I Am -- I Am the Resurrection and the Life -- John 11:1-45

Introduction
Video File

Describing the Biblical Text
It was a sad day in the town of Bethany and in the home of Martha and Mary
Their brother, Lazarus had passed away.
Now the family had sent for Jesus while he was merely sick and was not dead but as we read in the text, Jesus did not come as quickly as Mary and Martha would have hoped.
As a matter of fact, he let his disciples in on the fact that Lazarus was not sick that he would die but that he would ring glory to God.
He gave them the scoop while at the other end, Mary and Martha were grieving the loss of their brother and you can see how they even felt like blaming God as they both confronted Jesus with the same accusation.
Lord if you had come earlier . . .

Narrate the Contextual application
Even though they knew Jesus and believed in who he was, they still had moment when their faith was weak.
That sounds like us doesn’t it?
We’ll get up in the morning and have our prayer time and go out the door feeling great.
The driver who cuts us off won’t bother us and the boss won’t bother us but we will get home from work and one of those nasty notes from the bank will be waiting in the mailbox.
You know the one – your overdraft protection has been activated and $300 has been deposited into your account.
All of a sudden our great day goes south really fast.
As committed to the Lord as we were in the morning we are now questioning him and his ability to put us in a place where he can meet our needs.

We find ourselves in the shoes of the disciples, unable to get a handle on what God is trying to do in our lives.
Or, we find ourselves like the Bethany sisters who want to blame God for their problems.

Life Application (thesis)
In the midst of the turmoil and in the sadness and disappointment of the situation, Jesus made his 5th I am statement.
He said, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
On the occasion of the death of Lazarus, this is a very important statement.
It is a statement that would point to the thing that makes following Jesus different from any other religion in the world.
We serve and follow a savior who has conquered death and has risen from the dead.
That victory over death is a part of the life that we have in Christ.
We could state it this way.
Jesus has conquered death for us.

SO WHAT!! (Outline)
As we ponder that truth, I have two vital signs for us to examine this morning.
The first one is this
Death is conquered by our faith.
The statement of Jesus that follows his resurrection and life declaration tells us this.
He who believes in me will live even if he dies 26and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.
In the book of Joshua in the Old Testament, the people of God are settling the land of Canaan or Israel as it would come to be known and Joshua makes a speech that is somewhat famous in the Bible. At least it is a speech that we have all heard in some part or portion.
“Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua points to the pagan gods of 2 groups of people.
They are both the ancestors of the people who are entering the Promised Land, those across the river and those in Egypt. It is certainly understandable that 400 years of slavery in Egypt could have a detrimental effect on one’s faith. So the Hebrew faith struggled and suffered during the Egyptian bondage and some of the Israelites turned to the pagan gods of Egypt.

But who are those ancestors from across the river?
They would be Abraham and his ancestors.
It’s hard for us to imagine it but before God began to deal with Abraham in Genesis 12, He was a pagan as well serving the pagan idols of Mesopotamia.
But what happened to Abraham or Abram as he was known at the time?
What changed His life?
Faith changed his life.
In Genesis 15, God is reiterating covenant promises to Abram about his son who will come from his own body.
Then we find a sentence that is unobtrusive but it speaks volumes.
Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
Abram’s faith was the keystone to his righteousness.
He did not have to jump through hoops, build altars, pray 5 times a day to a piece of wood, or sacrifice the first goat.
He just had to believe.

Jesus tells us that faith, believing in Him, is necessary for eternal life, life that does not end, life that is never taken away.
But, we have to believe.
We have to place our faith in Jesus Christ.
That does not mean that we have to walk that aisle and make that decision.
It means that we have to trust that Jesus sacrificial death on the cross and his subsequent rising from the death, aka the resurrection, are the sufficient work of God to bring us eternal life.
The most well known verse in the Bible is a faith verse.
For God so love the world that He gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

People come to Christ for different reasons but it is always the work of the spirit to draw them.
I came to Christ when I was 20 and I really felt an acute fear of death.
The message of life and especially this message from John 11:25 was really a comforting message to me.
But it is a message that we must consider.
The wages of sin is death.
Sin is any disobedience against God and yet it ultimately manifests in unbelief.
Whereas belief equals life, unbelief or sin equals death.
What stands in the balance today is whether or now we have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
We can serve pagan things like paychecks and careers or we can serve the son of the God who created the universe and who came that we might have abundant life.

There is a second vital sign that I want us to see.
Death is conquered by Jesus' resurrection
I want to call out the names of several personalities and I want you to tell me who the actor is famous for playing.
Buddy Ebsen – Jed Clampett – Barnaby Jones
Bob Denver – Gilligan
Telly Savalis – Kojak
Shannon Daugherty – 90210
Ryan Secrest – American Idol
My personal Favorite – Tom Bergeron – America’s Funniest Home Videos and Dancing with the Stars

We associate these people exclusively with the parts that they play.
For us the celebrity is the show.
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection.”
We know from this chapter that Lazarus was raised from the dead and that Jesus raised a little girl from the dead and that there is an example of a resurrection in the OT as well.
Yet, Jesus resurrection is different from all these and Jesus described this difference in John 10 when he made the statement that He had the authority to lay down His life and take it up again.
Not Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter nor the widow’s son in the OT could do that.
But Jesus had the authority to lay down His life and take it up again.

Why would he want to do that?
It gave credibility to His sacrificial death.
But more than that, it demonstrates that God has the power over death.
Jesus resurrection for us is a view into the future.
It is a future with God surrounded by Him and His life in Christ that he wrought for us and for all those who believe in Christ.
This is the confidence that we have in these words of Jesus.
He conquered death and then offered us life in him.
He made an offer and then gave us an opportunity to answer the all important question.
He who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?
Do you believe this?