood what Jesus meant when He said, “Your brother will rise again,” so she said, “Yes…he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day” (verse 24). As He clarified His statement about Lazarus to Martha, Jesus made a profound revelation about who He is. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never die” (verses 25-26). Jesus explained that in Him, resurrection and life can be found. Therefore, even when His followers die, they will live. What a profound teaching from Jesus!
After explaining to Martha that He is the resurrection and the life in John 11, He asked Martha an important question: Do you believe this, Martha?” (verse 26). “Yes, Lord…I have always believed You are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God,” Martha answered (verse 27). Jesus would soon prove that He is the Messiah by raising Lazarus from the dead and by rising from the dead Himself after an excruciating crucifixion on the cross.
Jesus’ question for Martha is the question we all have to answer. Do we believe that He is the resurrection and the life? Belief in Him is the only way to eternal life. May we all place our faith in Him alone and invite everyone around us to place their faith in Him, too.
Until we reach eternity with Him, our calling is to spread the hope of Christ so that everyone around us can also spend eternity with Him. Invite someone to join you this weekend by coming to one of our weekend services, where they will hear about the hope available through Jesus Christ. This invitation may be the encouragement they have been waiting for to take a step in their faith!
“God, You are the resurrection and the life. As I share Your hope with my family, friends, and neighbors, stretch me…”
1 A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. 2 This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. 3 So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”
4 But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” 5 So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, 6 he stayed where he was for the next two days. 7 Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”
8 But his disciples objected. “Rabbi,” they said, “only a few days ago the people in Judea were trying to stone you. Are you going there again?”
9 Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours of daylight every day. During the day people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world. 10 But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light.” 11 Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.”
12 The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!” 13 They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died.
14 So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”
16 Thomas, nicknamed the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go, too—and die with Jesus.”
17 When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. 18 Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem, 19 and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. 20 When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”
25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” 28 Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.” 29 So Mary immediately went to him.
30 Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. 31 When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. 32 When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. 34 “Where have you put him?” he asked them.
They told him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Then Jesus wept. 36 The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” 37 But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”
38 Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 39 “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them.
But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”
40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” 41 So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. 42 You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” 43 Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”
